Reflective Account on Role as a Student in Higher Education and as a Future Health Practitioner

Becoming a nurse means to truly understand, embrace, and acquire the characteristics of an educator, an advocate, a comforter, a therapist, a listener and most importantly a care giver. My goal as an undergraduate nurse is to acquire these characteristics and master them so that I can care for any patient regardless

In addition, a DNP degree will help me better serve my community by advocating for quality and safety healthcare system. Once attained, I would seek employment at either a school or university with the mission of educating nursing students to practice the highest quality of patient care. One of the major issues facing the nursing profession today is the lack of advance nursing practices. The medical field is in crisis. Doctors are stretched to the limits, and patients are demanding more advanced care. To alleviate some of the concerns facing medicine in the 21st century, advance nursing practices is a vital area in the contribution of understanding and working within the bounds of a team structure, and the promotion of communication between the interdisciplinary health team. The mission of the advance nursing practice is to help individual patients, and their families, determine and achieve optimum physical, mental and social potential, and to do so within the challenging context of the environment in which they live and work Nurses are among the largest professional care group within the healthcare service industry. We are responsible for providing quality care and assisting patients towards independent and healthy living. Considering the changing working environment, health care practitioners like nurses are

According to Rosseter (2011), one of the largest segments of the US workforce are comprised of Registered Nurses, with over three million registered nurses worldwide. Due to the fast paced and rising complex demands placed on our healthcare environment, it is no surprise that over twenty-four thousand post graduate students were actively seeking and earning their master’s degree in nursing in 2011 (DHHS, 2013, p.ix). In order to gain an understanding of the interplay among my education, career path and opportunities afforded to me by taking an approach to higher degree learning. I approached a co-worker whose capabilities impressed me and asked her five questions in person, in order to gain her insightful information of what I will be facing during these next few months.

Nursing can be a demanding career, but the benefits far much outweigh the challenges. Most importantly, it’s the rewards it offers by allowing an opportunity to make a difference in another person’s life through the provision of care when they need it. Just as Patricia Benner theorized in her book “Novice to Expert,” nursing encompasses both educational knowledge and extensive clinical experience acquired throughout one’s career. This far, I continue to acquire knowledge and clinical knowhow which will promote proper and efficient care to patients. Since I began practicing one year ago in a long-term healthcare facility, I have interacted with patients, families, physicians and other members of the healthcare team to coordinate patient’s care which has enabled me to gain confidence in myself. While I cannot deny that it was difficult to transition from a student to a licensed nurse, I learnt to overcome these challenges and focus on my strengths. Practicing as an LPN has provided a platform to learn and gain experience even though the duties and responsibilities are limited by the scope of practice.

The beginning of a new graduate nurses career rarely begins easily, there seems to be a distinct disconnect between the fantasy of what it means to be a nurse and the reality of bedside nursing. Nursing school seems to feed into this disconnection, in that it does not prepare the new graduate registered nurse (NGRN) for their professional practice. What nursing school does is give the NGRN the basics, a peak into what is to come. The NGRN has to find out for themselves what the true meaning of being a nurse is and if it fits their preconceived ideas.

Moreover, I realized my future as an RN was not guaranteed to be there, unless I pursued an advanced degree in nursing. Of course, this is not the only reason for continuing my nursing education, it will also enable me to provide more competent care, which leads to better patient outcomes, as well as, quality and safety of patient care (Mason, Leavitt, & Chaffee, 2014, p. 386).

Quality patient care relies on having an educated workforce. There is a growing body of evidence that shows that the Bachelor of Science Nursing graduate brings unique skills to their work as nursing clinicians and play an important role in the delivery of safe patient care. In addition to having basic nursing fundamentals nurse’s today are expected to take a huge part and lead professional initiatives that drive towards improving the safety, quality, and efficiency of care that is delivered to patients.

Key Message #2: “Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.” (Institute of Medicine, 2010, p. 163) As the IOM reports, changes in the health care system are requiring major changes in the nursing education requirements to meet the immediate needs of our patients. Nurses need to understand the importance of obtaining a higher level of education so that they can practice to their fullest

Like many other careers education is crucial. It takes years of studying and dedication. Without proper knowledge and education, someone’s life could be at stake. All careers in the medical field have different educational requisites that have to be met. Each level of nursing

“While you may not realize it, you are helping to exemplify many of the reasons that we are going back to school for our BSN’s. Because higher learning really does improve our nursing practice and cultivate the learning culture of nurses in our institutions.

As they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch. This ideal holds true for anyone interested in attaining career success or achieving a major goal. One of such career goals is evident in becoming a Registered Nurse. There are about 154,000 Registered Nurses in the state of Ohio (KFF, 2016) Nurses represent the highest proportion of all working professionals in the United States (KFF, 2016). There are about 3 million Registered Nurses in this country and the number continues to increase as baby-boomers retire, while hospitals, clinics, health centers continue to seek nurses that will provide various forms of specialized care (KFF, 2016). Due to this phenomenon, nursing education is made very arduous for anyone interested in pursuing this field of study (AACN, 2016). The American Association of Colleges of Nurses in Ohio attributes the arduous nature of the field of study to the increasing demand as well as transformation of the healthcare services (AACN, 2016). The signing of the new Healthcare law has led to transformative changes in many ways, by influencing ways in which healthcare is provided such as preventative care and also increasing the number of insured, which increases overall services rendered (AACN, 2016).

It is important to understand that nursing is not only about helping the sick but it is also about helping the healthy individual. A nurse can do that by preventing any illness, which he or she can do by educating the population. It takes a special person to be a nurse, but it is a very rewarding career. It is a great feeling to know that you made a difference in the patient or even the patient’s family member’s lives. By receiving a master’s degree the nurse is able to give the patient more current and quality care. The patient’s family trusts you with the loved one’s life, it is a humbling experience, but it can also be nerve-racking.

Attaining a high level of education will improve the healthcare system only if nurses are fully utilizing their knowledge and abilities. Many times nurses face challenges in exercising their abilities and knowledge due to institutional policies or government regulations,

It 's important that students are given the opportunity to work in acute care settings. As without exposure to acute care, preconceptions of them being manic, stressful and depressing (Swinny and Brady, 2010) will go un-challenged. This will not only affect student 's choices of where to work when they qualify but may deter already qualified nurses (Davies, 2013).

It provides a tool for assigning clinical competence correlating to patient acuity which effects staffing levels. Benner has established the correlation between the expert nurses and quality outcomes, which is related to adequate staffing levels as measured by nurse sensitive indicators. clinical judgment and critical thinking skills need to be gained and employed by nurses for safe patient care but when there are inadequate staffing levels, the skill mix is not equal and therefore, quality patient care is sacrificed and delivery of care becomes task-oriented instead of tailored to meet patient needs. Benneer’s theory can be used to guide patient care to produce optimal outcomes by developing core competencies and fostering a practical learning environment by ensuring adequate staffing levels. Brenner theorizes that as nurses gain expertise a more holistic approach to care is taken which cannot be made with inadequate staffing levels which pose time constraints.(McEwen & Wills,