Reflection On Nursing Practice

This discussion question is based on a case study. As in all case studies, review the facts of the case and consider the various steps of the nursing process in order to address the critical thinking questions.

In today’s world, where globalization and the internet has shrunken spaces and reduced distances, it is only natural that we come across people of different cultures living in harmony. As a nurse practitioner, one experiences several circumstances where the patients are from different cultural backgrounds, varied religious beliefs and also from the other part of the world. While a nursing practitioner has a challenge of treating every patient with utmost care and concern, there are times where our strengths and beliefs come in between our duty (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). A nurse practitioner might have to face situations where they might not have any control over, and still should show their best face. This is where their values, beliefs and behaviors might help them to achieve the impossible.

The purpose of this essay is to reflect on my personal role in the inter-professional team and the delivery of healthcare that I have encountered during my duty as a health care assistant in one of the hospitals here in England. In accordance with the NMC (2002) Code of professional conduct, confidentiality shall be maintained and all names have been changed to protect identity. The purpose of reflection as stated by John's (1995) is to promote desirable practice through the practitioner's understanding and learning about his/her lived experiences. I have decided to reflect upon an incident with the nurse in charge in one of my shifts and in order to structure my reflection I

Skin integrity is an important concept that’s nurses assess on their patients. A key skill in nursing practice is to frequently assess the skin for possible breakdown or decreased skin integrity. Skin assessments should be conducted thoroughly once a shift and frequently reassessed for any signs of change. Skin discrepancies may be the first sign of an underlying issue. Early detection of any breakdown can help to implement interventions sooner. Unfortunately, unless there is a major skin discrepancy, skin issues can easily get overlooked, specifically in documentation and report. The focus of this paper is to research new skin integrity assessments to improve documentation effect and accuracy, resulting in decreased prevalence of skin breakdown in hospitalized patients. Topics discussed include reviewing current practices and new skin assessment techniques that decrease the prevalence of skin breakdown and pressure ulcers.

Reflective practice in nursing is the process where we examine our nursing ability’s and practice in order to critically think and analyze the way we work and think about the views of others in our practice, what we could have done and we could have achieved a greater result by doing this also allows us as nurses to include best practice and use our own judgment in patient care to show the factors that either aid and hinder nurse to patient relationship. (Lowenstein, Bradshaw and Fuszard, 2001) described reflecting in nursing practice “the nurse must first come to understand what he or she defines as ideal practice”.

This essay will discuss a clinical skill in which I have become competent in practicing as a student nurse.

This essay will discuss and reflect on one of the Principles of Nursing Practice and I will relate this to my practice experience. It will focus on Principle of Nursing Practice A: Dignity, humanity and equality and I will demonstrate knowledge of the Principle of Nursing Practice in my essay and investigate the professional, legal and ethical frameworks that guide nursing practice and discuss and link what I have experienced in practice to my chosen Principle.

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 following essay is a reflective account on an event that I, a student nurse encountered whilst on my second clinical placement in my first year of study. The event took place in a Fountain Nursing Home in Granite City. I have chosen to give thought to the event described in this essay as I feel that it highlights the need for nurses to have effective communication skills especially when treating patients that are suffering with a mental illness. Upon arriving to the Nursing home for the second time on Thursday November 14,2013; assigned the same patient as before. On meeting my patient the first thing I noticed myself doing without even thinking about it was giving her a visual inspection. Before nursing school I never really looked at

For the purpose of this essay, I have selected Gibbs (1988) Reflective Learning Cycle to reflect on an aspect of individual professional practice, which requires development in preparation for my role as a Registered Nurse. Gibbs (1988) Model of Reflection provides a clear description of a situation, analysis of feelings, evaluation of the experience, conclusion, and action plan to make sense of the experience to examine what you would do if the situation happens again.

The objective of this reflection is to explore and reflect upon a situation from a clinical placement on an orthopedic unit. The incident showed that I did not provide safe, timely and competent care for my patient when the oxygen saturation was low. Furthermore, this reflection will include a description of the incident, and I will conclude with explaining what I have learned from the experience and how it will change my future actions.

In this essay, I will reflect on taking a patient; whom I shall call Bethany; to and from the theatre. This experience has helped me to understand the importance of parent’s participation in their child’s care. I have also gained a better insight into the type of nurse I will pursue to be. To help structure this essay I am using the framework described by Gibbs (1988). Using this framework, I have provided a strong reflection on the experience and focused on a more child-centred approach.

Imogene King was the developer of both a Conceptual Framework and a Goal Attainment theory. The Goal Attainment theory is a middle-range theory that originated from the Conceptual System. The primary concepts of Goal Attainment theory are perception, communication, interaction, self role, grow and development, stress, and time and space (Frey, Sieloff & Norris, 2002). The main point of Goal Attainment theory is that the nurse and the patient work together to define and reach goals that they set together (Killeen & King, 2007). This process is done mostly through communication,

“Apprehension, uncertainty, waiting, expectation, fear of surprise, do a patient more harm than any exertion. Remember he is face to face with his enemy all the time, internal wrestling with him” (Nightingale, 1992, p. 22). Fortunately, in the nineteenth century, Florence Nightingale recognized uncertainty could cause harm to her patients (Nightingale, 1992). Equally important to the nursing professional are the nursing theorists, their work, and the evolution of the theories that followed Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing (Alligood, 2014). This paper will apply Florence Nightingale’s grand theory, Merle Mishel’s uncertainty in illness theory, and Madeleine Leininger’s culture care theory to multiple sclerosis (MS) research and practice (Alligood, 2014).

Nursing practice is always evolving as new studies and new findings are discovered. As practicing nurses, it becomes our job to stay up to date with these findings and effectively implement them into our daily practice in efforts to enhance the quality of care our patients receive and to provide them with the best possible outcomes. Many nursing practices are implemented into daily care only after research studies have been conducted. The evidence provided from these studies helps the population make informed choices and allows nurses to recommend practices that are most beneficial to the patient.