Self Evaluation as a Nurse

Planning my career and setting up goals beyond being a bedside nurse was not an easy step. It was finalized/ concreted by the influence and support of friends and my family

Many years ago I chose my studies to begin a career in the medical field. My original goal was to become a Pediatrician. However, at the end of my bachelor’s degree and after many hours spent volunteering at Miami Children’s Hospital, I decided that I wanted a career that would give me more patient provider interaction. I spoke with several doctors, nurses, and other health care providers and decided the best career for me was a Nurse Practitioner. I still have not decided on a specialty but I feel that path will come naturally with

This essay is going to explore the nursing process with regard to the prevention of pressure ulcers.

Since my first visit to the Doctor I have been fascinated with the world of medicine and the art of nursing. As I have matured it has become apparent to me that becoming a Nurse has become my calling. I am determined to be the

Because of these changes, my interests in nursing have been influenced by circumstance. From the very beginning of my journey, I had a strong interest in becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), but because of the need to relocate for my husband’s job, becoming a CRNA was no longer an option due to location. After reevaluating my options, I have established a new interest in becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner, but because of my academic marathon and because of my age, I have also considered foregoing the additional education past a BSN. Other areas of interest include the Emergency Room, Cardiology, Critical Care, and Neurology. All of my career options interest me because they provide challenge and constant change. Hopefully the remainder of my academic journey will help solidify my ultimate career goal in the nursing profession.

I really do not have any desire to obtain a doctorate degree. I am getting close to retirement and incurring more student loan debt is not foreseeable. If I were younger, I most likely would pursue a doctorate degree. Since I work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and there is a shortage of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NNP), I would become an NNP. In addition to what has been said, I will follow Recommendation 6 (ensure that nurses engage in lifelong learning) to continue learning. My next step after I finish with school is to obtain my certification in Neonatal Intensive Care. I will also continue my learning by attending conference and seminars. I am currently a Neonatal Resuscitation Provider (NRP) instructor. I make sure I stay abreast of any changes or updates that occurs in NRP. I also participate on several committees that are unit specific or hospital base which allow me the privilege of learning hospital operations, implementing hospital policies and procedures and strategies to promote safe care. My organization also foster a culture of lifelong learning and provide resources for inter-professional continuing competency programs that is suggested by the IOM report (Initiative on the Future of Nursing,

For the nurses to help their patients, it is necessary to set the health goals with them and work mutually to achieve those goals. And if we have a closer look at King’s nursing process, it has a logical sequence. For instance, when a patient arrives, the first job of the nurse is to assess him/her and gather all the possible information about the patient including his/her health history, current health status and all. And in return the patient delivers the data for the asked questions. This is how interaction between the nurse- patient takes place. In the next phase of the diagnosis, the nurse analyzes the problem by utilizing the data collected from the assessment. Further, going to the next step, planning takes place. In this phase, the nurse and patient work together in setting the goals and making mutual decision to achieve the set objective. After setting a certain goal, they will implement those plans to work on with. And finally, the nurse evaluates the patient determining whether the set goal is achieved or not (Wayne, 2014). To better understand this concept lets consider an example:

Highly organized, self-motivated baccalaureate prepared Registered Nurse with a strong science background driven towards Advance Practice in the Role of a Family Nurse Practitioner.

My passion for healthcare cultivated because of my family. Throughout my childhood and adolescent years, I got an opportunity to volunteer helping around the nursing home where my mother worked as a licensed practical nurse. Looking back, on those experiences influenced my entire career in so many diverse ways. Learning ample amounts of wisdom from various honorable people. As a child I was always trying to help my mother, grandmother, aunts, my church take care of others in our family and the community. Once I graduated from high school I did not know if I was prepared for college. Likewise, I was not sure if I wanted to become a registered nurse and follow my mother’s footsteps. However, I did attend a technical training school and became a certified nursing assistant in 2005. During my five year gap year, I conducted research on several different areas and aspects of healthcare. Over the course of ten years I have had the opportunity to experience different segments of healthcare. From the different settings of healthcare, exploring different business opportunities offered in healthcare, and educational and technical skill trainings. These three topics really influenced my decision to pursue a healthcare career.

The purpose of my memorandum is to demonstrate how a nursing career will affect my personal identity. This memo will also entail the job requirements, expected pay range, long term prospects, workplace environment, and the social/cultural issues of a nursing career.

My career objectives are to advance my nursing career through professional development of self by engaging in long life learning through continuing education in graduate school. Also, to assume leadership role in the use of evidence based research in healthy public policy and contribute to population health. Nursing is a field that keeps unfolding and requires updated knowledge to provide quality care, meet the professional requirements and challenges. Hence, long life learning would increase my professional values and competencies required to deliver quality care to diverse population. As a Public Health Nurse, by pursing Masters in Nursing, I will be able to build on my capacity to enhance and advance the field of nursing as a science.

I am striving to achieve professionalism and growth in roles and values while going through the bachelor’s degree in nursing program. I plan on taking each class one at a time, try to do my best, and gain the knowledge needed to grow in the nursing profession. By October 2010, I should obtain my bachelor’s degree in nursing, which will provide new opportunities, such as management, and educator positions. A bachelor’s degree in nursing will provide the opportunity to further my education to a master’s degree level.

During the past four years people have asked me what I wanted to do for a vocation after high school. I always had an answer, but I always transmuted my vocation path. I kenned that I wanted to go into health care, but I was never genuinely certain on what field I wanted to go into. I am still skeptical on what I optate to do with the rest of my life, but I cerebrate this research has availed me to decide. There is one vocation in which I find intriguing which is obstetric nursing. An Obstetrics nurse avails medicos with the care of enceinte mothers afore and after birth. OB nurses customarily avail with preparing the distribution room, prepping the patients, preparing instruments, caring for a baby immediately after birth, expounding after birth care to incipient parents, and keeping track of family members and partners who are present afore and after the birth. Trained obstetric professionals are typically the ones that women turn to afore, during, and after their nine month journeys. Albeit obstetricians play an integral and incontrovertibly paramount role during this time in a woman’s life, obstetric nurses are dedicated professionals that should not be overlooked. Due to the long and erratic hours along with the infrequent tragedy, obstetric nursing as a vocation is sometimes as stressful and challenging as it is rewarding.

As a graduate student, it would be imperative to begin to develop a career plan that includes an assessment of my skills and abilities. My personal goals may include to become a nursing leader in my community. My educational goals include to have a doctorate degree in nursing. Last, professionally my goal is to aspire a highly position in my nursing career. Through the development of this Career Development Plan would allow for a clear direction in attaining my personal, educational, and professional goals.

On another note, no individual is without fault, myself included. As I self-reflect, I will identify some areas in need of improvement. As these areas are identified, strategies can be developed to improve my leadership skills as a servant leader. I have always been one to choose my battles carefully, and this might be directly related to that too nice issue mentioned earlier. This can sometimes prove a challenge. As discussed previously, the clinical manager and I can sometimes disagree with each other. This is one of those areas. When I chose the person that I wanted to lead the clinical team, I was careful to choose someone who complimented myself. Although we have the same goals, we have distinctly different personalities. At times, I may need to be more direct with the team. When a staff member did not initially come to work, we discussed the issue and she reported to work. I did not apply this to her permanent file, hoping it would not happen again after we discussed the issue. When the incident happened again, it was apparent I should have taken a more authoritative approach as suggested by my clinical manager.