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Course Relfection
NURS 3840 - Formation of Professional Nursing Practice
I learned a lot about the current professional nurse and all of the responsibilities of the professional nurses today in NURS 3840: Professional Nursing Practice for BSN Students. We covered many standards of professional nursing practice including practice of ethical practice, leadership, communication, patient and family advocacy and continuous learning. I had no idea that all of that was involved with nursing besides patient care at the bedside. We also discussed how nurses can use their knowledge to affect systems to promote safe patient care as well as the many ways that nurses are growing the profession by continuing to learn and apply their practice based on research.
First, I really enjoyed learning more about my own professional identity and the qualities that I bring to the practice of nursing. I have really enjoyed developing a personal nursing philosophy that captures the values that I bring to my practice as a compassionate, accountable, honest person who is patient centered. Last, I have really enjoyed learning about the different nursing theorists and how their work can be applied to our practice of nursing as we strive to deliver the most holistic and evidence-based care to our patients.
NURS 3840 delved deeply into the many facets of professional communication, collaboration, and patient advocacy. As a CVICU nurse, I am already in an environment where, as a team of highly skilled and very educated individuals, we work together to take care of our very critically ill patients. The course served to enhance my appreciation of the many facets of my practice and my commitment to be the best patient advocate possible. I will continue to practice within the ethics of the profession of nursing.
This class has been an excellent class for making me into a more confident nurse. I have come to realize that being a good nurse is not just completing tasks that need to be done in order to take care of your patients, but also to be a leader, patient educator, and advocate for your patients in today’s society and in the nursing profession. The end result of NURS 3840 is that I have gained more knowledge about how to become a life long learner in order to continue to grow as a professional.
NURS 3810 - Holistic Nursing Pathophysiology & Health Assessment
NURS 3810 covered a multitude of human diseases and conditions as well as their corresponding pathophysiological processes causing signs and symptoms of diseases affecting humans in altered health states. I also learned many causes of human health alterations and how each human health state of altered health can progress differently and affect many different body systems. The many human health states of altered health studied in NURS 3810 have greatly helped in clinical to better understand the many different health states of my patients.
From prior knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, understanding the pathophysiology of diseases allowed for understanding abnormal clinical manifestations of diseases and their progression affecting various body systems. This knowledge also helped in correlating lab and diagnostic findings with clinical manifestations of disease and also helped in making assessments and identifying patient deterioration.
Another major concept that NURS 3810 taught me is that of viewing the patient completely. In previous classes, we learned about the many health alterations that can occur in the human body and their causes. We learned that many of these health alterations are the result of purely physiological changes. However, in NURS 3810, we learned that health alterations can also result from a variety of other factors, including: genetic, environmental, psychological, spiritual, and social factors. This class viewed the patient completely by viewing all of these factors and how they can affect each individual. This will enable me to have a better understanding of patient complete-ness and provide individualized patient care as well as patient-centered nursing interventions.
I also learned many aspects of human health in this course, which can be applied to a patient’s care in many ways. These include evidence-based practice, communication with patients, families, and other health care professionals, and collaboration with other health care professionals. For example, my knowledge of the etiology of diseases, risk factors for diseases, and the pathophysiology of diseases can be used to communicate with other health care professionals such as physicians and aides as well as to better educate patients and their families with regards to their specific illnesses and the interventions that are necessary to care for them. I can then advocate for my patients to ensure that they are receiving the best care possible.
NURS 3810 was an extremely informative and eye opening course that linked the scientific basis for practice to the application of clinical reasoning in the care of patients and their families. The material covered has greatly enhanced my ability to practice as a competent and confident CVICU nurse. The end result for me and for my patients is safe, quality, holistic care.
NURS 3830 - Evidence Based Practice
This course did a wonderful job of furthering my knowledge of the Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) process and solidifying my understanding of the importance of utilizing current research to make the best clinical decisions. Prior to this course, I relied on unit specific policies as well as my fellow nursing colleagues' experiences to make clinical decisions. These are great resources in themselves; however, completion of this course has increased my appreciation for the importance of high quality research in quality patient care and standardized practice that leads to the best patient outcomes.
My biggest takeaway from completing the evidence-based practice project for this course is that looking for evidence to support the best practice for patient care really gets at the heart of what it means to complete an EBP project. First, you have to formulate a question about a clinical issue and rewrite that question in the form of a PICO search to guide your review of evidence. After that, a very in-depth review of all of the evidence regarding that clinical issue for which you have formulated a question follows. For my project, I explored the use of nurse-driven protocols for the removal of urinary catheters from patients and described the results from studies that had looked at the issue of removing urinary catheters from patients and the subsequent decrease or not in Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs). Overall, my project helped me solidify my skills in evaluating the evidence that was reviewed in addition to acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the various studies and how that evidence can be used in clinical practice to improve patient outcomes and create the best practices for the nursing community to follow in caring for their patients.
Completing this course has been one of the highlights of my nursing education to date. Not only did I learn how to complete an evidence-based practice project, but I gained a better understanding of the process that continues after the project is completed. With the ever-changing face of healthcare and the constant influx of new research, as nurses we have an obligation to stay current with the latest research and to apply the best practices to patient care. I have also gained confidence in reading and applying the findings from scholarly literature to improve quality and safety initiatives in the workplace.
As a Critical Care RN, I plan to utilize the knowledge that I have gained from this course to assist in the quality improvement initiatives that are currently being undertaken within my organization. I will search for the latest literature that supports best practices and utilize that information to advocate for the implementation of those practices. In addition, I plan to challenge current practices if there is evidence to support a change. This course will not only help me to be a better nurse at the bedside but also help me to be an advocate for continued improvement in health care delivery.
NURS 4830 - Leadership and Management
The application of leadership in nursing is more than management and administrative roles in healthcare. The course of Healthcare Organizational Assessment provided insight into many of the characteristics needed to be an effective leader in nursing as well as the many aspects of a healthcare organization that play a role in delivering safe patient care.
The Healthcare Organizational Assessment for this course was also very valuable to my education. Learning about the inner workings of a healthcare organization through the assessment of the East Alabama Medical Center was very helpful. We learned about the organization’s mission, culture, leadership, and strategic priorities. We also found out how these aspects affect patient care and the employees of the organization. This was very valuable to me because it showed me the complexity of a healthcare organization and how leadership plays a very important role in creating an environment that is safe for patients and employees and fosters collaboration to improve patient care.
The assessment of East Alabama Medical Center really opened my eyes to how my own organization is functioning. Through my assessment I was able to see examples of transformational leadership, shared governance, quality improvement and interdisciplinary collaboration on my unit. It was also wonderful to realize that all nurses play a very important role in the organization’s success and that you don’t have to be in a management position to be a leader. This class taught me a lot about the financial aspect of healthcare and how a healthcare leader must have knowledge of budgeting and effectively using your staff and the resources of the health care organization to make sound decisions. As a future health care leader it is important to remember that in health care there are limited resources and one must use them in the best way to deliver the highest quality of care to the patient.
As a practicing CVICU Charge Nurse, I see relevance in many of the Leadership Concepts that were explored throughout this semester. Establishing Communication with all staff members and creating an organized system for delegating tasks to staff will assist in meeting the needs of our patients in a patient-centered manner. In addition to creating a manner for delegating tasks, a leader must also hold staff members accountable for the tasks and actions for which they have been assigned. In critical situations, such as Code Blues and other interventions that require a rapid response from all team members, a well-coordinated response and holding all team members accountable for their actions is crucial to optimal patient outcomes. Creating a positive work environment that will support the patients and their families as well as all members of the healthcare team will foster Teamwork and effective working relationships among the members of the healthcare team, resulting in the best patient care and a safe working environment.
NURS 4830: Health Care Leadership for the Professional Nurse was a great course. It prepared me to be a better leader in the health care setting and provided me with concepts of lifelong learning, professional accountability, ethics, and servant leadership that will follow me in my career as I pursue future certifications, seek out leadership opportunities and perhaps continue on with graduate school.
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