1 6565 Week 1 Assignment 3: Practicum Journal and Time Log The nursing practicum experience has enabled me to advance my professional development. Through the program, I have been able to get involved in providing care to patients. Furthermore, I have realized some of my set goals and acquired the skills to practice in clinical settings. The experiences I have so far have shaped my competencies and made me realize my strengths and weaknesses while in a clinical setting. In clinical settings, nurse practitioners are involved in various roles in caring for the patients. They provide care directly to patients therefore interact and spend more time with patients unlike other nurse specialities such as nurse educators, informaticists, and leaders (Potter, Perry, Stockert, & Hall, 2016). Nurses’ roles range from providing outpatient care to inpatient care. This includes performing physical examinations, working alongside physicians to diagnose and prescribe medications for different conditions, admitting and discharging patients, explaining plan of care, continuum of care, and conducting patient follow-ups (Swan, Ferguson, Chang, Larson, & Smaldone, 2015). In addition, nurse practitioners provide care such as monitoring patients, administering drugs, insertion of lines, wound care and communicating with the patient’s family in hospitalized patients (Buerhaus, DesRoches, Dittus, & Donelan, 2015).
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Furthermore, nurse practitioners play a great role in the management of chronic conditions. Nurse practitioners take part in the clinical care of such patients by monitoring their conditions and conducting follow up assessments. They also carry out patient education on how they can manage their conditions. Patient education also contributes to preventive care as they encourage patients and families to take up healthy lifestyle and practices (Masters, 2015). Lastly, nurse practitioners work together with other care professionals in managing patients needing special care such as transplant patients, ICU, and patients undergoing major surgical procedures (Sherwood & Barnsteiner, 2017). My goals and objectives are aimed at enabling me to become a better nurse practitioner. These goals include providing better quality care, upholding patient safety, and creating a safe environment for patients. I also want to achieve improved nursing skills and abilities through my experiences. My objectives are to work alongside other care providers and team members to provide quality care, to implement evidence-based practice in patient care, to provide patientcentered care, and to provide education to patients. Furthermore, I plan to engage in continuous learning activities during the practice by engaging in continuous medical education, reading nursing literature, and attending seminars, conferences, and workshops. My practicum activities will start by identifying an institution to be attached to and visiting it. I will attend career preparation workshops, as well as meet with my supervisor prior to the start of my practice. This will make me familiar with what to expect. At the beginning of my practice, I will meet with the institutional office in charge of students to help me adjust and get used to my practicum site. After a successfully starting my clinical practice, I will ensure I follow all the rules of the institution. Also, I will use my practicum period to realize all my set goals and objectives.
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Personal reflection is always an indicator of progress, failures, or stagnation towards the desired achievement. To ensure that I benefit the most out of my experience, I will continuously reflect on my achievements and capitalize on them by identifying my weaknesses and addressing them.
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References Masters, K. (2015). Role development in professional nursing practice. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., Stockert, P., & Hall, A. (2016). Fundamentals of Nursing-E-Book. Amsterdam: Elsevier Health Sciences. Sherwood, G., & Barnsteiner, J. (Eds.). (2017). Quality and safety in nursing: A competency approach to improving outcomes. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Buerhaus, P. I., DesRoches, C. M., Dittus, R., & Donelan, K. (2015). Practice characteristics of primary care nurse practitioners and physicians. Nursing Outlook, 63(2), 144-153. Swan, M., Ferguson, S., Chang, A., Larson, E., & Smaldone, A. (2015). Quality of primary care by advanced practice nurses: a systematic review. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 27(5), 396-404.