Overall I think that this was a successful test attempt. I made sure that I was giving each question enough time to read the question completely and see what it was asking. I also made sure that I was in a quiet environment that wasn’t distracting. I do think that there were some things I still could improve on during this exam. There were a few times I didn’t read the options to the question fully which led to me getting the questions wrong. For the next exam I plan to make sure that I’m not only just fully reading the question but also fully read the options to the question to avoid simple mistakes.
Growth in Critical Thinking
Career Development
A skill that the nurses had in the movie that I believe I need to continue to work on and improve is talking with families. So far in our course work we haven’t really focused too much on emotional intelligence which is a difficult skill to master. I think that this skill is one that needs to come with practice and practice. One of the patient populations that we as nursing students at UNE is the man who the nurse must drive hours into the desert. this nurse has to face many different barriers of care. There is nothing for hours around this patient make it difficult to get to him in the case of an emergency or provide care overall. This nurse also needs to be ready to do things that a nurse would not have to do in a conventional nursing role. The nurse’s humility is shown by her giving care in the first place. To give this patient care they had to drive hours just for one patient.
After the guest speakers from the career services came and spoke to us it gave me different things to think about when going in for a job interview. When it comes to standing out from the crowd of applicants, I like to make sure I have questions prepared. I’m going to make sure that the hospital aligns with my values as a nurse so having questions ready for the interviewer will make sure they do. One of the strengths I plan to show interviewers is my punctuality and making sure things are done on time. When it comes to “challenges” I think I would describe it as a slight lack of confidence. I feel like I do not know as much as I actually know sometimes and that makes me question what I do from time to time. In order to work on this challenge I will make sure to continue my education as a nurse making sure that I’m staying up to date with the latest practices. I think this will make me more confident as a nurse and improve my practice overall.
Proposing Change
Proposing Change
After picking the topic for our project and finding literature, I was able to learn a few more things about our topic than I had previously known. Practicing accurate documentation of intake and output leads to an overall increase in positive outcomes for patients. One of those benefits that I never really thought of was risk of inaccurate care plans. These potentially inaccurate care plans from inaccurate documentation can lead to a decrease in positive outcomes for the patient. While I was aware of the importance of correct documentation of intake and output for preventing things like electrolyte or fluid imbalances, the importance of having an accurate care plan is not as obvious.
Going forward in my practice as a nurse and using the information that I have learned from the literature; I will make sure to properly document intake and output. With knowing the issues that can arise like arrythmias from an imbalance of electrolytes or increased hospital stays for patients will help to reinforce the importance. Overall, practicing and documenting accurate intake and output will help me to provide the best care for my patient possible. In practicing good documentation hopefully will allow for the other nurses on the unit to also practice accurate documentation as well.
Our group seemed to run into some problems this time around and needed to do some heavy edits to get to where it eventually needed to be. When there would be a problem that came up luckily, we would often have time at clinical to all talk about what needed to get done. This was perfect because we all would be able to meet as a group outside of class to get together and do what we had to. When we weren’t discussing in person, we were able to use a text group chat to talk about any edits that were made and if people wanted to look at those edits. The collaboration allowed for us to make sure that the final draft was up to the standards that it needed to be.
Trauma and Informed Care
Being exposed to trauma can cause multiple different effects on a person over all well-being. People that have been exposed to trauma have been known to be less likely to get mental health. Instead, they will typically look for help by presenting with physical symptoms to a primary care setting. Rather than getting the mental help they need they get treated for other symptoms. In some cases, an effected person may be repeatedly missing appointments. Which may overall negatively affect the patient physically.
ACEs are responsible for long term impacts on overall health and social function. When children have been exposed to different adverse childhood experiences there has been a link to conditions such as diabetes, asthma, cancer, and depression. Children that experience ACEs are often more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as trying smoking or becoming heavy drinkers. Preventing ACEs can help to decrease the risk of developing such behaviors and conditions which is why it Is important to reduce the events from occurring.
When I become a practicing nurse it will be important to implement what I know about trauma informed principles. I will demonstrate respect for any and all of my patients no matter their background. In doing so I will make sure to establish some sort of rapport. Making sure the patients all know that I am here to help them or make sure they’re safe and that they can talk to me. Simultaneously respecting the boundaries of a patient. While I am there as a person they can talk to, I will make sure to respect the idea that they may not want to talk about things.
Public Health and Vulnerable Populations
Vulnerable or marginalized populations are defined as groups of people that are exposed to discrimination and exclusion. Those groups are typically made of minorities, kids, and the elderly. Among these populations there are healthcare disparities that other populations do not receive. These disparities are made up of three factors, individual, social, and environmental. Individual factors that affect the health of vulnerable and marginalized populations include a person’s characteristics and behaviors. This consists of a person’s diet, if they smoke or use substances, any risky sexual behaviors, sleep, and physical activity. The second factor is known as social factors. The social factors that effect a vulnerable or marginalized population are, the income of a person or a family, education, food security and housing. The third factor that affects vulnerable populations are environmental factors. The environmental factors are made of things like air pollution, climate change or access to health-related sources. When combined all of these disparities however are not a new thing. They have been dated back to the industrial revolution. The places that these vulnerable populations had been the target for building factories and other businesses. The quick rise of factories sprouted a whole long list of problems from infectious diseases being spread to unsanitary living conditions in general. The places the vulnerable populations did not live had things like new schools and nice grocery stores built. This early establishment of clear inequality has not been yet to leave our society today.
Trying to solve any disparities is a challenge that involves working with many different disciplinaries. It requires a team that is not just made up of health care workers. The team needs to look at what makes up the disparities in their community and try to brainstorm ideas to solve the issues that they identified. The team can reach out to local community centers to give classes to the public about the best ways possible to reduce of the disparities. Along with classes healthcare providers can provide things like free clinics in neighborhoods or towns that are not able to receive proper healthcare.
Knowing what we have learned about the present health care disparities among vulnerable populations, I will focus my practice of care to be the best possible for the patient no matter the patients’ circumstances. I will avoid using potential bias towards any and all clients that may cause to further healthcare disparities
Planning Change
In order for this project to be complete it will require good planning and even better communication. With the groups being the same ones used for clinicals will make it easier to try and figure out when people are available because we will see each other not just in in class. This gives us time to talk about the project and figure out what needs to get done even if we are not able to do that during class time.
This project has some different barriers to it than the others we have done in the past. Compared to the group essay we did last semester I feel that the dynamic may be slightly different. The groups for this project were preassigned versus being able to select the groups that people wanted to work with. It might be slightly harder to figure things out. While we have been in class together for a while now not everyone knows everyone, which can make it difficult to make sure people are held accountable for the work that needs to get done. However, once we start to get closer as a team things will start to mesh better and we will be able to figure out the best way to work together. Overcoming this barrier will help us in the clinical practice because it will help us to quickly figure out how other people work and figure out the best way to work with those people. After all working in the clinical setting is a team effort that requires everyone’s collaboration.
Influence Paper
The purpose of this paper was to look at the effect of health care providers receiving proper education on cultural competency will improve overall care provided to patients.
