The Graduate Nurse: Professional Learning Goals - Assignment Example

The nurse is a graduate

I thought of my transition as a process that would be quite easy. I thought that I would get the support I needed to help me go through the process. However, I have come to realize from my review of literature that the transition process is not an easy one. I established that the process has to be carefully managed if I am to fit into practice. Fitting in is quite difficult given the experience that I had during my placement. Fitting in is a complex process requiring support from peers and experienced nurses.  However, I believe that with the correct mindset and determination together with support from experienced nurses, I can manage the transition.

Duchscher (2008) argues that the graduate nurse is usually faced with a real shock that comes from the discrepancy between what the graduate nurse has learned in the classroom and what is actual or real in a health care setting. The graduate nurse in this case feels a sense of groundlessness. The resulting problems include anxiety insecurity and a feeling of inadequacy.  Dyess and Sherman (2009) say that the problem is even more serious today because of the fact that the graduate nurse can take the licensure examination moments after graduation and enter into practice as a fully registered nurse in a matter of weeks. This is different from the earlier case where graduate nurses would get a temporary license as they work with experienced nurses for a few months.  According to Cubit and Ryan (2011), the situation is not completely out of hand and can be mitigated through proper support programs, especially through Graduate Nurse Programs (GNP) that are provided by health care organizations. This strategy will only be effective if it is not approached from an inculturation approach but rather a support and socialization approach in order to help the graduate nurse to fit into the system.

I realized that it was not possible to do it on my own by moving straight into practice as I had little knowledge of the transition process and I was not aware of the graduate nursing programs available in my hospital setting. I would be in a better position if I developed the following

•Reading more on the topic

•Asking about other people’s experiences in order to learn from them

•Find out the graduate nursing programs available  at the hospital

•Establish factors that contributed to my inability to fit in and seek ways of mitigating them

In order to know whether I gained from the learning or not, I will look at:

•My transition process and establish whether it was successful or not

•My knowledge of the transition process and if I can help others go through it

•My understanding of the hospital graduate nurse programs

The Nurse as a leader

A leader is a person who is always looked at by others to provide guidance in situations of need. Being a leader is not a simple process and requires that one has an understanding of various issues around him or her and the people around him/her. I think that being a leader has to do with the skills and capabilities that one has. It is thus not possible for anyone to be a leader. Leadership as a nurse is crucial in order to enhance patient care. I observed this during my placement as I got to understand what roles and responsibilities a nurse leader undertakes and how to effectively handle leadership roles.

Nursing leadership is not a recent phenomenon. It is something that has been discussed for a while now (Stanley and Sherratt, 2010). The benefit of nursing leadership is seen in activities such as administration, education, health promotion, and political advocacy. Nursing leadership has been realized as a core competency that is required of all nurses in order to ensure the quality of care as well as patient safety (Pepin et al., 2011). A lot of discussions at the moment center on clinical nursing leader-a rather recent phenomenon, concerned with the advancement and facilitation of evidence-based practice together with improved patient outcomes through local care (Stanley and Sherratt, 2010). Many scholars agree that a nurse leader must possess skills similar to those possessed by Nightingale and these include: being approachable and open, an effective communicator, visibility in practice, clinically competent and knowledgeable, and an empowered decision-maker (Stanley and Sherratt, 2010).

Through reflection, I have realized that being a nurse leader is not a simple process. In order to be effective, I will need to work on the following learning goals.

•Review literature on nursing leadership especially clinical leadership to find out what it entails

•Asking nursing leaders what they consider effective skills in order to succeed as a nursing leader

•Working hand in hand with a clinical leader to find out what duties and roles they undertake on daily basis.

Here I will evaluate whether:

•I can lead others

•I know what styles of leadership are most effective

•I have leadership skills and capabilities

Nurse as an educator

Development occurs in stages. Each stage is a learning process that requires support from experienced people. This is the case with nursing. As a student nurse, one needs to learn the basics of nursing and the practice itself. I did this while I was on placement. I actually dreaded it but as soon as I got into the system, I managed to sail through well. This was because of the support that I received from the senior nurse practitioner. I believe that education is necessary in order to impart knowledge and skills to student nurses.

Clinical teaching is a concept well researched in the field of nursing. Clinical education is necessary in order to foster the clinical development of all nurses (Mannix, Wilkes, and Luck, 2009). It provides a learning opportunity for the integration and application of theoretical knowledge and skills. They also help in cultivating applied and social skills that are important in becoming an effective member of a health team (Mannix, Wilkes, and Luck, 2009). Various models have been advanced by scholars to help in clinical teaching. One model-the facilitator model- identifies three issues as crucial to clinical teaching and include the skills and knowledge of the facilitator, the willingness of the student learner, and the motivation of the student nurse to make the most out of the teaching experience (Mannix, Wilkes, and Luck, 2009). Bott, Mohide, and Lawlor (2009) advocate for the Five-minute Preceptor model which they argue is time-saving and provides high-quality educational experiences to students in complex clinical settings. Generally, Claudette (2006) from his study finds that teacher knowledge, as well as feedback and communication, are skills that are mandatory for nurse educators to ensure effective clinical teaching.

During my clinical placement is when I realized the value of nursing teaching. From my reflection, success depends on the approach taken by the educator and the motivations of the learners. In order to learn more from this goal I will:

•Read on what nursing education/ teaching is

•Engage with the educators in order to establish what skills they have that are important in the process

•Establish how the teaching is done at a number of reputable hospitals

•           Investigate what models of teaching are relevant to ensure student success during the teaching exercise.

I will establish whether:

•I have knowledge of the nursing teaching process and how it is done

•I understand the skills required of a nursing educator

•I understand how the teaching  process is carried out and which models are employed

Nurse as a manager

Management is a technical aspect of life. Without it much would not be achieved. I manage a lot of things in my life and thus I have thought of management as quite a simple process.  Being a nurse manager can be a hard task, given the fact that people, patients, and the community looks up to correct things not moving in the right direction. During my clinical placement, I got the chance to experience management firsthand and the experience was not as pleasant due to the many decisions that one has to make on a daily basis. I believe that effective managers are those that also exhibit leadership qualities and those who are able to ensure the quality of care as well as the safety of patients in the hospitals through a proper strategy.

Literature supports the concept of nursing management with scholars arguing that it is the right direction toward quality care by ensuring evidence-based best practice standards are achieved (Standing and Anthony, 2008).  A nurse manager does the same roles as the traditional manager such as planning, controlling, organizing, leading, and staffing. In order to achieve quality care and ensure patient safety, nurse managers often delegate duties and ensure the correct number of nurses per patient is maintained (Albanese et al., 2010). If there are poor delegation decisions then it means that patient outcomes will be affected (Standing and Anthony, 2008). Nursing managers are also involved in performance improvement and these are efforts directed at ensuring the quality of care and achieving excellence in clinical care (Albanese et al., 2010).

From my reflection, being a manager can be tricky, especially in a clinical setting. However, management is a key competency in nursing that I cannot avoid. In developing this learning goal, I will:

•Investigate managerial styles and models available to know which one is good for nurses

•Find out what roles nursing managers engage play in a clinical setting

•Find out what types of skills are most important for a nurse manager.

I will evaluate myself to find out

•Whether I have Managerial skills

•If I understand the roles of the nurse manager

•If I understand the various styles of managing people