Key Aspects of Reflective Assignment - Essay Example

REFLECTIVE ASSIGNMENT Being an ambitious of under graduate nursing programme, I have learnt different practical procedures, theoretical frameworks, technical skills and professional ethics related to nursing profession, which have wide opened new horizons of knowledge related to nursing profession. Before joining my college as a nursing student, I got one year experience of working as assistant nurse at community level. Nursing has always been my dream since my childhood; it is therefore, I had established specific set of goals, as the student of high school, in the light of which I had developed an outline in respect of my career path in life. I had been determined to: Become a responsible, humble and sympathetic citizen of my society Adopt such profession that could be beneficial for other members of society Help the ill persons suffering from diseases of various types Seek education, obtain knowledge and have command over the subjects related to my profession Work diligently to polish my professional skills and improve my dexterity and proficiency Consequently, I decided to become professional nurse in my life for which I had always been curious to become in practical life. Fortune gave me an opportunity of working as junior nurse at a community hospital as soon as I passed my A Levels exams. It is therefore, it was a pleasant experience to join as assistant community nurse at my local town. Though it was not a higher qualification certificate, yet it was sufficient to permit me work as this position. At hospital, I had orientation with the tasks and duties related to nursing. I enjoyed myself while working with the qualified doctors, experienced nurses and other dedicated staff of the hospital. I also got acquainted with the co-workers serving at the same position of assistant nurse. Among these co-workers, two assistant nurses became my classmates at college. At the hospital, I came to know the problems faced by the healthcare staff members while performing their duties and obligations. I was really moved to observe the dedication of doctors, nurses, cleansing staff and helpers during the course of their services-rendering, where all the staff forgot its own comforts for the sake of the patients under treatment at the hospital. Hence, I learnt that the nursing was not mere a profession; rather, it was a virtuous act to help the suffering humanity come out the state of misery. They deal with the patients undergoing various diseases and viruses, with extreme care and patience. “More so than other professionals”, Gaddis submits, “nurses intimately understand the communicable characteristics of a potentially contagious virus. And much like any transmittable organism, communications have the ability to infect or heal: With every word and action you are either positively affecting or negatively infecting your work environment. Your inner perceptions and attitude strongly impacts your outward attitude, and vice-versa.” (2002: p: 1; communicationsdoctor.com) It was completely a task oriented job at the community hospital, where I had to exhibit my skill on the basis of instructions issued by the doctors and qualified nurses. I had maintained great affiliation with my work, and put best of my energies in complying with the commands of my superiors. Hence, I applied both my skill and passion for the service of my community. Sometimes, some funny things used to happen at hospital, when the assistant nurses become too much conscious of their duties and collided with doors or articles while running speedily to help their seniors while attending the patients. I used to supervise cleansing procedure at the community hospital, and paid due heed in ensuring hygienic measures at wards, laboratory and rooms. Since I was not expected to work out of my own, I always confined my duties to the instructions given to me. Helping and caring the patients, on the instructions of my superiors was delightful for me. Since nursing has always been considered as one of the most sacred professions since ever, which aims to help the humanity undergoing pains and sufferings due to illness, accidents, addiction, diseases and old age etc, the medical professionals and nursing staff members have to deal with the weak, frail, old and ill individuals of society, to which no other professional likes to talk even while his suffering from one disease or the other. “Nurses care for the sick and injured in hospitals, where they work to restore health and alleviate suffering. Many people are sent home from the hospital when they still need nursing care, so nurses often provide care in the home that is very similar to the care they give to patients in the hospital.” (wpro.who.int) It is therefore nursing is rightly revered as the noblest profession where the professionals get an opportunity of serving the humanity undergoing health problems and sickness. “Nursing is a demanding profession that requires dedication. Nursing is not a 9 to 5 job because sometimes, you may be assigned to work the graveyard shift or extend beyond 8 hours of work especially when there are a lot of patients to attend to.” (Quoted in lifeinfozone.com) During my stay at the community hospital, the environment looked very fascinating to me. The arrangements of injections, strips, lotions, glucose and other material related to first aid and immediate treatment increased my passion to work as a qualified nurse as early as possible. I dreamed of bringing changes in the nursing behaviour so that the treatment and service methodology could be given wider directions for the best interest of the patients. I intended to improve doctor-nurse communication level, so that the learning process of the nurses could become easy and fast. Being a simple diploma holder only, I had no vast knowledge of nursing theories. Consequently, I used to treat different patients in the same lines as I was instructed. Actually I was unaware of the in-depth knowledge of the nursing theoretical framework, and dealt with the patients on the basis of my keen observation about health and treatment procedure. At the hospital, I worked day-in and day-out for the swift recovery of the patients. I also learnt computer courses during my stay at hospital, and learnt how to keep the record maintained and safe. I rendered valuable services to patients, but forgot about caring my personal health. Consequently, I remained ill and could not pay due heed to my professional obligations. After one year of my job as assistant nurse, I got admission at the local nursing college for my NVQ 3. At college, I got opportunity of learning different nursing and development theories, which could be effective in my practical nursing career, which is helpful while applying them in my career life as a graduate nurse. I had studied during my nursing classes Orem’s theoretical framework which revealed new dimensions of learning to me. Orem views health as “a state of physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (1980: p. 184, cited in Foster & Orem Bennett, 2001). Orem defines three major points while defining nursing i.e. self care, self care deficit and nursing systems. According to the theory every man has right to take care of himself. “Self care”, Bruce et al state, “is the ability to perform activities and meet personal needs with the goal of maintaining health and wellness of mind, body and spirit. Self care is a learned behaviour influenced by the meta-paradigm of person, environment, health and nursing. Three components: universal self care needs, developmental self care needs, and health deviation.” (2007: p 31: retrieved from www.nipissingu.ca) Hence, self care is essential in order to provide the patients with relief. If a nurse displays negligence towards her own health, she could not be declared as a responsible person at all; nor do the organisations look kind and sympathetic towards such employees who neglect their own life for the sake of others. “Careers in nursing or midwifery offer a range of opportunities to work with different groups of people in a variety of settings, including hospitals and the community. Registered nurses and midwives are responsible for assessing the needs of individuals, planning and implementing their care, and evaluating the effectiveness of that care. Nurses and midwives play a vital role in promoting health for individuals, families and the community.” (nursingnetuk.com) ACTION PLAN: Being the student of nursing, I aim to adopt the following ways for my practical life as nurse: Awareness of various diseases: One of the most important task before me is to obtain knowledge and awareness about various diseases and their symptoms so that the first aid could immediately be provided to the patients that are brought at the hospital, clinic or therapeutic centre provided the doctor is engaged at some other ward, or is temporarily unavailable at the occasion. Know-how of Technical Skills: Obtaining of the professional technical skills and leadership traits is also in the action plan I have determined for the career dexterity and improvement. The better the skills I have, the better the performance I can show while performing my duties. Moreover, I can also provide better assistance to my superiors at the work place. Assistance to the Co-workers: Assisting and supporting my seniors, co-workers and juniors is also included in my action plan. I want to become helpful for my juniors in transferring my skills to the juniors. I will keep in mind the eight-stage model presented by Erik Erikson in his Career Development Theory, where the first stage of model looks for developing trust at the work place with co-workers and clients. It can only be achieved by having intimate relations with the staff and patients. Second stage is related to development of confidence, while third stage looks for taking initiative. I have included all the eight stages in my action plan for the exercise of my knowledge and skill for the best interest of my organization. Participation in Seminars and Group Discussions: Learning is a long term process that carries on till the end of life. Being a committed nurse, I will leave no stone unturned for the improvement of my knowledge. For this purpose, I will certainly attend seminars, debates, and discussions related to my profession so that I can be able to serve and attend the patients under care in a more devoted and skilful way. REFERENCES: 1. Bridge, Jean., Cabell, Sally and Herring, Brenda Dorothea Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory http://prism.troy.edu/~scabell/Orem.pdf 2. Doweiko, Harold E. (2006). Concepts of Chemical Dependency Wadsworth Pub Co. ISBN: 053463284X 3. Gaddis, Susanne. (2002) The Power of Positive Nursing (Retrieved from http://www.communicationsdoctor.com/articles/positivenurse.pdf) 4. Grotstein, James S. and Rinsley, Donald B. (1994) Fairbairn and the Origins of Object Relations. New York & London: The Guilford Press, ISBN 0-89862- pp135-6. 5. Silverthorn, Pam (1999) Jean Piaget’s Theory of Development 6. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 7. Florence Nightingale: Mystic, Visionary, Healer (B.M. Dossey), p. 230. 8. Nursing Career Is A Demanding Profession! (Retrieved from http://www.lifeinfozone.com/education-training/nursing-career-is-a-demanding-profession/) 9. http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/nursing_theorists.html 10. www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/arohap/aphome/.../NightingaleTheory.ppt 11. http://www.wpro.who.int/internet/files/pub/85/1-6.pdf 12. http://www.ahot.utu.fi/yliopistot/materiaali/index/using_a_model_of_reflection.pdf 13. www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/arohap/.../DorotheaOremTheory.ppt 14. http://www.nursingnetuk.com/registration/NMC.html Read More