Immunisation Requirements, Group Work Reflection and Nursing Process - Coursework Example

NURS 1055 Professional Placement Journal: Immunisation requirements The nursing profession is a fulfilling one yet it can be risky and prove fatal to a practitioner’s health if caution is not applied. The Department of health requires that all Registered Nurses be immunized for a number of vaccine preventable diseases. As a student nurse I understand that the benefit of meeting this vaccination requirement is for my own protection. During this professional placement exercise, I will come into contact with different groups of people who range from healthy to sick. According to the Health Department in Victoria, health care workers should be immunized because they are at a risk of being exposed to vaccine preventable diseases and they are also capable of transmitting the same to others especially the patients. Therefore receiving vaccination for diseases such as rubella, measles, pertussis and hepatitis helps in boosting the immunity of healthcare workers and ensures there is little or no transmission of such diseases to patients from healthcare workers as well as to health care workers form the patients. During the professional clinical placement, a nursing student will come into contact with patient’s body and blood substances, which are infectious thus placing them at a risk of contracting the infections. However, full compliance to the immunization requirements ensures that the student nurse is at a lower risk or no risk at all of being infected since the body’s immunity has been boosted. This means that adhering to the immunisation requirements is an important task for nursing student in helping to prevent and control infections. Nursing students benefit in many ways from the immunisation program. Apart from the above mentioned benefits, adhering to these requirements gives one the ability to work in a variety of medical health settings. With proof of vaccination the students are then accepted to work in the various clinics, community health facilities, hospitals and hospices. In this case one is then allowed to actively participate in client work, where he/she comes into direct and indirect contact with the patients. This way the practical learning process begins and develops, allowing the student nurse to gain the much needed practical experience. On the other hand, the immunization process for any student nurse is a step towards meeting the professional requirements for the nursing profession. Therefore it is very important to get immunized as a way of protecting oneself, the patients and fellow health care workers. In addition it is a step that allows one to meet the required standards of practice in the nursing profession. NURS 1055 Professional Placement Journal: Group Work Reflection During the professional placement activity, I was involved in a group work activity with my fellow students, where we investigated the issue of violence on healthcare workers by patients, their families and friends. During this activity, we did a research on the impact of patient violence on healthcare professionals with a specific focus on registered nurses working within healthcare facilities. This activity was helpful to us in that we got to learn some of the challenges we would be facing once we get into practice. According to statistics, about 73% of doctors and nurses in Australia report having experienced workplace violence from their patients in the process of their work. In the USA, nursing care facilities in the year 2011 recorded 18.9% of patient violence against healthcare givers while the general medical hospital had recorded up to 16.8% of such incidents. As student nurses, professional placement is a requirement for the course and during the placement we will have to carry out patient care and as such we will come into direct contact with patients. With my fellow students we discovered that nurses are exposed to the highest risk of experiencing violence instigated by patients, their families or friends. This was useful insight because it is a universal problem meaning that it does not only occur in Australia. However, despite these shocking statistics, we were glad to realise that different facilities recognize this threat, and some have adopted measures to protect and empower their workers. As such nurses and other healthcare workers are continuously trained on how to identify and recognize violent patients, such that they are able to respond before it gets out of hand and turns into physical violence. Working in a group made me realize the importance of cooperation and upholding teamwork. As a nurse one has to often consult his/her colleagues on certain matters, thus making it very important to maintain a good working relationship with them. In addition colleagues provide social and professional support which every worker needs to grow in the job regardless of whatever profession one is in. This team activity has opened my eyes by providing a glimpse into the challenges that I will face during my professional practice. It has also made me realize that team work is not a very easy task since teams are made up of people with different personalities and interests. Therefore, patience and focus is of importance for any team to work, and each team has to have a strong leader who is able to pool members together to achieve their goals. NURS 1055 Professional Placement Journal: Nursing Process "at-work" The professional placement activities that I have been involved in lately have been very empowering and worthwhile for me to practice the nursing process that I have learnt theoretically. To begin with, meeting the necessary requirements of the nursing profession such as being immunized against vaccine preventable diseases; proved to be the starting point of practical learning in my bid to be a qualified and competent nursing professional. As a nursing student, one of the tasks at hand was to prepare a learning plan which would act as a guide throughout my study of the nursing course. I believe this exercise was very helpful to me because it is a preparation of what is to come in the real practical setting. Planning is an important aspect in my profession since this is what the nursing process emphasizes; I know that I am on the right path. During the professional placement exercise within the community, planning is a vital part of the assignment since it helps to organize work activities so that they can be executed systematically. Applying the nursing process to practice makes work easier since the nurse is able to understand his/her patients based on aspects such as the environment in which the patient lives in and his/her family. Over time I realized that the nursing process helped me in dealing with different people since I was more empathetic towards them given their situation and problem. During this process I was able to identify a number of issues/problems faced by the community. In return, actively applying the principles of the nursing process helped me in conducting my own evaluation of the situation; and at the end generated possible solutions to the problem using a holistic approach. To achieve this one of the most important aspects is to be clear in communication with the target group of people; this helped me in building trust with the members of the community and in this way my assignment became easier to complete. In my experience, applying the nursing process to practical work make work easier for nurses because then; they have an upper hand in dealing with the patients. Planning ensures that there is continuity of care even in the absence of the person who developed the care plan for whatever case is being handled. This process ensures that patients receive effective care in hospital settings as well as in nursing facilities. NURS 1055 Professional Placement Journal: Professional Placement Activity: Learning Experience It is often said that every day and experience is a learning process and I could not agree more with that. Throughout my clinical placement, every day, every activity proved to be a great learning experience for which I feel very grateful. As a nursing student I look forward to becoming a fully fledged and competent registered nurse. The clinical placement helped me realize the diversity of situations that registered nurses are exposed to in their day to day routine activities thus requiring them to be flexible and open to learning. I learnt that a nurse has to take responsibility for majority of the care activities mostly defined by their work facility setting. In whatever setting a nurse is working in he/she is held liable for ensuring that all the services provided are consistent with the required competencies. During this placement activity I was able to gain competence in the area of planning, organizing and allocating health care needs. As a nurse one is responsible for ensuring optimal health for the clients and planning is one of the ways of ensuring this is attained. In the healthcare setting I learnt that planning is crucial in managing patient’s information as well as their conditions. One is required to develop a healthcare plan for every client right from the entry to the exit stage. This ensures that there is continuity of service delivery even in the absence of the person who develops the plan. On the other hand I was able to develop my communication skills especially in the area of establishing therapeutic relationships with patients and their families. A nurse is often required to provide crucial information to patients and their families and this requires empathy and understanding of their situation. Good communication skills are very vital for this task. During this learning experience I was involved in research activities aimed at improving nursing care in a variety of settings. Here I learned that registered nurses will often get involved in research and continuous professional development activities in a quest to improve on their competence. On the other hand nurses often get involved in advocacy activities, where they push for the rights of the people they serve. They provide a strong force in ensuring that every individual receives proper health care attention without any form of discrimination. The special part about this is that registered nurses work in settings such as mental health institutions, community health facilities, established medical hospitals and small clinics. All in all they understand that every population represented has unique needs which are to be brought to the attention of the government and public. Finally I learnt that as a nurse one often acts as teacher by passing on necessary information to the community. Therefore I am ready to be an agent of change through advocacy, providing efficient health care services and providing vital health information to the populations that require it within my community. Read More