Professional Reflection Essay Paper
Professional Reflection Essay Paper
The capstone experience has been an eye opener, challenging, and informative, especially with regards to the administrative needs of nurse professionals to support direct patient care. The capstone has me explore a real-life scenario in which I identified an existing problem in a health care facility before exploring different strategies for addressing the problem. Next, I presented a plan for applying an appropriate solution. The capstone identified Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital (UCVH) located in Colebrook, New Hampshire, as the medical facility. A review of the facility’s situation identified the absence of cancer care services as an issue of concern. To address the concern, a plan was presented to create a cancer care department in the facility. The experience was an eye opener since it made me aware that nurse personnel are not only concerned with presenting primary care, but are also concerned with ensuring that the care environment is optimized for the best outcomes for patients and medical personnel. The experience was challenging since I only had minimal management experience and yet the capstone required me to manage all aspects of a project from inception to completion. The experience was informative since I was able to evaluate information from a range of sources in different stakeholder perspectives, getting to understand that what one group focuses on is not necessarily the same as what another group would focus on. For instance, the facility’s administrators are concerned with financial viability while cancer patients are concerned with receiving the health care they need. With the capstone experience, I have become more appreciative of the value of nurse personnel as an integral tool for the delivery of efficient and effective health care. Besides that, the capstone experience has validated the learning experience at SNHU, allowing me to practice the concepts I learned in the course work and get familiar with their practical (real world) applications (Ellis, 2016). Professional Reflection Essay Paper
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The capstone experience was a profound lesson on cultural competence in nursing. It noted that there are changing demographics among patients with cancer being increasingly prevalent and a source of health care concern. Through failing to provide cancer care, UCVH is presented as lacking cultural awareness and failing to provide culturally competent care targeted at cancer patients thereby increasing the stresses they experience and causing them to receive inadequate care at the facility. Through developing a cancer care department that incorporates the perspectives of the primary stakeholders, the project demonstrates cultural awareness that adapts cancer care to be congruent with the patients’ needs and cultures. To be more precise, the new department is expected to be effective in enabling medical personnel to establish rapport with patients, and to accurately assess, develop and implement medical interventions that are designed to meet the needs of the patients. As a nurse, the capstone project has allowed me to support the decisions made by patients and ensure that conflicts with mainstream health care practices are resolved (Finkelman, 2016).
The capstone experience had me engaging different stakeholders to get their perspectives, expectations, and input into the project. Engaging these stakeholders was mainly reliant on interpersonal skills and collaborative processes that allowed me to collect their honest opinions and engage them in discourses to understand how their views can be meshed for more acceptable outcomes. Through engaging the different stakeholders, I have become more appreciative of the diversity that exists within the health care environment. This is aligned with my professional goal of being a manager in the health care industry with the capacity to offer a platform that allows other personnel to express their opinions in constructive discourses. Through the experience I now understand that it is not uncommon for the opinions of stakeholders to converge and diverge, and that managers must know how to prioritize the opinions to extract the most value while maintaining good relationships. Still, the experience was challenging and it made me aware that my interpersonal skills are deficient and require more practice before I can become proficient (Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2016). Professional Reflection Essay Paper
The experience has made me aware that nurses have the capacity and tools to promote continue health care quality improvement. That is because nurses have access to research tools (such as health care information) that allows them to understand the problems in their practice. In addition, they have access to publications that allow them to explore known solutions and apply evidence-based practice even as they present logical new and unique solutions. To be more precise, the experience made me aware that advanced education allows nurses to acquire more knowledge and skills even as they take on greater responsibilities in creatively solving existing problems in their practice environment. Given this awareness, I am resolved to continue my nursing education, take on more professional responsibilities, and engage in forums that allow me to apply the skills I learn. Through this approach I will be able to promote continuous health care quality improvement in my professional life (Ellis, 2016). Overall, the capstone experience has been unique in allowing me to appreciate nursing as an evolving profession that continuously seeks improvements.
references
Ellis, P. (2016). Evidence-based practice in nursing (3rd ed.). London: Learning Matter/SAGE Publications Ltd.
Finkelman, A. (2016). Leadership and management for nurses: core competencies for quality care (3rd ed.). London: Pearson Education.
Porter-O’Grady, T. & Malloch, K. (2016). Leadership in nursing practice: changing the landscape of healthcare (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
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Professional Reflection Essay Paper