Please describe in a 5-6 page paper your reflection on any of the following topics. You can choose to write on one topic or combine two or three. Below are prompts on helping you develop your reflection. You do not need to answer the questions suggested in the prompts.
1) Reflection on Practice: Describe an experience that has impacted you and your practice as a nurse. This experience could have been during a student nurse/patient encounter or in observation of nursing at its’ finest when you were the patient or the family member. Reflect on this experience and how it has impacted you as a person and as a nurse. Reflect on your current practice in nursing and your care for patients. Discuss how you will continue your practice with these values in mind. Discuss how the last two years of nursing school have helped shape and support these values (Review QSEN competencies). Lastly, discuss the ideal nurse and create your own philosophy of nursing. How you will continue to try to work toward this image and philosophy of nursing.
2) Impact on Patient: In every human encounter we communicate one of three messages:
- You are a unique human being with inherent dignity and worth and I care about you and your well- being.
- You are a job to be done. You mean nothing to me.
- You are a worthless wretch and my shift would be better without my having to interact with you.
è Which method of care did you utilize with your patient encounters? Was I one more anonymous face interacting with the patient? Did I make the critical difference for this patient and family and will I be remembered for doing so? Was my effect toxic? Will I be remembered for harming the patient or family by what I did or by what I failed to do?
3) Value of Patient Centered Care Adapted from Educating for Person-Centered Nursing Care: Carol Taylor, PhD, RN Georgetown University School of Nursing Every patient is an individual with different values and needs. How did you grasp the practice of patient centered care and try to connect and understand your patient’s culture/way of life? How did you value humanity? Did you recognize the impact that this acute disease process may have on this person’s way of life and values? How does this relate to the art and science of nursing?
Please review the prompts below to reflect how you value patient- centered care.
- è All team members are considered caregivers. Identify the team members you worked with. Describe what/how they contributed to person-centered care for your patient. Describe the meaningful conversations you had and what they meant to you. What did you learn from other members of the team that enhanced your ability to care for this patient/family?
- è Care is based on continuous healing relationships Describe what you did to make your interactions with the patient/family qualify as healing relation versus a mere business transaction or provision of service. This principle reinforces a focus on the continuum of care. In what ways did your care anticipate and prepare your patient and family for the days ahead.
- è Care is customized and reflects patient needs, values, and choices. Describe what you learned about this patient/family as unique individuals (strengths, needs, values and preferences) that allowed you to creatively individualize the plan of care. In what specific ways is your plan of care different from any standardized plan of care?
- è Care is provided in a healing environment of comfort, peace and support. When we think healing environment we usually think of music, healing gardens, soothing colors. Assess your patient’s healing environment and describe what you did to facilitate the creation of such an environment. How can you adapt these principles in critical care settings, emergency rooms, clinics, etc.? What percentage of the plan of care addresses patient needs other than physiological needs?
- è Families and friends of the patient are considered an essential part of the care team. Has the patient identified family members or others he/she wishes to be part of the care team? If the patient is not able to articulate preferences is there a legally valid surrogate making decisions? In what ways have you communicated with these individuals and provided the information and support they need to help the patient?
- è Transparency is the rule in the care of the patient. True person-centered care requires transparency between providers and patients as well as among providers. Patients or their designees need information so they can make informed decisions. Does your patient have the information he/she needs to make informed decisions? If not, in what ways are you addressing this?
- è The patient is the source of control for their own care. Assess the degree to which your patient or her/his designee is the source of control for the plan of care. What factors are constraining this and what are you doing to address these factors?
