Marie G. Charles, RN
New York City College of Technology
Professor E. Leinung
Community Health Nursing
Narrative Self-Reflection
Fortunately, I was able to meet all clinical objectives in the semester within my clinical site at Kings County Hospital. My clinical performance was safe, adequate in displaying the nursing process, communication, psychomotor skills and integration of theory. My individual professionalism was demonstrated through perfect time and attendance, the completion of projects, presenting to a community of people while they look to me for information, maintaining respect for my peers, the patients, and health care professionals, as well as maintaining the appropriate professional attire at all times. Using client, interviews, nursing and medical records, staff nurses and other health professionals to collect client information helped to me to employ analytical reasoning and critical thinking skills when providing care to individuals and families in the community settings. I was able to effectively communicate with diverse groups and disciplines using a variety of strategies regarding the health needs of individuals and families in the community settings through adapting communication skills to the developmental needs of the client. An environment conducive to learning was established and the use of a plan for learners based on evidence based practice, through developing and implementing a teaching plan for the women and their families in the community setting. I was able to utilize informational technology when managing individual and families in the community, through utilizing principles of nursing informatics in the clinical area while maintaining strict confidentiality with client records. My commitment to professional development was demonstrated through, using appropriate literature in planning care for clients in the community setting. I incorporated professional nursing standards and accountability into practice by being accountable for my actions in the clinical area, complying with agency standards, and being aware of the agency’s mission. Collaborating effectively with the health care team to address client problems allowed for me to collaborate with the clients, significant support persons, and members of the health care team. Lastly, I recognized the impact of economic, political, social, and demographic forces that affect the delivery of health care services through, beginning to identify solutions to complex problems in the clinical area, and advocating to appropriate health care resources for client/families.
I feel as if the clinical experiences and the didactic setting experiences correlate to each other because both the material of what is learned in the classroom and during clinical combined taught me about the development of critical-thinking abilities, along with promoting the ability to strengthen therapeutic communication skills, and developing a holistic assessment of the community to be able to diagnose a problem, plan the care, and build a strategy to implement the plan of care among a culturally diverse setting. My knowledge of community health nursing was motivated providing the competencies that I needed to create a useful and meaningful learning experience especially through the clinical portion of the course. The research that we had to engage in for both the didactic and clinical settings provided simulation and support to the knowledge that I have obtained, which then led to the confidence in presenting to community of individuals in need of the information given. Personally, the knowledge construction of this course maximizes my learning and success for future similar approaches in my professional future. I am grateful to have been able to achieve professional growth, knowledge, and confidence from this overall experience.
