Janibel Corona Lopez, RN

Self Reflection  

The clinical experience has been a crucial part of my nursing education. Community health nursing has been a unique and eye opening experience. My clinical site was in the Cypress Hills Child CareCorporation. I’ve been able to polish my nursing skills and learn new things. This self reflection is a compilation of my efforts to get the most out of this clinical.

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Objective 1:  Demonstrates individual professionalism through personal behaviors and appearance

The clinical experience was an important time for me to practice professionalism. My clinical took place in the office of the Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation. Because punctuation and attendance was very important to me, I didn’t miss a clinical day and always came to the clinical site on time. To maintain a professional appearance I wore professional attire, usually slacks, a blouse, and closed toed flats. In order to successfully complete assignments my classmates and my self planned for the clinical experience with plenty of time ahead and made sure to communicate with our clinical professor to clarify what was expected of us for each assignment. At different times during the semester, I was given the responsibility of reviewing client charts, which included medical information. I was sure to keep HIPAA  in mind during these assignments to successfully maintain client confidentiality. I actively participated during pre-conference by sharing ideas, questions, concerns and offering possible solutions to issues that may have come up in relation to assignments. At the end of the day it was important to thank the staff of CHCCC for their time and helpfulness during our clinical time.

Objective 2: Employ analytical reasoning and critical thinking skills when providing care to individuals and families in the community setting

Due to the nature of the community setting my clinical took place in, I did not have a typical client assignment like I would’ve had in a hospital or clinic setting. During this clinical the Cypress Hills community was our client. Our contribution to the community was our service learning project. For this, we planned presentations on various topics that affected the community. The critical thinking requirement of the clinical experience was fulfilled by assessing the community and deciding which topics needed to be covered to better the community. To assess the community, a long with my classmates, I completed a windshield survey of the neighboring area, and even spoke to community members encountered on the streets. This gave me an idea of the setup of the community and the different cultures and languages spoken within the community. The topics chosen were as follows; food allergies, nutrition and exercise, oral hygiene and influenza. Although I didn’t have the opportunity to administer medication I did have the chance to teach about it. During the presentations on food allergies and influenza the proper use of the epinephrine pen and various antiviral medications were discussed. To evaluate the effectiveness of the presentations, at the end the audience was asked questions and at times prompted to demonstrate what they learned. Because the community has a large number of Spanish speaking members, the food allergies and influenza presentations were done both in Spanish and English.

Objective 3: Effectively communicate with diverse groups and disciplines using a variety of strategies regarding the health needs of individuals and families in the community setting

Effective communication was a crucial part of my clinical experience. In order to successfully carry out the service learning presentations, coordination between the various parties involved had to be very effective. To inform my classmates of any changes or new information I came across, I made it a point to communicate with them through text or in person. Through out the semester at various times I came into contact with the pediatric population. In order to carryout service learning for this population, I changed the way I communicated and tailored it to their developmental stage. By changing the vocabulary I used and positioning myself to be eye to eye with the children I was able to effectively connect and teach them. During client chart reviews I effectively reported discrepancies and asked for clarification of assignments. To me an essential part of communicating is also being able to listen. During pre and post conferences it was important for me to listen to my peers and instructor in order to understand their perspective.

Objective 4: Establish environment conducive to learning and use a plan for learners based on evidence-based practice.

The service learning presentations were developed and implemented on topics like nutrition, exercise and oral hygiene. Powerpoint, video, handouts and demonstrations were used to facilitate learning. In addition highly interactive methods such as return demonstration and teamwork were used in order to maintain the audiences attention and to evaluate the participant’s learning.

Objective 5: Utilize informational technology when managing individual and families in the community

In the community setting of our clinical I did not have access to informational technology. But in multiple occasions, I did in fact have to review client’s medical charts to ensure they were up to date and met CHCCC standards. During this time I made sure to protect client information by maintaining strict confidentiality by only discussing discrepancies with the appropriate CHCCC staff.

Objective 6: Demonstrate a commitment to professional development

I see the clinical experience as a crucial time to improve my skills and learn knew ones. In this particular setting my interpersonal skills were tested. I had to communicate and coordinate heavily with my fellow classmates and instructor in order to successfully carry out service learning presentations. I also researched the different topics of interest to make sure the presentations held the latest and most accurate information. I have also set goal for myself to join peer-reviewed, evidenced based nursing journals in order to carry on lifelong learning. I truly believe that self-reflection and evaluation are skills to be learned and perfected. Due to my introverted tendencies I made an effort this semester to step out of my comfort zone and be an active participant during the presentations. It was a challenge but ultimately I became more and more comfortable as the semester transpired.

Objective 7: Incorporate professional nursing standards and accountability into practice

This clinical experience allowed me to collect data about the community in order to identify a need that we could possibly fulfill. With this information I was able to identify possible outcomes for the members of the community and plan, along with my classmates, an appropriate course of action. We were able to implement this plan and evaluate the outcomes through service learning presentations and post-intervention evaluations. A major goal CHCCC has stated is to nurture the minds of the neighborhoods youngest minds. Our presentations to the kids seemingly had a positive impact on the children and they were happy to see use everytime we returned to teach them something new. I took responsibility for my portion of work during our clinical to ensure fairness to my classmates.

Objective 8: Collaborate with clients, significant support persons and members of the health care team

Collaboration with the CHCCC was very important. We communicated how we were planning to carry out our presentations with the staff. They provided us with many helpful resources such as computers, projectors and props for our presentations. During our flu and food allergies presentation we provided the attendees with useful links where they could access more information from home. During our food allergies presentation I made a coloring page for the children to take home and it was used to help them identify common allergy causing foods. The helpfulness of the staff was very valuable and it was incredibly easy to coordinate with them.

Objective 9: Recognize the impact of economic, political, social and demographic forces that affect the delivery of health care services

In theory class, we were always taught about the effects of socioeconomic status on a person’s health. An attendee to one of our presentations mentioned that when one of her children gets sick so do the rest. This was related to the close proximity they had to live in. Due to their income they lived in an apartment where multiple children shared the same room. We spoke about the importance of proper hand washing and using the ‘vampire-cough’ and demonstrated proper technique, we also encouraged them to get the yearly flu-shot to decrease the chances of getting the flu.

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Community nursing has opened my eyes to a branch of nursing I hadn’t thought of exploring before. Although the same process that is used in the hospital setting can be applied to the community, its applied at a much greater scale. I’ve been able to step out of my reserved comfort zone in order to provide quality service to the Cypress Hills community. I’ve gained a greater understanding of the importance of assessing a community and the varying cultures of its members. This clinical has given me the opportunity to practice professionalism, critical thinking, communication and accountability. Its also helped me realize how important my commitment to life long learning, really is.