Pavel Sviridov
NUR4010
Professor Thomas & Professor Gellar
Narrative Self-Reflection
Introduction
Nurses play a big role in client care and assessing the needs of the clients, whether it be in a hospital setting or in the community setting. This semester, my clinical site for community nursing was at Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation. This is a corporation which provides child day care services among other services to low-income families. During the clinical hours, I have collaborated with my peers and members of the organization on assessing the needs and health concerns of the community. We were able to come up with topics on important health issues within the community and developed presentations to further educate the parents, children, and members of the organization on these topics. Also, we reviewed children’s health records, observed the day to day operations of the organization, interacted with children, and observed dental students from another college perform dental exams on the children.
Objective 1: Demonstrated individual professionalism through personal behaviors and appearance.
An individual’s appearance and behavior are very important aspects of being a professional. I am a very punctual person and always come on time for clinical. I dress professionally in pants, button down shirt, shoes, and a lab coat. Always, ready to start the clinical on time and have preconference as well as contribute to any discussion that we might have that day. I am always engaged and willing to help my peers and staff of the organization at which we are stationed for clinical. I am friendly, non-judgmental, want to make everyone around me feel comfortable, and use proper language.
Objective 2: Employ analytical reasoning and critical thinking skills when providing care to individuals and families in the community setting.
Critical thinking skills and reasoning are essential to make the right decisions in certain situations. I have been engaged in brainstorming different ideas for topics to present related to the health problems in the community. My topic was child safety as we were in a child care center. Child safety is important as many children are prone to injuries that can affect them throughout their life as well as result in death. The presentation was appropriate for the audience and educational for the staff. The organization kept my presentation for possible later use.
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.
America, and specifically New York is very diverse. The neighborhood of our clinical was Cypress Hills, which is mainly a Spanish speaking community. Our presentations overview was given to the manager of the organization to translate the material into Spanish for the parents and children that do not speak English well. The presentations were implemented through PowerPoint slides, using simple vocabulary and pictures to enhance the educational material. It is critical to know the community you work in and be culturally sensitive as a nurse.
Objective 4: Establish environment conductive to learning and use a plan for learners based on evidence based practice.
Upon assessing the community, we found that a substantial amount of people living there are Spanish speaking, are of low socioeconomic status, and low education level. Many health problems exist within the population that the manager of the organization explored with us as well as through research for our service learning project. Some of the topics that were relevant to the community were diabetes, obesity, poor nutrition, smoking cessation, personal hygiene, and asthma. Each person in the clinical group chose a topic to present for their individual presentation. I chose child safety which I presented to the staff of the Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation. I extensively researched on the topic using evidence based practice to support my material. The PowerPoint slides were then given to the manager for possible use in the future to educate children and their parents, as well as staff.
Objective 5: Utilize informational technology when managing individuals and families in the community.
Technology is revolutionizing the healthcare field especially with the addition of the electronic medical records. Maintaining confidentiality is very important as the information on each patient should not be leaked or talked about with anyone else unless they are directly involved the care of the patient. The facility that we had clinical at did not have an electronic health records system. They still use paper for health records which we reviewed and maintained confidentiality while doing so. Maintaining professionalism while communicating with the staff, professor, and my peers was also critical.
Objective 6: Demonstrate a commitment to professional development.
I am always trying to educate myself on the new advancements in the medical field through research and reading nursing journals. Also, I want to further my education by pursuing a master’s degree. Always asking questions on topics I am interested to learn more about or not sure about is important. I do not take criticism personally but rather as something to better myself and strengthen my weaknesses. Nursing is lifelong learning process which I am fully dedicated to and look further to the challenges ahead.
Objective 7: Incorporate professional nursing standards and accountability into practice.
Being accountable is a key component of nursing while providing patient care. As a nurse, I want to provide the best and most quality care for my patients using evidence based practice utilizing the American Nurses Association. It is important to know the mission statement, philosophy, and the objectives of every organization as well as learning the policies. Knowing your scope of work is another important aspect, as you have to be accountable for your actions. Patient safety is number one.
Objective 8: Collaborate with clients, significant support persons and members of the health care team.
Every day in clinical, we have preconference on different topics related to the community needs, health problems, and nursing theories that apply. Also, we all collaborate together along with the manager of the facility in order to get a better insight on the community at hand and what management techniques need to be used. Everyone speaks with respect, one at a time, and contributes their knowledge.
Objective 9: Recognize the impact of economic, political, social and demographic forces that affect the delivery of health care services.
The impact of economic, political, social and demographic forces affect the delivery if health care services in a significant way and interrelate with each other. The Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation provides services for children of low income families and is funded by the government. Any cuts from the government can jeopardize their ability to provide these services and their existence overall. The community is mainly Spanish speaking and of low socioeconomic status with a low education level. In addition, some of the residents there are illegal which can affect their reluctance to seek health care. Language barriers also exist and can prevent the people of the community to find the help or information they need.
Conclusion
During the clinical this semester, all nine objective mentioned above were met. Community nursing is just as important as the hospital setting as preventive services provided can greatly lower the number of people being admitted to the hospital and live healthier lives. Also, the information in lectures was correlated with what we learned and implemented in the clinical setting. This course was a great experience for me and something new. Providing education and preventive services such as screenings and vaccines can keep the people in the community live long and healthy lives. Learning about many of the barriers that exists in the community setting has prepared me for the future.
