Professional Documents
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The Importance of Reflective Practice in The Advancement of A Nursing Career
The Importance of Reflective Practice in The Advancement of A Nursing Career
Introduction
Reflective practice is the continual and gradual activity that can be used to assist nurses
to make sense of situations at work and to improve ultimately the care they provide from their
from the community, the quality of the health care I provide to my patients will drastically
improve and of high standard if the acquired skills and attitudes are of high standards. Thus, my
previous acquired experience in terms of education, skills and attitudes are of great importance in
preparing me for my entry onto the professional register for nursing care. This paper is going
critically analyze and elaborate on my reflections from the community that has gradually
time I began the nursing course until now and how my reflection to these experiences are going
to enhance my professionalism as a registered nurse in the future. The Nursing and Midwifery
Council (NMC) is the state of mental, spiritual, social and physical individual well-being, and it
is not infirmity or the absence of a disease. According to NMC, nursing is the process where the
health needs of the society are usually met when they arise and mainly promoting health for all
the people. This paper is also going to provide a critique on how basing practice on reflection
from the community service has impacted my role as a qualified nurse. The reflective practice
Discussion
Being a student nurse, therefore, requires one to learn more from the community. During
my third year, I have gained a lot from the community. NMC is the council that usually regulates
the profession of the nurses through registration. NMC’s dedication is to safeguard the society’s
health. The council regulates the nurses who qualify to be professional. NMC set the standards
for training, performance, education and conduct that the midwives and the nurses can deliver
the healthcare of high quality. The skills acquired from the community experience include
social and the cultural sensitivity. (Benner, P., 2010). The reflective practice of the community
enables the growth and development of these qualities in nurses through the fostering of practice
events’ understandability, and how one’s approach, personal and personality history added to the
way situations may have arose and the manner in which they were dealt with. The
communication and interpersonal skills are very crucial towards the transition from the student
nurse to the professional nurse. These entails the ability to associate well with other people
especially patients that I was looking after. For instance, as a third year student, caring for a
patient with oedemas and ulcerated leg and documenting care provided to the patient under no
supervision has equipped me with the necessary skills and knowledge that is essential for a
registered nurse. It has enhanced my communication capabilities with the patient and at the same
time presenting the reports regarding the patient to the head doctors. How my experience as a
3rd-year nurse prepares me for becoming a registered nurse. The patients mainly come from
various communities in the society (Benner, P., Tanner, C., 2009). Communicating with the
patient and those close to them, gives higher chances of understanding the patient. A nurse who
do not understand the conditions of their patients cannot treat nor take care of them. A nurse who
understand her or his patients have very high chances of treating the patient and recommending
future care for the patient. Hence, communication and interpersonal skills from community
experience serve very impressively for the nurse becoming a professional registered nurse in his
or her field (Eimer, M., 2000). Another skill is the self-confidence that involves the confidence
that the nurse have in treating their patients. Confidence helps one to do things that even other
people cannot be able to doing them. Self-confidence helps the nurse to be able to face
conditions that may sound weird to the other people. These helps the nurse to be a professional
nurse since they can deal with any situation brought to them since they know their primary role
is taking care of their patients in the community (Benner, P., Tanner, C., Chesla, C., 2011). It
helps them to provide advice to their patients that are necessary for the recovering process of the
patients. Some of the patient’s conditions require guidance and counseling (Benner, P., Tanner,
C., Chesla, C., 2007). Once the mind of the patient perceives that she is getting well, they get
well with time. Hence, self-confidence is an essential skill and attitude in nurturing towards
By caring for a patient with Oedemas and the ulcerated leg, helped me improve my
professionalism of nursing, documenting care provided. I visited the patient unsupervised since I
was in 3rd year of my training. From the patient together with self-awareness and facilitation
skills also enhance a student nurse to become an entirely recognized nurse in the community.
These enable an individual not to be an observer, but rather to be a team player in the
community. NMC insists that the health standards of the patients ought to be maintained by the
nurses. Therefore, they offer registration to those nurses who are well equipped with the
significant skills and attitudes and are devoted towards providing the care to the society as a
whole. For me to get to be a registered nurse, it is important that I uphold all the stipulated
requirements my NMC and also go an extra mile of visiting my patients at all the time to ensure
that they are good condition. Also, encourage my patients regarding their condition by giving
them hopes of recovering soon despite the fact that they may be in a critical condition (Cader, R.,
Campbell, S., Watson, D., 2005). Some patients brought to the hospital are in a very critical
condition. Thus, nurses are expected to ensure that the patients stay positive at all time in order
for them to recover within a short duration. Despite some patient’s condition being worse, they
just recover and are released to go home if the nurse has the necessary skills and attitudes to
make it possible. Hence, self-awareness and the facilitation skills are essential qualities for
students’ nurse registration to a professional nurse concerning the community experience during
the practice as a student nurse (Gobet, F., 2002). The patients I attended to came from different
communities, thus, social and cultural sensitivity enabled the nurse to understand quickly the
cultural background of the patients from the community they come from, which is crucial in the
communicating with them without causing contradictions thus enhancing their healing process
(Dawes, R.M., 2012). For example, some patients come from a culture where they believe that
doctors and nurses do not play any role in their healing process thus nurses should consider such
beliefs while attending to the patients (Chassy, P., Gobet, F., 2005). The community serves a
everything to ensure that my patients heal quickly and resume to their daily lives. The other
qualities of creative problem-solving, time management, and analytical skills. Also, independent
working, and the ability for nurses to influence others towards positive changes enhances the
nurses to performing their duties appropriately in the community (McCormack, B., 2013). For
example, like the creative problem-solving is the condition in which when the patient that the
nurse is taking care of experiences a condition that requires a doctor. The nurse should call the
doctor as they try to give first aid to the patient before the doctor arrives (Darbyshire, P., 2004).
These helps in keeping the patient alive while the doctor comes to attend to him or her
(Davidson, R.J., Irwin, W., 1999). All the experiences I have encountered in my community
practice especially as being a third-year nursing student nursing has helped me grow towards
becoming a qualified nurse and increased my eligibility for being a registered nurse.
Conclusion
This paper has critically elaborated and expressed my reflections that have gradually
improved my future practice in the nursing field from the community experience. It has provided
a demonstration of my progression from the time I was a student nurse to when I become a
registered nurse. It has shown how the knowledge, skills and attitudes I have acquired will help
me perform my tasks as a registered nurse in the community. By being a student nurse, the
reflective process enables him or her to acquire some qualities that are going to guide him or her
throughout his practice as a registered nurse from the community that they get. NMC mainly
helps student nurses to meeting the requirements so that they can be registered as fully certified
professionals. It usually takes effort and time for one to learn from community experience
particularly in the nursing field for one to qualify for becoming an expert nurse. Devotion is
required to gear the nurse throughout their road to professionalism. The community experience
skills that have been crucial involves the communication and interpersonal skills, self-
confidence, self-awareness, facilitation skills, social and the cultural sensitivity. Alongside
creative problem-solving, time management, analytical skills, independent working, and the
ability for nurses to influence others towards positive changes. The Rolfe Reflective Model has
been imperative for my transformation from student nurse to being a professional nurse.
According to the model, it is based on three very simple questions, which focuses on someone
asking themselves some questions that contribute to their success regarding their community
experience. The questions that are entailed in the Rolfe Reflective Model include What? So
What? Now What? The questions contribute very much to the students nurse success to expert
nurses. Also, some theories like the Patricia Benner’s influential theory have been paramount in
the reflective process. For the Patricia Benner’s influential theory proposes that the journey from
novice to becoming an expert nurse mainly encompasses five stages from the community
experience. The stages include the novice stage, the advanced beginner stage, the competence
stage, the proficiency stage, and finally the expert stage. All the stages enhance one
transformation towards becoming a registered professional nurse from his or her community
has equipped me with the necessary skills and attitudes that are necessary for one to be registered
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