Practice Summary Paper

Nursing 403 – Transition to Baccalaureate Nursing Practice

Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this paper is to guide you through a process of self-reflection and self-
evaluation to discover the scope of your personal and professional development while enrolled in
the RN>BSN nursing program at Old Dominion University.
Student Approach to Assignment
This assignment required great reflection on the ODU course work as well as my clinical
experiences. I approached this assignment several weeks prior to the due date in order to have
ample time to reflect on my experiences and how I met the criteria. This assignment gave me the
opportunity to reflect on my growth through the RN-BSN coursework at ODU.
Reason for Inclusion of this Assignment in the Portfolio
This project should be included in the portfolio because it is a written representation of
the growth I have experienced as a result of the RN-BSN program at ODU. It reflects my growth
in several areas including critical thinking, nursing practice, communication, research,
leadership, professionalism, and culture.
Nursing Practice
 Demonstrates an awareness of complementary modalities and their usefulness in
promoting health:
The Practice Summary Paper gave me the opportunity to express the importance of
complementary modalities. I discussed the importance of treating the whole patient including
the body and soul through techniques such as massage, deep breathing, and music therapy. I
developed the belief in these complementary modalities through the Theory Application
paper in Nursing 306 (Theoretical Foundations of Professional Nursing Practice). Through
this assignment, I researched Katharine Kolcaba’s Comfort Theory which emphasizes the
importance of treating the patient’s physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and
environmental needs in order to enhance the patient’s overall comfort and health.
Complementary modalities such as massage, deep breathing, and music therapy can serve as
methods by which to increase the overall comfort and health of a patient.
Research
 Differentiates between descriptive nursing literature and published reports of nursing
research:

This assignment also allowed me to reflect on the coursework that helped me to develop
skills to differentiate between descriptive nursing literature and published literature. I wrote
about the literature review assignment in Nursing 363 (Nursing Research) in which I
 categorized sources as qualitative research, quantitative nursing research, or descriptive
nursing literature such as literature reviews.

Leadership
 Articulates the values of the profession and the role of the nurse as member of the
interdisciplinary health care team:

Throughout this assignment, I discuss the importance of the nurse as a member of the
interdisciplinary team. Specifically, I discussed the ability of the nurse to advocate for the
patient’s needs to members of the healthcare team. The nurse has the unique ability to build a
trusting relationship with the patient and family, gather information that the patient and
family may not disclose to other members of the healthcare team, and to communicate that
information which could in turn improve patient outcomes. The professional practice model
project in Nursing 306 (Theoretical Foundations of Professional Nursing Practice) provided
me with the opportunity to research Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring which contributed to
my strong beliefs about the ability of the nurse to form relationships with the patient and the
ability of the nurse to communicate the patient’s needs with the healthcare team.

Professionalism
 Understands the effect of legal and regulatory processes on nursing practice and health
care delivery:

The Practice Summary Paper allowed me to reflect on the knowledge I have gained about
legal and regulatory processes and the effect they have on nursing practice and healthcare
delivery. In this assignment, I discussed the knowledge about legal and regulatory processes
that I gained in Nursing 412 (Ethics, Law, Economics & Health Policy: Application to
Quality Nursing Practice). I also discussed the importance of understanding these guidelines
in order to provide the best, most timely care for patients. The example I wrote about was the
importance of having knowledge that I am able to place intraosseous lines in the facility in
which I work, which is different from the facility in which I completed my clinicals. This is
important because if I’m asked to do so in an emergency situation, I must know whether or
not I am able to.