PRNU115- Professional Practice II Professional Portfolio

Part D- Reflection in action & on action

Vancouver Island University
Name: Bich Lien Vo
Due date: Mar 15, 2022

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Learning is always a good way to improve myself. When I was a student, learning at school,

it contained two actions: reflection in action during an activity in school and a reflection on

action after learning what I had experienced and applied it to my life.

Cultural diversity I learned this subject very interesting because everybody is different from

tradition, nutrition, and cultural practice. When beginning taking this course, I thought that the

health service is a common topic for everybody. That means everybody can get health service

when they are sick. However, with cultural and linguistic diversity, it is not the same. It also

requires consideration for the differences. Muslim have no pork or alcohol and medication must

not contain on that substance or during Ramada festival, they don't have a meal or take any

medication between sunrise to sunset, only after sunset they can have a food. Hispanic people

believe being sick is the punishment of God, so they don’t want to see the doctor for treatment.

Native people believe that herbal and earthly balance will heal by themselves. (Charlotte, 2014,

p. 25-31)

Back to the theory of culture diversity as I learn from school, there are three main parts

concerning culture are including cultural safety, cultural sensitivity, and cultural awareness. For

nurses, we always make sure of safety for a client. A nurse must recognise cultural differences,

understanding and integrating the differences therefore care-appropriate action for each

individualize. (Handout 2022, p. 13).

Canada is well-known for its cultural diversity, and unlike the United States, its culture has

merged in the public, therefore second and third generations didn’t recognise them in own

traditional culture, whereas in Canada people have the right to maintain their traditional culture

and practices. That is why in Vancouver or in Toronto, a big city, they have communities of

Chinese, India, Vietnamese, and so on.

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After reflecting on what I learned in school and returning to practise in the lab, I realise that this

culture diversity is the main part of my concern because almost every student in class is different

from me from linguistics to culture. Sometimes I feel isolated from them because I try to talk

with them, but they don’t understand me and sometimes they laugh, and I don’t know why they

laugh. I need to improve my knowledge and understanding of them so I can enjoy the funniest

like them.

When taking care of elderly people in the future, I have a general idea about culture and always

talk to myself to step back, recognize, and respect the difference. It depends on the patient I

approach and have an appropriate action to take care of and understand why that person has that

reaction and connecting the culture with their thinking, therefore understanding them

more deeply. Following the culture safety path, achieve cultural awareness and sensitive

combination with cultural competence, encompassing all aspects (behavior, attitude, policies)

toward the client. It is important to eliminate inequality in healthcare facilities toward the best

care for the elderly, who deserve respect in their golden age. (Handout Professional Practice II,

p. 14).

The second reflection in the way of action and on action is professionalize in practice.

Professionals include ethical competencies, quality, and safety education for Nurses (QSEN),

clinical reasoning judgement and decision making, problem solving which person-centered care.

(Taylor, 2015 p 209 -p 213). Yes, healthcare environments keep pace with many frustrated

situations that require problem-solving skills and effective critical thinking combinate with

communication. Knowledge is always a milestone or first step skill of a nurse, linked to lessons

in school, I must uphold knowledge like pharmacology or various health of course is a

good way to apply it to my future career. Following nursing process to development nursing

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skill. Nursing process includes assessment, diagnosis, care plan, implement and evaluate.

That is a skill I have learned in school. Step on reflection practice in the lab, follow the lesson in

class, I have a chance to assess my partner as presentative as a patient. Apply pharmacology

knowledge to each scenario to give the right medication to the right patient. I have a chance to

review 11 rights of patients (right medication, right patient, right dosage, right route, right time,

right season, right assessment, right documentation, right response, right education, right to

refuse) (Taylor, 2015 p. 767).

Besides, pharmacology and health various course, when I am in the lab, I can communicate with

my partner by using all the means available to me, such as eye contact, touch, posture, verbal to

determine how to communicate most effectively and build a relationship with them. (Taylor,

p. 451).

In my communication class, my instructor gives us an activity assignment. We are just wearing

glasses that cannot see properly, so the other person will help. Throughout the assignment, we

have a chance to come up with an idea for dealing with patients who have impairment with

vision loss. Therefore, think about how the best way to communicate with patient who has

deficient vision. (Taylor, 2015 p. 473)

Since the first day of the course, I've discovered that this course teaches me a lot the knowledge

of health and promoting health for myself and others. With prior experience as a healthcare

provider, I am ready to transition to a new role as a nurse to serve the community's health that I

am very enthusiastic about it.

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 References

Taylor & Lilis & Lynn (2015). Fundamental of nursing (8th edition). Wolters Kluwer

Charlotte Eliopoulos (2014). Gerontological Nursing (8th edition). Wolters Kluwer

PRNU 115- Professional Practice II- Study guide (2022) Vancouver Island University

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