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Caring/Professional Values Reflection

The clinical experience was an opportunity to apply nursing skills, professional values,

and ethics and display the nurse virtues we learned in class. Collaborating with other staff

members was part of my experience, and at the end of the two days of clinical practice,

developing strategies became necessary to succeed in my nursing practice

In my second week of clinical experience, I had to provide care for a 73-year-old male

admitted with acute pancreatitis, COPD, kidney calculus, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. The

patient presented respiratory distress and abdominal pain. These conditions urged me to apply

respect, compassion, and empathy in his care. I needed to be attentive to the patient every call,

desire, and comment. We quickly bathed the patient when he expressed a desire to have a bath.

The first of the clinical went well, but on the second day, the patient experienced severe

respiratory distress with saturation of 76% and high blood pressure of 170/90, necessitating a

rapid response. During this challenging period, I helped other team members with all the

materials and supplies needed and ran to the lab to submit the blood samples for analysis.

This clinical experience has changed my view on caring for aging people and helped to

developed my patience, readiness, and patient-centered care. Aging can lead to physical,

cognitive, and emotional changes, as I saw in my patient, which impacted his ability to

remember things as quickly as before and ambulate. My patience helped patients feel valued,

respected, and understood. Being ready for any eventuality is essential to ensure the safety and

appropriate care for the patient. The staff members who came to assist the patient during his

respiratory crisis considered the readiness for the care and acted to improve the condition of the

patient.
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Indeed, altruism led me in my clinical experience; I couldn't remain insensible to the

respiratory difficulty of my patient. I was ready to answer any call or request. When he

experienced severe respiratory distress on the second day of the clinical, I couldn't take my break

as my priority was to help relieve the symptoms and stabilize the patient. Although specialized

staff, such as doctors, respiratory specialists, and nurses, were around the patient, I still overcame

my fear of not meeting the expectations of the multidisciplinary staff. I wanted to help in

anyway, without considering how people could think about my performances.

Therefore, altruism is essential for my future nursing practice, it is defined by the nurse's

concern for the patient's welfare and the willingness to help other nurses and providers (Taylor et

al., 2023). Nurses can only achieve their caring role if they apply altruism to their daily activities

with patients and other workers. First, altruism will allow me to display patient-centered care by

considering cultural competencies. Patients can have different social and cultural backgrounds,

but their care and health needs may remain the same. As a nurse, I must understand every

patient's expectation and work to accomplish them as much as possible. Secondly, altruism will

help develop a trusting relationship and excellent collaboration with other nurses and providers.

This can reduce misunderstanding and conflicts, create a good work environment, and ensure

safe and quality patient care.

To continually demonstrate professional values and caring behaviors in nursing, I will

focus on cultural competencies, professional development, and patient advocacy. The US is a

multicultural country where people from different cultures and values live together and have the

same rights in health care access. Cultural competency helps to ensure social justice in nursing

practice by assuring equal treatment and access to quality healthcare for everyone regardless of

age, sex, sexual orientation, value, and culture (Taylor et al., 2023). Professional development is
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crucial to a competent nurse. It helps nurses maintain and improve their knowledge, expertise,

and competence and build personal and professional qualities to deliver quality, safe care and

succeed in their nursing practice. Advocacy for the patient is crucial for altruistic care; it helps

protect and support vulnerable people and responds to patients' changing expectations and

demands. Learning to represent the patient's interests with the provider, administration, and the

patient's family assures quality care and the autonomy and respect of the patient.

Nursing cares for people in need and requires professional values such as altruism,

compassion, patience, respect, and autonomy to achieve this goal. The nurse's success in their

role may include their ability to assure equal care and treatment for everyone, maintain and

improve their skills, knowledge, and expertise in nursing practice, and represent the interests of

their patients. At this price, we can continually demonstrate professional values and caring

behaviors.
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References

Taylor, Carol; Lynn Pamela; Bartlett L., Jennifer (2023). Fundamentals of nursing. The art and

sciences of person-centered care. Ed 10th. Wolters Kluwer