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Practice Summary Reflection Paper

Makenzie K. Harry

Department of Nursing, Old Dominion University

NURS 403 Transition to BSN Practice

Professor Luis Becerra

November 29th, 2023

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Practice Summary Reflection

I decided to enroll in the RN->BSN program at Old Dominion University to further my

education. While my employer does require that I obtain my bachelors of science in nursing

within five years of hire, that was not what motivated me to pursue the degree. Obtaining my

bachelors degree is a stepping stone to higher education opportunities, leadership opportunities,

and a good way to challenge myself. My goal at the beginning of the program was to gain

leadership skills and knowledge of the research process. I can confidently say that I have gained

both leadership and research skills from the Old Dominion program.

Attainment of Program Outcomes

My knowledge for nursing practice is best represented by Therapeutic Nursing

intervention Paper written in NURS 403. The first step of writing the paper is finding a problem

that can be addressed with therapeutic nursing interventions, those that do not require an order

from a provider. It requires extensive knowledge of the specific patient population to be able to

assess the problems and pick one that can be addressed with nursing interventions, not medical

interventions. My knowledge of nursing practice helped me complete the paper and further

enhanced my understanding of nursing research.

I practice person-centered care by treating my patients like they are human. I recalled a

patient encounter in my Personal Philosophy of Nursing Paper about a blind patient. The patient

was blind and had been for their entire life. I was taking care of the patient and I asked the

patient all of the questions I would ask a patient with their sight. Before I touched the patient I

asked if they would like some help getting out of bed. The patient was very appreciative and told

me the other staff had been treating them like a child. I wouldn’t automatically put my hands on

a patient with their sight without asking for their consent, therefore I wouldn’t touch any patient
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without their consent. This is an example of person-centered care because I treated the patient as

a person and not a medical condition.

Population health is an important concept of nursing care. I incorporate population health

into my nursing practice by volunteering at the free clinic in my city. There are patients from

different cultures and backgrounds, The majority of the patients do not speak English. THrough

volunteering I have expanded my knowledge of the population’s health and ways to promote

health improvement.

It was important to me that I learned about nursing research in my studies. The

scholarship for the nursing discipline represents nursing research. My competency in research is

best represented by my Evidence-Based Practice Project on the prevention of central line

associated bloodstream infections. The project has primary research about the effectiveness of

CLABSI prevention interventions, which I then applied to current unit practice and addressed

ways to incorporate the interventions.

Quality and safety are important to the continuous improvement of patient care outcomes.

I include quality and safety in my practice by attending patient risk rounds for the patients on my

unit. These are for patients that have central lines or foley catheters. The team focuses on

preventing infections caused by these devices. Through these rounds I am able to be an active

participant in my patient’s safety and quality of their care.

Interprofessional partnerships are important for competent and holistic patient care. I

practice interprofessional partnerships every time I am at work. I work with radiologic

technicians, respiratory therapists, doctors, nurse practitioners, and many other members of the

healthcare team. I ensure the success of these partnerships by practicing closed-loop

communication and being respectful.

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I practice systems-based practice by utilizing care coordination to get my patients what

they need at home. For example, I had a patient that transitioned to Hospice but wanted to do it

at home. They kept stalling and trickling in different paperwork that needed to be completed. I

asked a case manager to give me a list of everything that was needed and I would get it ready for

my patient. That same day the patient was able to be in their home on Hospice like they had

wanted. The patient sat in the hospital for four days before I finally stepped in. Systems-based

practice makes continuation of care possible.

I use informatics and healthcare technologies every time I am working. I use an

electronic medical record for all of my patient’s information. There are cameras in patient rooms

that allow for delirious patients to be successfully managed. These healthcare technologies make

nursing more efficient and improve patient outcomes.

I show professionalism everyday at work by showing respect to patients, coworkers, and

visitors. For example, a patient family member was very upset and verbally threatened me.

Instead of being rude back, I deescalated the situation by listening to the family member and

making them feel heard. Professionalism is important to the integrity of nursing care.

I have personally developed into a more positive person. Through nursing school, I faced

many hardships and I learned to seek joy from the small things. Professionally I have developed

from a patient care technician to a registered nurse in the course of this program. I have joined

unit-based quality improvement teams and am currently participating in an evidence based

practice project on my unit. I have developed personally, professionally, and in my leadership

role.

Appraisal and Summary

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My expectations going into the program were low. I had never done online school before

and most opinions I had heard about over school’s online programs were negative. Though I was

wrong, this program is hard and taught me a lot about the type of professional I want to be. I feel

more prepared to function in my current role. For example, I had no idea about evidence-based

practice but now I feel competent in my research and clinical application skills. I want to expand

in my role and move up my hospital’s clinical ladder. I feel like this degree has given me the

skills to do that.

Overall I think I did well in the program. I am organized, which makes most of the

assignments smoother to complete. I could still work on my time management skills for the

future, especially if I want to continue my education. For example, I waited until two days before

the portfolio was due to write this paper. I am glad I enrolled at Old Dominion and have a solid

foundation for my professional career.

Throughout the program, I tried many different resilience techniques and a lot of them

did not work. I found that working out daily, even for ten minutes, was beneficial. I also realized

that whenever I felt overwhelmed I needed to go for a walk and come back later. I picked up the

craft of crochet and continued my reading habits from before enrolling in the program. I enjoy

spending time with my family and friends more now than I ever have. For my future goals, I

would like to go back to graduate school to pursue an advanced practice nurse program and

obtain my doctorate in nursing practice.

Conclusion

I have met all ten program outcomes. Through this program I identified strengths and

weaknesses in myself. I realized what truly matters to me. I reshaped my future goals to include
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my current career and my future one. Old Dominion gave me a lot of skills and knowledge that I

wouldn’t have had if I chose another school.

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Appendix A

Purpose of Assignment:
The purpose of this reflection is to guide you through a process of self-evaluation to discover the
scope of your personal and professional development while enrolled in the RN-BSN program at
Old Dominion University.
Student approach to assignment: I approached the assignment with a mindset of reflection. I
went through the last year and a half and reflected on my academic performance and professional
progress.
Reason for inclusion of this assignment in the portfolio: I included this assignment because it
highlights what I achieved during this degree program and how it will help me in my
professional career.

Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development (Domain 10)

- Explores personal philosophy of nursing and educational goals at the beginning and end
of the program. (33)
- I explored my personal philosophy of nursing and goals from the beginning and
end of the program. There wasn’t a lot of change. For example, at the beginning
of the program I wanted to pursue an APRN program and I would still like to
pursue that. I have developed as a person, professional, and student through this
program. It is evident in my school work and nursing care.