Evidence-based information and strategies integrated into nursing practice help to facilitate changes because of their robust decision-making approach. In this course, ways to deliver healthcare with the best clinical experiences data available were studied, and then used in the nursing activities. Moreover, the skills to use the evidence-based information within a patient’s values and preferences to provide better care were developed. The primary evidence-based practice I performed was the infection control of the hospital department, as nowadays, it is vital to protect patients from a virus spread. Applying to the policies and evidence-based strategies of the hospital, I kept the healthcare environment clean, used personal protection equipment, and controlled patients’ general health status. Learning to facilitate changes by integrating evidence-based strategies made me more confident in decision making and improved my soft-skills related to communication with a patient and their family.
Integration of Ethical Decision-Making into Practice
The course revealed the ethical side of decision-making in the nursing practice and discussed situations that require ethical frameworks. Nurses face ethical dilemmas related to their different responsibilities, such as advocating patients, providing aid beyond the evidence-based information, and communicating with clinical specialists. During my practice for this course, a patient with an ear infection that appeared every month refused to go to a surgeon after my advice to do so. The disease was back within a month, and I wanted to tell the surgeon to check it, but then used the ethical concept of a patient’s autonomy, and did not do anything as they decided not to visit a surgeon. Ethical decision-making always causes stress because it is complicated to choose the correct action and get responsibility for every unique situation. During this practice, I learned to utilize and rely on ethical principles of the American Nurses Association in decision making: fidelity, autonomy, beneficence, paternalism, and justice.
The Impact of Health and Public Policy on Health Care Delivery
Multiple sources of health policies and public policies related to health care delivery were studied during the course, as well as their influence on nursing. World Health Organization (WHO) is the primary source of health policies: their manifests created to regulate the decisions and manage goals to reach the best level of health possible for society. Moreover, the WHO has policies that rule government responsibilities in health care delivery. A nurse has a right to reach the government for getting assistance in managing policies if they badly affect healthcare (World Health Organization, 2015).
Public policies generally regulate cost controls, fee schedules, and impact the relationship between healthcare providers and consumers. A nurse must be aware of costs and insurance rates to deliver the care that is affordable for a patient. There was a case in my experience where I did not manage the policies’ impact and provided more care than a patient could afford. The health care for them could be more affordable without affection for its quality, but I was unaware of my state’s insurance rates. The course taught me to pay attention to policies, and remember to use them in both in usual and challenging working situations.
Participation in Professional Nursing Leadership Activities
Nursing leadership activities, such as working at specific tasks and assisting a manager nurse, were part of the course. It was essential to identify if a nurse had leadership skills because taking responsibilities and managing the others might be challenging. The course included tasks that were dedicated to seeing the leadership side of nursing beyond managing people. They requested to develop and conduct evidence-based practices, analyze social justices and financial problems of healthcare, and evaluate the efficiency of ways schedules and hospital functioning organized. These activities required to use the knowledge gained in multiple subjects and were a good revision for the whole master’s course.
I worked under the mentorship of experienced nurses with bright leadership qualities, such as dedication to excellence, integrity, respect, and emotional intelligence. Their example taught me to stay calm, trust the other nurses’ actions and decisions, and do best to deliver the highest-quality healthcare possible. I was good at managing and was not afraid of taking extra responsibilities so that leading in my future job become one of my professional goals.
Engaging in Collaborative Practice with a Diverse Workforce
Collaborating with a diverse workforce was a significant part of the course as nursing often meets with diversity. The session stated that a higher diversity of healthcare workers improves access to health for minorities, and builds a better patient-doctor communication. Moreover, it was essential to understand that a nurse has a right to have her beliefs, but showing them might be damaging during the work. The diverse workforce broadens medical practice in general as people of multiple ethnicities, races, cultural backgrounds have different experiences and points of view. My internship included participation in local diversity workshops and training curated by a hospital’s establishment to improve the internal relationship between workers and celebrate the difference in people. In addition, I learned to respect patients’ diversity because everyone has an equal right to get the highest health care experience possible.
Evaluation of the Physiological, Psychosocial, and Educational Needs of the Person on the Health-Illness Continuum
The health-illness continuum is a necessary concept to understand as it affects how a person defines health and illness. The course taught the nurses to inspire and educate patients to find balance in life and understand what it means to be ill or healthy. The Nested Model of Human Well-being was a primary source to understand the evaluation of different domains that all together build health-illness continuum. It was essential to consider the needs of a person because people have a different understanding of what is healthy and what causes illnesses. Health background and physical conditions of a patient were not enough to evaluate the needs, and it required more communication with them to define how to discuss the health-illness continuum.
I practiced the review of a person’s physiological, psychosocial, and educational needs when I worked with elderly patients. They tend to have solid habits that often lead to illness, and it was a part of curing to educate them about the ways possible to improve the health level. I examined a patient’s character, physiology, and the level of awareness about health and then spoke to them about steps to make to improve health. Once a nurse understands the needs of a person, she is capable of researching the information about health improvement specified for this patient.
Provision of Holistic Care to Culturally Diverse Health Care Consumers
When consumers and providers of health care have different cultural backgrounds, misunderstandings between them might appear. To avoid it, nurses have to be well-educated about the cultural differences in food, body language, and communication with people of minor diversity groups. The Standards of Holistic Nursing Practice developed by the American Holistic Nurses’ Association were used as a primary source to learn the cultural diversity’s influence on therapy and health care. Soriano et al. (2019) state that “holistic nursing considers its effects on the treatment process and the patients’ thoughts, emotions, cultures, opinions, and attitudes are considered contributing factors to recovery, happiness, and satisfaction” (p. 99). The course taught me to pay closer attention to each of these factors when working with a diverse health consumer.
Moreover, the environment close to the cultural background of a healthcare consumer has a curing effect, and a nurse who considers it might provide better help. One of my professional goals is to make every patient feel well-treated, and the cultural aspect is a considerable part of my practice. I studied the variety of cultures of my region, improved my knowledge about them to deliver better healthcare.
Effective Use of a Variety of Assessment, Teaching, and Evaluation Strategies
Multiple strategies applied for the process of getting medical education are capable of an appliance in the nursing practice. There were various activities related to assessment, teaching, and evaluation during the course. Testing and writing assignments allowed us to revise new knowledge and improve the subject’s understanding. At the same time, activities like portfolio reviews helped to evaluate achievements and find the weak points to work on. Different teaching methods were applied during the course so that nurses figured out which strategy is the most effective for them to learn. I discovered that it was important for me to start practicing new information or skills as soon as possible so that I would memorize it and use it in my work. Moreover, assessments, evaluations, and research improve critical thinking and decision-making skills that are essential for a nurse’s job.
References
Soriano, G. P., Aranas, F. C. T., & Tejada, R. S. O. (2019). Caring behaviors, spiritual, and cultural competencies: A holistic approach to nursing care. Bedan Research Journal, 98. Web.
World Health Organization (2015). Roles and responsibilities of government chief nursing and midwifery officers: A capacity-building manual. World Health Organization Press.