Apply the Nursing Process in the Provision of Direct and Indirect Care of Individuals, Families, and Communities in a Variety of Settings and Across Diverse Population
Record of Clinical Practice
At each clinical site I visit, I make a list of the clients that I care for so that I can ensure that I see a wide range of different people. This meets the outcome of nursing process by providing an accurate list of who I have cared for as well as the specific diseases, illnesses, and conditions that I have encountered. It is one way to show that I have worked with people of varying ages, cultures, and walks of life.
Medical-Surgical Clinical Nursing Process Paper
During
my first adult medical-surgical rotation, I had to opportunity to work
with a client who was post-surgical after receiving a laminectomy. This
paper outlines some of the basic information in regards to the
patient's status while in the hospital and relevant medical history.
Through this assignment, I was able to use this information to put
together a care plan for my patient with nursing diagnoses, outcomes,
and applicable interventions. Also included in this paper is a
discharge planning guide for the patient to better help with preparing
her to return home after leaving the hospital.
Concept Map
During
my senior year, I participated in my second adult medical-surgical
rotation. In this clinical rotation, I moved from using care plans to making concept maps to demonstrate my understanding of each patient situation. This concept map shows my analysis and critical thinking when caring for a client with a COPD exacerbation.
Community Health Assessment Project
During my community health class, a group of my peers and myself conducted an assessment of the City of Puyallup. Using the nursing process, we collected data on all aspects of the Puyallup community to come up with a diagnosis for a change that could be made to benefit the community. From our diagnosis, we developed a plan with goals and outcomes to measure our success. We put the entire our entire community nursing assessment into a power point presentation, which can be viewed by clicking the link listed below.
One of the things that I will always carry with me after leaving PLU is my knowledge and application of the nursing process. Assessment, analysis, plan, implementation, and evaluation. This was the process that I remember discussing and using in nearly every single class in my work as a student nurse. It can be applied to so many different situations, with individuals, families, and communities.
During my many clinical rotations, I worked with clients of varying ages, ethnicities, and situations. In each clinical setting, I compiled a record of clinical practice list of the patients that I cared for, in order to demonstrate the variety of clients with which I came in contact. Drawing from all of my previous clinical records, I compiled a page long record that shows a representative sample of the clients that I have worked with during my time at PLU. Working with these clients required my knowledge and application of the nursing process in order to understand how to care for them. This record demonstrates that that I have worked with people of varying ages, cultures, and walks of life in a variety of settings.
During my first adult medical-surgical rotation, I
took care of a patient post-laminectomy who was preparing to be
discharged from the hospital two to three days after the procedure. In
order to better understand my role in her recovery process, I
constructed a nursing process paper to better understand the
pathophysiology, risk factors, signs/symptoms of my patient, based on
her history, my assessments, and lab results. Based on this paper and
patient data, I formulated a care plan with nursing diagnoses,
outcomes, interventions, and evaluation of the effectiveness of my
interventions. Finally, I came up with a discharge plan for my patient,
so that I would be able to better understand her needs and provide her
with excellent patient education upon leaving the hospital. During this first clinical rotation in
the hospital setting, assignments such as this allowed me to work
through the nursing process in written form, also drawing from outside
resources, so that I could better develop my critical thinking skills.
In my second adult-medical surgical rotation, I was able to advance from making a care plan to constructing a concept map. When compared to my nursing process paper and care plan, it is
easy to see the growth and development of my comfort with the nursing
process and my ability to make sense of all the patient's data. My
concept map combines patient data and outside references to show a concise and clear image of my care for a
patient. It also takes all of the steps of the nursing process and incorporates them onto a single sheet of paper, showing how they are all interconnected. While care plans are written out in a lengthy format, the concept map requires greater critical thinking and use of the nursing process to convey the same information in a concise web of information. My concept map demonstrates my growth in using the nursing process to provide care for my clients.
In my first two years in the nursing program, I became very comfortable with applying the nursing process to individuals and families. The challenge for me came when I took Community Health in the first semester of my senior year. This class and clinical required me to apply the nursing process to communities, both large and small. One of the projects that I completed during this class was a Community Health Assessment for the city of Puyallup. Using the nursing process, my peers and I assessed data and observations about the Puyallup community, and analyzed this information to come up with a plan to improve the health of the community through increasing childhood immunization access. This power point shows how I was able to work through the application of the nursing process and apply it beyond the hospital and within a community setting.
Although I appreciate the variety of clients that I have cared for over the last three years of the nursing program, I believe that I will see even more diversity as I progress through my career as a nurse. I do not think that any amount of assignments or clinical rotations can fully prepare me to understand and meet every individual client's needs. However, by applying the nursing process as a guideline to each patient situation, I feel that I will be thoroughly equipped to tailor my plan and interventions to meet the needs of my clients, no matter what the situation.
