Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students

Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students

Goals and Objectives

            I have successfully utilized my set goals and objectives throughout this practicum. My first objective was to improve my skills, abilities, and confidence when dealing with my patients and foster positive relationships to promote healing and recovery. Throughout this practicum, I have embraced the mentality that I am a lifelong learner focused on improving my problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. I acquired immense knowledge and skills from my preceptor, allowing me to address difficult situations arising during patient care. As an informed nurse, I am happier and confident that I can perform my duties diligently.(Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

My second objective was to improve my clinical judgment and decision-making skills when dealing with mental health patients. I have learned to utilize evidence-based research as a gold standard during my patients’ assessment, examination, diagnosis, and treatment. As such, I have learned to use the best available and up-to-date evidence to inform my clinical judgment and decision-making. My third objective was to elevate patients’ experience and ensure patients receive the best care possible. During this practicum, I have learned effective communication skills that allowed me to form positive and therapeutic relationships with my patients. Through effective communication, I can foster trust to improve treatment compliance. I can also effectively identify my patients’ needs through adequate communication, allowing me to provide the best available care while respecting their cultural values, practices, and treatment preferences (American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 2013).(Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

Most Challenging patients I encountered

            One of the most challenging patients I encountered was a 26-year-old lady presenting with suicidal idealizations. The patient was resentful and struggling with abandonment feelings. The patient had numerous outbursts during assessment and psychotherapy, making management difficult. The second patient was a 30-year-old Latin male who had manic episodes. The patient did not hinder the treatment compliance claiming the medications administered had negative side effects despite changing the medications twice. The third patient presented with anxiety symptoms and insomnia. The patient was abusive and arrogant during the interview, making obtaining relevant information about his condition difficult.(Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

            One major takeaway that I learned from my experience was being composed when dealing with abusive and aggressive patients. I managed to remain calm and confident while interviewing patients during outbursts. I managed to calm the patients by asking them about what they like to cool down the tension when beginning and during my interviews. I also learned that some patients may provide wrong information leading to inaccurate diagnoses. Therefore, I learned to confirm patients’ provided information and obtain additional information from their caregivers/families. I learned to be precise and not ask leading questions, thus improving my skills. The DSM-V-TR was one of the most instrumental resources during this practicum. I used the tool as a guide for accurate diagnosis when dealing with patients. The course’s assigned text, my colleagues, and my preceptor also supported my understanding of different concepts during this course.(Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

            I utilized evidence-based practice during this practicum. One EBP strategy I utilized was using a single dose of medications to target many symptoms for my patients. I used antidepressants such as mirtazapine (Remeron) can be used to manage patients with anxiety and improve sleep for insomnia patients (Hunter et al., 2021). I learned that integrating psychotherapy and pharmacological interventions had improved outcomes than either treatment alone.(Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

            One of the things that could be done differently is the allocation of time during the clinical rotation. Doing so would give me adequate time to manage and follow up on my patient. Treatment follow-up improves life quality and decreases readmissions leading to improved health outcomes. Subsequently, I managed patients based on their needs to manage flow and volume. Thus, I prioritized the patients that needed urgent attention, followed by more stable patients. I also spent more time on patients with complex needs and less time on others with fewer needs to manage my time maximally.(Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

            One method I can apply my growing skills in social change is creating mental health awareness in my community. Thus, I will conduct health promotion programs to educate my community on mental health issues, including prevention and management. I will conduct screening programs to identify, diagnose and treat mental health conditions, promoting a healthier community.(Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

Communication and Feedback

            As a health professional, I must possess skills, knowledge and competency to meet my patient’s needs in the clinical setting. First, I will learn how to translate research into clinical findings to address patients’ concerns in the best way possible. As such, I can use evidence-based findings to improve my clinical reasoning and judgment (Iglewicz et al., 2020). Through professional presentation in this practicum, I will improve my communication skills, which will be vital to understand my patients and advocate their interests. I will also consult my colleagues and preceptor about care issues to improve my knowledge and skills.(Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

            I am doing well since my goals and objectives have promoted my personal and professional growth. I have improved my prescription knowledge and confidence. However, I have challenges when dealing with young children and adolescents. Through my preceptor’s guidance, I am gradually improving to skills to overcome the challenge. I received positive feedback who noted my improved confidence while dealing with patients in my clinical rotation. My preceptor commended me for improving my prescription skills and hoped I would improve my skills when dealing with young children and adolescents. (Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

References

  American Psychiatric Nurses Association. (2013). Population-focused nurse practitioner competencies. Download Population-focused nurse practitioner competencies.https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.nonpf.org/resource/resmgr/competencies/populationfocusnpcomps2013.pdf (Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students)

Hunter, C. N., Abdel-Aal, H. H., Elsherief, W. A., Farag, D. E., Riad, N. M., & Alsirafy, S. A. (2021). Mirtazapine in cancer-associated anorexia and cachexia: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 62(6), 1207-1215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.05.017

Iglewicz, A., Shear, M. K., Reynolds III, C. F., Simon, N., Lebowitz, B., & Zisook, S. (2020). Complicated grief therapy for clinicians: An evidence‐based protocol for mental health practice. Depression and anxiety, 37(1), 90-98(Journal Entry Essay For Nursing Students) https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22965