[Institution Title]
In taking this Advance Practice Nursing course, I have acquired not only the necessary insights from theoretical foundation and discussions, but I was also able to obtain some of the most important skills and competencies needed to fulfill the role of an Advance Practice Nurse. In addition, it also served as a good preparation as I embark on a more advanced level in my education and preparation for the actual nursing practice.
Specifically, I have gained competency in one of the basic yet most important skills needed by an APN nurse. This refers to history taking and charting. This is one of the first things that needs to be completed as soon as the patient steps into the hospital for medical attention. It records both objective and subjective data about the client and the reason for the client’s visit (Quilliam, 2012). This would serve as a physician’s reference in treating the patient. In addition, it will also serve as the patient’s medical record for future reference. I was also able to learn how to create a nursing care plan using the DSM 9 and NIC (Henry, Warren, Lange, & Button, 1998). Included in these is having sufficient knowledge and skills in physical assessment before this will form and integral part of the patient’s medical history record (Seidel, Ball, & Dains, 1998).In a scale of 1-5, one being the lowest and five as the highest, I would say that when I started with the course I could rank myself as between 1.5 to 2. However, gradually I’ve learned how it is done, and I can say that today I could say I am somewhere between 4 and 4.5.
References
Henry, S. B., Warren, J., Lange, L., & Button, P. (1998). A review of major nursing vocabularies and the extent to which they have the characteristics required for implementation in computer-based systems. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 321-328.
Quilliam, S. (2012). The Cringe Report': Why patients don't dare ask questions, and what we can do about that. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, 110-112.
Seidel, H., Ball, J., & Dains, J. (1998). Mosby's Guide to Physical Examination. Maryland Heights, Missouri: Mosby Publishing.
