This paper focuses on the practicum exercises that the writer experienced while taking a course in Nursing at the [---------------name of your school-------------]. It centers on AACN Essentials 1 and 2 that particularly highlights communication and leadership skills and concepts, as applied in the everyday setting inside a hospital within the State of [your State].
During the practicum, we observed the manner of communicating, specifically the clinical mentor or the nursing manager. It was obvious she preferred using verbal and nonverbal in communicating with the nurses. She also used technology, as I saw her sending email messages to the nurses and contacting her staff by using her computer. As it was, there was a shortage of staff during that time, so she sent emails to those who were not present in the hospital, for them to come so that there would be enough nurses in the staff. The nursing manager also used verbal communication during the morning report to discuss about the new admission, for us to have enough members in the staff that would attend to the patients.
During the practicum exercises, I used verbal and technological methods in communicating with the other staffs and the nursing manager, especially during inquiry and analysis. More often, I used verbal communication, as well as, technological communication or through the use of cellphones at times when I had to inquire something. I was going through experiential learning, which usually involves the use of external experience. I noticed however, that there was always reflective learning at times when there was something new to learn. Kurf (2008) reiterated the statement of Moon (2004) when he said: “reflective learning usually has an important role in experiential learning when there is no new material of learning and we reflect on what we know already” (p.34). This takes place during personal experience, wherein I applied reflective learning when investigating about circumstances that taking place during the practicum, which led me in my decision making.
During the practicum, there was also the application of decision making when the nursing manager formed a meeting with the staff nurses and discussed how the team can prevent negative incidents from taking place within the hospital. For example, there was a rising number of falling incidents in the hospital, specifically on elder adults and pregnant women suffering from preeclampsia, who were more likely to feel dizzy. There was an increasing need for staff members to avoid patients from falling down, which may possibly lead to injury, damages or wounds. The team discussed ways on how to lessen the number of patients falling down, and made sure they do not walk unescorted along the aisle.
The nursing manager has applied leadership concepts and skills in decision making, for the team to come up with an effective way of lessening the number of falls in patients who are more likely to feel dizzy. Leaders should be visionaries, and their strategies should serve their future goals. As Frankel (2008) stated, “Effective leaders are required to use problem-solving processes, maintain group effectiveness and develop group identification” (p.1). These type of leaders should have skills in making decisions, resolving conflicts, delegating appropriately, and in acting with integrity (Frankel, 2008). In the practicum, these are the qualities that the nursing manager showed the staff nurses, especially during the meeting when decision has to be made on how the team can solve the problem. However, there was more to learn when it came to skills in becoming a visionary. During the practicum, focus was more on the present problems at that time—how to solve them, how to make them less aggravating to the staff and the patients. Still, there was leadership skills reflected in the way the nursing manager handled her staff during the entire practicum.
According to Hegde & Davis (2010), “Clinical practicum is an exciting component of educational experience” (p.4). There would be many opportunities to work with different classes of professionals and clients, while giving them the chances to apply the concepts included in their academic training. It is by then that the nurses are able to expand their knowledge and make use of these concepts and skills. As Hegde & Davis (2010) stated, “[C]linical practicum is a supervised experience in which you learn professional skills of assessing and treating people with communicative disorders” (p.4). This is important in making sure there is academic advancement, as well as, skills advancement in the training of skills and knowledge, which is a preparation for the future role of a professional pathologist. The aim is to advance in knowledge and skills for the perfection of communicative and leadership abilities, which would deliver a more holistic, universal service to the patients. In a clinical practicum, the goal is to advance in leadership and decision-making skills, as well as in the understanding of concepts and skills that are all useful in managing a team.
It was in the practicum that we learned about applying the concepts through the use of written, verbal, nonverbal, and technological methods of communicating with the fellow members of the staff. It was in the practicum that we learned about using inquiry, analysis, and information literacy to address practice issues while applying decision making for the provision of high-quality nursing care and healthcare team coordination. This proves how essential are the practicum exercises when taking the nursing training, for it is through the clinical practicum that the staff learns to practice what they learned in academic coursework.
References:
Frankel, A. (2008). What leadership styles should senior nurses develop? Nursing Times, 104(35), 23-24. Retrieved January 23, 2017 from https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/leadership/what-leadership-styles-should-senior-nurses-develop/1811643.article.
Hegde, M.N., & Davis, D. (2010). Clinical methods and practicum in speech-language pathology (5th ed.). Clifton Park, N.Y.: Delmar Cengage Learning. Print.
Kurf, P.J. (2008). Teaching student leadership as a practicum option in a Student
Affairs Administration Master’s degree program (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest. (UMI Number 3331947)
