Reflection Paper
Introduction
Like a humble farmer feeling pleased at a bumper yield after a year of toiling in his field or a passionate architect proudly gazing at her inspired engineering marvel, as a nursing professional who has successfully completed her DNP Project and Practicum, I am excited at my academic and practical accomplishments. As I write this reflection paper on the DNP competencies I have acquired in keeping with the fundamental skills as described in the AACN Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice, I look back how this practicum course has guided me to apply my newly developed skills in the workplace to give impeccable care to my patients and their families. By and large, my DNP practicum and project hours were judiciously allocated to realization of the course outcomes through engaging in various activities in a purely practical setting. This helped me to integrate my knowledge in nursing with other disciplines like social science, psychology and management. My exposure to real life healthcare settings helped me to understand healthcare from a managerial perspective while enabling me to integrate my knowledge with practical wisdom to give reliable patient outcomes. During several occasions I was inspired to apply certain relevant findings in developing practical guidelines for quality healthcare pertaining to diverse environments. As technology and information are crucial in providing quality healthcare through effective system organization, I improved my DNP competency through mastering my skills in using technology and information. Discussion forums on policy matters have improved my knowledge on assessing and formulating policies to address key issues concerning equity and social justice in healthcare. My continuous association with physicians, nurses and technicians sharpened my collaborative and communication skills. My connection with the population at large gave me insights about the relationship one’s environment and life style share with his health status. In light of the complexities attached to modern day healthcare, I also gathered several advanced clinical skills involving systematic assessment of illnesses, creation of intervention based on advanced nursing science and application of evidence based care. In short, the DNP practicum and project helped me to expand and refine my current knowledge and skills as applicable to a practical healthcare setting towards aiding my professional growth in multiple dimensions.
I. Scientific underpinning for practice
The underpinning for effective nursing practice depends on diverse scientific knowledge. It is indispensable for nurses to have a clear understanding about how the surrounding environment influences human behavior and principles governing human interactions with their immediate surroundings (AACN, 2006). I learned that the behavior of patients was influenced by different factors and began to appreciate the diverse factors apart from a physical illness that controlled their behavior patterns. Thus the DNP practicum influenced me to develop a special interest on understanding a variety of disciplines like environmental science, anthropology, sociology and psychology. The comprehensive scientific and socioeconomic knowledge, both theoretical and practical, I have developed during the course will continue to improve my nursing practice and clinical outcomes. I also appreciate the importance of integrating nursing science with my understanding on ethics, analytical, psychosocial and management science for giving high quality healthcare.
II. Organizational and systems leadership for quality improvement and systems thinking
Furthermore, through the DNP practicum, I learned the role of organizational leadership in accomplishing the goals of a healthcare facility. The case studies and group discussions in the program also exposed me to systems thinking that helped me to view the whole picture and try to connect events and processes. Today, inconsistencies in healthcare are quite common which can be successfully overcome by applying sound organizational leadership (Huber, 2013). As DNP graduates are mandated to focus on the health requirements of target populations and communities rather than individuals they are expected to have distinguished talents to conceptualize new healthcare delivery models that are practicable within the existing organizational, socio-economical and cultural perspectives. I also understood the significance of nurses to endlessly expand their skill sets to meet the needs of all the patients, regardless of their cultural or socio-economic backgrounds. In other words, I realized the importance of improving my cultural competency to ensure the quality of my care. Various readings and group activities helped me to understand and appreciate the beliefs and values of individuals belonging to diverse cultures, particularly in a workplace known for multiculturalism. The group activities in the program helped me to develop and evaluate alternative strategies to manage certain ethical dilemmas inherent in healthcare and research apart from sharpening my leadership acumen.
III. Clinical scholarship and analytical methods for evidence-based practice
In addition, the program helped me to appreciate the importance of evidence-based practice in addressing issues involving certain sensitive care indicators. Currently, evidence-based practice plays a significant role in avoiding issues linked to hospital-acquired infections, other human errors and making informed decisions (Polit & Beck, 2013). The skills I have gained on conducting research studies and consolidating facts from findings would improve my skills as an analytical nursing professional in future. I am also confident of designing and evaluating quality health improvement methodologies depending upon the practical settings in future to promote timely, safe and patient-oriented care, thanks to the analytical and conceptual skills I gained through the practicum.
IV. Information systems/technology and patient care technology for the improvement and transformation of health care
Information technology has absolutely revolutionized healthcare, particularly in the context of improving data sharing and storage (AACN, 2006). Additionally, the stored data can be effectively utilized to assess the effectiveness of the care process or test whether a program is meeting its intended objectives. Thus, through actively engaging in the class activities, especially individual assignments, and practice I have gained skills on how to retrieve information from databases and other information systems. My reading habit along with research interests helped me in evaluating the accuracy of health information and its timeliness.
V. Health care policy for advocacy in health care
Hanks (2013) views that nurses are duty bound to have in depth understanding about policy development in healthcare. The policies adopted by the local governments and organizations associated with healthcare from time to time greatly influence the patients and their family members. My practicum course gave me an opportunity to learn the intricacies linked to designing effective healthcare policy choices that focus on cost effectiveness and safety. Also, my analyzing and critical thinking abilities have helped me to actively participate in several classroom discussions on evaluating and formulating policies that guarantee equity and social justice in healthcare.
VI. Inter-professional collaboration for improving patient and population health outcomes
Healthcare professionals continuously confront complex problems in the workplace that require the intervention of professionals from multiple disciplines (Van Bogaert et al., 2014). Therefore, DNP professionals are expected to lead professional teams for analyzing complex health issues from time to time. Effective interpersonal skills being a key attribute of DNP healthcare professionals, I utilized my practicum to improve my communication and teambuilding skills. Transparency and participation of all the members in the decision making process have helped me to manage teams effectively during testing times. More importantly, I improved my inter-professional collaboration through providing timely, instructive and sensitive feedback to the multidisciplinary professionals involved in caring my patients. I also honored the valuable feedbacks I received from my colleagues to widen my collaborative skills.
VII. Clinical prevention and population health for improving the nation’s health
The DPN practicum has been a real eye-opener to me as it facilitated me to understand the influence of environment and lifestyles of individuals on their well-being. As a healthcare professional, I am responsible for preventing diseases affecting communities through analyzing environmental, epidemiological and scientific data (Riekert, Ockene, & Pbert, 2013). I developed my knowledge and perspectives about national health by going through various status reports on community health. I also analyzed certain occupational, epidemiological, environmental and bio-statistical data as part of a classroom exercise that gave me many insights about clinical prevention towards improving the nation’s health. My involvement as a voluntary worker taking care of the aged during my leisure hours gave me several insights about the relationship between life styles and diseases of the general population.
VIII. Advanced nursing practice
Improving nursing practice outcomes depends on the ability of the nursing practitioner to stay in the forefront and form positive relationships with colleagues and patients (Huber, 2013). As a distinctive specialization driven by advanced nursing practice is the hallmark of a DNP nursing practitioner, I sharpened my essential practice capabilities that cut across diverse specialties through shadowing physicians of various areas of expertise and associating with senior nurses. Besides, various complexities attached to modern day healthcare motivated me to master several advanced clinical skills that encompass assessment of illnesses, planning of intervention based on advanced nursing science and introduction of evidence based care. Sustaining therapeutic relationships with my patients and families along with partnerships with other professionals in healthcare helped me to ensure optimal patient care and outcomes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the DPN practicum helped me to transform my theoretical nursing knowledge into effective nursing practice. It facilitated me to integrate nursing knowledge with various disciplines and view nursing from a managerial perspective to give excellent patient outcomes. Also, my experience in several real life healthcare settings motivated me to develop guidelines for healthcare under different environments. My talent for handling information and technology enhanced my DNP competency while my active participation in discussion forums helped me to promulgate effective policies in healthcare that would ensure equity and social justice. My association with fellow healthcare professionals refined my team handling skills whereas my relationship with the population at large reminded me of the relationship between one’s living condition and diseases. Besides equipping me with several advanced clinical skills to give evidence based care, the DNP practicum made me a complete healthcare professional with multiple skills.
References
AACN. (2006). The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/dnp/Essentials.pdf
Hanks, R. G. (2013). Social advocacy: A call for nursing action. Pastoral Psychology, 62(2), 163-173.
Huber, D. (2013). Leadership and nursing care management. Elsevier, St Louis: Saunders.
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2013). Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for nursing practice. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Riekert, K. A., Ockene, J. K., & Pbert, L. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of health behavior change. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Van Bogaert, P., Timmermans, O., Weeks, S. M., van Heusden, D., Wouters, K., & Franck, E. (2014). Nursing unit teams matter: Impact of unit-level nurse practice environment, nurse work characteristics, and burnout on nurse reported job outcomes, and quality of care, and patient adverse events—A cross-sectional survey. International journal of nursing studies, 51(8), 1123-1134.
