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Nursing Practicum Experience
It is important for a nursing student to acquire practical skills from a real practice experience in combination with his or her class theoretical study in the course of undergoing his or her study and training in a nursing course. The clinical practice is critical in developing the student further in their nursing career and enhances their competence and confidence in their preparedness for the roles ahead of them . The feeling of self-confidence and readiness in discharging one’s duties is vital in ensuring best possible outcomes in the course of real practice. As a result, the nursing practicum experience provides a nursing student the necessary platform to practice the theoretical knowledge learned in class first hand.
Nursing Theory
In the course of the workshop experience, the nursing student can apply the use of nursing theories practically in his or her decision-making process while attending to different situations while practicing. Nursing theories are important for nursing practitioners in that the methods help in guiding practice and research. The application of nursing principles may be very critical in seeking a more viable way out of ambiguous healthcare situations. It is important to note that healthcare aims to improve the health outcomes of patients . On the other hand, it is also important to know that nursing theories form an integral part of ensuring that the nursing objective of improved health outcomes is achievable . The application of a nursing theory in practice reinforces the work of a healthcare practitioner in ways various ways including the provision of patient-centered health care service, enhancement of a more efficient diagnosis because of enhanced communication between the practitioner and the patient, and the provision of better services in an environment that is conducive for the patient.
Madeleine Leininger’s Theory of Trans-cultural Nursing
The key objective of transcultural nursing is to provide nursing care in a cultural reflective approach . It is vital to realize that people subscribe to different cultural beliefs because of the differences in their cultural backgrounds. These differences in cultural beliefs also plays an integral role in influencing health beliefs patients’ health beliefs. Culture may influence how an individual perceives his or her surroundings. Human beings are able to respond to their environment including how the healthcare practitioners may handle them and their beliefs. Therefore, it is important to provide an accommodate environment to patients regardless of their beliefs. The desires of patients are more important than the superiority of a certain therapy. As long as the patient is opposed to a particular therapy, the practitioner should not carry it out on the patient against his or her will because it will be contravening the patient’s right to his or her opinion. One way of overcoming this challenge is through the provision of a wide variety of services within the healthcare facility or the possibility of availing a more effective and efficient service referral system.
Being human, women are able to learn and respond to the changes in their environment. At the same time through the learning and the healthcare knowledge they acquire through various real life experiences, they are able to take care of themselves. Nevertheless, as a healthcare practitioner, it is also important to have in mind that as much as women can take care of themselves, incidences of self-care deficits will always arise. The practitioner needs to guide the patient through possible modalities that may facilitate the improvement of the patient’s health outcomes. The necessary care that the practitioner needs to have in mid is that of granting the patient the utmost independence when it comes to decision-making. As women go through the different phases of their lives, it is obvious that they encounter several healthcare challenges. Some of these healthcare challenges may be similar to the ones that men go through. On the other hand, some of the healthcare challenges that women go through are unique to them. For example, only women may experience healthcare challenges that may affect their womb such as womb fibroids. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate a nursing care from the patient’s perspective to meet whatever healthcare need the female patient may have.
Because of migration, people with different cultures have come to co-exist. Considering that migration brings together people of different cultures, the healthcare needs also associated with these different people in relation to their cultures also differs . For example, healthcare beliefs in one culture may never be similar to healthcare beliefs in another culture. Consequently, the healthcare beliefs that affect women from one culture may not be similar to healthcare beliefs that affect women in a different culture. Therefore, it is important in practice to provide customized healthcare service to every patient that attends a healthcare facility. It ensures that the service the patient receives is in accordance with her specific need rather than a healthcare service provider assumed need. The diverse challenges posed by cultural differences thus rules out the possibilities of the one-size-fits-all approach in nursing care. Therefore, requires that when attending to women of different cultural backgrounds, the integration of culturally sound, sensitive, and competent services are an ethical requirement . When discussing migration, it is worth noting that apart from patients, healthcare practitioners may also be part of people who migrate from one region to another. The experiences of recurrent global healthcare workforce shortages may also facilitate the migration of health practitioners in a bid to cover the demand that may be required from time to time . In both the two situations, cultural differences and the associated healthcare beliefs are experienced. Considering the health needs which occur across the spectrum of different cultures, it requires that the kind of healthcare system that is available for use by both practitioners and service receivers must overcome the possible cultural and gender inequities that may arise . It is important that such systems be able to meet culture-specific healthcare needs relevant to the culturally acceptable ways of the persons receiving the care .
Practicum objectives and goals
Improve my competence and skills within my healthcare profession through involvement in nursing activities and collaboration with advanced healthcare practitioners in the course of the practicum contract duration.
Enhance my confidence in healthcare service provision by becoming acquainted with the various processes and systems in the course of the practicum contract duration.
I will acquire direct and first-hand hands-on experience and proficiency in improving health outcomes in women by the end of the practicum contract period through the activities I will be involved in and through the assistance and consultation; I will undertake at the workstation.
I will identify all the reported recurring healthcare challenges women go through which the story at the center of my placement from the onset of the practicum contract period.
I will identify the factors that predispose women to the reported recurring healthcare challenges from the onset of the practicum contract period.
I will acquaint myself with the various healthcare therapies and nursing systems available for women’s health needs from the onset of the practicum contract period.
I will practically apply the use of theory in solving situations involving women’s health needs from the onset of the practicum contract period.
I will be able to co-work with the various stakeholders effectively towards the achievement of positive health outcomes within the Centre through effective and efficient resource management, minimum cost determination, and quality health services provision by the end of the practicum contract period.
I will be able to build practical nursing leadership and management skills by the end of the practicum contract period.
I reported at my placement station at exact 8 o’clock in the morning on the very exact day indicated in my placement contract to a warm reception to the nurse in charge who was going to be our supervisor. The staff at the station were also expecting us; considering I was part of a large group that was going to undertake their practicum in that same station. The nurse in-charge took us around the staffs’ desk introducing us to them as she also mentioned their names to us. After that we were taken through the maternity ward and to my amazement, it was packed with female patients and nurses from both Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, and African descents. We then underwent through a brief introduction session with the nurse in charge of the maternity ward who gave us a roster of the ward planned day activities. I was given charge of a 28 years old woman of African descent who was expecting a child in about 5 days time and had decided to check in to the healthcare centre early just in case the baby would come earlier. I went ahead to introduce myself to her and with a smile she told me that because of her cultural background, women find it uneasy to be attended to by male doctors especially when it comes to gynecological examinations. This is because of the reverence that is given to the human beings private parts. I went ahead to ask if she was comfortable herself which she laughed it off with the response that she was trying to be even though she finds a bit tricky sometimes. I took her measurements every day including her BP, and the fetus heart beat to ensure that they were both doing well as I continued to encourage her that everything was going to be all right.
Conclusion
Understanding the various health beliefs held by different female patients relative to their cultural backgrounds is very important for a healthcare practitioner. The need is embedded in the fact that these beliefs with determine how patients will want or prefer to be attended to. Applying a keen eye and sensitivity to these needs will help in facilitating a more culturally holistic care .
It is important to design the health care services that women receive with a lot of sensitivity due to the complexity and delicateness women’s health may be. The effect of moods swings in women is quite significant, and it is thus important to incorporate a sense of courtesy and care amongst healthcare practitioners. Courtesy and attention will undoubtedly go a long way in facilitating a friendlier environment that enhances mental peace for the patient. The provision of services, starting all the way from admission, screening, diagnosis, and all other services, the focus should always be on the patient.
How Culturally Competent Nursing Care Affects Health Outcomes in Women
In order to guide nursing practitioners as they discharge their duties in varied cultural environments, it has led to the designing of several cultural guidelines that aim to achieve culturally competent nursing care for patients within different contexts (Douglas, et al., 2014). These guidelines are uniquely applicable to the circumstances with which they find use. For example, depending on whichever cultural background the guidelines are applied these guidelines can still be appropriate in a different cultural setup and are thus not binding within a single cultural background (Douglas, et al., 2014). Therefore, the aim of the application of these guidelines is to guide the provision of nursing health care services that are culturally competent to improve the clinical outcomes of patients regardless of their cultural orientations.
Knowledge of the cultural differences and orientations of different populations or groups within populations is not enough for a healthcare practitioner whose determination is to provide culturally congruent health services. Apart from the knowledge of these cultures, training on, the health practitioner should access training that may be helpful in understanding these cultures and how best to approach a culture influences situation if such a scenario occurs (Douglas, et al., 2014). Culturally reflective nursing practice may be part of a practitioner’s formal education acquisition process. Nevertheless, considering that the dynamics the nursing profession is in terms the short life cycle of technology and knowledge change. It is advisable that these practitioners engage in continuous nursing education in order to keep up to date with the new technologies, systems, and processes and how culture play into all these (Douglas, et al., 2014).
It is also paramount as a practitioner to self-evaluate and understand the beliefs one holds. As a result, a self-evaluation will be able to guide a practitioner in matters that may raise bias or conflict with the views of the persons that they are attending to (Douglas, et al., 2014). Self-reflection helps the practitioner to appreciate oneself and in the process acknowledge other people irrespective of their norms and beliefs. This is to say, that when you are attending to a woman who is defined by a cultural orientation that differs from yours, as a practitioner, it I possible to accept them just the way they are. You will thus attend to them without prejudice knowing that you too hold on to personal beliefs that you may want appreciated by others and not discriminated against.
When attending to persons of different cultures and especially women, it is important to use courteous language. As earlier mentioned, women are very sensitive to their environment and will easily respond to a warm and caring environment or will alternatively react to a cruel environment. It is there for the healthcare practitioner’s role to take it upon him or herself to ensure he or she provides a warm environment for his or her female client. The language use must be very respectful, dignified, and void of the possibilities of bias and stereotyping (Douglas, et al., 2014).
Again, the knowledge and continuous learning of the cultural belief of the persons they are attending to may not yield nursing care that is cultural competent if that experience does not support practice. It is, therefore, needful for the practitioners to apply the knowledge that they have about the cultures of their potential clients also in the course of their practice (Douglas, et al., 2014). When attending to female clients, it is important to assess their psychological and physical states and their cultural context as a means and approach of planning a culturally competent care for them in the course of practice (Douglas, et al., 2014).
A healthcare system and consequently the facilities that are available to meet the health needs associated with female patients must be able to offer safe services to the clients. Safety in services such as maternity does not only guarantee safety to the baby but the mother as well. Provision of utmost care when handling fibroids in a female patient’s womb ensures their safety. It is very necessary to consider how to incorporate the component of security in the process of providing healthcare services to female patients. The need for protection when granting health care services to a female patient cannot be understated because of its necessity. Care should also be undertaken to ensure that as female patients receive reproductive services from the healthcare provider, the boundaries of professionalism should not be broken or compromised . Apart from care, it is also good to guarantee their security as they can become vulnerable to unscrupulous practitioners who may harbor ill and unprofessional intentions.
Conclusion
Concisely, it is important to note that because of the diversity of beliefs held by different people within various cultural contexts, different people will always have different cultural orientations in regards to their health. It is necessary for a healthcare practitioner to always have this in mind. It is needful to attend to the self-care deficit experiences by different women from different cultures in a more culturally competent nursing approach. The cultural understanding coupled with the patient’s autonomy in determining the health care service that the patient deems fit is thus able to achieve a patient-centered care.
References
Douglas, M. K., Rosenkoetter, M., Pacquiao, D. F., Callister, L. C., Pollara, M. H., Lauderdale, J., et al. (2014). Guidelines for Implementing Culturally Competent Nursing Care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing , 25 (2), 109– 121.
Edwards, H., Smith, S., Courtney, M., Finlayson, K., & Chapman, H. (2004). Impact of clinical placement location on nursing students competence and preparedness for practice. Nurse Education Today , 24 (4), 248-255.
Govender, V., & Penn-Kekana, L. (2007). Gender biases and discrimination: a review of health care interpersonal interactions. Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network (WGEKN).
Leininger, M. M., & McFarland, M. R. (2006). Culture care diversity & universality: A worldwide nursing theory. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Mareno, N. (2015). Applying Middle-Range Concepts and Theories to the Care of Vulnerable Populations .
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