[ANSWER]NURS13135 Assessment 3: Transitional Challenges and Coping Strategies for Newly Graduated Registered Nurses

TASK DESCRIPTION Collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Graduated Registered Nurses

NURS13135 Term2 UNIT GUIDE

Week 1- The Professional Nurse

The ICN definition of nursing states that: 

Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Graduated Registered Nurses includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles (ICN 2010).

The Graduated Registered Nurses and Midwifery Board of Australia (the National Board or NMBA) is the national regulator for nursing and midwifery in Australia. It is established under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory (the National Law).

In Australia, nursing is also defined through the enrolled nurse, registered nurse and nurse practitioner competencies, and the code of conduct and code of ethics for nurses in Australia. As regulated health professionals, RNs are responsible and accountable to the NMBA.

In order to become registered,Graduated Registered Nurses and/or midwives must meet the National Board’s mandatory registration standards. The National Board expects registered nurses and midwives to practice within the relevant competency standards and decision-making frameworks. 

Decision making can range from fast, intuitive, or heuristic decisions through to well-reasoned, analytical, evidence-based decisions that drive patient and client care. … An Effective Practitioner is tasked with making clinical decisions with patients and clients many times during their health and care journey.

The national decision-making framework, developed in the context of national workforce strategies promoting diversity, flexibility and responsiveness in the workforce, reflects a whole-of-health workforce perspective Graduated Registered Nurses.

The national framework consists of two parts. The first is a set of principles that form the foundation for the development and evaluation of decision-making tools. The second contains two templates for decision-making tools, one for nursing (registered and enrolled nurses) and one for midwifery Graduated Registered Nurses, in recognition of the differences between the two professions.

The purpose of the framework is to foster consistency across jurisdictions by: 

• identifying the agreed foundation principles for decision-making tools

• demonstrating the application of the principles and concepts in the two professions.  Professions are regulated in the public interest. Regulation contributes to public safety by ensuring that those who are authorized to make decisions, for which professional knowledge and experience are needed Graduated Registered Nurses, are competent to do so. Use of the national principles for the development and evaluation of decision-making tools will, therefore, contribute to safety and quality in nursing and midwifery practice. Use of the template tools will facilitate flexibility in practice and enable reflection on current practice and practice change.

1. Code of COnduct for Nurses
2. Fact Sheet-Code of Conduct for Nurses
3. Case Study-Applying the Code of COnduct
4. Registered Nurse Standards of Practice
5. ICN COde of Ethics for Nurses
6. NMBA Decision making framwork
7. Whose centre is it anyway? Defining person-centred care in nursing: An integrative review

Week 2- Transitioning from a student to a Graduated Registered Nurses

In Australia transition programs provide the initial sustained exposure to clinical contexts and an opportunity for the application of the theory learnt in the undergraduate degree. The first three to six months is considered to be the most critical time for professional adjustment and for creating a commitment to a career in nursing (Levitt-Jones 2005, Greenwood 2000).  

The ACN members give some advice to our Australian beginning Graduated Registered Nurses.

Chang and Daly (2016) write; 

‘all graduates of nursing courses will experience a degree of culture shock on entry to the world of clinical practice.  

This experience is complex and multidimensional. Research has uncovered a number of issues and challenges that confront new Graduated Registered Nurses on entry to the workforce as registered nurses. In addition, a number of strategies have been found to be useful in easing the stress and strain associated with transition. Careful planning and use of resources in the practice environment can also facilitate positive adjustment to employment as a registered nurse. 

Nursing education and nursing service need to monitor the transition process continually to optimise the number of new registered nurses who manage this phenomenon successfully and go on to enjoy fulfilling, rewarding careers in their chosen profession.’

In order to bridge what is often described as the theory-practice gap,  graduate transition programs were developed and have become accepted as the most appropriate way for registered Graduated Registered Nurses (RNs) to enter the workforce. Transition programs share three primary goals: 

(a) to develop competent and confident RNs; 

(b) to facilitate professional adjustment; and,

 (c) to develop a commitment to a career in nursing. 

Topics

1. New Graduated Registered Nurses experiences in their first year of practice
2. Starting out: A time-lagged study of new graduate nurses’ tranition to practice
3. Socialisation of new graduate nurses to practicing nursing
4. Literature review: “Are you OK there?”
5. A secondary data analysis examining the needs of graduate nurses in their transition to a new role

Week 2 Tutorial

Scenario

You are working on a busy medical ward and are about to do your pill round. You enter the medication room to find a colleague sitting on the floor, crying and clearly distressed Graduated Registered Nurses.

Upon enquiry, your colleague confides in you that he is feeling very stressed at work, is finding it difficult to keep up with the daily work and keeps forgetting medication names. He feels silly for taking so long and often leaves work feeling upset, flustered and that no-one wants to work with him. He has taken to drinking alcohol every night to ‘switch-off’ and wakes up feeling exhausted and nervous for work Graduated Registered Nurses.

Code of Conduct- Principle 7- Health and Wellbeing

7.1 Your and your colleagues’ health Nurses have a responsibility to maintain their physical and mental health to practice safely and effectively. To promote health for nursing practice, nurses must:

a. understand and promote the principles of public health, such as health promotion activities and vaccination.

b. act to reduce the effect of fatigue and stress on their health, and on their ability to provide safe care Graduated Registered Nurses

c. encourage and support colleagues to seek help if they are concerned that their colleague’s health may be affecting their ability to practice safely, utilising services such as Nurse & Midwife Support, the national health support service for nurses, midwives and students Graduated Registered Nurses

d. seek expert, independent and objective help and advice, if they are ill or impaired in their ability to practice safely. Nurses must remain aware of the risks of self-diagnosis and self-treatment, and act to reduce these, and take action, including a mandatory or voluntary notification to AHPRA, if a Graduated Registered Nurses knows or reasonably suspects that they or a colleague have a health condition or impairment that could adversely affect their ability to practice safely, or put people at risk (see Principle 1: Legal compliance).

Week 3- inter-professional Graduated Registered Nurses

Teamwork requires co-operation, co-ordination and communication between members of a team to achieve desired outcomes. In industries with a high degree of risk, such as health care, effective teamwork has been shown to achieve team goals successfully and efficiently, with fewer errors. Teamwork is a key component of many professions; when employees feel as if they are part of a unit, relevant outcomes are improved. Nurse’s report enhanced job satisfaction and patient care outcomes are met. No longer can nurses function in isolation. Their profession mandates teamwork and effective communication.

When nurses function as part of a unit, and when they act as part of a team, the job itself is easier and more efficient. Overall patient care is enhanced. In nursing, when teamwork is emphasised and valued, every member works together to meet their patients’ needs; improved patient outcomes is their common goal. There are many relevant clinical examples of how teamwork improves patient care Graduated Registered Nurses.

In healthcare, every care discipline is integral. If the patient needs respiratory care, the respiratory therapist implements an ordered treatment. The speech therapist carries out an ordered study; the physical therapist fulfils their duty. Each discipline plays a part; each care provider is part of a team. Achieving the desired patient outcome rests on teamwork and effective communication. There are many other examples of the value of teamwork, but the underlying theme is that teamwork clearly strengthens the ability of nurses and other health care providers to provide higher quality, more efficient care.

The health care system of the future will be more dependent than ever upon effective and efficient teamwork to coordinate care. In order for hospitals and primary care practices to survive, the culture of teamwork must be supported. The essence of this teamwork will be a collaborative environment in which advanced care practitioners, bedside nurses, and others work and share in the process and systems of care Graduated Registered Nurses.

Among direct care staff, teamwork and communication are equally important. When changing shift, for instance, it is imperative that all relevant patient care information be shared with the oncoming nurse.  Similarly, it is important for the Registered nurse and the EEN, AIN staff to have an open line of communication. The nurse should be aware of what duties can be delegated; they should have an understanding of what falls under the scope of the nursing practice. They should communicate their needs with their co-assigned aid, and it is imperative that the two have a strong working relationship, whereby trust, appreciation, and teamwork are the underlying principles (Ward 2013)Graduated Registered Nurses.

Effective teamwork in health-care delivery can have an immediate and positive impact on patient safety Graduated Registered Nurses . 

The importance of effective teams in health care is increasing due to factors such as: 

(i) the increasing complexity and specialization of care; 

(ii) increasing co-morbidities; 

(iii) increasing chronic disease; 

(iv) global workforce shortages; and 

(v) safe working hours initiatives.

Regardless of the type and nature of the team they can be said to share certain characteristics Graduated Registered Nurses. 

These include: 

• team members have specific roles and interact together to achieve a common goal; 

• teams make decisions; 

• teams possess specialized knowledge and skills and often function under conditions of high workloads; 

• teams differ from small groups in as much as they embody a collective action arising out of task inter-dependency. (WHO – Patient Safety . https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/44091)

Week 4- communication for effective nursing

Effective communication is fundamental to nursing practice. It is a skill that can be learned and continually improved. Improvement requires keen observation, the willingness to be reflective, and the commitment to listen and learn.

The quality of communication in interactions between nurses and patients has a major influence on patient outcomes. To support the development of effective nursing communication in clinical practice, a good understanding of what constitutes effective communication is helpful.

What we say as health carers has the power to harm or heal. How do you wish to be remembered?

We may not typically think of communication as a clinical skill Graduated Registered Nurses, but health care providers and patients are frequently exposed to the tragic consequences of inadequate communication of critical information.  When information falls through the cracks, diagnoses are confounded, procedures are complicated, and subsequent care is compromised.  Communication difficulties are not isolated to providers lacking “people skills” or patients with language or comprehension deficits.

Nor is the problem exclusive to communication that is misspoken or misunderstood: errors often occur because information is unrecorded, misdirected, never received, never retrieved, or ignored. Every mode and system by which patients and caregivers share health-related information is vulnerable to failure Graduated Registered Nurses.  Just as the malpractice data indicate that communication errors are everybody’s problem, every health care organization has the ability and obligation to reduce those errors.

What is communication in nursing?

Many definitions describe communication as a transfer of information between a source and a receiver. In nursing, communication is a sharing of health-related information between a patient and a nurse, with both participants as sources and receivers. The information may be verbal or nonverbal, written or spoken, personal or impersonal, issue-specific, or even relationship-oriented, to name a few possibilities (Sheldon 2004, p. 4).

Why is effective communication important?

The power of creative and effective nursing care is strengthened by effective communication skills. Patients share their stories, symptoms, and concerns by talking with us. Both the spoken word and the body language convey information about the patient’s experience.

Your words can do so much: put a patient at ease, set up a productive relationship, and carry out interventions. There is no other skill that is used more in nursing than communication (Sheldon 2004, p. 132).

Person (Family/Patient) centered communication

Effective nursing practice is dependent on an effective therapeutic relationship between the nurse and the client. Person centered practice is built upon mutual understanding, requiring respect, expressions of empathy and the development of trust when practicing as a health professional.  It also requires therapeutic relationships involving development of rapport, collaboration with and the empowerment of the person (O’Toole 2017).  The therapeutic relationship is central to all nursing practice.

For example, in mental health and community nursing, the therapeutic relationship may be the primary intervention to promote awareness and growth and/or to work through difficulties. In other areas of nursing practice, for example ICU, the therapeutic relationship may be more in the background, serving as the intervention through which comfort, support, and provision of care are facilitated. Regardless off setting and clinical situation, the therapeutic relationship always needs to be established Graduated Registered Nurses.

Watch a registered nurses communicate with patients and families. 

We hear their concerns and include family in the care of patients.

Learning and Communication

Diversity and  communication

Effective communication between patients and health care providers is a critical element to quality health care. Becoming aware of patients’ attitudes, beliefs, biases, and behaviors that may influence patient care can help clinicians improve access to and quality of care. Health care providers should develop a strategic plan for improvement, then implement and evaluate the plan to include structured, continuously improving progress toward achieving cultural competency goals. In this challenging health care environment, health care providers need the skills to explore the meaning of illness, to determine patient’s social and family context, and provide patient-centered and culturally competent care (Makova & Broome, 2007) Graduated Registered Nurses.

Week 5- safety and quality in Graduated Registered Nurses

Australia has a high quality health care system, rating well internationally, and serving the bulk of the population well. Nevertheless, the safety and quality of health care in Australia is of interest to health care planners, providers and users, as efforts continue to maintain and improve the performance of health care services.

The safety of the health care system has been defined by the National Health Performance Framework as relating to the avoidance or reduction to acceptable limits of actual or potential harm from health care management or the environment in which health care is delivered. Similar definitions are in wide use in Australia. For instance, the former Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care, replaced by the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care, defined safety as the degree to which potential risk and unintended results are avoided or minimised.

Quality is a multi-faceted concept which can be defined in different ways. At a broad level, quality reflects the extent to which a health care service or product produces a desired outcome (B. Runciman, A. Merry and M. Walton, 2007, Safety and Ethics in Health Care, Ashgate, Burlington, VT, p. 297).

The primary aims of the NSQHS Standards are to protect the public from harm and to improve the quality of health service provision. They provide a quality assurance mechanism that tests whether relevant systems are in place to ensure that expected standards of safety and quality are met Graduated Registered Nurses.

There are eight NSQHS Standards, which cover high-prevalence adverse events, healthcare associated infections, medication safety, comprehensive care, clinical communication, the prevention and management of pressure injuries, the prevention of falls, and responding to clinical deterioration. Importantly, these NSQHS Standards have provided a nationally consistent statement about the standard of care consumers can expect from their health service organisations.

The eight NSQHS Standards are: 

Clinical Governance, which describes the clinical governance, and safety and quality systems that are required to maintain and improve the reliability, safety and quality of health care, and improve health outcomes for patients Graduated Registered Nurses. 

Partnering with Consumers, which describes the systems and strategies to create a person-centred health system by including patients in shared decision making, to ensure that patients are partners in their own care, and that consumers are involved in the development and design of quality health care. 

Preventing and Controlling Healthcare Associated Infection, which describes the systems and strategies to prevent infection, to manage infections effectively when they occur, and to limit the development of antimicrobial resistance through prudent use of antimicrobials, as part of effective antimicrobial stewardship Graduated Registered Nurses. 

Medication Safety, which describes the systems and strategies to ensure that clinicians safely prescribe, dispense and administer appropriate medicines to informed patients, and monitor use of the medicines. 

Blood Management, which describes the systems and strategies for the safe, appropriate, efficient and effective care of patients’ own blood, as well as other supplies of blood and blood products. 

Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration, which describes the systems and processes to respond effectively to patients when their physical, mental or cognitive condition deteriorates.

Comprehensive Care, which describes the integrated screening, assessment and risk identification processes for developing an individualised care plan, to prevent and minimise the risks of harm in identified areas. 

Communicating for Safety, which describes the systems and strategies for effective communication between patients, carers and families, multidisciplinary teams and clinicians, and across the health service organisation.

Topics

Week 6- legal and ethical considerations

Just like other healthcare professionals, nurses need to practice according to a complex web of federal and state statutes – while they make decisions in an ethically responsible manner. Understanding ethics and law in health care is an essential part of nurses’ and midwives’ professional standards.

Nurses need to exercise caution in their decision-making to reduce their risk of legal liability. Additionally, nurses also need to consider the ethical implications of their decisions to ensure their actions are in the interest of their patient and do not cause harm. 

At first glance, it might seem that making these decisions should be straightforward, but many situations are not clear-cut and there are times when what seems legal is not ethical or vice versa Graduated Registered Nurses.

The four principles approach to biomedical ethics (you will have visited this in Pharmacology NURS12154).

Bioethicists often refer to the four basic principles of health care ethics when evaluating the merits and difficulties of medical procedures.  Ideally, for a medical practice to be considered “ethical”, it must respect all four of these principles: autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence.  The Four Principles, originally devised by Beauchamp and Childress in their textbook Principles of Biomedical Ethics, are considered by many as the standard theoretical framework from which to analyse ethical situations in health care Graduated Registered Nurses.

Briefly, the four principles are:

• Autonomy – The right for an individual to make his or her own choice.
• Beneficence – The principle of acting with the best interest of the other in mind.
• Non-maleficence – The principle that “above all, do no harm,” as stated in the Hippocratic Oath.
• Justice – A concept that emphasizes fairness and equality among individuals.

Activity for you to research and reflect on.

• Define ethics, & the principles of healthcare ethics
• Define ethical rules of professional client relationships
• Discuss/Describe strategies to resolve ethical dilemmas
• Discuss the importance of advocacy in protecting client rights

Understanding legal framework.

What do you know about Australian law, including the relationship of between healthcare workers & the law

• Describe the differences between criminal & civil law, & their associated key terms
• Define assault, battery & negligence, including duty of care
• Define consent, & the legal requirements of a valid consent
• Define false imprisonment & restraint, & discuss the RN’s responsibilities when caring for a patient requiring physical restraint
• Define mandatory reporting, & discuss the RN’s responsibilities for reporting actual/potential incidences
• Define ‘notifiable conduct’ of health professionals, & the RN’s responsibilities

“Duty of care” refers to the obligations placed on people to act towards others in a certain way, in accordance with certain standards. The term is sometimes used to cover both legal and professionalduties that health care practitioners may have towards others, but there are distinctions between the two.

Generally, the law imposes a duty of care on a health care practitioner in situations where it is “reasonably foreseeable” that the practitioner might cause harm to patients through their actions or omissions. This is the case regardless of whether that practitioner is a Graduated Registered Nurses, midwife, health care assistant or assistant practitioner. It exists when the practitioner has assumed some sort of responsibility for the patient’s care. This can be basic personal care or a complex procedure.

To discharge the legal duty of care, health care practitioners must act in accordance with the relevant standard of care. This is generally assessed as the standard to be expected of an “ordinarily competent practitioner” performing that particular task or role.

The standards to be expected are not generally affected by any personal attributes, such as level of experience. The legal standard of care to generally be expected of a newly-qualified Graduated Registered Nurses is the same as that expected of a more experienced nurse performing the same task.

Topics:

Week 7- organisational culture in healthcare

Background of the Australian health system.

Australia’s health outcomes are among the best in the world. At the same time, as Australia’s Health 2016 notes, health system arrangements, which are mixture of public and private funding involving blurred lines of jurisdictional responsibility, multiple providers and a variety of regulatory regimes, are ‘nothing short of complex’.

The Australian health system involves multiple layers of responsibility and funding provided by governments, individuals, health providers and private health insurers.

Primary care (the first level of contact with the health system) is mostly provided in the community by general practitioners (GPs), who are generally self-employed. GPs also operate as ‘gatekeepers’, referring patients to specialist medical services where needed Graduated Registered Nurses. The national public health insurance scheme Medicare provides either free or subsidised benefits for most medical, diagnostic and allied health services.

Acute care is provided in either private or public hospitals. Public hospital treatment is free for public patients, but public hospital care can be subject to long waiting times. Private hospitals cater to patients who want choice of doctor and private ward accommodation and include a growing number of ‘day-only’ specialist facilities. For private hospital care Medicare pays 75% of the Medicare schedule fee, with the balance met by private health insurance (if purchased and if gap arrangements apply) Graduated Registered Nurses.

A range of free or low-cost public health services, including immunisation and mental health services, are provided by community health facilities. Subsidised aged care services, such as residential aged care, are provided by a mix of not-for-profit, private and government organisations. Medicines are dispensed by private community pharmacists who are paid by government (under a Pharmacy Agreement) to dispense medicines subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Veterans’ health services are funded separately through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Responsibility for funding and regulating the health system is largely shared between the Commonwealth and the state and territory governments.

Organisational Culture in Healthcare and the pivotal role of nurses.

Effective organisational culture is crucial in health care organizations that face issues such as complex managed health care structures, competitive labor markets, and declining levels of patient satisfaction.  

Wooten and Crane (2003) believe “Organizational culture refers to a shared value system derived over time that guides members as they solve problems, adapt to the external environment, and manage relationships (Schein, 1992). Organizational culture explains how an organization’s members do things to succeed, as well as how their behaviors can contribute to a group’s failure. In other words, organizational culture serves as a cognitive map for members so they can understand what is valued in their organization, and how to direct their behaviors accordingly.

The culture of a health care organization can powerfully influence its ability to manage human resources and serve patients, and ultimately has a strong impact on its economic performance (Kotter & Heskett, 1992). 

Creating and nurturing a constructive organizational culture is not an easy task, especially in a health care setting. It requires a strong mission statement and a defined sense of purpose to guide behaviors. This mission should generate a sense of collectivity and emotional attachment that develops a community focused on organizational goals (Sackman, 1991).

A sense of collectivity is important in a constructive organizational culture because teamwork is the foundation of this culture. Teamwork facilitates coordination of efforts and builds consensus among group members. In groups with a strong team orientation, members are willing to work harder than technically necessary to help colleagues, so that the group looks good and succeeds (Goffee & Jones, 1996) Graduated Registered Nurses. 

While teamwork is crucial in a constructive organizational culture, it is not the only mechanism employed for emphasizing people-centered values. In a constructive culture, humanistic values are emphasized in every aspect of work. Not surprisingly, human resource management is a top priority in such cultures, since these organizations live by the motto, “Our assets are our people.” It is the human resource management practices that reinforce cultural values through the recruitment, training, and socialization of organizational members (Bamberger & Meshoulam, 2000).

For a health care organization to implement a constructive culture, leadership must recognize the pivotal role of nurses, who represent the focal point between quality patient service and organizational process improvements. With the understanding that nurses are the nucleus of a health care organization, it is important for leadership to develop systems that clearly convey to the nursing staff the group’s culture values and how it operates. Once health care organizations understand and facilitate this process, nurses will feel empowered and seize the opportunity to transform the organization’s resources into value and quality for all stakeholders (Wooten and Crane, 2003) .
Topics

Week 8- nursing leadership

Who is a Leader?  We all probably start by thinking they are a person in a position of authority.

 However if you look back through history, some of the most important people who were seen as leaders actually rose to positions of authority after they were recognised as Leaders. People such as Florence Nightingale, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi led by example and people chose to follow their lead, because as Owen (2009) states “leadership is not about your position but about how you behave”.

Tappen et al (2004) simply characterises a leader as someone who:

·         Sets direction: mission, goals vision and purpose

·         Builds commitment: motivation, spirit, teamwork

·         Confronts challenges: innovation, change and turbulence.

Leadership could be considered a group activity and without followers, there can be no leaders.

As a profession, nurses take a holistic, patient-centred approach to care.  Nurses are often the front-line of health care delivery. As a result, they play a critical role in identifying and responding to changes in patients’ health status, preventing adverse events and supporting patients throughout their care journey.
Nurse leadership will be needed to inform the strategic direction of Australia’s health system and help drive the necessary changes within organisations. Nursing leaders are found at all levels of the health care system, from clinical leaders on the ward to nurses who hold government posts or executive positions within health care organisations.

They are informed by the patientcentred care philosophy of nursing, an understanding of the complex challenges facing the nursing profession and a strong knowledge of the broader health system. Nurse leadership will be vital to retaining and developing Australia’s nurse workforce. Nurse leaders also have a key contribution to make in shaping the design and delivery of new models of care, as well as driving the changes that will be required for their implementation. As members of Australia’s largest and most widely distributed registered health profession, nurse leaders will be vital to ensuring that the health system is accessible, responsive and able to meet the needs of all Australians (Australian College of Nursing (ACN). 2015).  

Week 9- Reflective Practice

Oelofsen (2012) believes “Reflection on practice is a key skill for nurses. Engaging in regular reflection enables practitioners to manage the personal and professional impact of addressing their patients’ fundamental health and wellbeing needs on a daily basis.”

Reflective practice can be defined as the process of making sense of events, situations and actions that occur in the workplace (Oelofsen, 2012). Although many, if not all, initial nurse education programs (leading to registration) include modules on reflective practice, organised opportunities to reflect are rare in the busy, pressurised world of front-line practice.

Why is self-reflection important?

·         It can help you to consider setbacks in a broader context and keep a long-term perspective.

·         It helps to ensure that you are taking actions that are sound and not simply running on “auto pilot.”

·         It can help you learn from your experience to avoid the trap of simply repeating things that aren’t working.

·         It can help you focus on what is important in your life.

·         It allows you to notice your habitual ways of responding to people and events so that you have the option of approaching things differently.

Whatever type of ritual you choose to reflect with (journaling, meditating) here are some questions to reflect on to help you build a resilient mindset.

• What can I do to make myself more aware of my own thinking and emotions?
• What was going on for me when XX was happening?
• What did I want to happen today?
• What went well?
• What did not go the way it was intended?
• What did I learn?
• What will I do differently next time?
• What do I need to let go of in order to move on?

Topics

Week 10- Entering the clinical space

Each day, Select Medical’s employees work tirelessly to deliver the best care possible. Whether they are involved directly in patient care, or working behind the scenes in support of great care, one thing is certain: each of us makes a difference. Fatigue is a common and potentially catastrophic issue in healthcare and nurses are not immune to this.

Fatigue can occur from a poor work environment, from adjusting to shift work and working with in the multidisciplinary team and adjusting to the role of the nurse. It is essential that nurses are aware of their own health and well-being, and work hard to maintain a positive work-life balance. Nurses are essential to patient safety and the health and well-being of staff is essential to safe clinical practice. This video provides more insight into nurses fatigue. 

Week 11- establishing and maintaining a professional profile in nursing

As you embark on this journey of beginning practitioner to becoming expert in our chosen field, it is vital that you establish and develop your identity as a professional.

Few students consider further education as they complete their Bachelor of Nursing. It’s important to remember, however, that a Bachelor’s degree is a foundation qualification, and by no means marks the end of a registered nurse’s education.  There are countless opportunities for further study in the postgraduate area – from CPD, graduate certificates to research higher degrees. Registered nurses can practice in a variety of clinical settings and specialties, or they can work outside the clinical genre, pursuing a career in management or education.

Life Long Learning

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) defines continuing professional development as a life-long process of maintaining and enhancing the competencies of the nurse. Continuing professional development is necessary for nurses and midwives to keep up to date with the rapidly changing health care environment.

It is the policy of the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation that – Continuing professional development is both an individual responsibility and the responsibility of the employing health or aged care provider. All nurses and midwives have a professional responsibility to maintain competence and to have a contemporary knowledge and skill base in order to provide best practice nursing and midwifery care.

Professional Nursing Bodies

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF)

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation is now the largest union in Australia with over 259,000 members.  The ANMF is run by nurses and midwives to advance the industrial, political and professional status of our members.  

If you are a registered or enrolled nurse, midwife, assistant in nursing or doing nursing work, the ANMF is the union for you. When you join one of our branches, we will be there when you need us.

http://anmf.org.au/pages/anmf-branches

Australian College of Nursing (ACN)

The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is a professional nursing membership-organisation, open to nurses in all settings and at every stage of their career. In addition to being the Australian member of the International Council of Nurses, we are also an authorised higher education provider and registered training organisation and we specialise in online postgraduate, professional development and training courses for registered and enrolled nurses.

The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is the preeminent and national leader of the nursing profession”. ACN’s intent is to enhance health care by advancing nurse leadership. It does this by developing and nurturing the leadership skills and expertise of nurses. Through its membership and education services, and leadership development program, ACN encourages and supports nurses at every level to develop their leadership skills and competency in order to make a strong contribution to policy by providing their professional, economic and health perspectives.

Professional Portfolio

A professional portfolio is a collection of resources: It is a document that is used to store different types of information and evidence that show an individual’s continuing professional development activities and experiences, competencies and professional achievements and goals.

Keeping a record of your skills, qualifications and continued professional development is important for anyone working in nursing or midwifery. ANMF (SA Branch) has created a useful tool called the Professional Portfolio, which makes updating and presenting your skills and qualifications simple.

THE PURPOSE OF PORTFOLIOS? 

A Professional portfolio very strongly an emphasis on the provision of evidence of personal accountability 

• The registered nurse practices independently and interdependently, assuming accountability and responsibility for their own actions 

• The registered nurse contributes to quality health care through lifelong learning and professional development of herself/himself and others, research data generation, clinical supervision and development of policy and clinical practice guidelines. The registered nurse develops their professional practice in accordance with the health needs of the population / society and changing patterns of disease and illness. 

• Nurses should provide portfolio documents that demonstrate they are able to meet the Registration standard for nurses in Australia

[ANSWER PREVIEW]

Moving from the classroom into the practice setting comes with a sense of confusion, uncertainty, and reality shock. According to Gaundan and Mohammadnezhad (2018), reality shock refers to the gap between expectations and perceived role when one changes status from a student to a registered nurse. Jane admits that she neither knows what is happening nor what she requires to get through her shift. Ingvarsson et al. (2019) blame this uncertainty and the reality shock on the gap between theory and practice. While nursing theory equips nurses with requisite knowledge, practical wisdom only comes with experience, which Jane lacks at the moment.

In a study by Wong et al. (2018), participants admitted that knowledge gained in school is important but grossly inadequate. The participants cited challenges particularly in translating their theoretical knowledge into actual cases like emergency and handover. As a result, NGRNs experience a mixture of feelings replete with excitement, anxiety, and intimidation (Patterson et al., 2010). Jane states that she was happy at the beginning and was looking forward to enjoying the profession, but that is no longer the case. Due to their limited experience, NGRNs are highly prone to low self-confidence and doubt. Besides, the modus operandi…[Buy Full Answer for Just USD 9: 2615 WORDS]

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Type: Essay

Word Count: 2615

Grade/Mark: 89 (Distinction)