My goal statement as a registered nurse is to make a positive difference in the lives of my patients by restoring homeostasis and addressing their psychological and social needs. In providing patient- and family-centered care, I passionately believe in respect, compassion, and dignity. As a nurse, I believe in being a role model for both peers and patients in terms of providing quality care and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Taking the BSN program has converted me into a competent professional nurse, with each course and class strengthening my knowledge and capacity to engage in critical thinking abilities in the nursing field. This portfolio represents a detailed process that has modeled me as a profession through attainment of educational and career goals. It portrays my personality and showcases my ability to learn and progress academically and in life. The BSN course has modeled me into a complete professional nurse with a strong foundation good work ethics and morality. The course has enabled to understand nursing in a wider and more accurate perspective, a challenge I am ready to take.
2b. The portfolio represents my achievements and strengths as a person. Each class has continually expanded my knowledge base to a point where I can confidently acknowledge my abilities to work within a multidisciplinary team in a professional nurse setting. The information accompanying this portfolio showcases my character as a learner and upcoming professional. It portrays me as a strong and skillful professional who is eager to work and achieve my goals in life.
2c. In the nursing program, every student is faced with unique challenges. As a freshman, I had to work and study at the same time which had a significant influence on my studying habits and was beginning to have a negative impact on my grades. However, resolved to take up student loans which allowed me to fully focus on my education translating into a better understanding of nursing as a profession. Studying on a daily basis and crafting my skills has helped in preparing me to become a better professional. Throughout my course program, I have been comprehensive and completed every class in time without failure to complete any of my assignments. I take pride in this fact, and I look forward to bring my impeccable work ethic to an interdisciplinary team.
2d. The BSN program’s curriculum has helped me meet the desired program outcomes. To begin with, the program has assisted in developing and sharpening my communication skills as indicated by my ability to provide precise and thorough SBAR reports as a member of an interdisciplinary team. The program has enabled me to develop my critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills that are useful to me as a nursing student in everyday activities. I have and will continue being competent in observing the legal, ethical and professional standards as outlined by my school and the hospital’s operational policies and procedures. The knowledge gained from the extensive list of prerequisite classes completed has proven very useful when applied to nursing practice allowing me to synthesize practical and empirical knowledge. I have learned the art of compassion when providing patient- and family-centered care. The leadership skills gained throughout the course have proven useful to me when delegating duties and collaborating with fellow learners to conduct research studies. Moreover, I have developed the expertise to develop a conducive environment where interdisciplinary teams can communicate effectively and efficiently enabled by seamless information sharing and collaborative communication. The knowledge acquired through genomic and genetics studies has helped improve my understanding and competence in nursing care for families with specific disease patterns. In modern times, knowledge in information technology is essential in any profession. The BSN program has provided me with adequate IT knowledge to access and utilize electronic health records safely and accurately at the same time protecting confidential patient health information. Over the course of the program, I have been able to fulfill various roles while utilizing theoretical and clinical constructs as learned in the program.
2e. The BSN program identifies three essential features that should be represented by the nursing students which include the ability to function as a scientist, detective, and a manager in hospital settings. As a scientist, I have applied my expertise in scientific inquiry to make informed clinical decisions. I continually utilize the knowledge learned from prerequisite courses and through research throughout the BSN program to guide my practice. As a detective, I have gained the ability to monitor and pick up on distinct clues useful in predicting patient outcomes that involve precise and critical decision making in a clinical setting that is often the difference in the prevention of adverse clinical outcomes. Additionally, as a manager within a healing environment, I make managerial decisions regarding each patient every day. With the help of interdisciplinary teams, I am involved in directing, implementing and focusing the team on achieving patient-centered goals. As a team, we present ourselves as the advocates to the patients while striving to achieve the best outcomes with the available resources. The managerial characteristics allow us to function closely with patients and manage their healing environment within and outside clinical settings.
2f. Since the beginning of the BSN program, I have been positively transformed as an upcoming working professional. The program has helped instill confidence and competence in me at the same time molding me into a better nurse. I have developed excellent communication skills through which I can provide precise SBAR reports to the doctors and other team members. The clinical rotations have helped grow my experience and improve my critical thinking which is vital in making clinical decisions. I have developed time management skills has improved with each shift which is essential for improved performance through appropriate management of interventions. As a leader, I have gained more confidence in my skills and judgment making allowing me to delegate duties properly and function spectacularly with interdisciplinary teams.
Quality and Safety
B. Quality and safety form the basis for effective and efficient patient care. The certification I have received from Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI); a Massachusetts based non-profit making organization that leads in innovation, convening, partnering, and driving healthcare results and improvement globally, has helped instill confidence in my learning and training. The many hours spent in learning and training has helped reinforce my understanding of the high-value patient-centered care anchored on the pillars of quality and safety. The knowledge gained from the various program courses and the additional training will be valuable in my practice within a clinical setting. This knowledge is useful when applied in a patient care setting to provide high quality and safe patient care. The certification combined with the values learned over the course of the BSN program, I can express confidence in my ability to practice safe and quality care as a registered nursing practitioner.
Evidence-Based Practice
The BSN program has helped me gain the ability to independently judge the validity of research studies, outcomes, and recommendations. Scientific evidence forms the basis through which all practice must be evaluated. Valid scientific research must be applied in developing constructs to solve the various clinical issues. Nurses must change the way they practice to adapt to the changing medicine and technological world and improve care to the patients.
Through the program, I have learned how to evaluate primary research. It has also helped me learn to appreciate the importance of nurses in leading innovation for the emerging standards of practice as they form the core of the healthcare teams. As an upcoming professional nurse, the program has provided me with the ability to assess a situation and make necessary changes to the care plan as it is implemented through informed and real evaluation of what is a manageable and unmanageable situation.
Over the course of the program, I have learned that changes to the clinical practice must be influenced by systematic review, meta-analysis or established evidence-based clinical practice (EBCP) guideline informed by systematic review. Evidence can also be collected controlled random trials to evaluate particular interventions on the specimen group with no changes to the control group. Quantitative and qualitative studies, expert opinions and analyses can also be used to gather other evidence.
EBCP, unlike clinical research, is not centered in validating the current practice or creating new knowledge. Rather, it advocates for the use of available information. Where the studies are focused on developing new knowledge, EBCP focuses on translating that knowledge into the most valuable clinical practice.
The BSN program has helped me develop a new view of the research. It has availed me with the expertise necessary for determining or understanding evidence or phenomenon, evaluating the validity of the conclusions made, identify areas of conflicting interests within research and ways of determining suitability or applicability of the findings in my practice. Therefore, as a professional, I am obliged to change and implement new methods of practice as informed by evidence and employ my leadership skills to encourage my team members to accept and implement change.
Applied Leadership
In the program, I was a participant with an interdisciplinary team. The vast amount of time spent with patients and the extensive clinical knowledge possessed by nurses make them the core component of the teams. Increased collaboration leads to the realization of desired patient outcomes as supported by improved communication. Working with interdisciplinary teams has helped in the development and refinement of my communication skills and as a result, provided potential to realize improved healthcare outcomes following improved information sharing among the different specialties involved. The ability to communicate timely, precisely and professionally with the team members depicts nurses as leaders.
Being an upcoming professional nurse, I will apply my knowledge and skills to provide safe and quality care. The values learned over the course of the program and the experience from the clinical rotations will be useful in strengthening the foundations of my career that is based on ensuring every patient gets high quality and professional care.
This contents of this portfolio explain how I will practice as a registered nurse. Through continued development of the highlighted qualities, I am on a path to becoming a competent and respected nurse working hard towards continued growth and development throughout my career. It will be my duty to respect and value all my patients. Duty, respect, and care are among the values I will bring to the interdisciplinary team.
Community Health
The various classes offered in BSN program have allowed me to interact with the members of my community. Different communities offer different health challenges that nursing professionals are adequately prepared to handle. The ability to interact with the society and research on the specific health requirements of the community allowed me to comprehend the implications of nursing within a public setting. The experience broadened my understanding of the causative factors involved and the applicability of preventive measures.
As a team, we were assigned to work with a community residing in XXXXXX. The area is primarily made low-income population with the majority being White/Hispanics/ African Americans. From the research and analysis, I determined childhood obesity as one of the major factors influencing the community health. The research analysis showed that a majority of families in this area are affected by this issue and provided me with a better understanding of the number of children who are likely to be affected by the long-term effect of the identified health problem.
Following the community diagnosis of childhood obesity, I embarked on analyzing the specific causes for the health issue which evolved my research on the topic. The below-par living standards and continued neglect to healthy eating continued to affect the health status of the community. The research then focused on the cost of involved in compiling an affordable healthy diet to the community and resources available within the community to encourage healthy living where children can exercise. The information gathered was distributed to the community to help make informed, affordable and healthy living decisions.
