Final Summary and Evaluation

LEARNING SKILLS

I was able to draw up an individual training plan together with my mentor at the start of the training and I also reflected weekly on my blog. I realized where my strength lies for example drug calculations, working aseptically and so on, and also areas to be developed, for example, working ergonomically. I asked for feedback from my mentor as much as possible particularly after any procedure in order for me to improve where necessary.

ETHICAL COMPETENCE AND PROFESSIONALITY

During my internship, I was able to apply the principles of children’s rights and follow the ethical guidelines and legislation governing the nursing care of children and adolescents. Different scenarios played out mainly due to cultural influence but I was able to identify situations of ethical conflict and I was able to manage them constructively due to my knowledge of the rights of the child in hospital, Child Welfare Act and so on.

WORKING SOCIETY COMPETENCE

Due to my internship placement being a teaching hospital, I was able to work on and improve on my multidisciplinary interactions and collaborations and also comply with the collective rules. My success in this area is largely due to the proper and thorough orientation to the various units and clear communication of laid down rules by my mentor nurse at the beginning of my training.

PATIENT-ORIENTED NURSING CARE

Child-oriented approach was deployed while discharging my nursing duties, my patients and their family members were involved in their care as much as possible. Their personal beliefs and cultural attitudes were recognized and respected.

EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING AND DECISION-MAKING

Various resources such as Terveysportti, Savonia library and Finna were consulted and used in order to provide nursing care and make decisions as regards patient’s care that are evidence-based.

Individual nursing care plan were drawn up for each patient at different stages on the health-illness continuum in order to facilitate their healing process and restore them back to health. In planning their care, family members were also recognized and involved as important resource in the lives of their children.

The Kangaroo mother care is an evidence-based tool which is being used for premature babies and multiple birth babies with low birth weight in my training unit with excellent results.

A particular area I was fascinated with was the regulation or the lack thereof of nil per oral(NPO) prior to surgery for pediatric patient in my unit. After seeing children going for extended periods of time without food or water prior to surgery, I asked my mentor nurse if there are any guidelines regarding the maintenance of NPO and she said there are none, then I informed her about the 6-4-2 rule as published in OpenAnesthesia (https://www.openanesthesia.org/keywords/npo-guidelines-for-infants-and-children/). She decided to enlighten other healthcare team members on the subject in the next workshop.

CLINICAL NURSING CARE

My training unit afforded me the opportunity to perform various clinical nursing care of pediatric patients such as monitoring and assessment of vital sign, pain assessment using the numerical pain scale, facial expression scale and also provision of pain relief measures, rehabilitative nursing care for post-surgical patients.

Pharmacotherapy and fluid therapy for children was challenging for me at first because it was quite different from adult preparation but with the guidance of my mentor nurse and prior theoretical knowledge, I was able to perform these procedures.

In carrying out procedures, I ensured that aseptic techniques were used in order to minimize the spread of micro-organisms.

I was not able to work ergonomically as much as I would like to during my training due to the unadjustable furniture made available.