WHO AM I?
I am an adventurous and passionate individual whose zeal to learn is second to none. I chose the Nursing career because universally accessible healthcare is something I yearn for and I am passionate about. My dream is to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable to everyone no matter their creed, race, religion, social and economic status.
My journey into the Nursing profession started some 10 years ago where I was able to obtain a diploma certificate in Nursing from my home country in the year 2012. I practiced as a registered Nurse and also raised a family within those years. I am blessed with a loving husband and three wonderful children, the eldest being 10 and the youngest 3 years of age. For a while, I have been away from active nursing practice and I am thankful for Savonia UAS for this opportunity to further my education and in extension, my career.
I would like to see this period of my training as a time to get equipped with the latest information, technology and practices concerning the Nursing profession in order for me to be able to deliver the best nursing care available in a modern and dignified way.
WHAT KIND OF A LEARNER AM I?
I will consider myself a visual and demonstrative learner as I learn easily and faster when examples are shown and procedures are demonstrated to me. I learn easily in a professional, respectful and cordial environment and I put my all into learning any task I am given. I like to be given feedback in an objective manner.
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AND GOALS
LEARNING SKILLS
Level Of Competence: The field of Nursing is not totally new to me as I have a diploma in Nursing, so I have some rudimentary knowledge of Nursing which I believe will come in handy for me during this internship. I have and fill my medication passport regularly which indicates some of my proficiencies as regards medications.
Goals And How To Achieve Them: I want to carry out procedures with scientific rationales guiding my actions. I need to pay attention to how to successfully bring my theoretical knowledge into my practice, so that I can improve in evidence based-practice.
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALITY IN NURSING
Level of Competence: I am aware of the different values and principles guiding the Nursing profession such as the principle of autonomy, beneficence, justice and non-maleficence. These principles are there to protect the Nurse and patient/client alike.
Goals And How To Achieve Them: I want to become a professional who is empathetic and impartial in the delivery of healthcare to her clients and patient, In order to achieve this, I would like to be involved in the care of different people with different temperaments and personalities in order to build my resilience.
WORK COMMUNITY SKILLS
Level of Competence: In previous internships, I ensured I acquainted myself with the protocols of the hospital right from the beginning of the internship
Goals And How To Achieve Them: I would like to work more cohesively within the multidisciplinary team and in order to achieve this, I will work closely with my mentor nurse to get familiar with the established protocols of my unit.
WORK ENVIRONMENT IN SOCIAL AND HEALTHCARE
Level of Competence: I have been taught in school the different principles guiding the pathways for both elective and emergency surgeries and the the critical roles of nurses.
Goals And How To Achieve Them: I will like to to put into practice these principles and in order to achieve this, I will ensure I am actively involved in the care of at least one elective surgical patient and one emergency surgical patient.
CLINICAL COMPETENCE: PRE, INTRA AND POST-OPERATIVE NURSING
Level of Competence: I have been training to work aseptically both in school and my previous internships which I believe will be more prominent in the peri-operative unit. During the skill labs and simulated nursing scenarios and procedures, I have got a lot of training for surgical hand disinfection, sterile gowning and disinfection, also preparing for a small surgical procedure by preparing the operating table, using protective equipment, disinfecting the patient’s skin and covering the operating area.
Goals and how to achieve them: I want to deepen my professionality to work as aseptically. During internship, I will remind myself of the aseptic rules during the patient care and also ask my mentor nurse for feedback on how I have succeeded to work aseptically in different situations. I also want to work more ergonomically as this is an area I still tend to be having challenges in. I will try as much as possible to assume positions that are not detrimental to my well being while caring for patients.
In my previous internships, I was able to work aseptically with medication preparation and administration but I had limited opportunities with the patient controlled analgesia(PCA) pump, probably due to the sensitivity of its contents, I would like to have more opportunities to initiate treatment regimen with the PCA.
I want to also continue to use the ISBAR, ABCDE, NPS tools in the nursing care plan of plan and to do these, I will ensure I am actively involved in the planning, implementing and evaluating of patient’s care.
I want to have first hand knowledge of the various roles of nurses in the perioperative unit, that is, the the scrub nurse, the anesthesiology nurse, the circulating nurse. In order to achieve this, I will plan my work schedule with my mentor nurse in a way that I am achieve my goals.
EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING AND DECISION-MAKING
Level of Competence: The peri-operative nursing sphere is that which is guided by evidence-based practice which I have extensive theoretical knowledge and understanding.
Goals and How To Achieve Them: I would like to apply my theoretical knowledge into practice and in order to achieve this I must pay close attention to my theoretical considerations as I conduct my nursing tasks.
GUIDANCE AND EDUCATION COMPETENCE
Level of competence: In my previous internships, I have practiced how to guide patients and their relatives. However, the patient guidance has been targeted only to patients who did not undergo surgery.
Goals and how to achieve them: It’s important for me to learn to guide patient who has had surgical operation and need guidance how to manage at home. To achieve this target I need to pay attention to my knowledge of home instructions and operation and how to prevent postoperative complications.
QUALITY OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH CARE SERVICE
Level of Competence: Patient’s safety has been the benchmark of my nursing care as I try to consider the physical, emotional and social well-being of the patient while caring for them.
Goals and How To Achieve Them: I want to further deepen my knowledge and also practice more patient’s safety, in order to realize this goal, I must ensure the equipment patients are to use are safe and fit for purpose. Also, I must communicate with my patients and colleague in clear and concise terms in order to ensure that messages sent and received are clear and understood because miscommunication can undermine patient’s safety.
Patient’s medications will be administered while being guided by the rules of safe medication administration. I will ensure I work more ergonomically in order to ensure both my and the patient’s safety.
Different nursing tools such as the ISBAR reporting, NEWS score and the ABCDE approach will also be utilized to ensure optimal care.