Untitled Document-6
Untitled Document-6
Makenzie K. Harry
education. While my employer does require that I obtain my bachelors of science in nursing
within five years of hire, that was not what motivated me to pursue the degree. Obtaining my
and a good way to challenge myself. My goal at the beginning of the program was to gain
leadership skills and knowledge of the research process. I can confidently say that I have gained
both leadership and research skills from the Old Dominion program.
intervention Paper written in NURS 403. The first step of writing the paper is finding a problem
that can be addressed with therapeutic nursing interventions, those that do not require an order
from a provider. It requires extensive knowledge of the specific patient population to be able to
assess the problems and pick one that can be addressed with nursing interventions, not medical
interventions. My knowledge of nursing practice helped me complete the paper and further
I practice person-centered care by treating my patients like they are human. I recalled a
patient encounter in my Personal Philosophy of Nursing Paper about a blind patient. The patient
was blind and had been for their entire life. I was taking care of the patient and I asked the
patient all of the questions I would ask a patient with their sight. Before I touched the patient I
asked if they would like some help getting out of bed. The patient was very appreciative and told
me the other staff had been treating them like a child. I wouldn’t automatically put my hands on
a patient with their sight without asking for their consent, therefore I wouldn’t touch any patient
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without their consent. This is an example of person-centered care because I treated the patient as
into my nursing practice by volunteering at the free clinic in my city. There are patients from
different cultures and backgrounds, The majority of the patients do not speak English. THrough
volunteering I have expanded my knowledge of the population’s health and ways to promote
health improvement.
scholarship for the nursing discipline represents nursing research. My competency in research is
associated bloodstream infections. The project has primary research about the effectiveness of
CLABSI prevention interventions, which I then applied to current unit practice and addressed
Quality and safety are important to the continuous improvement of patient care outcomes.
I include quality and safety in my practice by attending patient risk rounds for the patients on my
unit. These are for patients that have central lines or foley catheters. The team focuses on
preventing infections caused by these devices. Through these rounds I am able to be an active
Interprofessional partnerships are important for competent and holistic patient care. I
technicians, respiratory therapists, doctors, nurse practitioners, and many other members of the
they need at home. For example, I had a patient that transitioned to Hospice but wanted to do it
at home. They kept stalling and trickling in different paperwork that needed to be completed. I
asked a case manager to give me a list of everything that was needed and I would get it ready for
my patient. That same day the patient was able to be in their home on Hospice like they had
wanted. The patient sat in the hospital for four days before I finally stepped in. Systems-based
electronic medical record for all of my patient’s information. There are cameras in patient rooms
that allow for delirious patients to be successfully managed. These healthcare technologies make
visitors. For example, a patient family member was very upset and verbally threatened me.
Instead of being rude back, I deescalated the situation by listening to the family member and
making them feel heard. Professionalism is important to the integrity of nursing care.
I have personally developed into a more positive person. Through nursing school, I faced
many hardships and I learned to seek joy from the small things. Professionally I have developed
from a patient care technician to a registered nurse in the course of this program. I have joined
role.
My expectations going into the program were low. I had never done online school before
and most opinions I had heard about over school’s online programs were negative. Though I was
wrong, this program is hard and taught me a lot about the type of professional I want to be. I feel
more prepared to function in my current role. For example, I had no idea about evidence-based
practice but now I feel competent in my research and clinical application skills. I want to expand
in my role and move up my hospital’s clinical ladder. I feel like this degree has given me the
skills to do that.
Overall I think I did well in the program. I am organized, which makes most of the
assignments smoother to complete. I could still work on my time management skills for the
future, especially if I want to continue my education. For example, I waited until two days before
the portfolio was due to write this paper. I am glad I enrolled at Old Dominion and have a solid
Throughout the program, I tried many different resilience techniques and a lot of them
did not work. I found that working out daily, even for ten minutes, was beneficial. I also realized
that whenever I felt overwhelmed I needed to go for a walk and come back later. I picked up the
craft of crochet and continued my reading habits from before enrolling in the program. I enjoy
spending time with my family and friends more now than I ever have. For my future goals, I
would like to go back to graduate school to pursue an advanced practice nurse program and
Conclusion
I have met all ten program outcomes. Through this program I identified strengths and
weaknesses in myself. I realized what truly matters to me. I reshaped my future goals to include
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my current career and my future one. Old Dominion gave me a lot of skills and knowledge that I
Appendix A
Purpose of Assignment:
The purpose of this reflection is to guide you through a process of self-evaluation to discover the
scope of your personal and professional development while enrolled in the RN-BSN program at
Old Dominion University.
Student approach to assignment: I approached the assignment with a mindset of reflection. I
went through the last year and a half and reflected on my academic performance and professional
progress.
Reason for inclusion of this assignment in the portfolio: I included this assignment because it
highlights what I achieved during this degree program and how it will help me in my
professional career.