Welcome!

Category: Professionalism

Presenting Change

            We did not get any responses to our surveys from our infographic. This may have been that the infographics were put in a place with not much traffic, or that the nurses were too busy. When considering a potential employer, I would want them to know that I am willing to contribute to quality improvement and evidence-based practice initiatives. I would discuss my background with the CLABSI project and how I would advocate for ways to help prevent CLABSI’s on the floor. 

 I learned a lot about how patients contract CLABSI’s, which most often happens when the hub of the central line is not cleaned properly. Time is often a factor that prevents central line hubs from being cleaned properly.  I also learned that some floors and hospitals may not have the correct supplies (chlorohexidine or alcohol wipes) to clean central line hubs properly, which I had not thought of prior to doing this project. I also learned how it is important to make sure you are not leaving any materials on the bed when cleaning a central line hub such as the alcohol caps, or the wipes and packaging as these could get lost in the patients bedding and/or cause an abrasion. 

            Our team process throughout this project went smoothly overall. We were able to complete all our work on time and were able to split up the responsibilities of the work evenly. We did most of our project during our in-person time and if we didn’t finish any of if, we would put the assignment on a google doc and work together on it. This worked out well, if we had any questions, or wanted to edit any part of the work. One thing I learned about myself as a team member is that I like to work with others and working with a team helps me be more productive. 

Final Reflection

One thing I learned from this project is that the mental health of patients is often neglected when there is a larger physical problem that needs to be cared for. In the future, when I am practicing, I will make sure to consider how my patients mental health may be affected and what I might be able to do to help them. While there is a strong correlation between amputations and negative psychological effects such as depression and anxiety as it is a huge physical change, simply just being in the hospital may cause a patient’s mental health to suffer. I will work to make sure I take care of both my patients physical and mental health. I would want potential employers to know that I am willing and able to contribute to evidence-based practice initiatives while working, and that I work well in a team environment.

            Our team process throughout this project went very smoothly overall. We were able to complete our work on time, and each of us did an equal amount of work. Usually, we would try to do most of the project in person, so we could ask questions and help each other if we had questions. One thing I learned about myself as a team member is that I like to work with others, and that working with others helps me be more productive over all.

Ethical Considerations for EBP

I wouldn’t say my opinions on nurses’ contribution to ethical research has changed, but more so I gained a deeper understanding of nurse involvement in ethics. While conducting research in an ethical way may seem black and white that is not always the case as shown in “Miss Evers’ Boys”. Miss Evers believed she was doing the right thing at first in helping her friends get treatment for syphilis. However, she later found out the motives of the doctors, and that many of the men were under the impression that they were receiving treatment, but were not, and essentially left to die. Miss Evers continued with the study and provided comfort treatment to the men in the study. 

            In this case especially, it is very important for nurses to know the historical evolution and principles of research ethics to prevent something like the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment from happening again in the future. It is important for healthcare professionals to gain insight from where there have been ethical conflicts in the past and work to make their research safe, transparent, and ethical for everyone.

            Throughout working towards the course objectives and doing research and appraising evidence I was able to get a good idea on which research is ethical (objectives 1+2). Objective 3 states “recognize the important leadership contributions that each nurse can make to implement EBP to promote safe, quality, nursing care”. This objective resonates with me the most when thinking about promoting safe and ethical research and nursing care. By keeping this in mind, I will be able to work towards providing quality evidence based care and continue to be an advocate for patients. 

Gratitude and Self Care

Gratitude is very important in a professional setting, and especially in the medical field because everyone is doing a difficult, stressful job. It is important to recognize what your coworkers are doing and how they have helped you throughout the day, or the patient assignment. Inter-professional team members can demonstrate gratitude in many ways, for example through body language (handshake, hug, etc), or verbally by acknowledging a good job, or something helpful they did.

At times when I am feeling stressed at school, one thing I often do to manage that is go to the beach. By sitting at the beach for half an hour I am usually able to collect my thoughts, and calm down because it is a very peaceful atmosphere. While, I will probably not be able to leave work to go to the beach to manage stress, I can try to find a few minutes to center myself and take deeps breaths to decrease my stress, and continue to do a good job at work.

Revisiting the Image

An important quality of nursing that gets less attention in popular culture would be the long hours and potential burnout nurses face. I think that this is talked about in the media to some extent, but it is usually not what people focus on. In fictional medical shows the doctors are usually the main focus, and nurses are not usually shown with the full extent of the job. I think the more mundane duties of nursing could lead to boredom or sloppy patient care vs. the idealized qualities and skills of a nurse, that one might be more excited to perform. I chose the image below because it depicts the less glamorous side of nursing.

https://online.maryville.edu/blog/avoid-nurse-burnout/

A nurse deals with burnout

© 2025 Amy's Site

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑

css.php