NSG 4076 Week 8 Biweekly Journal
NSG 4076 Week 8 Biweekly Journal
Bi-weekly Practicum Journaling
My practicum experience over the last two weeks acted as an eye-opener in the common challenges facing healthcare professionals and how to deal with them to promote patient-centered care. As nurses, we are expected to exhibit the highest level of professionalism when taking care of patients to promote their well-being and prevent harm. However, the well-being of nurses is normally neglected leading to common mental complications such as anxiety and depression. The Healthy People 2020, emphasizes the importance of promoting the well-being of healthcare professionals in improving the safety and quality of care provided (Sampaio et al., 2020). For instance, one of my aggregate who was diagnosed with mild anxiety related to working environment stress and pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic was assigned to a qualified psychiatrist to help with her mental condition. The nurse was able to open up and talk about work-related stress, with a positive outcome on her mental health.
Through this encounter, I was able to appreciate the need to take keen consideration on the mental health of nurses, especially during tough times, like the covid-19 pandemic. I have also learned that the best way to promote mental health among frontline healthcare workers is to promote frequent mental h
NSG 4076 Week 8 Biweekly Journal
ealth examinations by talking to a psychiatrist about their work-related stress (Stelnicki et al., 2020). Surprisingly, just talking to a mental health professional even on ‘zoom’ has proven to be an effective way of promoting the mental health of nurses. The conceptual Framework Pillars described in this course also encourage nurses to exhibit caring, critical thinking, professionalism, and good communication skills to avoid work-related stress.
NSG 4076 Week 8 Biweekly Journal References
Sampaio, F., Sequeira, C., & Teixeira, L. (2020). Nurses’ mental health during the Covid-19 outbreak: a cross-sectional study. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 62(10), 783-787. DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001987
Stelnicki, A. M., Carleton, R. N., & Reichert, C. (2020). Nurses’ mental health and well-being: COVID-19 impacts. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 52(3), 237-239. https://doi.org/10.1177/0844562120931623
For the past two weeks, I have been able to gain further insight into the role of nurses in promoting safe and quality care provided. During week two, we mainly focused on conducting and adopting appropriate literature review skills, to be able to identify gaps with the practice and come up with an evidence-based solution in promoting the quality and safety of care provided. For instance, I was able to settle down on how the covid-19 pandemic has impacted the health of women in Florida and the U.S at large. Just like in Healthy People 2020, I focused on access to care as a contributing factor towards mental health problems among women such as depression (Sen-Crowe et al., 2021).
In week three, I was able to come up with a capstone project plan, which also involved the process of data collection and coming up with an appropriate timeline. Gaining adequate knowledge and skills regarding how to conduct research, and coming up with solid evidence is crucial among nurses to promote the incorporation of new practices which have proven to be effective (Müller et al., 2018). For instance, through research, I was able to gain new knowledge and facts such as the fatality rates of men being twice higher than that of women during the pandemic, despite women being the most affected. This knowledge helps in streamlining the research towards a solution which can be used to promote the mental health of women in the pandemic. Other than literature review and project development skills, I was also able to appreciate the significance of teamwork and interprofessional collaboration in promoting the health and safety of patients at all times.
NSG 4076 Week 8 Biweekly Journal References
Müller, C. A., Fleischmann, N., Cavazzini, C., Heim, S., Seide, S., Geister, C., Tetzlaff, B., Hoell, A., Werle, J., Weyerer, S., Scherer, M., & Hummers, E. (2018). Interprofessional collaboration in nursing homes (interprof): Development and piloting of measures to improve interprofessional collaboration and communication: a qualitative multicentre study. BMC Family Practice, 19(1), 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-017-0678-1
Sen-Crowe, B., Sutherland, M., McKenney, M., & Elkbuli, A. (2021). The Florida COVID-19 mystery: lessons to be learned. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2020.08.009