Month: September 2020

I chose this painting because freshman year I took art history for two semesters. I saw and studied a lot of art, but this one had always stood out to me. Knowing anatomy is a very important part of nursing, and is a class that every nursing student has to take it is interesting to look at that painting and see how teaching has evolved over time. By looking at the faces of the men in the painting, you are able to see how focused and amazed they are by what they are learning. I feel as though that is a similarity among students working to be in the health care field. We are always amazed and intrigued by the little things, even the anatomy of the human body. I also had read an article that stated if you start by looking at the outside of a painting, you will notice much more detail then if you bring your attention right toward the middle. Connecting that to the world of nursing, if you walk into the patient’s room and take a moment to look around instead of drawing all your attention right to them, you will notice more and learn about your patient before even meeting them just by noticing the items in their room.  By looking at pieces of art, you will be able to find many connections to the world of nursing.

Knowledge and Clinical Judgement

            This module included a lot about different types of knowledge that nurses should acquire along with different learning styles and ways of thinking. Nursing knowledge consists of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Having specialized knowledge is really important in the nursing world because you need to be able to use that to promote health, prevent disease, and empower others. In order to obtain that, a nurse would need to have a foundation of understanding pathophysiology, nutrition, nursing procedures, mathematics, legal issues, ethical issues, and effective communication. There are different learning styles that may help someone gather the important information that a nurse needs to know. People can be a visual learner, auditory learner, or tactile learner. It is better to figure out the learning style that works best for you because it will help with foundational thinking.

            I feel as though understanding these concepts will help a student be able to integrate into the nursing culture. This module made me realize that every little thing we do/ learn in school connects to the knowledge foundation we will need when we begin our careers. It also made me reflect on myself and think about the ways that I learned best. After thinking about it, I realized that I am a visual learner so when we do things in class or lab that may not be for visual learners, I need to pay even more attention and try to picture it in my head in order to get the knowledge foundation I need and help me to think as a nurse.

Priority-Setting Frameworks

            When a nurse is at work they are always busy and left feeling like they have a million things to do. This module helped a lot with figuring how to prioritize needs and what things should be done first. A very helpful tool that can be looked at is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which puts psychological needs at the bottom and self-actualization needs at the top. It explains that all the needs below self-actualization need to be met before that can happen. This is why it is very important to have a client care focus in order to learn about your patient, and figure out the order of what needs have to be met. Aside from that, the priority of initial assessment in general is known as “ABC,” which stands for airway, breathing and circulation. No matter what is wrong with the patient, if one of those three needs are not being met then that is a big indicator on what you should do first.

Knowing and understanding what needs to prioritize will help increase patient safety. That is a reason this module is important in helping students understand what should be addressed first, when they become nurses. I will always remember “ABC” as being the most important needs of a patient when I become a nurse. It makes sense because if someone’s airways are impaired, they aren’t breathing, or their blood isn’t being circulated through their body, then the rest of their issues in that moment should not matter. After the ABC is addressed, then I could also use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in order to help figure out what needs need to be met first. Having these concepts in the back of my mind will help me understand my patient and prioritize their needs.

Module 1

            Something I struggle with a lot is figuring out a non-stressful way to study. Every time I begin to study I never know where to start, which ends up causing me to begin with anxiety. This module helped me a lot with creating a better study plan, which in the long run will help me retain more information for my career and for the NCLEX. Looking at the section “Take Good Notes,” made me really think about how studying begins in class with your notes. Like the module says, don’t write everything down because that will end up distracting you from what is being taught. I also focused on the section called “Test Anxiety” because that is something I need to learn how to work on and control. I already used these methods in the exams we just recently had. I feel as though working on my test anxiety will help me be able to regulate my nerves when I take the NCLEX and start my nursing career, especially the first time doing different types of care to patients.

Module 2

            This module talked a lot about knowledge and clinical judgement, where it was compared to a double helix. The two backbones of the double helix are knowledge and clinical judgement with the horizontal bars in the middle being 10 concepts that will help you sustain those bigger topics. It was really interesting being able to put a bunch of different concepts or “goals” into one object. The module helped me bring back my focus to what is really important and who I am working for; the patient. Having client-centered care is crucial in the nursing world, so it is important to figure out the nurse’s role in their time at the facility. Therapeutic communication with your patient is key in building a trusting comfortable relationship. Another important concept that helps create a strong relationship with your patient is safety. They need to feel safe under your care, so learning about the nursing role in safety is also very important. Understanding these concepts will help a new nurse enter into the world of nursing prepared.