Preparing Your Reflection

The BSN Essentials (AACN, 2008) outline a number of healthcare policy and advocacy competencies for the BSN-prepared nurse. Reflect on the NUR4287 course readings, discussion threads, and applications you have completed across this course and write a reflective essay regarding the extent to which you feel you are now prepared to (choose 3):

• “Conduct comprehensive and focused physical, behavioral, psychological, spiritual, socioeconomic, and environmental assessments of health and illness parameters in patients, using developmentally and culturally appropriate approaches.
• Recognize the relationship of genetics and genomics to health, prevention, screening, diagnostics, prognostics, selection of treatment, and monitoring of treatment effectiveness, using a constructed pedigree from collected family history information as well as standardized symbols and terminology.
• Implement holistic, patient­ centered care that reflects an understanding of human growth and development, pathophysiology, pharmacology, medical management, and nursing management across the health­ illness continuum, across the lifespan, and in all healthcare settings.
• Communicate effectively with all members of the healthcare team, including the patient and the patient’s support network.
• Deliver compassionate, patient­ centered, evidence-based care that respects patient and family preferences.
• Implement patient and family care around resolution of end ­of ­life and palliative care issues, such as symptom management, support of rituals, and respect for patient and family preferences.
• Provide appropriate patient teaching that reflects developmental stage, age, culture, spirituality, patient preferences, and health literacy considerations to foster patient engagement in their care.
• Implement evidence-based nursing interventions as appropriate for managing the acute and chronic care of patients and promoting health across the lifespan.
• Monitor client outcomes to evaluate the effectiveness of psychobiological interventions.
• Facilitate patient­ centered transitions of care, including discharge planning and ensuring the caregiver’s knowledge of care requirements to promote safe care.
• Provide nursing care based on evidence that contributes to safe and high-quality patient outcomes within healthcare microsystems.
• Create a safe care environment that results in high quality patient outcomes.
• Revise the plan of care based on an ongoing evaluation of patient outcomes.
• Demonstrate clinical judgment and accountability for patient outcomes when delegating to and supervising other members of the healthcare team.
• Manage care to maximize health, independence, and quality of life for a group of individuals that approximates a beginning practitioner’s workload 
• Demonstrate the application of psychomotor skills for the efficient, safe, and compassionate delivery of patient care.
• Develop a beginning understanding of complementary and alternative modalities and their role in health care. 
• Develop an awareness of patients as well as healthcare professionals’ spiritual beliefs and values and how those beliefs and values impact health care.
• Manage the interaction of multiple functional problems affecting patients across the lifespan, including common geriatric syndromes.
• Understand one’s role and participation in emergency preparedness and disaster response with an awareness of environmental factors and the risks they pose to self and patients
• Engage in caring and healing techniques that promote a therapeutic nurse patient relationship.
• Demonstrate tolerance for the ambiguity and unpredictability of the world and its effect on the healthcare system as related to nursing practice.” (pp. 31-32).

Reference:

American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN]. (2008). The essentials of baccalaureate education for professional nursing practice. Washington, DC: Author.