Reflective practice

Introduction

Reflective practice is the continual and gradual activity that can be used to assist nurses

to make sense of situations at work and to improve ultimately the care they provide from their

community experience. Therefore, as a qualified nurse, basing on my previous reflective practice

from the community, the quality of the health care I provide to my patients will drastically

improve and of high standard if the acquired skills and attitudes are of high standards. Thus, my

previous acquired experience in terms of education, skills and attitudes are of great importance in

preparing me for my entry onto the professional register for nursing care. This paper is going

critically analyze and elaborate on my reflections from the community that has gradually

improved my future practice. It is going to provide a demonstration of my progression from the

time I began the nursing course until now and how my reflection to these experiences are going

to enhance my professionalism as a registered nurse in the future. The Nursing and Midwifery

Council (NMC) is the state of mental, spiritual, social and physical individual well-being, and it

is not infirmity or the absence of a disease. According to NMC, nursing is the process where the

health needs of the society are usually met when they arise and mainly promoting health for all

the people. This paper is also going to provide a critique on how basing practice on reflection

from the community service has impacted my role as a qualified nurse. The reflective practice

are based on the community experience.

Discussion
 Being a student nurse, therefore, requires one to learn more from the community. During

my third year, I have gained a lot from the community. NMC is the council that usually regulates

the profession of the nurses through registration. NMC’s dedication is to safeguard the society’s

health. The council regulates the nurses who qualify to be professional. NMC set the standards

for training, performance, education and conduct that the midwives and the nurses can deliver

the healthcare of high quality. The skills acquired from the community experience include

communication and interpersonal skills, self-confidence, self-awareness, facilitation skills, and

social and the cultural sensitivity. (Benner, P., 2010). The reflective practice of the community

enables the growth and development of these qualities in nurses through the fostering of practice

events’ understandability, and how one’s approach, personal and personality history added to the

way situations may have arose and the manner in which they were dealt with. The

communication and interpersonal skills are very crucial towards the transition from the student

nurse to the professional nurse. These entails the ability to associate well with other people

especially patients that I was looking after. For instance, as a third year student, caring for a

patient with oedemas and ulcerated leg and documenting care provided to the patient under no

supervision has equipped me with the necessary skills and knowledge that is essential for a

registered nurse. It has enhanced my communication capabilities with the patient and at the same

time presenting the reports regarding the patient to the head doctors. How my experience as a

3rd-year nurse prepares me for becoming a registered nurse. The patients mainly come from

various communities in the society (Benner, P., Tanner, C., 2009). Communicating with the

patient and those close to them, gives higher chances of understanding the patient. A nurse who

do not understand the conditions of their patients cannot treat nor take care of them. A nurse who

understand her or his patients have very high chances of treating the patient and recommending
future care for the patient. Hence, communication and interpersonal skills from community

experience serve very impressively for the nurse becoming a professional registered nurse in his

or her field (Eimer, M., 2000). Another skill is the self-confidence that involves the confidence

that the nurse have in treating their patients. Confidence helps one to do things that even other

people cannot be able to doing them. Self-confidence helps the nurse to be able to face

conditions that may sound weird to the other people. These helps the nurse to be a professional

nurse since they can deal with any situation brought to them since they know their primary role

is taking care of their patients in the community (Benner, P., Tanner, C., Chesla, C., 2011). It

helps them to provide advice to their patients that are necessary for the recovering process of the

patients. Some of the patient’s conditions require guidance and counseling (Benner, P., Tanner,

C., Chesla, C., 2007). Once the mind of the patient perceives that she is getting well, they get

well with time. Hence, self-confidence is an essential skill and attitude in nurturing towards

being a registered professional nurse.

By caring for a patient with Oedemas and the ulcerated leg, helped me improve my

professionalism of nursing, documenting care provided. I visited the patient unsupervised since I

was in 3rd year of my training. From the patient together with self-awareness and facilitation

skills also enhance a student nurse to become an entirely recognized nurse in the community.

These enable an individual not to be an observer, but rather to be a team player in the

community. NMC insists that the health standards of the patients ought to be maintained by the

nurses. Therefore, they offer registration to those nurses who are well equipped with the

significant skills and attitudes and are devoted towards providing the care to the society as a

whole. For me to get to be a registered nurse, it is important that I uphold all the stipulated

requirements my NMC and also go an extra mile of visiting my patients at all the time to ensure
that they are good condition. Also, encourage my patients regarding their condition by giving

them hopes of recovering soon despite the fact that they may be in a critical condition (Cader, R.,

Campbell, S., Watson, D., 2005). Some patients brought to the hospital are in a very critical

condition. Thus, nurses are expected to ensure that the patients stay positive at all time in order

for them to recover within a short duration. Despite some patient’s condition being worse, they

just recover and are released to go home if the nurse has the necessary skills and attitudes to

make it possible. Hence, self-awareness and the facilitation skills are essential qualities for

students’ nurse registration to a professional nurse concerning the community experience during

the practice as a student nurse (Gobet, F., 2002). The patients I attended to came from different

communities, thus, social and cultural sensitivity enabled the nurse to understand quickly the

cultural background of the patients from the community they come from, which is crucial in the

communicating with them without causing contradictions thus enhancing their healing process

(Dawes, R.M., 2012). For example, some patients come from a culture where they believe that

doctors and nurses do not play any role in their healing process thus nurses should consider such

beliefs while attending to the patients (Chassy, P., Gobet, F., 2005). The community serves a

significant role in nurturing a nurse towards becoming an expert. As a nurse, my duty is to do

everything to ensure that my patients heal quickly and resume to their daily lives. The other

qualities of creative problem-solving, time management, and analytical skills. Also, independent

working, and the ability for nurses to influence others towards positive changes enhances the

nurses to performing their duties appropriately in the community (McCormack, B., 2013). For

example, like the creative problem-solving is the condition in which when the patient that the

nurse is taking care of experiences a condition that requires a doctor. The nurse should call the

doctor as they try to give first aid to the patient before the doctor arrives (Darbyshire, P., 2004).
These helps in keeping the patient alive while the doctor comes to attend to him or her

(Davidson, R.J., Irwin, W., 1999). All the experiences I have encountered in my community

practice especially as being a third-year nursing student nursing has helped me grow towards

becoming a qualified nurse and increased my eligibility for being a registered nurse.

Conclusion

This paper has critically elaborated and expressed my reflections that have gradually

improved my future practice in the nursing field from the community experience. It has provided

a demonstration of my progression from the time I was a student nurse to when I become a

registered nurse. It has shown how the knowledge, skills and attitudes I have acquired will help

me perform my tasks as a registered nurse in the community. By being a student nurse, the

reflective process enables him or her to acquire some qualities that are going to guide him or her

throughout his practice as a registered nurse from the community that they get. NMC mainly

helps student nurses to meeting the requirements so that they can be registered as fully certified

professionals. It usually takes effort and time for one to learn from community experience

particularly in the nursing field for one to qualify for becoming an expert nurse. Devotion is

required to gear the nurse throughout their road to professionalism. The community experience

skills that have been crucial involves the communication and interpersonal skills, self-

confidence, self-awareness, facilitation skills, social and the cultural sensitivity. Alongside

creative problem-solving, time management, analytical skills, independent working, and the

ability for nurses to influence others towards positive changes. The Rolfe Reflective Model has

been imperative for my transformation from student nurse to being a professional nurse.

According to the model, it is based on three very simple questions, which focuses on someone

asking themselves some questions that contribute to their success regarding their community
experience. The questions that are entailed in the Rolfe Reflective Model include What? So

What? Now What? The questions contribute very much to the students nurse success to expert

nurses. Also, some theories like the Patricia Benner’s influential theory have been paramount in

the reflective process. For the Patricia Benner’s influential theory proposes that the journey from

novice to becoming an expert nurse mainly encompasses five stages from the community

experience. The stages include the novice stage, the advanced beginner stage, the competence

stage, the proficiency stage, and finally the expert stage. All the stages enhance one

transformation towards becoming a registered professional nurse from his or her community

experience. Hence, the reflections on my experience and in particular my community experience

has equipped me with the necessary skills and attitudes that are necessary for one to be registered

as a professional nurse as stipulated by the NMC.

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