College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs Poster Presentations

Title

Nursing in Action

Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

4-16-2012

Faculty Sponsor

Shelton Woods

Abstract

As a nursing student, I have discovered that learning through experience has been the most beneficial way for me to master my skills. I wanted to take on an internship where I could practice my nursing abilities. As a Nursing Apprentice I have put into action how I can be a strong nurse in the future while understanding fully what the duties of nurses are—from multi-tasking several clients with assessments, medications, interventions, and reassessing, and all while trying to keep a big picture idea on each client can be very difficult. In my presentation, I plan to compare my duties from this experience to the Nursing Process, because everything in nursing revolves around this main idea: Assess, Diagnose, Plan, Implement, and Evaluate. I will also include Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, because this is a basis for figuring out which needs must be met for my clients before helping them move up along the hierarchy to a healthier state. Nursing is so complex that while I realize these are only just a few of the tools I use on a daily basis for the critical reasoning in practice, they are sufficient for helping others understand what I love doing as a nurse.

Just recently I have joined an Evidence-Based Practice Research team through BSU, and I am hoping that when I have more information from this study I can also incorporate that into my presentation for this conference. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is crucial to nursing. Some basic examples that sometimes are sadly overlooked from EBP are washing hands, using sterile technique when doing invasive procedures, and in general, making safer procedures. EBP is used frequently to improve efficiency and safety for clients in the healthcare setting. I am excited to see what I will learn from this research assistant position and how I can put this information into action with nursing.

Finally, since I am a Communications minor, I would like to show how important communication is in my practice. I will be able to show this through stories about my experiences. Nurses are talking with so many people throughout the day, including the patient, fellow members of the healthcare team, family members, and so many other people. Communication in nursing is focused on being client centered. What I have learned through practice is that sometimes patients really just need someone to talk to, especially about something that they want to keep secret from other people. For example, working some shifts, I have seen some clients that are ready to die. We reminisce about the good times of their lives, the people they love and have been close to, and find ways to make them happy about the life that they have lived. Death is a difficult subject for many people to talk about, but nurses deal with these discussions frequently. Nursing is a crucial part of the healthcare team and nurses usually spend the most time with the client throughout the day. Therefore I believe having a high quality nurse is essential to helping a client to better health through therapeutic attention.

From my knowledge of nursing skills from my Nursing Apprentice position, basic background in EBP, and communication abilities, I have been able to put into action my nursing talents. I am looking forward to presenting how much a Nurse Apprentice does and the rationales, and also about the duties of nursing on the healthcare team in action.

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