JOURNAL ENTRY 1 Paper
JOURNAL ENTRY 1 Paper
JOURNAL ENTRY 1 Paper
Journal Entry
The pediatric clinical experiences have provided us the opportunities to learn new practices and identify opportunities for continuous personal and professional development. The experiences have been exciting. One of the exciting aspects from the pediatric clinical experiences is the teamwork and inter-professional collaboration utilized in the delivery of care to pediatric patients. Nurses and other healthcare providers collaborate in assessing, planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating care outcomes. The collaboration provides immense opportunity to learn best practices from others. The other exciting aspect with the pediatric clinical experiences is the translation of evidence into practice. The nurses working in the pediatric unit have been proactively involved in the translation of best evidences into practice. The translation enhances care outcomes such as safety, quality, and efficiency in the treatment of pediatric patients.
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The experience has also provided me an opportunity to identify my strengths and weaknesses in terms of working with children. One of my strengths is openness. I am open to new information and practices. I accommodate the views of others on how we can optimize care outcomes. Being open has enabled me become an active member of the inteprofessional teams involved in pediatric care(Hopkinson et al., 2019). I am also a dedicated nurse practitioner. I give my all when caring my patients and their families. I aim at the delivery of patient-centered and individualized care to enhance patient outcomes.
However, I have the weakness of being emotionally attached to my patients. I am significantly affected when the pediatric patients I care die or do not respond to the prescribed treatments. My emotional attachment may predispose me to burnout and occupational stress, which will affect my clinical experience (Zaghini et al., 2020). Therefore, I intend to explore opportunities for growth and addressing this area of weakness in my practice.
Family and Family Roles
My definition of a family is a group of people that are there for each other. It does not necessarily have to be individuals who share the same biological origin such as brothers and sisters. A family comprises people who are willing to help each other whenever in need. Families have family roles. Family roles differ based on factors such as culture, values, and beliefs. For example, some cultures consider a husband the head of a family while the mother cares the other family members. Family roles affect child and family assessment. For example, families where husbands provide for the families while mothers care for children may be characterized by limited father involvement in patient assessment. In this case, mothers play most of the caring roles, hence, their involvement in child assessment. The roles may also affect decision-making since families have to follow the decisions fathers make.
The diversity in values, preferences, and beliefs make it challenging to work with families since the decisions made must align with these unique family characteristics. I will educate parents that do not want to vaccinate their children about the benefits of vaccination and risks of not vaccinating them. I will provide them facts about the benefits to aid their decision-making.
The culture of the provider and the patient may influence pediatric assessment. Accordingly, nurse practitioners must be aware of their cultural values, beliefs, and practices and their effect on their care decisions. Nurse practitioners must ensure that their cultural ideologies do not interfere with their ability to provide patient-centered care. Nurse practitioners should be aware of their patients’ cultural values, beliefs, and practices (Sharifi et al., 2019). They must prioritize them in making decisions during patient assessment.
The comfort theory will guide my practice with pediatric patients. Kolcaba developed this theory in 2001 to guide nurses’ actions. The theory asserts the need for nurses and other healthcare providers to recognize and address actual and potential needs of the patients. The focus should be on offering relief to patients and alleviating any form of suffering (Lafond et al., 2019). The theory informs the decisions that I make when caring pediatric patients in my practice.
References
Hopkinson, S. G., Oblea, P., Napier, C., Lasiowski, J., & Trego, L. L. (2019). Identifying the constructs of empowering nurse leader communication through an instrument development process. Journal of Nursing Management, 27(4), 722–731. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12729
Lafond, D. A., Bowling, S., Fortkiewicz, J. M., Reggio, C., & Hinds, P. S. (2019). Integrating the Comfort TheoryTM Into Pediatric Primary Palliative Care to Improve Access to Care. Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 21(5), 382. https://doi.org/10.1097/NJH.0000000000000538
Sharifi, N., Adib-Hajbaghery, M., & Najafi, M. (2019). Cultural competence in nursing: A concept analysis. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 99, 103386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.103386
Zaghini, F., Biagioli, V., Proietti, M., Badolamenti, S., Fiorini, J., & Sili, A. (2020). The role of occupational stress in the association between emotional labor and burnout in nurses: A cross-sectional study. Applied Nursing Research, 54, 151277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2020.151277
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Journal Entry (450–500 words): 
Explain what most excites and/or concerns you about pediatric clinical experiences. Include a description of your strengths and weaknesses in terms of working with children and how these strengths and weaknesses might impact your Practicum experience.
Discuss your personal definition of family and family roles that might impact the assessment of a child and his or her family. Also expand your discussion on the challenges of working with families. Explain how you would handle parents that do not want to vaccinate children.
Then, explain how culture (both the culture of the provider and that of the child and his or her family) may further influence the assessment.
Select and explain a nursing theory to guide your practice with pediatric patients
