Graduating and Becoming a Nurse
The field of nursing is both a science and an art. New nurses graduate with, at least, acceptable basic competence. They are expected to have the ability to effectively communicate and make decisions in a complex environment with multiple demands on their practical comprehension. However, they usually lack the experience to apply this learned theory. This limited knowledge results in anxiety and difficulty in transitioning from the role of student to leader. How these students can best learn these skills is a topic that has come under considerable debate. We know that most become overwhelmed with multiple tasks and not able to prioritize with critical thinking in a fast pace acute hospital. This begs the questions: How do we make that transition phase easier for them and the staff around them? How do we get the doing and thinking to intertwine together? The article, Coaching for competence, gives one example of how to foster critical thinking skills in novice nurses as well as establish a culture that would help its entire staff to grow and excel together.
Model concept and implementation
The nursing leadership of a 37-bed acute medical unit at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN faced a challenge when they had significant numbers of new nurses hired during the year for a busy acute care general medical unit. The original policy for new nurses involved a six to eight week orientation with a preceptor who assisted new hires to assume complete care for an increasing number of patients. Once the new hire was handling a full patient case load independently, a “resource nurse” with her own full patient assignment remained available for direction and guidance for the next four weeks. While this orientation process was considered extensive, an extended learning period was needed due to the number of new hires. For this reason, the leadership team began to devise a plan to blend the acts of thinking with doing. This plan needed to encourage and stimulate the new nurses to develop “self-directed, self-correcting, and innovative strategies in dealing with challenges”. They were to develop competency and critical thinking in the novice nurses to a higher level of professional thinking. Thus, a coaching concept model was developed by the nurse manager, clinical nurse specialist, and nursing education specialist
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...ng job satisfaction are significantly enhanced where critical thinking skills are fostered and promoted. In today’s environment of nursing staff shortages, budget constraints and a higher patient acuity, this is no small task to accomplish. However, it is still our primary responsibility in our profession to take the actions necessary to enhance our practice. Rather than being discouraged over the reality of our situation, we should become more creative in our solutions. This creativity was expressed in development of the coaching model. Finally; we found that nursing units that promote critical thinking, professionalism and cohesion will result in higher staff retention rate
References
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Critical thinking and knowledge are the foundation of nursing practice, and the most essential elements in providing quality nursing care. Nu...
I presume the role transition from academic nursing student to Graduate Nurse will be challenging and rewarding. In their findings, the researchers Doody, Tuohy & Deasy (2012) stated that for a successful transition NGNs need to be competent in a range of domains: interpersonal skills, managing workloads, providing health information, communication, and prioritising care delivery. Although I believe I am competent in the above specified areas, I am still not confident that I would get sufficient support in the hospital environment in terms of knowledge sharing, moral support and being given constructive feedback. Constructive criticism increases confidence in the work role and reduces stress in an individual (Doody, Tuohy & Deasy, 2012). In my previous professional placements I have been able to demonstrate my competency to work in the healthcare environment. I have received positive feedback from placement educators, buddy nurses and patients. Despite being competent in a range of the above areas NGNs may still face transition shock.
Rubenfeld, M. G., & Scheffer, K. B. (2015). Critical thinking tactics for nurses: Achieving the IOM competencies (3rd ed.). [VitalSource Bookshelf Version]. http://dx.doi.org/9781284059571
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...n every step because one mistake can cause someone to lose their life and there are no second chances or third attempts once someone is gone. Sufficient knowledge, skills and critical thinking capabilities are developed through experience and practice. Registered nurses become leaders through professional development. Nurses holding Bachelor Degrees will eventually become placed in leadership roles. We must evaluate the program outcomes now in order to be successful when it is time for us to fulfill these roles. I often refer to the quote that Doctor Tanner provided that states, “Nurses have the power to make decisions to determine how patients are born, live, suffer and die”. Some components of holistic nursing are knowledge of growth and adaptation (Murphy, 1990, p.1). Nursing is holistic in nature and nurses may not realize how much power they truly possess.
The nursing career has a growing workforce, spurred on by the high demand for caregivers. The growing need for nurses has caused in influx of new nurses, graduating from school and ready to begin their career. Although there are many different work settings for nurses, one universal aspect of assisting new nurses is nursing leadership. Leaders within nursing are tasked with assisting new nurses as well as those who are veteran nurses, and their role is indispensible. “Health leaders model the behavior expected in the organization” (Ledlow & Stephens, 2018). Susan Eckert, the senior vice-president of nursing and chief nursing executive at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, is a prime example of a nursing leader.
How nurses view the patients and the kinds of problems that the nurses manage in practice while they engage in patient care? They need to be certain, precise and just in front of the patients. Their reasoning is sufficient for their expected purpose. All reasoning can be assessed considering these standards, plus as nurses reflect upon their quality of their thinking, they begin to detect when they are being imprecise, unclear, inaccurate or vague. Nurses utilize language to lucidly communicate exhaustive information, which is substantial to nursing care. Therefore, they cannot be focused upon the irrelevant or trivial. Nurses, who think critically, wage all their reasoning and views to these principles, and the assertions of others in that the nurse's thinking quality improves throughout time, therefore, eliminating ambiguity and confusion in the understanding and presentation of ...
According to Bandman & Bandman (1995), critical thinking is defined as the rational examination of ideas, inferences, assumptions, principles, arguments, conclusions, issues, statements, beliefs and actions. In this subject ‘Critical Thinking in Nursing’ has emphasized critical thinking as an essential nursing skill and its definition of critical thinking have evolved over the years. In short, the general definition of critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored and self-corrective thinking. Every nurses must cultivate rigorous standards for critical thinking, however they cannot avoid completely the situatedness and structures of the clinical traditions and practices. They must make decisions and act quickly according to
Around the 1960s, nursing educational leaders wanted to formulate a nursing theory that contained knowledge and basic principles to guide future nurses’ in their practice (Thorne, 2010, p.64). Thus, Jacqueline Fawcett introduced the metaparadigm of nursing. Metaparadigm “identifies the concepts central to the discipline without relating them to the assumptions of a particular world view” (MacIntyre & Mcdonald, 2014). Fawcett’s metaparadigm of nursing included concepts of person, environment, health, and nursing that were interrelated. The metaparadigm ultimately contributed to conceptual framework to guide nurses to perform critical thinking and the nursing process in everyday experiences in clinical settings.
When talking about leadership, one cannot help but wonder how it relates to nursing. If the focus of nursing should be caring for patients who are either well or ill, then why is there a need to tackle leadership? Unlike before, today’s health care environment is complex, rapid and continuously changing. This development prompts an upcoming danger to the nurse’s skills, identity and ability to coordinate with other health care professionals. On the other hand, this also makes nurses challenge their own into taking the lead, developing goals, consolidating a purpose and moving towards an attainable vision. A nurse leader then needs to combine clinical, administrative, financial and operational skills to effectively solve various clinical challenges. These challenges are the rationale behind tackling the need for leadership in nursing.
Sorensen, H. J., & Yankech, L. (2008). Precepting in the Fast Lane: Improving Critical Thinking in New Graduate Nurses. Journal Of Continuing Education In Nursing, 39(5), 208.
Nursing educators and researchers developed theoretical frameworks for the nursing practice that are used to validate application of nursing knowledge and skills, and the theory gives a professional identity for nursing practice. Watson’s caring theory provides guidelines in transformational nursing practice, and stimulates nursing when profession experiencing shortages, decline, crisis in care, safety and healthcare reform. Nurse staffing issue creates potential challenge for nursing profession; therefore, nursing leadership should be involved, and actively participate to resolve it (Peterson, S, J. & Bredow, T. S., 2013).
In healthcare it is very important to have strong leaders, especially in the nursing profession. A nurse leader typically uses several styles of leadership depending on the situation presented; this is known as situational leadership. It is important that the professional nurse choose the right style of leadership for any given situation to ensure their employees are performing at their highest potential. Depending on which leadership style a nurse leader uses, it can affect staff retention and the morale of the employees as well as nurse job satisfaction (Azaare & Gross, 2011.) “Nursing leaders have the responsibility to create and maintain a work environment which not only promotes positive patient outcomes but also positively influences teams and individual nurses” (Malloy & Penprase, 2010.) Let’s explore two different leadership styles and discuss how they can enhance or diminish the nursing process.
Coaching and mentoring are vital tools in developing the workforce, most especially in enhancing quality practices at the point of care, and also innovating these practices. According to Abiddin (2006), mentoring and coaching are factors which are vital in developing people in their professions. As such, these two are related with career and self development and professional growth (Abiddin, 2006). In line with this assertion, this paper will discuss about the current relevance of mentoring and coaching in nursing in today's healthcare; how it influences both healthcare and nursing; how it is integrated into clinical practice; and how it is used in the clinical setting.
Critical theory is necessary for nursing education. Swartz, M. K. (2014) propose practice-based nursing education. Plus, Lisko, S. A., & O 'Dell, V. (2010) proposed that Kolb’s experiential learning theory and model. They affirmed the importance of critical theory because it offers a structure for nursing practice based on nursing education. According to Swartz, M. K. (2014), academic nursing practice has become an essential component of faculty role expectancy, practice nursing programs. However, academic nursing practice as a concept and organization structure has not been fully applied across school of nursing. The goals of academic nursing practice are to enrich the teaching of students (Swartz, M. K., 2014). Developing the practice setting through the utilization for research, generalizing knowledge and learning and eventually improving the quality of patient care. This increasing knowledge base on critical theories that lead to an understanding about patient problems and using manage nursing practice. Swartz, M. K. (2014) noted that there are two phases of nursing practice, the thinking phase and the doing phase. The doing phase is heavily regulated by specified in the training situation (Swartz, M. K., 2014). Several other assumptions of critical theory hold significance for nursing care as it educated and trained in academic health care centers. In these sites, theory is interwoven with the training and human interactions within a larger social context. Similar to critical theory, nursing includes a general assessment of social, politic, technologic, and economic conditions as they affect the health of an individual, a family or community. Furthermore, nurses need fully to understand the types and care practices and the linkages between theories and the clinical. Lisko, S. A., & O 'Dell, V. (2010) proposed that Kolb’s experiential learning theory and model. The experiential learning