Nursing Self Reflection Paper

Further Self-Reflection on Nursing Research:
An Evaluation of Personal Goals
Reflective practice remains an essential skill for all areas of nursing. Self-reflection provides clarity and purpose for incorporating changes in nursing practice (Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2015). As I reflect on my educational journey, this nursing research course provided many opportunities for my professional growth and ignited a passion for integrating evidence-based research to improve patient outcomes on my unit.
For example, evaluating my progress on the personal goals set at the beginning of the course will assist in refocusing my efforts to continued improvement as a graduate nursing professional and nurse leader. Also, identifying both the new acquired

This goal was partially met as I acquired and validated knowledge through researching and reading nursing journal articles in Nephrology; however, there must be more follow up on discussing and planning on how to best implement these findings which can facilitate improved patient outcomes on my unit.
Next, my goals included completing the reflection assignments to promote problem solving and incorporation of EBP with my Nephrology team. As I reflect on this goal, motivation to complete assignments and find areas of improvement within my nursing practice were met. However, a new professional goal was identified through this self-reflection. With the completed critiques of relevant nursing research, my next goal will be to assess which suggestions are clinically appropriate and cost-effective for informing nurses’ decisions and actions on my unit (Polit & Beck,

Since all nurses will participate in some capacity in the continuum of research, it remains imperative for all nurses to understand research methods for the improvement of their practice (Polit & Beck, 2017). With my gained experience and comprehension of how to evaluate nursing research, the significance of all nurses to be able to do the same to enhance their contribution of nursing was highlighted throughout this course.
One new area of knowledge identified through taking this course was earning about the review of literature when critiquing journal articles. This a step while reviewing literature which I had not partaken in prior to this course. Polit and Beck (2015) explained the review of literature highlights the importance of laying a solid foundation for the current study being evaluated and the relevance of the identified research problem. This will be a valuable tool in my continued nursing practice for appraisal of nursing research in the years to come.