Professional Capstone and Practicum Reflective Journal

Student’s Name
Educator’s Name
Course Title
Submission Date
Reflective Journal
Throughout my placement process, I worked in an acute care setting under my mentor’s supervision. I want to reflect mainly on the skills and knowledge I obtained throughout my practicum that have aided my career pathway options. Working alongside my mentor, several duties were assigned to me which further gave me the additional skills required as a healthcare worker. I learned practical activities which could save patients. I was thrilled to finally learn the practical section of nursing after learning the theories of nursing. I was fervent in becoming a well-versed nurse and hoped the skills I acquired during the practicum period would successfully aid me in coming days. During my first week, I felt somewhat intimidated because my mentor was more skilled and could easily identify my mistakes, despite my assumptions, my mentor was highly supportive. The weeks of interacting with patients along with healthcare providers bestowed upon me the confidence to employ everything I was taught without dread. I was driven because I knew I would obtain practical experience in fall prevention primarily in older adults in acute care settings. Upon reflection, my perception of what being a nurse entails has completely changed after attending the course.
New Practice Approaches
Yearly, acute hospitals nationwide report around 152, 000 patient falls (NPSA, 2007). This costs sixteen million dollars annually; an average of ninety-five thousand dollars for an eight-hundred bed acute hospital. The causes behind patient falls are complex and multifactorial, but the most significant factors are: confusion, hobbling, previous falls, taking sleeping pills or sedatives and incontinence or frequently using the washroom (NPSA, 2007). I learned during my placement process that the falls prevention program incorporated new approaches such as sensor alarms, low profiling beds, hourly rounding, sitters, and patient fall risk identifiers. Risk identifiers include non-skid socks, yellow wristbands and red (high) and yellow (moderate) fall risk signs outside patient doors were newly utilized intervention approaches to lessen fall risk in older adults in acute care settings.
Intraprofessional Collaboration
All participants in the placement process were trained to evaluate risk factors pertinent to their specific profession, i.e., physical therapists dealt with balance impairment, postural hypotension, and walking difficulty; primary care providers dealt with foot problems, vision problems, and optimizing medications; and occupational therapists dealt with hospital fall hazards. Results indicated a decline in fall-related injuries (Logan, et al. 2010).
Healthcare Delivery and Clinical Systems
During my placement, I learnt that the care team along with clinical and healthcare systems consists of individual physicians and a care provider group, which includes health professions, patients’ family members and various others whose combined efforts result in healthcare delivery to patients in acute care settings
Ethical considerations in health care
Added to ethical considerations in healthcare concerning patients, many arise regarding fellow ...