Reflective Essay on Capstone and Practicum Course

Introduction

A capstone practicum aims to align practical activities in the health sector with the student's career goals. Hence, health students are required to undertake a capstone practicum course relevant to their field of study. During my capstone practicum course, I made weekly journal reflections on the experiences and skills gained about my profession. My professional Capstone and Practicum Reflective Journal incorporates the personal knowledge and skills I gained during the course. It also contains the abilities I gained that can be translated into real-life situations, and competencies aligned to the course.

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New Practice Approaches

As a nurse, I was aware of my duties in delivering care and safety of patients. However, I was unaware of other practical approaches to offering care and safety to my patients. The practicum process exposed me to other programs such as Evidence-Based Practice (EBD) that equip a nurse with modern ways to undertake clinical duties (Kristensen, Nymann & Konradsen, 2015). During a study of (EBP) in nursing, I learned how to use clinical research to determine the best forms of patient care practices in different situations.

Intra-Professional Collaboration

The practical process involved how to collaborate with other nurses in handling patients on admission, while receiving care, and providing patient safety. Intra-professional collaboration between physicians of various disciplines is of utmost importance in health care (Janssen et al., 2017). Therefore, the practical process involved a rigorous process on how to work as a team to gain excellent consultation skills.

Health Care Delivery and Clinical Systems

People are entitled to benefit from health care delivery and clinical systems in their countries. In the United States, the healthcare sector consists of an array of hospitals, clinicians, and insurance plans (Obama, 2016). The practical course exposed me to how health care services that are coordinated with the public health system. It involves the integration of healthcare institutions either government or independent based and the delivery of services by medical professionals.

Ethical Considerations in Health Care

According to the American Association of Colleges, healthcare should be able to develop and sustain a strong ethical standard. Hence, it is important that nurses are equipped with relevant ethical skills (Kristensen et al., 2015). In my practical process, skilled and knowledgeable senior nurses became my mentors in overseeing how I responded to major ethical issues.

Population Health Concerns

One of the biggest population health concern is the U.S is the nursing deficit. Hence, nurse retention strategies have come to a central focus more hospitals and healthcare institutions (Obama, 2016). The practical process involved nurse retention strategies that enabled enlisting of graduates in a residency program.

The Role of Technology in Improving Healthcare Outcomes

Through my practicum course, I learned the tremendous ways in which technology is improving healthcare outcomes. With the introduction of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), patient data has been made more enhanced (Janssen et al., 2017). I was aware that nurses are mandated with entering patients' data on admission. However, I did not expect the process to be electronic. In most hospitals today, nurses are responsible for inputting patient data into a digitized system. The process has eased workflow since entering data on a computerized system is much less time to consume than paper-based methods.

Health Policy

Apart from acquiring skills on patient care and safety, I got to learn through my practice that nurses can work in the health policy field. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a health policy comprises of decisions, plans, and actions that are practiced to achieve specific health care goals (Kristensen et al., 2015). Hence, nurses are eligible to take on leadership roles that advocate for sound health care policies that benefit the society.

Leadership and Economic Models

In addition to advocating g for better policies in health care, nurses should develop strong leadership skills. The practice involves working with other physicians to realize leadership and economic models that can assist in revolutionizing the healthcare system (Pittman, Bass, Hargraves, Herrera, & Thompson, 2015). As a nurse in practice, I still got to participate in board meetings where decisions on how to improve patient care were discussed.

Health Disparities

Through the practicum practice, I learned that nurses can take a stand in ending health care disparities. The Institute of Medicine (IOM), posits that ethnic and racial minorities experience a lower quality of health services. Subsequently, the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention reports that mortality rates for chronic diseases are higher for minority populations (Purnell et al., 2016). I acquired skills from my mentor that assist me in recognizing and working towards eliminating disparities in the community.

Conclusion

In summation, the Capstone and Practicum course exposed me to new experiences in my career as a nurse. From basic coursework, I was aware of the duties a nurse is required to perform. However, the practice went beyond the basic patient care and safety services to real-life competencies I should poses. I learned newer methods of offering health care service such as using EBD, EHRs, and intra-professional collaboration. Additionally, I acquired leadership skills that are of significant importance to decision-making in my career.

References

Janssen, M., Sagasser, M. H., Laro, E. A., Graaf, J., & Scherpbier-de Haan, N. D. (2017). Learning intra-professional collaboration by participating in a consultation program: what and how did primary and secondary care trainees learn? BMC medical education, 17(1), 125.

Kristensen, N., Nymann, C., & Konradsen, H. (2015). Implementing research results in clinical practice-the experiences of healthcare professionals. BMC health services research, 16(1), 48.

Obama, B. (2016). The United States health care reform: progress to date and next steps. Jama, 316(5), 525-532.

Pittman, P., Bass, E., Hargraves, J., Herrera, C., & Thompson, P. (2015). The future of nursing: monitoring the progress of recommended change in hospitals, nurse-led clinics, and home health and hospice agencies. Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(2), 93-99.

Purnell, T. S., Calhoun, E. A., Golden, S. H., Halladay, J. R., Krok-Schoen, J. L., Appelhans, B. M., & Cooper, L. A. (2016). Achieving health equity: closing the gaps in health care disparities, interventions, and research. Health Affairs, 35(8), 1410-1415.