The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to reflect on previous clinical experiences that convey something memorable or significant to you. This reflection and storytelling all add to the development of nursing competency over time. Reflective journaling allows you to express your understanding of an event or experience. Do not just recount the event but describe the situation that forced you to use your clinical decision-making skills.
Description: You will write a paper describing a clinical situation which has taught you something, made you understand your practice, change your practice or was particularly demanding. It should be an “Ah ha” moment. What did you take away from that moment? The situation may be one that went particularly well or not well. Use the reflective journaling guidelines to organize your paper.
You must receive satisfactory marks in each category or you will need to revise your paper and resubmit. The final satisfactory version should be included in your portfolio,
Required components of the paper:
1. No more than 4 pages in length excluding the title page and the reference pages
2. At least two peer reviewed publications that support your clinical decision making are included
3. Title page in APA format with running head using the “professional paper” format (not the student paper).
4. APA level headings to organize content
5. When paraphrasing or using a direct quote use in text APA citations in the body of the paper
6. Reference page using APA format
7. Free of grammatical errors
8. Free of spelling errors
9. The body (your story) of the paper can be written in the first person and should include the following format:
Noticing
Subjective and objective data
How did you know there was a problem? Abnormal patient presentation or your “gut feeling”?
Interpreting
What other information do I need to make a decision?
Is there anyone else I need to involve or notify?
What could be happening and how critical is this situation?
Responding
Should I do something now or wait and watch?
How will I know if I am making the best decision?
What interventions can I delegate to other members of the healthcare team?
Can include evidence-based practice here to justify why you might make one decision over another.
Reflecting
Did I make the right decision?
Did I achieve the desired outcome?
What did I do really well? What could I have done better?
The story is about a patient in the medical ICU, with sepsis, cerebral palsy, who died later during my shift.
