Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Critical Thinking
o Uses nursing and other appropriate theories and models to guide professional
practice
Ex. Erik Ericksons developmental theory showed that the patient was in
an Initiative vs. Guilt stage at 4 years old and is able to make simple
decisions on his own. By recognizing the patients developmental stage,
the care provided was able to be directly catered to his needs.
o Uses decision-making skills in making clinical or professional judgments
Ex. Giving the patient decisions allowed him to explore is developmental
stage. I was also able to assess the patient and make five nursing diagnoses
with interventions and then assess the effectiveness of the interventions
provided.
o Evaluates nursing care outcomes through the acquisition of data and the
questioning of inconsistencies
Ex. Data was assessed in order to apply nursing diagnoses. The patients
history and home life greatly affected his health and care at the current
admission. The outcomes were all either partially met or ongoing.
Explanations as to why the outcomes were rated as partially met or
ongoing are included in the presentation outline.
o Revises actions and goals based on evidence rather than conjecture
Ex. Goals were adjusted for the patient when he was not gaining weight
even though he was eating a majority of his meals and snacks. Suggestions
to promote a healthy weight gain include providing an Ensure drink for an
additional caloric intake.
o Engages in creative problem solving
Ex. In preparing for discharge, engaging the mother was imperative even
though she had voiced her disinterest. Teaching manual chest
Ex. Evaluation of the teaching was done through discussion with the
mother. She was able to identify how to promote a high caloric intake but
did not want to do a return demonstration of the manual chest
physiotherapy.
Research
o Differentiates between descriptive nursing literature and published reports of
nursing research
Ex. The nursing research utilized for the presentation reviewed the cause
of pediatric falls and suggested a new assessment tool for nurses. Intrinsic
and extrinsic factors were evaluated to determine what caused and
prevented falls. The article is nursing research because a nurse was an
author and current practice was evaluated with suggested adjustments.
o Evaluates research that focuses on the efficacy and effectiveness of nursing
interventions
Ex. The article used suggested what should be evaluated when considering
a pediatric patient a fall risk. The nurse must look at both the patients age
and condition as well as the safety of the hospital environment to prevent
pediatric falls.
Leadership
o Assumes a leadership role within ones scope of practice as a designer, manager,
and coordinator of health care to meet the special needs of vulnerable
populations in a variety of practice settings
Ex. As a student, I performed assessments and implemented interventions
for the patient. I also provided distraction when the Child Life specialists
were unavailable. I attempted to instruct the mother on chest
physiotherapy, to break up respiratory secretions, while I performed the
action myself.
Professionalism
o Differentiates between general, institutional, and specialty-specific standards of
practice to guide nursing care
Ex. ANA Standards of Practice were followed to assess, diagnose, plan
interventions and evaluate outcomes. The institutional policy of the
Humpty Dumpty Fall Assessment was used in order to maintain patient
safety. The standards set guidelines in which nursing practice should
followed to provide safe care.
o Understands the effect of legal and regulatory processes on nursing practice and
health care delivery, as well as limits to ones own scope of practice
Ex. Understanding of scope of practice is demonstrated through diagnoses
with NANDA approved diagnoses. NANDA diagnoses are within the
nursing scope of practice which is guided by legal and regulatory process
to ensure that the care provided is by certified and trained individuals.
o Demonstrates accountability for ones own professional practice
Culture
o Considers the impact of research outcomes and, the effects of health and social
policies, on persons from diverse backgrounds
Ex. Research outcomes used in the presentation impact persons of all
levels of health and backgrounds because it identifies the causes of falls in
the hospital setting for patients with varying diagnoses. 12 previous
studies were analyzed which provided a large amount of participant
information to base conclusions on.