Running head: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL ONE 1

NURS 3021 Reflective Journal One

Melissa Friskney

Trent University
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NURS 3021 Reflective Journal One

Looking Back

This reflection will be on the transition from acute care clinical placement to chronic care

clinical placement. I am reflecting on this experience because I went into my first day of chronic

care placement with a lot of preconceived ideas of what to expect from this placement. However,

after only a few weeks of this placement my ideas and attitudes towards this placement have

completely changed.

Elaborate

Last semester I completed my NURS 3020 on the Nephrology floor, a busy, fast past

unit. During this placement I would leave the hospital feeling tired, never having a chance to sit

down because I was so busy caring for my patient, answer call bells and charting. Going into my

chronic placement I did not know what to expect. I had heard from some of my peers that the

chronic clinical placement was slower paced then acute. This made me nervous because I

thought I was going to be bored and not have enough to do at placement. I began to create ideas

in my mind of what my chronic clinical placement would be like. However, I was pleasantly

surprised by how much I like this placement. Even though I have only been at placement for a

few weeks I feel like I have already done so many skills and built relationships with my peers,

the staff and my patients. One of the main reasons I love nursing is I like talking to my patients

and getting to know them. At this placement I get to spend a lot of time building relationships

with my patients by taking extra time to get to know them, asking them questions and assisting
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them in any way I can. Since chronic care is a little slower then acute I feel I have more

opportunities to ask questions to the nurses, read my patient’s chart and develop a better

understanding of my patient in order to provide them with the best possible care I can.

Analyze

When analyzing the event, I felt it was wrong for me to judge the placement before it

began. Clinical experiences are an essential part of any nursing program that allows students to

become good nurses (Hartigan-rogers, Cobbett, Amirault, et al., 2007). These experiences

provide students with hands on experience and improves communication skills (Hartigan-rogers,

Cobbett, Amirault, et al., 2007). According to James and Chapman, when students have negative

views and lack confidence at clinical placement they can “become stressed, disillusioned and

unable to assimilate into the nursing team and learn practical skills effectively” (2009). However,

when students go to placement with a positive attitude they can “learn skills and knowledge

while in a safe and encouraging environment” (James & Chapman, 2009). By shifting my

attitude, I feel I will be able to learn a lot from this placement including improving my

communication skills.

An important aspect of nursing built on communication is the nurse-patient relationship.

This relationship consists of more than sharing information; it is also about sharing feelings,

acknowledging feelings and show patients their feeling are recognized (McCabe, 2004). This

relationship lets nurses to develop trust with their patients which is essential for delivering

essential nursing care (McCabe, 2004). Studies show that nurses do not communicate with their

patients well, spending time focusing on administrative and functional activities (McCabe,

2004). Often individuals are not aware of this resulting in nurses making assumptions about what
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their patients need without asking them (McCabe, 2004). As nurses I think it is really easy to

make assumptions of what we think our patients want because we look after people every day.

But, an important thing I want to keep in mind this semester is that every patient is unique and

has different needs well in the hospital. I want to work on not only building a relationship with

my patients but practicing my active listening in order to really hear what my patients want.

Revise

The most important thing I have learned from this experience was not to judge a clinical

placement before experiencing it. I went into the placement thinking I was going to be bored

when instead I should have gone in with a positive and open attitude. This placement will help

me grow as a nurse because it will help me work on my clinical skills, work collaboratively with

others and most importantly help me become better at building therapeutic relationships with my

patients.

New Perspective

Moving forward, I want to try to enter each clinical placement with no biases to allow me

to make the most out of my clinical experiences from the very beginning. Nursing is wide field

with lots of opportunities, each one a little different from the next. Transitioning from one type

of nursing can be challenging but this experience has taught me how important it is to go into

new experiences with an open mind and make the most out of it. I am excited to see what this

clinical experience how to offer and look forward to expanding my knowledge of chronic

illnesses.
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References

Hartigan-Rogers, J., Cobbett, S., Amirault, M., et al. (2007). Nursing Graduates' Perceptions of

Their Undergraduate Clinical Placement. International Journal of Nursing Education

Scholarship, 4(1), pp. -. Retrieved 3 Feb. 2018, from doi:10.2202/1548-923X.1276

James, A., & Chapman, Y. (2010). Preceptors and patients – the power of two: Nursing student

experiences on their first acute clinical placement. Contemporary Nurse, 34(1), 34-47.

doi:10.5172/conu.2009.34.1.034

McCabe, C. (2004), Nurse–patient communication: an exploration of patients’ experiences.

Journal of Clinical Nursing, 13: 41–49. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2004.00817.x