NURS FPX 4905 Assessment 5 Reflective Journal

Student Name

Capella University

FPX 4905 A5

Professor Name

Submission Date

Reflective Journal

Wellness and Disease Prevention

During my practice in a long-term care center in New York, various practices that have been put in place to encourage health and prevent diseases among patients, with the aim of improving their health have been witnessed. Among the practices, which are embraced by medical practitioners in this health facility are health/wellness assessment, medication review, fall risk assessment, nutrition assessment, immunization, and health education to avoid other complications. The disorders were anxiety disorders, depression, and social isolation, where the symptoms were determined and treated accordingly. A number of social factors that influence the health of elderly patients, including absence of social support by family members, loneliness, poor economic status, physical disability, and health conditions were identified. The majority of patients within the facility suffered from anxiety disorders because of some health problems. The presence of inconsistencies in the application of non-medication modalities in the treatment of anxiety disorders was also an interesting observation in this health care setting.

Personally, as an advanced nurse practitioner, I have learned the value of promoting the comprehensive care of the patient as a nurse based on the current practicum experience. From the present practicum experience, I have had the chance to appreciate the importance of a nurse’s ability to identify the problems of the patients and suggest solutions that can enhance their wellbeing. Concerning the leadership skills, the current practicum process has enabled me to value the need to motivate patients to adopt prevention measures and shun stress, among others.

Chronic Disease Management

In my practicum experience, I was taught that a team collaboration approach was the strategy employed in resolving the issues affecting the residents with various illnesses like cardiac illnesses, diabetes, mental problems, and anxiety. An example of this is the fact that the team comprised of nurses, doctors, social workers, therapists, and so on, and the strategy to address the issues of the resident was an individual one. Besides, there were regular interdisciplinary meetings to discuss patient-related problems. Nevertheless, the process could still use some improvements in the areas where it relates to attending to anxious people. Firstly, the majority of the residents suffering from anxiety disorders were medicated, but there were alternative treatments to medicine. Second, even when the residents were given the required medication, some of them were still anxious. The result came out of not satisfying the mental needs of the residents.

Practicum is something that should not be neglected due to disclosure that communication and cooperation are the keys to survival of a patient. With my experiences as a nurse, I can say how important it is to have the collaboration of all health care practitioners in managing patients who suffer from chronic conditions. From my experiences as a nurse, I know that nurses contribute to giving treatment and adopting a more holistic approach towards treatment instead of the mere focus on the condition. As a leader, I could easily see the significance of fostering communication among the health care practitioners and using a standard approach for treating anxiety disorders.

Regenerative and Restorative Care

My practicum session made me learn further about the restorative care in a long-term care facility. As the patients did not encounter any emergency cases, I got to know what is involved in the management of patients in case they fell down, had acute changes in their health conditions, and had behavioral issues associated with being anxious or had a long term problem that had been exacerbated. In these moments, nurses must be an important part in assessing the health status of the patient, on whether they are safe, alerting the doctor and further planning treatment. Patients who had suffered falls, or whose health conditions had acuously changed, were provided with rehabilitation treatments to regain good health. The second observation was the different ways in which the psychological state of a patient influenced the process of recovery. Most often, the patients were provided with pharmacological treatments, but other means of treatment were neglected.

Interventions and critical thinking are some of the things that I have learnt during this experience. Some of the issues that I have been learning about my future nursing practice in this experience are that it is necessary that I, as a nurse should seek ways to encourage the practice of restorative so that I will not resort to using medications whenever I can avoid it. The other thing that I have learned about nursing during this experience is that there must be a means of engaging other individuals in practicing restorative therapies, like physiotherapists and doctors.

Hospice and Palliative Care

Another necessary component of the practical exercise was the hospice and palliative care of the sick residents who had diseases. It involved making sure that the patient not only felt their symptoms relieved but also had a dignified death, not just based on the physical aspect of things, but also the psychological aspect of the things, not just for themselves, but even for the members of their families. The entire process entailed evaluation of the pain and other symptoms and administering drugs to alleviate the symptoms. In the context of the palliative care, one of the first problems arising due to the need of the patients was anxiety. Different kinds of drugs were administered to the patients according to their complaints.

This particular experience provided a great opportunity to acquire necessary skills and competencies from a professional perspective in relation to future nursing practice. First, I understood that patient care had to be holistic, both from a physiological perspective as well as from the psychological and spiritual point of view. Being a future leader of nurses, I understood how significant it was to offer holistic care to patients and collaborate with other experts. Second, my experience in the work with patients having terminal disease and their families became a certain important element of my future profession.