Reflective Portfolio assessment model
I am a registered nurse for two years, and this is my reflective portfolio. With the help of a reflective journal, I can document my skills, creativity, communication and critical thinking related to both my personal and professional life. It makes a clarified reflection of self-evaluation, professional development, and goal achievements. By designing a portfolio make conventional professionals describe what they have achieved during a time. It is perhaps a basic step one needs to make when recording their academic, personal and professional achievements and to develop a Journal styled portfolio for a demonstration of how skill, knowledge, and attributes are achieved as a nurse. For this purpose, I chose a personal reflective portfolio assessment model. This model provides a strong framework over which I aim in recording my professional development and continuity of the professional development (Alexander, Craft, Baldwin and McDaniel, 2012). It is an on-going process which is going to continue all along the working life as a nurse professional integrating both my personal and professional life. The entire personal reflective portfolio is owned by me and engages the integration of learning from varied sources.
One of the main steps in this process is the development of awareness about strength as well as a weakness as it prepares people to be a learner who is self-regulated (Walker, 2016). People take their initiatives in order to acquire knowledge and also be aware of my limitations. All these are crucial skills for any professional. The training of nursing I received in my college was significant for my career. Moreover, working in real time as full-time caregiving nurse to the elderly have been important enough to shape up my skill and knowledge as a nurse. There were many emergency situations where I was uncomfortable and found it highly challenging. Those were the times I believe I learned the most and improved the most as a nursing professional (Bozionelos and Kiamou, 2018).
I remember my first acquaintances with death were those patients whom I saw for months passed away. I also recollected catering and nursing to old age people who were going to die, and they and their family knew about it. I was challenged by such situations to be able to control and have a grip on my emotional self. It made me question a lot of things. The most important question I keep asking to myself was how I should frame my mind at workplaces when working for such patients who were dying. The truth made me emotional but my professional being needed to continue the work as best as I could (Atkins and Murphy, 2015).
Months and years of working helped me learn that I have to deal with such situations. What uplifted my spirits was when I saw how families support one another in times of emergencies and situations such as death. It made me believe and witness the love which families have in them. The spirit of the elderly uplifted me. I witnessed many older adults find interest in new hobbies and activities and pursue them with full vigor. It made me realize the importance of being engaged to work till last days of life which makes patients even old age patients comfortable.
Importance of working in real time as caregiving nurse
Following are the various instances of the reflective nursing professional and personal journal based portfolio.
Recurring Themes Making Me Uncomfortable
There are many instances in the making of the journal which has created some amount of discomfort and has made my progress slower at many times and the reason behind this is lack of support and guidance, or at some point, I became over emotional. The entire reflective portfolio is a question made to myself. Many time people lose their control over their feeling when engaged in nursing care. I have witnessed employee turnovers happening during the two-year course of my working as an elderly nursing caregiver. The response of a nurse is crucial in the recovery or well-being of their patients, organization and their self. Sometimes, trainee nurses or young recruited nurse do not get the right guidance from the supervisors, and they fail to make themselves strong professionally. Often professionals become personal with their patients and start feeling overtly sad or upset about their health or the fact that they will die soon. I have felt I was blocked to progress higher because many times I did not have a proper guide and I lost my control over my emotions.
As stated above during the span of my work as a nursing professional many a times
- Begins Personal at Professional Workplace– The subject of emotion is of great importance in the modern world in the context of workplaces. Employers require that their employees will be regulating their emotions and show only an appropriate level of emotion to their clients (Kovacs, Kovacs and Hegedus, 2010). Emotion as per me is created owing to the social interaction which a nurse or a caregiver has for the client. I have faced burnouts owing to emotional imbalances in my own life experience as a nurse. Initially when I was working after my training was over I often found myself exposed to elderly patients and also small children who suffered from incurable diseases and was approaching towards death fast. In many cases, I found I was burning out and emotionally exhausted to face and be in the middle of such situations and offer my service to such clients. Nursing is a people-oriented sector of work, and emotional exhaustion lead to degradation of my emotional reserve and resource. I was unable to depersonalize myself towards my work and personal life (Adam, Gyorffy, and Susanszky, 2018).
- Lack of Guidance– Another big issue which was a setback many times was that I did not get the right guidance or support. In many places, I worked before there was no strong and effective guidance from top management nursing authority to help nurses like me guide when they are experiencing burnouts due to emotional issues at sensitive workspaces like hospitals and nursing homes.
In my professional life as a nurse, I have questioned myself many times in order to find the reasons why the recurring themes stated above has occurred and why I had that response which I experienced. As per me, the emotional burnouts occurred as the mind is not a robot, and it takes years to learn and make a distinction in personal and professional life. The mind as a professional takes time to learn and accept that it is a service which is being provided death is a fixed truth of human life and will be occurring to each one of us. The response I witnessed during such times was extreme sadness. It made me absent from work for days to gather my emotional level (Piko, 2016). I have witnessed the same happening to my college nurses as well. I have felt I am unable to face and stand and care for the same patients who are dying and deteriorating every day in the last days of their life. There is no one to blame. As per me, I was unable to gather the real fact that it is the part of a nursing job.
Journaling has been a great learning tool which has helped me gain a better understanding of my nursing career. Value of having a personal journal for growth and enhanced learning in professional life and personal life is an intensive process of journaling aiming to draw out the wholeness of one’s own life at my own pace. In a systematic manner, it strengthens the inner competencies by working from a vantage point which is non-professional. Hence a personal perspective is chosen by me to understand my response and feeling without being analytical or judgemental about my professional performance.
Importance of handling challenging situations in nursing
I remember when I experienced death at the workplace I took a random break from work for three days. My management and colleagues called me, and I did not respond. I felt as if something from inside me was stopping me from taking their calls as I felt I have to face the patient who was a toddler and was dying from cancer and was at her last stage. It was not the right thing to do. I am taking things personal where I supposed to be professional. I should have discussed my dilemma with my supervisor or colleagues and tried to get a solution somewhere. However, I could not reach out openly.
Reflecting my own performance as per me is a great way to influence and motivate not just my own self but others as well (Jayatilleke and Mackie, 2013). This will aid in making others learn from my case study and not repeat the mistakes or reach out to higher management at times of dilemma in professional workspaces. Using my reflecting study, I aim in making varied videos and promote it in social media amongst my friends and family as well so they can benefit from my experiences.
When I reach in a position where I am having a subordinate of new nurses or experienced nurses working under my supervision I will make preparations beforehand so that the professionals are able to deal with such situations better. Training nurses and making them mentally prepared and guiding them strategies to let go and bring work-life balance, constant monitoring and follow up are the strategies I will take up (Lew, 2015).
Critical incident analysis reflective model is used by me in order to draw this reflective personal portfolio. The event which I used here to analyze a critical incident was my sudden absence from work owing to my own experience of burnouts. The initial two year of my working life as a nurse I was unable to bring a balance in my emotional well-being when I was exposed to vulnerable situations in workplaces such as death. I was witnessing elderly individuals who were having no disease but was on the verge of their demise. I was exposed to young and very young kids diagnosed with critical diseases and was at the moment of their death. Too much exposure to negative life situation like these made me face a nervous breakdown (Chaplains, 2012). I took sudden leave from my job for three days where I did not connect or communicate with anyone. I did not speak to my family and locked myself in my room and slept. In order to describe this scenario of my life, I used a critical incident, reflective model.
However, such experiences teach us many things, and that is the most significant aspect. What I learn from this experience plays a big role in determining my success or failure as a nursing professional. If I am again exposed to such a situation, I will be handling the matters in a completely different manner.
Role of personal and professional journals in nursing
The importance of communication is known to all of us. I will use communication, guidance, monitoring, and regular follow-ups in order to avoid the same event happening from again (McGill, 2018). The above incident made me realize that even as medical professionals we are all humans and at times vulnerable to stations. What a working professional working as a nurse needs is training and preparation to be briefed about all such probable situations which they might witnesses during their course of work as a nurse. For this, I will choose the two-way communication channel where communication can come and go from the nurses (TeachTHoughtStaff, 2016). There will be regular training and communication of ideas, brainstorming sessions where simulations of real life will be made to teach nurses workplace behavioral training. Every nurse will be monitored while they are offering caregiving services to the patients. Regular follow up, discussions and feedbacks will be taken from each nurse to measure their mindset. Open communication is a tool which helps information be sent in a proper channel and ensure that it is understood properly (Kraut, 2017). Communication will also be encouraged to be improved among peers so that teamwork and trust among team members are increased. Even if a nurse is unable to share their worries with the management they must be competent and trained to share them with their colleagues.
The following are the skills and knowledge I feel I will require to strengthen myself and avoid such situations and manage them better next time. The first skill I need is to be self-contained and be able to bring a work-life balance (Mizell, 2016). I would like to enhance my communication skills as well. I would make sure I spent equal time with my family and friends and balanced it out with work so that I can keep experiencing the beauties of life at all times. Death is inevitable, and a nursing profession makes one exposed to death real close.
However, it does not mean that life has ended for the nurse as well. Hence, I will gather more knowledge and study more similar cases and help out other nurses in order to deal with my own situations better (Anonymous, 2017). I would also ensure to enhance my communication skills and share reports to my supervising officer. Even if I feel not okay with a situation, it is required that a nurse reports it to the supervisory nurse. This helps management measure and monitors the mental state of a nurse and ensures that they support them.
Self Reflection – One of the best ways I can develop and reach my professional goals is to analyze and reflect on all the experience I have in my professional and personal life. Having complete knowledge about my own life, my responses, failures, achievements, etc. will teach me a lot about my self. Every individual is different, and we all have powers to overcome negative situations (Gaim, 2013). By using a self-reflection on a consistent basis in regular intervals, I can achieve my goals better.
Recognizing emotional burnouts in nursing
Continuous Development – Development of my self as a professional nurse must never stop. Continuity is needed and is a strategic tool in order to excel professionally. In order to do, this professional must work continuously, take up workshops, and learn new skills on a continuing basis. Exposed to new things and skills will make me better able to reach out to my goals (Rose, 2015).
After two years I consider now I am in a stable professional level working as a nurse in one of the reputed hospitals. I am in a supervising nurse managerial position now, and this has been only possible because I have self-reflected and self-analyzed a lot and learned from all my findings (Goldberg, 2014). I have helped my team in order to ensure they handle stress and vulnerable situations much better than how I did in my initial years. I offered therapeutic and psychical assessment and aid available to any member of my nursing team who can anytime seek help. I realized helping others has indeed made me deal with my vulnerabilities much better. By changing myself from being a total introvert to someone who is open to witness new things, analyze it, self-reflect it and learn how to deal with it better the next time has indeed made me a better individual not just at work but also at home. I can manage my chores better at home and deliver services and look after my team at work much better than before. A never giving up approach and an eagerness to learn new things at all times has made me reach a better and leading position at my job.
References
Atkins, S., and Murphy, K. (2015) Reflection: a review of the literature. J Adv Nursing.18(1), 1188–1192. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8376656
Adam, S., Gyorffy, Z., nd Susanszky, E., (2018) Physician burnout in Hungary: a potential role for work-family conflict. Journal of Health Psychol, 13(8), 847–56. doi: 10.1177/1359105308095055.
Alexander, J. G., Craft, S. W., Baldwin, M.S., and McDaniel, G.S. (2012) The nursing portfolio: a reflection of a professional. Journal of Educational Nursing, 33(2), 55-9. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11924553
Anonymous. (2017). Reflective writing and critical incidents. Retrieved from https://www.monash.edu/rlo/assignment-samples/medicine-nursing-and-health-sciences/reflective-writing-and-critical-incidents
Bozionelos, N., and Kiamou, K. (2018) Emotion work in the Hellenic frontline services environment: How it relates to emotional exhaustion and work attitudes. Int J Hum Resour Manage, 19(5),28–30. doi: 10.1080/09585190802051410.
Chaplains, C. (2012). 12 Key Strategies to Achieving a Work-Life Balance. Retrieved from https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/12-key-strategies-achieving-work-life-balance
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Kraut, N. (2017). The Importance of Communication in Nursing. Retrieved from https://www.healthstream.com/resources/blog/blog/2017/02/08/the-importance-of-communication-in-nursing
Lew, M. D. (2015). Self-reflection and academic performance: is there a relationship?, Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Practice, 16(4), 529-454. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10459-011-9298-z
Walker, S. T. (2016) Journal Writing as a Teaching Technique to Promote Reflection. Journal of Athletic Training, 41(2), 216-221. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1472640/
Kovacs, M., Kovacs, E., and Hegedus, K. (2010) Emptional Work and Burnout, Croat Medical Journal, 51(5), 432-442. doi: 10.3325/cmj.2010.51.432
Piko, B. F. (2016) Burnout, role conflict, job satisfaction and psychosocial health among Hungarian health care staff: a questionnaire survey. International Journal of Nursing Students, 43(10), 311–8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2005.05.003
Rose, J. (2015). 5 Strategies for Your Professional Development Initiatives. Journal, 4(2). 9-10. Retrieved from https://isminc.com/blog/academic-leadership/vol-15/no-2/5-strategies-for-your-professional-development-initiatives
McGill, (2018). Individual Development Pan, Journal of Professional Dev, 1(1), 15-16. Retrieved from https://www.mcgill.ca/caps/files/caps/caps_idp.pdf
Mizell, H. (2016). Why Professional Development Matters? Journal Studies, 2(1), 5-6. Retrieved from https://learningforward.org/docs/default-source/pdf/why_pd_matters_web.pdf
TeachTHoughtStaff, (2016). 5 Strategies For Better Teacher Professional Development. Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/5-strategies-better-teacher-professional-development/
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