Practicum Objectives Assignment Paper

Practicum Objectives Assignment Paper

Practicum Objectives Assignment sample Paper

Journal Entry

Improving clinical and professional skills requires that a student undertakes various activities. One such is undertaking a practicum experience that enables students to enhance their professional and clinical growth. As part of a practicum experience, a student should document various experiences and learning that reflect what has been learned, to what extent and areas of weakness that need adjustments. Formulating a journal reflection or journal entry can be important. Through a journal entry, a student can effectively assess growth and development attained in the clinical settings during practicum and note down areas of weakness and how to improve such areas of weakness (Hwang et al.,2018). As such, the purpose of this assignment is to write a journal entry or a journal reflection.

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Learning From Experiences

Practicum goals and objectives are usually formulated to guide a practicum experience. Therefore, at the start of the session, goals and objectives were formulated. This reflection will also explore the extent to which such objectives and goals were achieved. The first goal was to maintain professionalism and provide nonjudgement care and show empathy over the entirety of this practicum period. The second goal was to apply practical communication skills to maintain a therapeutic interpersonal relationship with each patient encounter by the end of my practicum experience. The last goal was to demonstrate knowledge of psychotherapy and intervention to help a person address specific issues. These goals were achieved during the practicum. The first goal was achieved by ensuring that I respected the client’s culture and race and offering holistic quality patient care (Brooks et al.,2019). As such, I was able to offer clients appropriate care while maintaining professionalism. The second objective was also achieved as appropriate as I continually developed an improved therapeutic relationship with my patients. I was also able to formulate treatment interventions for patients depending on their conditions hence achieving the last objective.

During the practicum experience, I also encountered challenging situations with patients. One of the patients was a fifteen-year-old female patient who presented to the clinic with a binge eating disorder. While the mother was concerned, the patient did not agree with the mother’s claim that she was getting obese due to binge eating. It was difficult starting a therapeutic strategy for the patient since she was not cooperative. The next case was an eight-year-old boy who was brought to the facility with symptoms of ADHD. On further assessment, it was noted that some of these symptoms were due to separation anxiety disorder which made it harder to formulate a better therapy. The third patient was a thirty-three-year-old man who had an alcohol abuse disorder which made him to even lose his job. One complicated aspect was the lack of social support at home since the spouse separated from him, and his siblings didn’t want to hear from him. Supporting this patient in recovery seemed challenging.

The practicum experience enabled me to learn. One of the aspects that I learned is that it is important to abide by the established diagnostic guidelines and criteria, such as hospital standards and guidelines. Various resources were of appropriate use during the experience, including the published guidelines and the DSM-V diagnostic criteria manual (Sarmiento & Lau, 2020). The encounter with the patients triggered the need to use evidence-based practice. The EBP approaches used include group therapy, family therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. I also managed to learn some skills during the experience, including taking comprehensive examinations or assessments of psychiatric patients. One thing I would do differently is employ more strategies to enhance therapeutic relationships with the patients. During the experience, making appointments and scheduling were used in the management of patient flow and volume.

Communicating and Feedback

The acquired skills and knowledge will be key in clinical settings and professional journeys. Therefore it is important to improve them further. As such, I plan to use various strategies such as continuous studies, clinical collaborations, and seeking the help of my mentor (Zhang & Cui, 2018). Such efforts will be communicated to the preceptor through face-to-face meetings and through emails. I am currently doing well in patient screening, but I will need to improve on creating more effective therapeutic relationships. The preceptor also gave both formal and informal feedback. For example, the preceptor gave feedback through word of mouth, phone calls, messages, and emails.

Conclusion

This journal entry has focused on the practicum experience. There are various important things learned during the practicum. However, there are also various aspects that need improvement. The objectives which were set at the start of the program have been achieved.

References

Brooks, L. A., Manias, E., & Bloomer, M. J. (2019). Culturally sensitive communication in healthcare: A concept analysis. Collegian, 26(3), 383-391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2018.09.007

Hwang, B., Choi, H., Kim, S., Kim, S., Ko, H., & Kim, J. (2018). Facilitating student learning with critical reflective journaling in psychiatric mental health nursing clinical education: A qualitative study. Nurse Education Today, 69, 159–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2018.07.015

Sarmiento, C., & Lau, C. (2020). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM‐5. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences: Personality Processes and Individual Differences, 125-129. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119547174.ch198

Zhang, J., & Cui, Q. (2018). Collaborative learning in higher nursing education: A systematic review. Journal of Professional Nursing, 34(5), 378–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2018.07.007

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TO PREPARE
Refer to the “Population-Focused Nurse Practitioner Competencies” found in the Week 1 Learning Resources and consider the quality measures or indicators advanced nursing practice nurses must possess in your specialty of interest.
Refer to your “Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form” you submitted in Week 1 and consider your strengths and opportunities for improvement.
Refer to your Patient Log in Meditrek and consider the patient activities you have experienced in your practicum experience and reflect on your observations and experiences.
In 450–500 words, address the following:

Learning From Experiences

Revisit the goals and objectives from your Practicum Experience Plan. Explain the degree to which you achieved each during the practicum experience.
Reflect on the three most challenging patients you encountered during the practicum experience. What was most challenging about each?
What did you learn from this experience?
What resources were available?
What evidence-based practice did you use for the patients?
What would you do differently?
How are you managing patient flow and volume?
Communicating and Feedback Reflect on how you might improve your skills and knowledge and how to communicate those efforts to your Preceptor.
Answer the questions: How am I doing? What is missing?
Reflect on the formal and informal feedback you received from your Preceptor.