Write a detailed self-evaluation on the importance of following instructions.
Outline the areas that have caused a delay in submission or omission of
assignments while taking ownership as an adult learner. Discuss how not following
instructions can lead to patient harm. Prioritize five strategies and explain how you
will rectify this in your future in the nursing program and as a professional nurse.
Utilize and cite a minimum of 3 recent sources (within the last 7 years) to support
your answers.
To give context into my situation for the past month, I have had a fellow classmate
from the program who is experiencing hardships living with me. To say it has been
putting me through the ringer is putting it lightly. I have been stretched to the
extremes physically and emotionally, which I can say has affected my attention to
detail and how I would normally conduct myself when it comes to my work. I
tend to take care of others to the detriment of my well-being. I noticed the first
signs that the situation was taking a toll when the first test grades came back. Then
when her accident happened, I missed the link above the HG case study on
Blackboard. Normally, I am very meticulous on what needs to be done and have
things submitted ahead of time and I don’t have the issue of missing links for
assignments. Normally I have a check list that I have for clinical that I use to make
sure that all patient care is done and medications are passed at the appropriate
times. I feel that I only struggle in clinical when I am doing something new or am
completely exhausted and lack the focus that is needed to process multiple actions
at one time. I take accountability for my mistakes and missing the links and
understand the severity this could translate to if this was an order for a patient in
the hospital. Missing linked orders, timing for medications, adverse effects for
drugs, contraindicated medications for illnesses/uses with other medications,
missing key presenting manifestations of decompensation of the patient that need
to be reported to the HCP or not noticing name differences between similar drugs
could cause severe harm to patients.
Five Point Strategy:
1.
Self-Care/Self-Maintenance: When emotionally and physically exhausted,
judgement is impaired. Your awareness is impacted, and you feel
tense/stressed. I need to become better at acknowledging my feelings and
admitting when I am hitting a level that is becoming unmanageable. I need
to reach out to my peers or trained professionals for help when I get to a
point that the emotional stress becomes too much. Sleep is something I need
to do better at.
2. Open Communication: communication with my team and peers about the
status as it can relate to the safety of the patients. If I feel that I am not in a
state where I feel comfortable, I cam get a second check or ask for assistance
to ensure patient safety.
3. Physical Health: Making sure that I have a productive sleep so that I am not
emotionally and physically drained. Being both for the past month has taken
a toll on me and it has shown. The plan is to set more of a strict schedule
around my workdays to make sure I am adequately prepared and for the
class and clinical days planning the study and sleep cycles to allow for more
frequency so that I can get more in.
4. Prioritization List: I found an article that showed that making checklists
had reduced patient harm and improved communication. It helped with
outlining which protocols were needed and guidelines were to be followed.
So, in my opinion this is a great way that in the future I can incorporate tools
into my future practice to make sure that patient safety is at the top of the
list. This would enable me, even if I am having an off day, to refer to a
mental list of everything that is to be followed to ensure the optimal care or
all assignments are taken care of.
5. Communication with Team Lead/CI before Situations Escalate: I should
have done a better job at communicating that my home life relating to the
person staying with me was spiring faster than I intended and was affecting
my school. I should have reached out sooner and assessed what my options
were earlier and maybe I would not be as exhausted and distressed as I
currently am. All the miscommunication has led to potential harm and
potential class failure on my part which I do not want. My goals are to keep
all my patients safe, which is why I opted not to come to clinical that
Wednesday after handling the situation with the roommate, and make sure
that I am putting the best foot forward in this program.
Sources
Empathy Fatigue: How Stress and Trauma Can Take a Toll on You. Cleveland Clinic. (2021,
June 25). Empathy Fatigue: How Stress and Trauma Can Take a Toll on You
Clinical Guidelines and Standardization of Practice to Improve Outcomes. (2019). The American
College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 134(4).
World Health Organization: WHO. (2023). Patient safety. www.who.int.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/patient-safety