My Nursing Career so Far and Evaluation of My Professional Competence

Introduction

Professional competence is an essential aspect of service delivery in different sectors of the economy. Recent studies have concentrated on the importance of human resource in the development of countries. For nursing, professional competency implies providing care that meets the set nursing standards (Karami, Farokhzadian & Foroughameri, 2017). Adherence to the code of standards and ethics that govern the nursing profession enables us to deliver quality care to our patients. This paper is an analysis of my strengths and weaknesses concerning personal and professional accountability, career planning, personal journey discipline, and reflective practice reference.

Personal and professional accountability

I can rate my personal growth and development as competent. Since starting my training as a nurse, I have learned a lot regarding the nursing profession and how I can use the knowledge gained to improve the quality of care I give to my patients. I know there are many things which I am still unaware of, and therefore, I cannot rate myself as an expert. I have plans to advance my studies until I attain the highest qualifications in the nursing field. One of my most significant strength is self-assessment. I assess myself annually, whereby I get to evaluate my performance throughout the year and see the areas I need to improve in the coming year. Currently, I am a member of the National Students Nurses' Association. I am planning to join at American Nurses Association before the end of the year. I have strived so far in my career to upholding the ethical standards that guide the nursing profession. Presently, I don't have certifications in any field of nursing, but I plan on pursuing certifications after I graduate.

Career planning

Career planning involves steps that a person can take to realize their career aspirations. On career planning, I can rate myself as an expert. I know the expectation of a nurse. This has enabled me to perform my responsibilities effectively in the hospital, and my supervisor at the hospital has commended me several times to performing beyond his expectations. Another aspect of career planning is having a plan for the future. My career aspiration is high. I want to enroll later for postgraduate studies and study to be an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). Healthcare in America is changing from treatment based care to preventive care. I will, therefore, pursue a career path that is aligned to preventive care.

Personal journey disciplines

On personal journey disciplines, I can rate myself as competent. I have teamed up with my colleagues in the past to accomplish tasks in the hospital. I, however, have a weakness when working with other people. I tend to be a perfectionist, and therefore, I always feel like my colleagues are not doing enough. My colleagues have advised me on this behavior, and I am progressing well in changing this attitude. I apply action learning in my nursing practice. According to Han, Zhang, Zhang & Lin (2016), action learning involves learning and solving problems simultaneously and then later reflecting on how those problems were solved. Action learning has helped me in dealing with patients in that I can listen effectively to what the patient has to say. This has made it easy to obtain information from patients. Reflective practice refers to making sense of events that have taken place throughout the day. As a nurse, I deal with several patients in a day, and when my duty is over, I take some few minutes to reflect on the care I have given to patients throughout the day. Through reflection, I can assess my performance throughout the day. I am also able to identify the areas I have performed poorly, and I can, therefore, look for ways to improve on those sectors the next day.

Reflective practice reference behaviors/tenets

On reflective practice reference behaviors, I can rate myself as competent. Since I began my studies in nursing school, I have always maintained integrity. Integrity is about honesty and upholding high moral standards (Sastrawan, Newton & Malik, 2018). As a nurse, integrity is key when dispensing my responsibilities at the hospital. When I am not sure of the best approach to follow when caring for patients, I consult my supervisor and my colleagues. I have also learned to appreciate diversity in the workplace. Diversity in the workplace arises in the form of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and dissenting voices. I have learned to accommodate people who have different opinions, from different faiths and different gender from my own. Moreover, intolerance is discouraged in the workplace, and that has also contributed to my comfortability with working with diverse people.

As a nurse, I always have to be updated on the best current practices to follow. This is because nursing practices change, and therefore, the need to be continuously updated. I think I am a novice when it comes to appreciation of ambiguity. I am not good at handling situations where there is ambiguity. I like straightforward things, but I am working towards understanding and appreciating ambiguity in my surrounding. I am an expert in nurturing my intellectual and emotional wellbeing. I always study to increase my intellect in nursing and also to update myself on changes that take place around the world. I have also trained myself to understand my emotions and regulate them so that they don't interfere with my work.

Conclusion

From my assessment, I am a competent nurse at the moment. On personal growth and development, I plan on enrolling for postgraduate studies and become an APRN. With this qualification, I will be in an excellent position to give quality care to my patients. I have worked with my colleagues as a team in the past to accomplish tasks at the hospital. I am, however, not good at working with other people since I am a perfectionist. I have since been informed of this attitude by my supervisor, and I am working on changing it. Action learning has been the center stage of my nursing training, and I have since incorporated it into my daily practice at the hospital.

References

1. Han, E., Zhang, Y., Zhang, J., & Lin, B. (2016). Advances in the application of action learning in nursing practice. Chinese Nursing Research, 3(3), 101-104. doi: 10.1016/j.cnre.2016.06.010
2. Karami, A., Farokhzadian, J., & Foroughameri, G. (2017). Nurses' professional competency and organizational commitment: Is it important for human resource management?. PloS one, 12(11), e0187863. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0187863
3. Sastrawan, S., Newton, J., & Malik, G. (2018). Nurses' integrity and coping strategies: An integrative review. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 28(5-6), 733-744. doi: 10.1111/jocn.14702