Nursing Practicum 5 NURS 7030

This practicum experience occurs within acute medical and surgical nursing units with individuals who are experiencing complex, acute health problems with the potential for rapidly changing and/or emergency nursing needs. Considering family needs and interacting with patients' families is required.

In this context, the student will:

• Implement professional caring based on integrated knowledge and skill.
• Pursue shared meaning by facilitating communication with people.
• Integrate systematic inquiry into practice by:
• Analyzing client issues for unique aspects and responding with appropriate clinical judgements.
• Thinking critically and reflecting while practicing.
• Monitor and evaluate own clinical nursing practice and act to modify it.
• Assume responsibility for own learning needs and value learning as a way of anticipating future work requirements.
• Work collaboratively with members of the health care team in providing appropriate care for a group of patients.
• Demonstrate assertiveness and organizational skills.
• Implement technical skills with dexterity.

*Please review practicum evaluation form for specific indicators for each learning outcome.

Process Learning Threads: NURS 7030

Professionalism

• Students are increasingly independent with analysis of assessments, care planning, care implementation and evaluation. They encourage client decision making and integrate this into the plan of care. They collaborate with health professionals to provide holistic care to clients. They defend the client's right to be informed. They begin to consider health promotion as an integral aspect of care. Students take the full RN patient load and assign back a maximum 25% of the workload to the RN or LPN.

Communication

• Students use positive, pro-client caring attitudes and skills to establish partnerships with clients. The shared meaning they achieve is used to solidify their partnership and individualize the plan of care. Students record and report pertinent patient assessments and nursing care in a timely manner. Students use effective communication strategies to build partnerships with health care consumers and co-workers. Students dialogue with instructor, preceptor and other health care workers in the process of learning. They use principles of teaching and learning. Students discuss issues thoughtfully, verbally and in writing.

Systematic Inquiry

• Students use evidence-based research. They start to critically think and reflect while nursing rather than only after the fact. Students analyze client issues for unique aspects and respond with appropriate clinical judgments. Students raise questions about nursing practices to analyze alternatives. Students reflect on and analyze their values, beliefs and assumptions regarding health and partnership.

Professional Growth

• Students value learning as a way of promoting professional growth. They assume responsibility for continued knowledge development. They constantly evaluate their care using professional nursing standards and modify their practice to accommodate new learning. Students are responsible for attaining and maintaining a safe level of skill performance. Students continue to develop reflective skepticism. They are responsible and accountable for their actions and write self-evaluation notes that demonstrate progress in achieving course outcomes.

Creative Leadership

• Students maintain ongoing communication with colleagues and work to encourage partnerships with them. Students perform effectively in teams including negotiation and assignment of duties and tasks to other RNs or LPNs. They demonstrate assertiveness. Students are learning to manage a group of clients by becoming more organized, efficient and quicker in giving care. They are beginning to anticipate the work that will be required throughout the day and set priorities to achieve this. They anticipate the continuum of care required for specific patients. In collaboration with nurses, students take an active role in assessment of discharge needs and discharge planning. They further develop their understanding of nursing leadership within the acute care context of practice.

Technical Skills

• Students are developing precision in the implementation of clinical technical skills. They implement a logical sequence of actions, they are coordinated and they give safe care. They need supervision with skills they have not previously mastered. As the course progresses, the time and speed are within reasonable limits so the beginning level of articulation is developing. Students review and work within agency and BCIT policies regarding skills.

Effective as of Fall 2003