Nursing Self Reflection Paper

Further Self-Reflection on Nursing Research:
An Evaluation of Personal Goals
Reflective practice remains an essential skill for all areas of nursing. Self-reflection provides clarity and purpose for incorporating changes in nursing practice (Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2015). As I reflect on my educational journey, this nursing research course provided many opportunities for my professional growth and ignited a passion for integrating evidence-based research to improve patient outcomes on my unit.
For example, evaluating my progress on the personal goals set at the beginning of the course will assist in refocusing my efforts to continued improvement as a graduate nursing professional and nurse leader. Also, identifying both the new acquired

knowledge and future considerations of how to continue to use the resources through this course program provides rich context for formulation new personal goals. Through evaluation and self-reflection of this nursing research course, there are several opportunities to positively impact my nursing practice and my ability to influence other nurses to appreciate the importance of nursing research in their own practice.
Personal Goals
The first goal, in the cognitive domain of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning, included strengthening my capacity to critique nursing research and then implement relevant evidence-based practice (EBP) into practice within my unit.

This goal was partially met as I acquired and validated knowledge through researching and reading nursing journal articles in Nephrology; however, there must be more follow up on discussing and planning on how to best implement these findings which can facilitate improved patient outcomes on my unit.
Next, my goals included completing the reflection assignments to promote problem solving and incorporation of EBP with my Nephrology team. As I reflect on this goal, motivation to complete assignments and find areas of improvement within my nursing practice were met. However, a new professional goal was identified through this self-reflection. With the completed critiques of relevant nursing research, my next goal will be to assess which suggestions are clinically appropriate and cost-effective for informing nurses’ decisions and actions on my unit (Polit & Beck,

2017).
Finally, my goal to write improved graduate-level papers was partially met. Through feedback from my peers and my instructor, my writing on a graduate-level has been strengthened. However, the other aspect of this goal was to again evaluate and implement research ideas in my own practice which will require more time and follow up. This will be a part of the new goal as previously discussed.
Continued Promotion of Nursing Research
From the initial reflection paper, my belief has been strengthened on the importance of the role of the graduate prepared nurse to promote the utilization of research and EBP for other health care professionals after the completion of this course.

Since all nurses will participate in some capacity in the continuum of research, it remains imperative for all nurses to understand research methods for the improvement of their practice (Polit & Beck, 2017). With my gained experience and comprehension of how to evaluate nursing research, the significance of all nurses to be able to do the same to enhance their contribution of nursing was highlighted throughout this course.
One new area of knowledge identified through taking this course was earning about the review of literature when critiquing journal articles. This a step while reviewing literature which I had not partaken in prior to this course. Polit and Beck (2015) explained the review of literature highlights the importance of laying a solid foundation for the current study being evaluated and the relevance of the identified research problem. This will be a valuable tool in my continued nursing practice for appraisal of nursing research in the years to come.

Conclusion
Overall, this nursing research course strengthened my opinion on the importance of all nurses to understand the relevance of nursing research in their own practice. As I continue my graduate-level educational journey, I anticipate using these course materials to improve my writings and assist in the critiquing of further nursing research relevant to Nephrology. Through continued self-reflection on my personal goals, I will be able to continue my journey to incorporate EBP into practice while being an active participant in some capacity on the continuum of nursing research.

References
Martin, C. M., & Felix-Bortolotti, M. (2014). Person-centered health care: a critical assessment of current and emerging research approaches. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 20, 1056-1064.
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2016). Nursing Research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. (10th ed). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippencott Williams & Wilkins.
Porter-O'Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2015). Quantum leadership: Building better partnerships for sustainable health. (4th ed). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.