Reflective Journal: Reflective Journal

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Reflective Journal June 23 2015. Jayme Mannix What? On my third week of clinical shifts, I was able to spend the day in the operating room watching surgeries. The doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists were all very informative. I was in awe watching the anesthesiologists and surgeons do their work. My mind was going a mile-a-minute as I tried to follow everything that was going on. Near the end of the day during the last surgery, at around 1430h, I looked over at the anesthesiologist who seemed to be very relaxed on his phone. Being a nursing student, I assumed he was just bored, I was not going to question the actions of Dr.s. Then, I looked back over at the anesthesiologist and noticed his eyes were closed and his head was starting to droop. I became frantic. Trying to decide if I should say something or if I should just keep it …show more content…

Throughout this journal, I have been able to recognize my mistake and realize how it can affect my overall patient care. Patient advocacy is one of the most important role of nurses. As a nursing student, it is time that I step up and advocate for my patients under all circumstances. Although it can be difficult, advocating for patients is one of the most important roles of nurses. “In order to be effective advocates, nurses need to be recognized, and to recognize themselves, as equal partners within the multidisciplinary team.” (Hyland, 2002). Nurses and nursing students need to take charge when it comes to advocating for their patients. My future nursing practice is now changed because I understand the importance of patient advocacy. I need to trust in myself that I know when I am seeing something wrong, so I can speak up before it is too late. Because of this reflection I can see how trivial it was to be worried about my own professional risk over my patient’s quality of care. I am sure that I will never make that mistake again. As a health care provider, the well-being of patients should be a top priority,

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