Witnessing Death Reflection

The ethical pattern of knowing in nursing requires an understanding of different philosophical positions regarding what is right and what is wrong (Howatson-Jones, 2016). Registered nurses must follow the Code of Ethics, which is a declaration of ethical values of nurses and commitments to their patients (Canadian Nurses Association, 2017). It is important for nurses to provide care to all, despite race, religion or ethnicity. The primary values and responsibilities of nurses are to provide safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care, promote health and well-being, promote and respect informed decision-making, honour dignity, maintain privacy and confidentiality, promote justice, and be accountable (CNA, 2017). Upon discovering that the

Throughout the course of this reflective practice paper, I have become aware of the strength that nurses must possess in containing their personal emotions while comfort patients. Looking back on my experience of witnessing death, I am now attentive to how important a nurse’s role is in the case of a patient’s death. The next time that I am confronted with death, I must refrain from demonstrating such strong emotions in front of other, in pursuance of better supporting myself and those around me as a result. As a nursing student, it is crucial that I understand that death is a normal part of life and that I will be witnessing death often in the nursing profession. Nursing students must reflect and discuss over the process of death in spite of becoming more familiar with situation during their professional practice (Silva Oliveira et al., 2016). It may be hard to deal with at the beginning but I will eventually become more comfortable with death and proceed to becoming an excellent

Reflective practice aids nursing students by “helping them understand what they have done well, what they might do differently, why a particular situation developed, and how to handle challenging events in the process” (Walton, Lindsay, Hales, & Rook, 2018, p. 66). Reflective practice has enabled myself to discover mistakes that were made and determine an appropriate solution. Realizing a mistake can help to assist others to avoid making a similar mistake. It is important to make mistakes and learn from them as a nursing student rather than a professional nurse, where the mistakes could result in death or serious harm (Pijl Zieber & Williams, 2015). Reflective practice allows recognition of my own strengths and weaknesses. Establishing one’s strengths and weaknesses can either boost one’s confidence or lower it (Walton et al., 2018). The discovery of my strengths and weaknesses is a convenient tool, to be used to my advantage. Reflective practice also allows me to connect different situations together and learn about how each situation relates to another. The use of reflection tools such as making connections between situations, allows the increase of confidence as a nursing student (Graue, Rasmussen, Iversen, & Dunning,