Professional Capstone and Practicum Reflective Journal.
Each new day there is something new to ponder about and somehow challenging to practitioners of health. Just as patient needs are becoming diverse are medics finding better ways of handling the same. In the same light, scientists are developing sophisticated equipment that may be used to diagnose illnesses that did not exist in the past. To effectively manage diseases developing from people’s current lifestyles, it would be idiotic to use equipment of long time ago.
Throughout my professional Capstone and Practicum course, it has come to my conclusion that health care practice is not going to remain the same for any foreseeable future.
Nurses have not been left behind in utilizing current patient management approaches. Evidence based care is the new vocabulary in many wards within health facilities. The importance of best practices according to research that has been carried out currently cannot be overemphasized. The new approaches lead to patient satisfaction, in addition to putting the safety concerns into consideration.
It will be a gross mistake not to mention intra-professional collaboration that has taken the current health care practice by a storm. Practitioners have realized that all their energies are directed towards the well-being of patients within the facility and those elsewhere. Therefore, collaboration among the various disciplines is the right move in the right direction. In light to Avineri & Martel (2015), health facilities have come up with continuous medical education, abbreviated as CMEs, aimed at discussing a common health crisis that may be affecting patients. All practitioners are invited to attend, making useful contributions that lead to elaborate management of perceived or real threat. Moreover, it is common to find members of the healthcare team attending seminars that are aimed at imparting current management to the changing health needs of patients.
Health care delivery systems have been designed to be focused on patient concerns. In these systems, individualized patient care is emphasized with the aim of getting the best outcomes. The needs of patients vary among individuals hence providers of care are concerned with handling each patient in the most unique manner. The systems work in a manner that all clinical aspects of care are handled professionally.
In as much as patient needs are changing on a daily basis, nurses and other members of the healthcare team are concerned with ethical considerations that guide patient care. Patients have rights that serve to protect them from irresponsible acts of health care practitioners. During my clinical practice in the wards, nurses and other members of the health team could be observed being committed to offering high quality care among patients. Health information could not be disclosed to those who were not involved in the direct care of patients. Patients are being treated to the right information as well as being given an opportunity to participate in their own care. According to Holstrom et al. (2007), newer ethical issues are emerging in health care settings which include but not limited to end of life care, donor organs allocation, and improvement in the access of care and balancing between efficiency and quality of care. Health facilities are trying to incorporate these emerging ethical issues with the capacity of institutions to handle the patient needs.
As explained earlier, the populations’ health needs are not only becoming complex but also are on the increase. People are leading unhealthy lifestyles forgetting that their states of health can only be maintained when there is a balance between lifestyle and their health statuses. Drug and substance use are on an increase, hence users are experiencing health challenges emanating from their lifestyles. Most of the population’s chronic illnesses are the elderly that young people. Of the older people, males are affected more than females when it comes with cardiovascular cases. Women suffer more from endocrine cases such diabetes mellitus.
Technology is changing health care practice on a day to day basis. For quite a long time medical practitioners have had reserved feelings about technology use in healthcare. Many would not visualize use of computers and other electronic gadgets aimed at improving patient outcomes. In their extensive research, Roscoe & Strapp (2009) found out that electronic patient records had become part and parcel of health facilities. In addition to keeping patient information, electronic registers do provide a long lasting solution to patient monitoring and assessment of outcomes, scrutinize drugs on market and also monitor chronic disease progression. The system used the internet, making it easy to access the information from any device and from any part of the continent. A patient’s demographic data, diagnosis, treatment schedules and analysis can be reached after being granted permission while patient’s rights are observed.
The healthy policy of health facilities are enshrined in their vision statement. This is to mean that the health policy targets the entire health status of people living in a community. It is clear that a healthy community means that people will suffer less from either chronic or acute illnesses. The policy seeks to inform people on the best health practices that they can maintain to remain healthy. Health facilities usually determine target priorities in the community that they intent to reach out so that their health are restored.
Nurses are being trained to offer strong leadership so that the vision of health care systems may be transformed. Among the members of the healthcare team, nurses offer not only managerial but also leadership roles. They are the ones who are in constant interactions with patient hence are in a position to understand nearly everything better. According to the prevailing economic situations that are present in the healthcare industry, the qualitative model is used. In this model, the future is planned for using the prevailing conditions currently.
Optimal health remains a debatable topic in the health care setting. The disadvantaged groups including women and children under the age of 5 are at risk of not accessing healthcare. Moreover, the disparities are evidenced in the social classifications that are present in the society. Apparently, the poor cannot be able to get access to quality care when compared to the rich. To make matters worse, the financially disadvantaged are not on any health insurance premium, making it hard for them to get health care (Inamdar & Roldan, 2013).
The course was extremely beneficial since students were able to get into the exact environment that they were learning in class. During the course, students were able to identify both their strengths and weaknesses and would work on how best to improve their practice. They learned that healthcare is undergoing numerous changes that make it necessary for health care practitioners to make the necessary adaptations. The course not only inspired them to be better practitioners but to also to be smart for improved patient outcomes.
References
Avineri, N., & Martel, J. (January 01, 2015). The Evolution of a Practicum: Movement toward a Capstone. Catesol Journal27, 2, 15, 7-170 http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1111671.pdf
Holstrom, L., Ruiz, D., & Weller, G. (2007). A new view: Reflection and student teacher growth through an e-practicum model. E-Learning and Digital Media, 4(1), 5-14. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2304/elea.2007.4.1.5
Inamdar, S. N., & Roldan, M. (2013). The MBA capstone course: Building theoretical, practical, applied, and reflective skills. Journal of Management Education, 37(6), 747-770. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1019415
Roscoe, L. J., & Strapp, C. M. (2009). Increasing psychology students’ satisfaction with preparedness through a professional issues course. Teaching of Psychology, 36(1), 18-23. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00986280802529426?journalCode=htop20
