It is important to note that reflective practice can be a critical measure for the continuous improvement of one’s professional capabilities and competence. It is stated that “Nursing education has welcomed the idea of reflection as a valuable tool to assist nursing students in learning from practice,” and “likewise, reflection is considered instrumental in helping nurses provide optimum care to patients” (Galutira, 2018, p. 51). In other words, the implications of reflective practice cannot be underestimated due to its differential benefits. Reflective practice can be categorized as an approach that utilizes self-reflection and self-evaluation as critical points for further change implementations in order to ensure nursing care quality improvement and patient safety enhancement (Esterhuizen, 2019). Reflective practice has a core educational purpose, and it is stated that “education programs and structures for continuing professional development (CPD) and revalidation of professionals sharpen their focus regarding self-assessment to identify gaps in skills and attitudes rather than merely as a means of on-going monitoring” (Mantzourani et al., 2019, p. 1476). Therefore, the implications of reflective practice are professional, educational, and personal.
In the case of the Self-Assessment Inventory, the stress and the coping score are equal to 3.1, which is indicative of the fact that some improvements should be introduced to my strategies for coping with stress factors. My learning styles reveal that I am a hands-on learner who learns best in a group or social environment due to high tactile and auditory scores and low individual learner scores. For professional characteristics, my strongest quality is integrity, whereas my problem areas are communication and stress resilience. In the case of my work values, I have poor leadership qualities and initiative, but I am outstanding in regard to problem-solving and time management as well as self-esteem. In other words, it is evident that the majority of my scores are reflective of my inexperience since it requires some time to develop communication skills, stress resilience, and leadership characteristics, such as initiative. Therefore, I am in a good position as a follower or subordinate who only needs to learn communication and become more stress-resilient. However, I need more time and effort to acquire and develop proper leadership qualities, which means I am not ready to take on major leadership roles.
Since the assessment revealed that I am not resilient to stress, it is important to assess stressors and risk factors. The major cause of stress in my life seems to be the lack of high-quality sleep due to my poor habits as well as my environment. Work/school can be rated as 7, finances – 4, community responsibilities – 1, my health – 2, family member health – 2, family relationships – 1, family responsibilities – 4, and friendships – 3. I have been dealing with stressful situations for the past five years, and I can track the stress accumulation by taking notes. The major challenges are balancing my personal and professional life, and the recent life changes of relocation increased the total amount of stress, but I do not plan or anticipate further changes.
In the case of coping mechanisms, I have never had some form of coping mechanism, which I was aware of, but reflecting on past experience indicates that food and online entertainment were my escape routes. Previously, I had a relationship-related stress event, which shifted my priorities and diminished my professional performance. I usually experience the emotion and stick to it until I arrive at my comfort zone, such as my bedroom. These methods are highly effective, and they can be considered poor methods of coping since they are unhealthy and primarily encourage escapism. Presently, after I learned that I have poor stress resilience, I am trying to incorporate physical exercise or activity as a coping mechanism. Unless it is something highly stressful, I am mostly able to control my emotions and let them pass quickly without affecting my performance. In regards to physiological responses to stress, I have poor health management, which is why I am incorporating exercise. My main emotional responses to stressors are anger and lack of motivation, which alter my job performance through distraction and reduce my interest in social interactions. In the case of lifestyle changes, I need to add some hours into my sleep since it is possible that I am sleep-deprived.
As of now, there is nothing significant that will impact my ability to study and be successful in nursing school. I only need to fix my daily routines, especially prior to bedtimes, such as cutting screen time, avoiding caffeine, and exercising. My first goal is to replace my stress eating habit with exercise, and my second goal is to develop a healthy bedtime routine to acquire high-quality sleep. For the first goal, I will give myself three months to eliminate the unhealthy habit and replace it with a healthy one, and I will consider it a success if I consistently exercise for the last month’s prior deadline. The action steps are to develop an exercise schedule and plan my meals. For the second goal, I will give myself only one month, and it is considered a success if I fully adhere to my desired routine for the two weeks. The action steps are identifying key problematic areas of my bedtime routine and tracking my caffeine intake.
References
Esterhuizen, P. (2019). Reflective practice in nursing (4th ed.). Sage.
Galutira, G. D. (2018). Theory of reflective practice in nursing. International Journal of Nursing Science, 8(3), 51-56. Web.
Mantzourani, E., Desselle, S., Le, J., Lonie, J. M., & Lucas, C. (2019). The role of reflective practice in healthcare professions: Next steps for pharmacy education and practice. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 15(12), 1476–1479. Web.