Scribd
Upload
116 views4 pages

Nursing Students' Clinical Insights

The student reflects on their clinical experiences in a retirement home and long-term care facility. At the retirement home, the student had an in-depth conversation with their resident and learned about their history and supports. However, at the long-term care facility, the student had to feed and assist a resident who was unable to care for themselves, which was an eye-opening experience. The student felt unsure at first but grew more confident with their instructor's support. The student also discusses a research article about factors influencing positive clinical experiences, such as feeling welcomed by staff and having clear expectations of supervisors. Overall, the experiences exceeded the student's expectations and they are eager to continue learning about caring for aging populations.

Uploaded by

api-382642757
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
116 views4 pages

Nursing Students' Clinical Insights

The student reflects on their clinical experiences in a retirement home and long-term care facility. At the retirement home, the student had an in-depth conversation with their resident and learned about their history and supports. However, at the long-term care facility, the student had to feed and assist a resident who was unable to care for themselves, which was an eye-opening experience. The student felt unsure at first but grew more confident with their instructor's support. The student also discusses a research article about factors influencing positive clinical experiences, such as feeling welcomed by staff and having clear expectations of supervisors. Overall, the experiences exceeded the student's expectations and they are eager to continue learning about caring for aging populations.

Uploaded by

api-382642757
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Running Head: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 1

Perceptions of Community Care

Trent University

Megan Scott
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 2

Perceptions of Community Care

Clinical placement is a great opportunity and learning experience for my peers and

myself. We are able to learn and deliver hands-on applications as well as providing safe care to

the residents. My first time in the clinical setting, was at a retirement home. My partner and I

were able to have an in-depth conversation with my resident as well as hers. Through the

conversation, I was able to learn about her past history and her social supports. My resident at

the retirement home was 93 years old and was capable of performing Activities of Daily Living

(ADL’s). Going into my first clinical, I had a different perspective of what I thought a retirement

home was going to be like. When we arrived, it was shown that these residents were mobile and

were able to live autonomously. Branching off into my next week of clinical, I was faced with

providing care at a Long-Term Care facility (LTC). An experience that was significant to me was

my first day at the LTC facility. My clinical group had the morning shift and we first started the

day with assisting the residents, helping to feed them at breakfast. The resident that my clinical

instructor assigned me to was not able to do things for herself; this includes bathing, feeding or

walking. Before this, I had never been put in a situation to help someone who could not do things

for themselves. The personal support workers brought out the food, when I noticed that all of the

food was purred and realized that it was going to be tough to feed the resident and I was not sure

how to approach it. This experience was significant for me because I had never been in a LTC

facility and it really opened my eyes to see how the population ages. During this experience, I

felt sad and unsure but also determined to finish my task. After asking my clinical instructor a

few questions, I began to grow confidently and feeding the resident became easier. I really had to

focus on how she must have felt not being able to be independent. We made plenty of eye

contact, however, she was not able to communicate with me at any point. An article written by
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 3

Cooper, Courtney-Pratt and Fitzgerald studied what factors that influence the quality of

professional experiences at a clinical placement (2015). In this study, 361 students filled out a

survey after their first-year placements with what they found most helpful and what they found

not helpful. The top three responses from the students were that they felt welcomed, whether or

not they had to work individually or in a team, and lastly the student expectations of the

supervising ward nurse (Cooper et al., 2015). Entering into the LTC facility, I noticed that there

were many more PSW’s working there than there were at the retirement home. Once we arrived

on the floor, I realized that some were very thankful that we were there helping, but also some

that just looked at you and did not say anything. I felt relieved when they would help me if I was

ever stuck in a situation. As for working individually or in a team setting, I am grateful that I was

paired with another student for my first time approaching my resident. I know that my

confidence will only go up from here. Finally, my expectations of my clinical instructor were

very high, and it definitely showed when I was put in the feeding situation with my resident at

the LTC facility. She was very supportive and is only putting me out there so that I will improve.

My overall experience of my first three weeks of clinical were above what I expected, and I am

eager to see what I will accomplish by the end of this term in relation to caring with the aging

population.
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL 4

References

Cooper, J., Courtney-Pratt, H., Fitzgerald, M. (2015). Key influences identified by first year

undergraduate nursing students as impacting on the quality of clinical placement: A

qualitative study. Nursing Education Today, 35 (9), 1004-1008. doi:

org/10.1016/j.nedt.2015.03.009

You might also like