NURS 6565 Week 1 Assignment: Self-Assessment of my Clinical Skills

Family nurse practitioner students (FNPS) need to do a self-assessment because it will give them the opportunity to review what they have learned during the program, evaluate their clinical skills, and develop the appropriate goals before finishing the nurse practitioner (NP) program.  

It is vital that they identify their areas of strength and develop a plan to maintain them and recognize their areas of weaknesses and find ways to deal with them and improve them.  Many FNPS are lacking some of the essential clinical skills, and they need to create a plan to acquire them before finishing the NP program.  

NURS 6565 Week 1 Assignment: Self-Assessment of my Clinical Skills

By doing the self-assessment, they can do something to enhance the areas that need some work and possibly start thinking about the contributions that they can make to improve the nursing occupation.  The purpose of this paper is to identify at least three strengths, why I consider them, and what to do to maintain them, three weaknesses and how to tackle them, three clinical skills needed and how to master them before finishing the NP program.  

Plus, analyze the history of advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) and the developing role of my specialty area and what contributions I plan to make to improve the nursing occupation.

Three Strengths, why I Consider Them, and What to do to Maintain Them

The three strengths as an FNPS examined and based somewhat on the information reported by the preceptors during the final evaluations include:

1. I am knowledgeable. I thought about this strength because I like to be prepare, study, and know what I am doing to be able to take care of the patients.  As FNPS, we truly have the patients’ lives in our hands, and we must have the knowledge to diagnose and treat their conditions appropriately and prevent complications.  We need to offer patients the correct information and encourage them to take charge of their health needs and empower them, get them more involved so they can select the best options for their health (Lowe & Byers, 2017).  Some of the ways to maintain this strength consist of attending to workshop or conferences, reading journal articles, taking classes online or in the classroom (Thabault, Mylott, & Patterson, 2015 and College of Nurses of Ontario [CNO], 2014).  Other approaches include reviewing case studies, completing training programs, participating in practice simulation or listening to webinars (Thabault, Mylott, & Patterson, 2015 and CNO, 2014).
2. I am hard-working. I thought about this strength because I tend to work and do more than required to make sure that patients are taking care of the way that they should.  I think about the clients and try to do what I would like for someone to do for me which is to provide the best possible care.  As an FNPS, I recognize that we need a collaborative partnerships center on what each member does best and tend to support and help them to maximize their potential and get the job done properly (Lowe & Byers, 2017).  I usually work harder to try to create and sustain a positive and professional practice environment (Lowe & Byers, 2017) for the benefit of all the people around me.  Some of the ways to continue being hardworking are not to change the way that I am like most individuals do.  I do not want to be added to a statistic and labeled as a lazy person that just do enough to not to get fired.  I noticed that most new employees begin working hard and after a few weeks, things changed for the worse, and they tend to do less work.  I have to remember to do what is right and continue to do an honest day’s work.
3. I am more confident than before. I thought about this strength because after working in the healthcare profession for over one decade, I am more comfortable talking and teaching the patients what they need to know to live healthier lives.  FNPS must have confidence because patients know right away after you start talking if you do not and they will not be able to trust you.  Some of the things to do to maintain or improve confident are to be better organized, study and know about the different conditions affecting the clients and be capable of explaining them in the way people can understand.  FNPS must take an active role, take time to learn, and create environments which enable them to gain knowledge (Lowe & Byers, 2017) and have more confident on what they are doing.

NURS 6565 Week 1 Assignment – Three Weaknesses and how to Address Them

The three weaknesses as an FNPS considered and based on some of the information reported by the preceptors in their evaluations consist of:

1. Time management is a problem for many FNPS, and one of my previous preceptors brought it to my attention. Some of the best approaches to tackle this issue is by learning to manage my time better by becoming well-organized with it, implementing strategies that enhance productivity (Perkel, 2015).  We have to try to keep and redirect the clients back to the what we need them to do or tell us.  FNPS need to stay focus and avoid distraction to get the job done on time.  We have to establish a routine, evaluate to find out if it is working and if it is not, make changes as necessary.  We need to stop wasting time doing things not associated with the profession to be able to manage our time better.
2. Impatience is another weakness that someone told me that I have. I get irritated by some of my co-workers especially when they tend to play around instead of doing their job, or when they do it too slow (Enkivillage.org, n.d.) or have the, I do not care if I get it done or not type of attitude.  It tends to upset me a little because patients are valuable and without them, we will not have a job.  Some of the ways to address this issue are by talking and be honest with the individuals that make me impatient, let them know that laziness will not be tolerated, encourage them to do better and do their work properly.
3. Over-talkative is another weakness because I talk too much according to one of my preceptors. I know that it is not a big problem now because I can take my time with the patients but as an FNPS keeping in mind that some APRN only have 15 minutes with each patient is important to try to do better.  Some ways to address this issue is by asking only questions relevant to do the job and try not to continue talking about other things not related to what we need to find out (Enkivillage.org, n.d.).  Sometimes it is necessary to get co-workers involve and help me stay focus on what is important or stop me if I am talking too much.

NURS 6565 Week 1 Assignment – Three Clinical Skills and how I Plan to Master Them

The three clinical skills that I need to acquire and how I plan to learn them before finishing the NP program include:

1. Diagnosing and managing health conditions (Buppert, 2018) is one skill that I need to gain, and I am planning to spend more time reading and reviewing the different illnesses to be able to that. I have to learn the causes, clinical manifestations, diagnostic testing, and proper treatments to be able to provide a high quality of care.  I have to attend conference, webinars, review medical journals, and just get the books and study to master the skill.
2. Ordering the correct test and interpreting the findings (Buppert, 2018) is another skill needed. One of the problems with this is that every healthcare facility has a different set of rules about what we need to order and when and I have to keep that in mind.  I have to continue to study to be able to remember the tests required and the normal values to be able to learn this skill.
3. Conduction comprehensive reviews (Buppert, 2018) before prescribing medications is one more skill that I need. As an FNPS, I have to make sure that I do not miss anything pertinent about the patients because providers made medication errors frequently.  I have to continue to organize my thoughts, review vital signs, allergies, and history before prescribing medicines to ensure that the client is getting the correct one.

Contributions I Plan to Make to Advance the Nursing Profession

After reviewing the history of APRN and the emerging roles in my specialty, I realize that there are many contributions that we as FNPS students can make to advocate for more privilege by calling legislators when there are bills in Congress that affect the profession.  We need to get involved with the nurses’ organizations to improve the working conditions and advance the nursing profession.  There are many APRN in the United States, and if we work together, we can change things to improve some of the areas requiring a change.

NURS 6565 Week 1 Assignment Summary

FNPS need to do a self-assessment because it will give them the opportunity to review what they have learned during the program, evaluate their clinical skills, and develop the appropriate goals before finishing the NP program.  It is vital that they identify their areas of strength and develop a plan to maintain them and recognize their areas of weaknesses and find ways to deal with them to improve them.  Many FNPS lacking some of the essential clinical skills and they need to create a plan to acquire them before finishing the NP program.  By doing the self-assessment, we can do something to enhance the areas that need some work and possibly start thinking about the contributions that we can make to improve the nursing occupation.