Critical Thinking In Nursing
Clinical Reflection Assignment 1
Brittany Dely
University of Detroit Mercy- Henry Ford Macomb Hospital
In nursing school, we as students learn that critical thinking is an essential component in providing quality nursing care. According to Bittner and Tobin critical thinking is defined as being “influenced by knowledge and experience, using strategies such as reflective thinking as a part of learning to identify the issues and opportunities, and holistically synthesize the information in nursing practice” and we as nursing students learn this each and every day. (p. 268). Medication administration is one of the many areas in nursing where critical thinking is needed. Using our background …show more content…
Before giving meds, as a nurse or nursing student we have to know what the medications are, why we are giving it, and nursing considerations to take into account before giving the med. While going down the list of medications, the issue I had was that I did not know why my patient was receiving an anticonvulsant if she did not have a history of seizures or epilepsy. Through my critical thinking and reasoning I learned that since my patient had cancer in the brain, the anticonvulsants were being given to prevent my patient from having seizures. There were also many other medications I got to give which were administered orally, by IV piggyback, rectally, and by injection. I felt like a real nurse having the opportunity to administer each route of medication …show more content…
There are many steps that should be taken before administering medications to a patient to prevent errors. According to Burton and Ludwig (2011) , to prevent errors as you prepare medications, you should perform three safety checks; first you should verify the medication, dose, route, patient, date, and time as you remove the medication from the cart, bin, or PYXIS machine, second you should verify the medication, dose, and route against the MAR prior to placing it in the medicine cup, and third you should verify the patient using two patient identifiers, medication, dose and route at the bedside prior to opening it and administering it to the patient. Also, a nurse should never leave the patient’s medications at the bedside. If the nurse charts that the medications were taken, the nurse should witness that the patient took the
Brittany Dely
University of Detroit Mercy- Henry Ford Macomb Hospital
In nursing school, we as students learn that critical thinking is an essential component in providing quality nursing care. According to Bittner and Tobin critical thinking is defined as being “influenced by knowledge and experience, using strategies such as reflective thinking as a part of learning to identify the issues and opportunities, and holistically synthesize the information in nursing practice” and we as nursing students learn this each and every day. (p. 268). Medication administration is one of the many areas in nursing where critical thinking is needed. Using our background …show more content…
Before giving meds, as a nurse or nursing student we have to know what the medications are, why we are giving it, and nursing considerations to take into account before giving the med. While going down the list of medications, the issue I had was that I did not know why my patient was receiving an anticonvulsant if she did not have a history of seizures or epilepsy. Through my critical thinking and reasoning I learned that since my patient had cancer in the brain, the anticonvulsants were being given to prevent my patient from having seizures. There were also many other medications I got to give which were administered orally, by IV piggyback, rectally, and by injection. I felt like a real nurse having the opportunity to administer each route of medication …show more content…
There are many steps that should be taken before administering medications to a patient to prevent errors. According to Burton and Ludwig (2011) , to prevent errors as you prepare medications, you should perform three safety checks; first you should verify the medication, dose, route, patient, date, and time as you remove the medication from the cart, bin, or PYXIS machine, second you should verify the medication, dose, and route against the MAR prior to placing it in the medicine cup, and third you should verify the patient using two patient identifiers, medication, dose and route at the bedside prior to opening it and administering it to the patient. Also, a nurse should never leave the patient’s medications at the bedside. If the nurse charts that the medications were taken, the nurse should witness that the patient took the