Nursing Reflective Essay

Reflection is the act of looking back over personal feelings and actions after a particular situation or event. It involves considering how we can improve on our actions to better ourselves both professionally and personally. Reflection is important in the nursing profession as it allows us to think about our actions and discuss how we could perform them differently. We can then decide what we would do differently should the situation arise again (Johns and Burnie, 2013). Reflection plays a big role in developing the student into a nurse. Reflective practice involves exploration of oneself and it can lead to more competent practitioners (Barbour, 2013). Reflection has been proven to improve students’ self-confidence and self-awareness in clinical
At a time where I was questioning where my career will take me, Joe gave me hope. The experience of caring for Joe and feeling appreciated for performing my duty as a nurse gave me hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel of my nursing degree. Prior to this experience I had been feeling apathetic surrounding my nursing degree. I felt like there would be no end to it and that I would never be capable of becoming a registered nurse. However, Joe’s appreciation for the care that I gave him brought me hope. It helped me to recognise that unknown to myself, I have slowly been making the transition towards becoming a registered nurse. I am not just a young student nurse anymore, I am becoming a confident nurse with a professional attitude. Self-concept influences the professional identity of nurses, along with work environment and work values. Interactions with colleagues and patients can influence changes to professional identity and self-concept (Hoeve et al, 2013). Sandvik et al (2015) states that students’ understanding and movement towards becoming a nurse occurs when students reflect on experiences and integrate them into previous knowledge. The movement towards greater understanding and becoming deepens the students’ ethical awareness. This movement continues and takes the students’ further into the process of understanding and becoming a nurse (Sandvik et al,
I felt like this was the reason I was navigating the career path that I have chosen. The feeling of appreciation that I felt when I cared for Joe gave me reason to continue on in my journey of becoming a nurse. I felt purpose in my job, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. I often got emotionally caught up in the underappreciation that I have felt from certain patients. At times it consumed me, and I often questioned the purpose of continuing on in this particular career path. The sense of purpose I felt while caring for Joe reminded me of why I chose this career – to help others. Drury et al (2008) found that most students in nursing degree programs state that the reason they chose to study nursing was to help people. Motta Lina et al (2018) argues that those who choose a career in nursing develop their professional identity prior to entering nursing. The professional identity of nursing is formed daily, based on influences such as the role of nurses in their healthcare practices, training and social and historical influences. It is necessary for individuals to be engaged in appropriate working conditions in order to improve satisfaction and self-image which strengthens their professional identity (Motta Lina,