Reflective Journal - Week 5

 What did you learn from the unit.

I learned a lot from the group discussions this unit. When we discussed problem employees, I didn’t realize that some units have the expectation that you pick up extra shifts, outside of what you are hired/budgeted for. On my unit, we have on-call shifts every quarter, but we are never forced to sign up for open shifts. I liked the discussion about who the greatest leader of all time was. I got to learn a lot about different leaders by team thought are the greatest of all time. I think I won with Jesus Christ as my answer. I liked what I learned that it is important to deal with problem employees in private. As a new graduate nurse, I had some trial and error during orientation. There is a particular nurse that I work with that would bring it up in front of others. I wish she would have taken me aside to let me know what I was doing wrong, rather than tell me in front of our other coworkers. It’s embarrassing. I liked the article I found this week on the Modern Healthcare publication. It was an article about new graduate nurse’s transition to working as a registered nurse. I felt very validated. I hope they do more studies on it so that they can find ways to make the transition easier and less stressful. 

Discuss your feelings/experiences from the team activities? Did it change your opinion on the subject? If so, how? If not, why?

I was really surprised by one of my teammates responses in one of our discussions. She chose Darth Vader as the greatest leader of all time. I highly disagree. Darth Vader killed a bunch of children. I wouldn’t call that the greatest leader of all time. I think my choice of Jesus Christ is the winner.

How you will utilize the information learned in your nursing practice.

The information about dealing with problem nurses will probably be something I use a lot in my nursing practice. Since starting my first job, I have noticed a lot of employees that I would consider problem employees. In any other job, they would be good employees, but nursing requires a higher standard. I liked reading my team’s responses about what an exceptional nurse is. It gave me ideas to implement on how to become a better nurse.

Your personal feelings about the material covered.

I’ve shared many of my personal feelings about this material already, but I think one of the biggest things was that I think it is important to make sure we talk to problem employees in private, have a high standard for nurses and their work, and Jesus Christ is definitely the greatest leader of all time.