Raymonta Green

February 24, 2023

NURS 7873 – Nurse Educator Practicum 1
WellStar School of Nursing
Dr. Anne White

Reflective Journal 3

Critical Thinking:

Over the coverage of this reflective journal, many of the hours obtain were obtained in
the same capacity of the last two reflective journals. The meetings consisted of new graduate
nurses in the classroom setting being introduced to various hospital system policies and
procedures such as pharmacy and pharmacological interventions, resiliency, career advancement,
incident reporting, protecting personal practicing licenses, and mental health resiliency. The
new graduate nurses have time to ask questions in each session as well as given an opportunity to
express or grievances, complaints, observations, and congratulations. These statements are
carefully addressed by the subject matter experts of the presentation as well as the experiences of
myself and the nurse educator.

A big topic of discussion over the last few weeks is the preparation of the Vizient/ AACN
Nurse Residency Program Conference. The purpose of this conference is for all member
institutions within the Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program to come together and share new
and creative ways to improve efficiency and delivery of the best evidence-based nursing practice
to new graduate nurses as well as innovative and exciting ways for the retention of new graduate
nursing in the hospitals. As a member instruction in the program, the nurse educator coordinators
were tasked with coming up with (1) money saving ideas to increase financial gain for the
organization (2) valuable complaints from surveys from past cohorts of nursing residency
programs (3) elimination and sustaining of topics of discussion for curriculum of nurse
residency, and (4) methods to retain nurses in the hospital setting.

The conference is being held in nursing New Orleans, Louisiana on March 6th-9th. The
conference will include hands-on, interactive, and group activities that will emphasis on group
thinking, researching, understanding new ideas and implementations, networking, mentorship,
sharing experiences, advancing your subject matter expertise, extending your knowledge,
introducing theories, and creating new workshops for the organizations. The goals are to bring
back these new ideas and activities and incorporate them into the meetings of cohorts moving
forward. I am hopeful that I can make the trip to the conference so that I can be emerged into the
environment and absorb all the information shared.
 Personal Objective
Identify topics that are current and
based on evidence and create
meeting agendas or program
curricula to study and advance the
field of nursing.
Demonstrate the ability to lead a
group of students in a small
presentation or open group
discussion.
Coordinate with other experienced
nurse educators on the different
roles and avenues within the
nursing profession.
Course Objective
Integrate the nursing specialty
practice knowledge with the
advanced practice role of the
clinical educator.
Apply concepts gained from the
science-driven courses to improve
patient care outcomes within an
evidence-based context.
Analyze current health care and
nursing education trends,
interprofessional practice, and
standards related to nursing
educator roles in the clinical setting.
Appraise leadership theories and
strategies observed in the clinical
setting as it relates to the nurse
educator role.
Progress
Attended with my preceptor
a curriculum meeting with the
accreditation team for reevaluation
of the new nurse grad residency
program to make sure they are
following the AACN.
Tasked with creating
a presentation that focuses on
healthcare disparities and barriers
to healthcare and access to care
Continue to work with other
nurse educator alongside preceptor
within the Emory Healthcare
network.
Progress
I can take my experience in nursing
over the years and give perspective
and material to new graduate nurses
in a classroom setting.
Sat in the classroom alongside new
grad nurse residents during various
lectures on policies and procedures
that improved nursing care and
patient-centered care.
Sat in the classroom alongside new
grad residents during various
lectures led by various members of
the interdisciplinary team about
policies and procedures.
Observe members of the nurse
residency program and their
different approaches to the different
members of the nurse residency and
their cultures, beliefs, and practices.
Continuing Development
Continue to assess and analyze the
culture of new graduate nursing in
areas of focus that affects their
critical thinking, mental health
status, and attitudes or barriers in
the profession of nursing.
Continue to identify and evaluate
different learning styles and
approaches for group discussion
and group presentation for effective
learning.
Continue to network with other
practicing nurse educators and
classmates for opportunities to
shadow and work on projects.
Continuing Development
Continue to provide resources and
mentorship to new graduate nurses
and have a line of open effective
communication.
Continue to assess the culture of
new grad nursing graduates to help
develop agenda of topics relevant to
enhancing critical thinking and
nursing development.
Continue to reach out to other
members of the interdisciplinary
team and shadow alongside them to
watch their roles, and bring a
different perspective to the field of
nursing.
Continue to read the material given
to me by my preceptor for different
leadership styles, educational
approaches, and areas of cultural
competency.
Personal Reflection:

During the last few meetings, I have had with my preceptor, I have expressed my
concern in not knowing exactly what to do as my next move in nursing or even if I have the
strength or energy to move on with the current journey that I am having. My preceptor assigned
me a reading “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Anderson. It is a short book that
is summarized on being true and honest to oneself and speaking up for the truth and what is
right. In the beginning, I did not see the connection of the book to my life events, but after re-
reading and trying to comprehend better, the lesson that I received from the book was “Do not
let the perception of others alter your outlook and projection in life”.

In the book, I related more to the emperor and how he lets the opinions of others, in the
end make him look foolish. There have been times when I have brought my uncertainty of
progressing my nursing profession and others would say things like “You can only be good at
nursing if you go back to school and keep going” or “It’s not, as hard as you make it seem” or
“It’s okay to struggle while in school, it makes you stronger”. In the book, the king was
manipulated by rouges who persuaded him out of his time and money based on an illusion. They
promised him the finest suit he has ever seen and convinced him and the townspeople that only
the smart, sophisticated, and worthy people could see it. In the end, there was no suit, just
emptiness and nakedness and everyone was too afraid to speak up because they did not want to
be seen as unintelligent, unworthy, and not in the norm with everyone else. I have found myself
in that situation, because I did not want to sound uneducated, unappreciative, unworthy, or not
dedicated to the profession, and have found myself doing things that I am not happy with or
thing that do not bring me joy, just for the sake of acceptance, fitting in, and doing things that I
feel others would want me to do or following paths because I have seen others do the same.

Application:

After reading the story, I must realize that with life and nursing, I must start doing
things that make sense to me, are comfortable to me, and things that bring me joy. When it
comes to decisions in advancing my career, I need to look at things through my own lenses and
not through the illusions or perceptions of others. I should not remain in environments or
situations that I have no joy in just for the sake of others and how they feel like I should apply
myself. I must embrace and acknowledge my skill set and use that to advance in whatever path
that I deem fit.