NURS 6341 Week 8 Specialty Practice Standards Essay Assignment

“The process of recognizing an area of practice as a nursing specialty allows the profession to formally identify subset areas of focused practice. A clear description of that specialty nursing practice assists the larger community of nurses, healthcare consumers, and others to gain familiarity and understanding of the nursing specialty…. As nurses focus their practice on new and different areas of healthcare, clear statements of the scope of specialty nursing practice and standards of specialty practice and professional performance help assure continued understanding and recognition of nursing’s diverse professional contributions.”

—American Nurses Association’s Recognition of a Nursing Specialty… Acknowledgement of Specialty Nursing Standards of Practice (2010, pp. 12 and 17)

Reflect on what you know about your specialty of interest and insights you have gained through your practicum experience. Is your specialty of interest well established or more recently developed? What are the levels of practice for nurses within the specialty? What standards of practice and professional performance guide and direct quality patient care within the specialty?

This week you reflect on your development as an advanced nurse educator as you share experiences from your practicum setting with your colleagues.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Evaluate the impact of practicum experiences on personal development as an advanced nurse educator
Analyze specialties of interest for evidence of advance knowledge*
Analyze professional standards as a means to develop advanced knowledge in a specialty of interest*
Analyze the practicum experience for application of professional standards*
Evaluate methods for integrating specialty practice standards into a teaching experience*
Evaluate a practicum experience in the context of interprofessional collaboration**
Analyze development of personal interprofessional collaboration competencies**
Evaluate the impact of interprofessional collaboration on nurse educators**
Construct a detailed practicum log***

* The Assignment related to this Learning Objective is introduced this week and due in Week 10.

** The Assignment related to this Learning Objective is introduced this week and submitted in Week 11.

*** You continue working on the assignment related to this Learning Objective, first introduced in Week 1 and submitted in Week 11.

NURS 6341 Week 8 Discussion: Sharing Experiences

“Learning to think like a nurse involves developing skill with narrative structures and narrative thinking….Reasoning across time involves the ability to construct a sensible story of immediate events, their sequence, and their consequences, in terms of illness trajectories and life concerns.”

—Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, and Day (2010, p. 225)

Every practicing nurse, regardless of years of experience, is always in the process of refining the ability to “think like a nurse.” Through your practicum, you are gaining clinical experience in your specialty of interest. Through your Practicum Journal, you are constructing narrative accounts that capture particular events indicative of the specialty area, with your reflections capturing the specific learning that advances your knowledge.

In this Discussion, you share examples from Journal Entry 2, which you submitted in Week 7, and exchange experiences, insights and perspectives with colleagues.

To Prepare

Reflect on your second journal entry. How might the experiences outlined in your narrative contribute to your development as an advanced nurse educator?
Select at least two highlights from your second journal entry to share with your colleagues. Consider what insights each of these convey about your specialty of interest and your practicum experience.

By Day 3

Post at least two highlights from your second journal entry. Explain how these contribute to your development as an advanced nurse educator. Support your posting with references to current literature.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:

Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence, or research.
Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.

NURS 6341 Week 8 Assignment : Professional Standards in Specialty Areas of Interest

Recall Miriam, the master’s-level nurse who chose critical care for her practicum experience. The setting for her clinical experience is the Intensive Care Unit in the hospital that serves the rural area in which she lives. Within that setting, Miriam has observed and worked with patients with a variety of acute illnesses. She has begun to take a particular interest in oncology, motivated by an Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse (AOCN) at the hospital. Because the hospital is small and has only one ICU, Miriam has frequently observed the AOCN engaged in direct care of oncology patients and interaction with family members. Although Miriam’s goal is still to be a nurse educator, she is investigating oncology nursing as a future focus for her work, beginning with the professional standards for oncology nursing.

Consider in what ways your own practicum experience might be similar to Miriam’s. Have you begun to focus on a particular dimension of your specialty area of interest, or considered practitioners or patients within your practicum specialty as the audience that you would like to educate?

This Assignment furthers your investigation into your specialty of interest by further exploring professional standards that are evident in the day-to-day work within your practicum setting.

To Prepare

Think about and observe the skills, knowledge, and actions of nurses in your practicum.
Reflect on the Nurse Practice Acts (regulation and standardization) you explored in Week 7. In addition, consider the 3Ps and biopsychosocial sciences evident in your specialty of interest.
Research the professional standards for your specialty of interest. You may choose your specialty of interest or an aspect of the specialty that has become your focus through the practicum.

Address the following in a 3- to 4-page paper

Briefly explain how advanced knowledge is evident in your practicum setting. Support your response by citing specific references to practice standards and your practicum experience.
Identify 2–3 professional standards that require knowledge of the 3Ps and biopsychosocial sciences. Support your answer with references to patient care in your specialty of interest.
Explain how you are applying specialty practice standards in your specialty area of interest. Support your response with at least two specific examples.
Explain how you might integrate professional standards into a teaching experience if you were educating nursing students, staff, or patients about a specific topic in this specialty of interest. Suggest at least one specific activity you might use.

By Day 7 of Week 10

Your Assignment, “Professional Standards in Specialty Areas of Interest,” is due.

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