Experience with a Charge Nurse

I consider that clinical practice as an essential component of my learning process. Clinical practice allow me to have direct experience with the real world of nursing, to practice the clinical skills required for the job, to learn about general nursing routines, and to learn about the responsibilities of the nurses. At the beginning of the third term of this program my clinical experience has been less stressful than the initial clinical experience in terms I and II. I feel that I have gain more confidence and knowledge to perform the clinical skills necessary to care for the patients.

I have learned different nursing skills, for example: perform physical and health assessments, I learned to collect the right data that is relevant to the patient’s condition, different communication skills, I also learned different areas of responsibility that nurses have, like infectious control.

Although I have gain a lot of confidence and knowledge, I feel that I need more practice performing head-to-toe physical assessments, which is a very important tool in providing the best possible care to a patient; I need to be more organized, start with the head and work my way down in order, this way I can achieve an accurate and convenient physical assessment, for me and most important for the patient.

I have to continue to work on my nurse’s notes to be logical, focused, and relevant to care. I also need to work on documentation, which is very important in each phase of the nursing process.

I find clinical practice to be exciting, interesting, important and enjoyable.

There’s a lot more to it than just doing a procedure, it’s about developing a relationship with people and working in a team. Clinical practice also helps me to consolidate my knowledge by getting my hands on experience and practicing what I was taught in the laboratory. An essential factor that contributes to this clinical experience is the positive relationship with my clinical instructor and the agency staff. I want to thank my clinical instructor for being supportive, encouraging, helpful, approachable, available, and understanding. These are all important aspects that make me feel self-confidence and motivate.