Introduction
While exploring different nursing theories and the many aspects of professional development, it is important to reflect on what I have learned. It is even more important to take the knowledge I have gained throughout this course and apply it to my future as a nursing student and an RN. Each theory, depending on whether or not you agree with it, can play an important role in how each nurse tackles each day. The different strengths and weakness a nurse has professionally also plays a big role in the workplace. Nursing is a combination of learned and unlearned concepts. Skills are learned in the classroom, as well as on the job. The role of a nurse is to be a healer, a friend, an advocate, …show more content…
She revolutionized the way nurses thought and worked. Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory changed the field of nursing drastically. Nightingale went against the social norms her family had set for her and went to nursing school. After seeing how successful she was as a nurse, a government official asked her to work in the military. While working at a military hospital during the Crimean War, she noticed that many of the soldiers were dying due to the environment they were caring for them in. Cleanliness of the hospital and the mortality rate, she decided, were closely related. She believed that a hospital/health care setting should not cause harm, but alleviate it. She desired to shed more light on the importance of a healthy environment. Her theory promotes a healthy environment through the idea of controlling the physical factors a patient is subjected to while being cared for. This includes making sure the area is clean and comfortable for the patient. Nightingale believed that by doing this, she could limit the possibility of the environment playing a negative role in patient care. Her theory has been proven correct and has been implemented in the nursing field ever …show more content…
Each nurse needs to be able to identify and solve problems in the health care setting. The major characteristics that make up critical thinking are interpretation, analysis, inference, explanation, evaluation, and self-regulation. Using critical thinking skills is one way a nurse can thrive in the work place. Each nurse also has to have certain professional skills, such as integrity, communicational skills, and stress coping skills. Nursing is not a career where once you finish college, your education is over. Nursing requires constant learning and a continuous education throughout the career. Learning is different for each person. Everyone learns in their own way, and recognizing what way one learns best and using this learning method will optimize their education. My ATI critical thinking results showed that my strengths in critical thinking are interpretation, analysis, inference, and explanation. My critical thinking weakness are evaluation and self-regulation. The ATI self-assessment showed me that I have good integrity, communication skills, and understanding of nursing profession. According to this test, I need to improve my coping skills. This test also revealed to me that I learn best through visual, tactile, and independent