Through positive interaction with my field instructor during the practicum experience, I learned professional knowledge and skills related to nursing. I had the opportunity to judge and handle patient cases, actual hands-on care for patients, participate in health education and apply nursing knowledge to clinical patients. Prior to the practicum experience, I never thought practicum instructors could be a major source of support for students. In practicum experience, professional mentorship serves as a reflective practice for students, which enables them to determine how decisions are made and how professional decisions influence the outcomes in a hospital setting.
Professional mentorship empowers students to reach the highest level of competency, self-confidence and responsibility. To achieve competency, the field instructors assign challenging tasks to students, which ultimately result in high performance from the interns. In addition, through frequent discussions involving the field instructor, the student gets the opportunity to translate knowledge into appropriate strategies and apply the strategies through practice behaviors under the supervision of the field instructor. Interaction between the field instructor and the student also opens doors for socialization.
Professional mentorship allows the integration of theoretical knowledge with practice and allows linking of the field instruction issues to professional development. During my practicum experience, the field instructor was able to stimulate important discussions centered on ethical values, peer support and ethical dilemmas, which have a great impact on practice behaviors, skills and practice issues among students. Additionally, the field instructor-facilitated challenging discussions regarding nursing practice issues, community health and professional development issues, which are important in professional development.
During the practicum, I was able to understand and appreciate the importance of maintaining confidentiality with regard to patient information. The practicum experience facilitated socialization with my field instructor and I was able to deepen my knowledge of nursing practice with regard to organizational and nursing policy issues. In this regard, I learned how to address organizational goals through the adoption of various Utilization Management Initiatives. This experience was particularly valuable to me.
During my practicum experience, I learned how to become an evidence-based practitioner (EBP). By evaluating literature, examining the most suitable way of applying the evidence and collaborating with the clients, an effective intervention strategy for a situation can be obtained (Tang, and Wu 44). The research-based evidence is important in policy decisions and evaluation processes.
The practicum experience will facilitate me to take up a leadership role to be able to teach and educate staff in order to address the organizational objectives and goals through Utilization Management initiatives and EBP. This experience was very valuable.
Works Cited
Tang, FIex, and Wu, Stan. Clinical teaching: reflections on faculty’s attitude. Journal of Nursing 48 (2001): 44.