Practicum Experience Plan
Critical reflection on your growth and development during your practicum experience in a clinical setting helps you identify opportunities for improvement in your clinical skills, while also recognizing your strengths and successes.
Use this Journal to reflect on your clinical strengths and opportunities for improvement, the progress you made, and what insights you will carry forward into your next practicum.
To Prepare
- Refer to the “Population-Focused Nurse Practitioner Competencies” in the Learning Resources, and consider the quality measures or indicators advanced practice nurses must possess in your specialty.
- Refer to your “Clinical Skills Self-Assessment Form” you submitted in Week 1 and consider your strengths and opportunities for improvement.
- Refer to your Patient Log in Meditrek; consider the patient activities you have experienced in your practicum experience and reflect on your observations and experiences.
In 450–500 words, address the following:
Learning From Experiences
- Revisit the goals and objectives from your Practicum Experience Plan. Explain the degree to which you achieved each during the practicum experience.
- Reflect on the 3 most challenging patients you encountered during the practicum experience. What was most challenging about each?
- What did you learn from this experience?
- What resources were available?
- What evidence-based practice did you use for the patients?
- What would you do differently?
- How are you managing patient flow and volume? How can you apply your growing skillset to be a social change agent within your community?
Communicating and Feedback
- Reflect on how you might improve your skills and knowledge and how to communicate those efforts to your Preceptor.
- Answer these questions: How am I doing? What is missing?
- Reflect on the formal and informal feedback you received from your Preceptor.
Sample Paper
Practicum Experience Plan
Despite the diversity of the experiences, sufficient practicum experience focuses on goals and objectives that coincide with a nursing educator’s professional aims and the needs of the specific populations served. In this case, the goals and objectives focus on sharpening my skills and promoting my knowledge of maintaining and promoting women’s health. After this clinical rotation, I am looking forward to being able to conduct obstetric and gynecologic history. Also, I should be able to apply clinical findings in developing a diagnosis plan of care for women patients and apply the recommended prevention and health maintenance for the population.
The first objective that will facilitate learning during the practicum experience relates to performing obstetric and gynecologic history. Taking history acts as the initial step in the first encounter between a patient and a nurse. It involves subsequent physical examination that enables a health provider to narrow down the possible diagnoses to assess the patient’s condition. Gynecology relates to problems associated with women’s reproductive system, and in most cases, the patients may find it difficult to share such information with health providers. Therefore, a practicum experience is necessary to equip me with the essential skills and knowledge to obtain the patient’s history in a relaxed, less threatening, less hurried, and private setting. The practicum experiences will enable me to achieve these goals by familiarizing myself with the usual daily routine of nursing care and developing teamwork skills (Kasch et al., 2015). The activity will also sharpen my interpersonal and communication skills that will ensure the extraction of pertinent clinical information from the patient and convey appropriate information to their families, professional associates, and members of the care team. At the end of the practicum experience, I will perform comprehensive gynecologic history, including menstrual patterns, menopause, cervical and vaginal cytology, fertility issues, and obstetric history.
The second practicum learning objective is to gather and document critical and valid information about the patients and use them in making informed decisions concerning diagnostic and therapeutic plans. The plans are not only based on the patients’ data, values, and needs but also respectful and responsive to women’s individual preferences (Ramlakhan et al., 2019). The goals foster a healing relationship by exchanging information that will address the patient’s emotions and make decisions that enable patient management. After completing the rotation, I will be able to perform an appropriate physical examination, including breast examination and monitoring of heart rate. The practicum experience will help achieve these objectives by familiarizing with laboratory tests and interpreting them. For instance, performing a routine prenatal exam such as weight check and height measurement at appropriate times will provide the necessary experience for and knowledge for women’s physical examination. The learning process involves observation and active assistance in normal vaginal delivery and C-section delivery.
The third objective that will facilitate learning during the practicum experience is applying the recommended prevention and health maintenance guidelines for women. It focuses on spending time with women patients to educate them on disease prevention and health promotion. The practicum experience will enable me to achieve this objective as it provides an opportunity to connect with the patients and build a medical and professional relationship. The rotation will allow me to conduct a patient history, including screening for substance misuse, depression, and domestic violence (Riley et al., 2013). The practicum experience provides the appropriate knowledge and skills to offer contraception and preconception counseling and drug abuse cessation.
References
Kasch, R., Baum, P., Dokter, M., Zygmunt, M., Wirkner, J., Lange, A., Fröhlich, S., Merk, H., & Kasch, J. (2015). Nursing practicum in gynecology and obstetrics – Early influence possibilities for a specialty. Geburtshilfe Und Frauenheilkunde, 75(12), 1270–1275. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1558053
Ramlakhan, J. U., Foster, A. M., Grace, S. L., Green, C. R., Stewart, D. E., & Gagliardi, A. R. (2019). What constitutes patient-centered care for women: a theoretical rapid review. International Journal for Equity in Health, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939 019-1048-5
Riley, M., Dobson, M., Jones, E., & Kirst, N. (2013). Health maintenance in women. American Family Physician, 87(1). https://www.aafp.org/afp/2013/0101/afp20130101p30.pdf
