Practicum Journal
XXXXXX
Walden University
Nursing 6531-Primary Care of Adults Across the Lifespan
Week One Introduction, September 2, 20XX
I have spent my 20 plus years career in one facility as an RN. This has allowed me to
create a comfort zone that has a positive and negative effect on me. The positive influence was
that it has allowed me to learn advanced physical assessment while working with physicians in
an emergency department and has allowed me to establish professional relationships with many
knowledgeable providers who agreed to allow me to learn from them during my practicums. The
negative influence is that the comfort zone of emergency nursing created anxiety in stepping into
the family practice world.
Prior to starting the practicum I went to The Glasser Clinic and met the staff and learned
the layout of the facility. I also contacted the information technology department and requested
access to their medical records during my time as a student to allow me to use all my clinical
hours to my greatest benefit. Transitioning to another role creates anxiety because I have spent
many years augmenting my basic nursing education to enable me to better at emergency nursing.
I did not stop with the basics, and continued to acquire greater knowledge by becoming an
instructor in three courses, ACLS, PALS, and TNCC.
Now, after all my time and effort in emergency nursing I am going to be the person with
the least amount of knowledge in the patient care environment. I feel like a new graduate nurse
, again, but I have one advantage I did not have when I started my nursing career. I know more
than I did then, and I know a lot more than when I started this program. Clinical hours will be
accomplished with one or two nine hour shifts per week with Dr. Douglas. This will not be on a
set schedule, but will be coordinated with my work hours and Dr. Douglas’ days in the office. I
will use my clinical time trying to learn everything possible from the two physicians who have
given me this opportunity to expand from my present role into one as an APRN.
Week One Nursing Theory into Practice, September 3, 20XX
The assigned task is to choose a nursing theory to guide us throughout the practicum
experience, determine objectives for the clinical setting, and establish goals to accomplish
throughout the quarter. This required reading again about nursing theory and trying to identify
what my goals as a family nurse practitioner student are now and trying to determine what my
goals as a family nurse practitioner will be upon starting practice. Introspection and comparing
the various nursing theories showed me that the Theory of Caring most closely identifies my
beliefs. The Theory of Caring conceptualizes that an individual’s health is a combination of
mind, body, and soul (Polit and Beck, 2012). Nursing practice expands that theory into caring
for the whole patient, while other theories reduce care based on physical health. My belief is that
an individual needs to utilize his mind and soul for engagement in caring for the physical body,
and that nursing practice entails all of a patient’s being to sufficiently provide care. Each
encounter might have a different focus, but throughout a patient’s life their needs will vary
between mind, body, and soul. Watson (2012) explained that applying conscious caring into
patient interaction with knowledge creates a caring-healing modality. The Professional Practice
Model expands the Theory of Caring to recognize that the patient, the team, the clinical setting,
the community, and the profession are significant in healthcare provision and interaction, and
XXXXXX
Walden University
Nursing 6531-Primary Care of Adults Across the Lifespan
Week One Introduction, September 2, 20XX
I have spent my 20 plus years career in one facility as an RN. This has allowed me to
create a comfort zone that has a positive and negative effect on me. The positive influence was
that it has allowed me to learn advanced physical assessment while working with physicians in
an emergency department and has allowed me to establish professional relationships with many
knowledgeable providers who agreed to allow me to learn from them during my practicums. The
negative influence is that the comfort zone of emergency nursing created anxiety in stepping into
the family practice world.
Prior to starting the practicum I went to The Glasser Clinic and met the staff and learned
the layout of the facility. I also contacted the information technology department and requested
access to their medical records during my time as a student to allow me to use all my clinical
hours to my greatest benefit. Transitioning to another role creates anxiety because I have spent
many years augmenting my basic nursing education to enable me to better at emergency nursing.
I did not stop with the basics, and continued to acquire greater knowledge by becoming an
instructor in three courses, ACLS, PALS, and TNCC.
Now, after all my time and effort in emergency nursing I am going to be the person with
the least amount of knowledge in the patient care environment. I feel like a new graduate nurse
, again, but I have one advantage I did not have when I started my nursing career. I know more
than I did then, and I know a lot more than when I started this program. Clinical hours will be
accomplished with one or two nine hour shifts per week with Dr. Douglas. This will not be on a
set schedule, but will be coordinated with my work hours and Dr. Douglas’ days in the office. I
will use my clinical time trying to learn everything possible from the two physicians who have
given me this opportunity to expand from my present role into one as an APRN.
Week One Nursing Theory into Practice, September 3, 20XX
The assigned task is to choose a nursing theory to guide us throughout the practicum
experience, determine objectives for the clinical setting, and establish goals to accomplish
throughout the quarter. This required reading again about nursing theory and trying to identify
what my goals as a family nurse practitioner student are now and trying to determine what my
goals as a family nurse practitioner will be upon starting practice. Introspection and comparing
the various nursing theories showed me that the Theory of Caring most closely identifies my
beliefs. The Theory of Caring conceptualizes that an individual’s health is a combination of
mind, body, and soul (Polit and Beck, 2012). Nursing practice expands that theory into caring
for the whole patient, while other theories reduce care based on physical health. My belief is that
an individual needs to utilize his mind and soul for engagement in caring for the physical body,
and that nursing practice entails all of a patient’s being to sufficiently provide care. Each
encounter might have a different focus, but throughout a patient’s life their needs will vary
between mind, body, and soul. Watson (2012) explained that applying conscious caring into
patient interaction with knowledge creates a caring-healing modality. The Professional Practice
Model expands the Theory of Caring to recognize that the patient, the team, the clinical setting,
the community, and the profession are significant in healthcare provision and interaction, and
