A Reflective Paper on ONU’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program

As the ONU’s family nurse practitioner (FNP) program seeks to prepare nurses for the delivery of remarkable primary health care to families in different settings, its students have experienced following patients and utilizing a wide range of skills to produce favorable patient outcomes. This paper provides an overview of the factors associated with my personal and professional development while undergoing the FNP program.

When it comes to the components that I appreciate the most, it would be the manner by which the course modules have been set up, particularly the high availability of learning opportunities.

While students participated in regular classes with clinical faculty members, there were also reviews of clinical cases, skill workshops, and assignments that involved reflective essays, note planning, and case studies, among others. These opportunities increased our reflective tendencies and offered insight on our own progress, enabling us to identify the ways to further improve students’ clinical experiences and, ultimately, patient care outcomes.

My greatest accomplishment in the FNP program is overcoming my fears when it comes to patient examinations.

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We, students, learn by exposure to and experience with various patients during training and, to pass our finals, we are required to demonstrate that we can examine patients in a competent manner. This experience has helped in identifying factors that can influence patient satisfaction during students’ assessment.

In this FNP program, I would have preferred to have understood more the transition experience because transitioning to advanced practice nursing has been a challenging adjustment. Working fewer hours and applying more time to my studies might have helped me in understanding the autonomous role a FNP has.

Ineffective transition to actual practice can result to ineffective health care outcomes (Twine 54), thus the need to not only establish nursing experiences that are appropriate for FNP positions but also to fully understand how to move towards independent practice.

After the completion of clinical work and practicums, the biggest barrier I experienced as a FNP student involved difficulties in working with patients who speak a different language. These include issues relating to patient assessment and giving of instructions and information to patients and their family members. Culture and language differences should be immediately addressed in healthcare settings because ineffective communication can hinder the establishment of a strong patient-provider relationship (Almutairi 425).

To overcome these barriers in clinical practice, I believe I should participate more in innovative learning methods that make use of current technologies as well as in immersive clinical experiences. It can also be helpful to take part in varied rotations so students can have a look at the expanding role of FNPs in different settings while learning critical FNP skills.

As a FNP, I can contribute to the improvement of patient care by staying well-informed with current evidence-based practices. Also, nurse practitioners are capable of changing health care for the years to come so it is recommended to carry out projects for quality improvement in actual working environments and utilize the gathered data to help implement reasonable policies in the workplace (Harris 331). This way, FNPs can express their interest and share their passion for improving patient care outcomes.

For my five-year plan for continued professional development, my goal is to carry on with NP continuing education courses to be able to perform my FNP duties competently. I am also looking forward to joining well-structured transition programs where students are given the opportunity to find a mentor who can exemplify model behavior and have continual exposure to clinical situations. A well-designed program can result in a novice NP’s professional transition into a competent and independent provider (Hood et al. 1).

Finally, when using spiritual beliefs in clinical practice, I believe it is best to identify the ones that are most significant to the patient as these may influence their decision-making processes as well as their coping mechanisms. If patients indicate that they have strong spiritual beliefs and that these should be recognized and supported while coping with chronic disease, I will encourage them to use these beliefs to build strong support networks and to stay committed to treatment regimens. If spirituality plays a key role in their response to illness, then it may contribute to their overall wellbeing.