Nursing 401 – Image of a Nurse PowerPoint

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is for the student to assemble a PowerPoint presentation.  In addition the student will organize content about their value/viewpoint of the professional image of a nurse. There is no right or wrong to the content. 

Approach to Assignment

This was one of my very first assignments in the BSN program. It required me to perform a great deal of self reflection to determine what my personal image of a nurse was. I had to come up with what five categories I believed made up a professional nurse. To come up with these categories, I thought of nurses who inspired me and whom I strive to be more like and then thought about what qualities I respected the most from those nurses. These qualities then became the basis for this project.  

Reason for Inclusion

I included this assignment in my portfolio to show what type of nurse I strive to be every day and to reflect on what I value in the nursing profession. This project gives me an opportunity to be open and honest about what my personal image of a nurse is and to give the reader the chance to get to know me and my values a little better.

Curricular outcomes

Communication

• Expresses oneself and communicates effectively with diverse groups and disciplines using a variety of media in a variety of contexts.

        I was able to express myself effectively through my writing to my instructor with this project. To complete this project, I had to create a PowerPoint that represents my morals and values in a professional nurse. I feel that I was able to clearly express my thoughts and feelings to my instructor through this project.

• Produces clear, accurate and relevant writing using correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

        I received an A on this project in Nursing 401. I received full credit for the grammar, spelling and punctuation portion of the rubric and I was able to effectively communicate my thoughts through my writing and presentation to my ODU professor.

• Accesses and utilizes data and information from a wide range of sources to enhance patient and professional communication.

        I used two different sources for this PowerPoint. These references supported my nursing values and allowed me to quote other nurses on what they viewed a nurse’s professional role to be. I used these resources to enhance my communication with my professor through this PowerPoint.  

Leadership

• Articulates the values of the profession and the role of the nurse as a member of the interdisciplinary health care team.

        In this presentation, I articulate that the five core values that I believe make up a professional nurse are honesty and integrity, leadership and teamwork skills, time management skills, caring and empathy, and knowledge and intuition. I explain how each of these roles individually functions to make up the professional nurse as a holistic member of the interdisciplinary health care team.

Professionalism

• Demonstrates accountability for one’s own professional practice.

I explain how I embody each of the five core values expressed in this presentation. I give real life “do’s” and “don’ts” to express what I would do in clinical situations. I prove that I am accountable for my own actions by explaining how and why I view myself as a honest, efficient, caring, knowledgeable and flexible. I use this project to explain what standards nurses should be held to in order to be accountable for their own practices.

• Applies an ethical decision-making framework and legal guidelines to clinical situations that incorporate moral concepts, professional ethics and advocacy for patient well-being and preferences.

        I discuss several clinical scenarios in this presentation. I give an example of a nurse needing to address three critical things at one time: a critical result on the phone, a patient with a heparin drip with a blown IV and a patient who is in active pain. I also give an example of a nurse who is honest vs. a nurse who is dishonest in two clinical situations. These scenarios represent by ability to apply ethical decision-making frameworks to clinical situation using my own moral concepts, professional ethics and advocacy for patient well-being.

• Advocates for professional standards of practice using organizational and political processes.

        I advocate for what I believe should be professional standards of practice in this presentation by using the five core values that I think make up a nurse as a reference during difficult clinical situations. I advocate that it should every organization’s standard of practice that their health care workers always practice with honest, caring, empathetic and hard working attitudes.