Week 6
The week began at a high tone and with much enthusiasm. It marked the beginning of the second half of the semester. Having learned new skills of a preceptorship that would be helpful in my profession, I felt a little bit advanced. The primary objective of this week was on data collection from the kidney patients. This is an essential aspect because patient data is vital in assessing the relevant modes of treatment. I had managed to collect data from 7 patients and was still to receive from 13 more. The exercise was escalated my motivation to deal with patients due to their willing and active participation they portrayed. Entering data into the SPSS is a critical concept of any data analysis which I was required to do. This aspect proved a bit challenging to me since I lacked prior practice. The data size was small, which prompted the manual entry of data. As such, the exercise was hectic since I had not practiced using SPSS for a long time. Nonetheless, I managed to conduct the first data entry into the SPSS.
During the week, I also met with my preceptor. I was to brief the preceptor about my progress in data collection and commended that I was doing great. However, he encouraged me to collect data from more patients to enhance the authenticity of the data analysis. Further, I had a successful meeting with my patients at the hospital. The meeting was altogether vital to assess their progress and adherence to medication as well as dietary. It was also a chance to obtain more details for the comparison of data. The patients turned out well, and it was encouraging to have them available for the meeting. The most challenging part of this week was the overwhelming assignments that still called for my attention. Albeit the week was busy, I managed all the tasks and learned that time management is a life-term skill and especially for the nursing profession. I also realized the need to keep practicing the use of SPSS to gain momentum and enhance the accuracy of data entry. Although the week was engaging, it ended well, having achieved the objectives successfully. However, I was still left with the task to follow up for the remaining participants to obtain their questionnaires. The end of the week was promising and anticipated to keep the motivation to experience a successful and fruitful semester.
Week 7
The week being a fresh one started well altogether, with determination to achieve more. Having been away from classwork for the weekend, I felt fresh, more focused, and determined to face the week’s demands wholeheartedly. I was still on data collection, and the progress was good, with eight more participants submitting their questionnaires. This made a total of 15 out of 20 patients and was encouraging to have a positive response. This prompted the enlarged of the magnitude for data comparison for better results. As such, I was still optimistic that the remaining five would be submitted. The assignments required keying data into the SPSS Software and have reminded me about it during the previous week, and it was becoming more exciting and hence fewer challenges. A critical aspect was the need to attend to new cases of dialysis patients, which is a requirement for my capstone project. My capstone project requires the experience of attending to new patients, and hence the matter was altogether necessary. It was an excellent experience since I undertook all the necessary actions and steps in attending to them. I succeeded in developing a good relationship with the patients, which saw me collect all the relevant information.
However, I worked collaboratively with the dieticians. Proper diet is an essential aspect of consideration for dialysis patients, and as such, the dieticians were of great help in attending to the patients. I was occasionally prompted to consult with the other experienced nurses in the hospital whenever I doubted my ideas in handling the patients. Luckily, the nurses were very supportive and did not hesitate to help me, which further heightened my motivation and courage. More importantly, I contacted my preceptor, who need to get updated on my progress. The preceptor was away for a week, and hence a physical meeting was almost impossible. As such, we had a phone conversation, and I briefed her on my undertakings and what I had accomplished. The assignments required the students to complete the safety regulations observed while dealing with dialysis patients. Errors associated with human factors at the machine interface are common and lead to severe harm or death. The significant impacts of such mistakes include infections, patient falls, and hyperkalemia. As such, important to understand the causes of error and engage patients’ participation in eradicating such errors. The week was fruitful to me as I increased my courage in handling dialysis patients from the cases I encountered.
Week 8
The week unwrapped with a lot of motivation, having all the participants submitted their questionnaires. I had great anticipation of achieving more towards the success of the project completion of data collection indicated fruitfulness. However, the week was so involving due to the need to use SPSS to enter data. Notably, the tool has weaknesses of its own, although the most preferred by researchers. Data entry is a critical phase whose quality affects the entire capstone project. As such, I had to pay a lot of attention and care to ensure the data entered is very accurate, and hence the process was time-consuming. It consumed a lot of my energy as well. The week also marked the onset of data running and analysis. Unlike data collection, this was a more involving step of the project. Starting the data analysis was a bit challenging as I had no idea of how to start it, and make presentable analysis for easy comparison and interpretation. However, I got the chance to meet my preceptor, which pose ease of the burden that I was feeling. The preceptor was very supportive, and going through sections of my data analysis with her proved essential and productive. The preceptor highlighted the areas I needed to correct a hinted me on the best approaches to implement. At this, she encouraged me to move on and have some hints; I hoped for successful progress.
Additionally, I completed the assignments, which required that we address the dilemmas involved in informing the carers while upholding the confidentiality of the patients. Remarkably, some patients fear disclosing relevant information to the health care providers for fear of being transferred to unwanted sources. As such, the morality of a nurse is highly crucial while handling these patients. Besides, I had to attend to my dialysis patients at a hospital, which further tightened my schedule. At this, I had to interrogate them one at a time regarding their progress and response to medication. Importantly, two of them were responding positively, and their adherence to medication and diet were fulfilling. However, the other patient had issues in dietary observance, and this affected his recovery rate. As such, I involved a dietician in guiding the patient on the importance of nutrition in improving the health condition. Generally, the week was informative, successful, and educative which saw me learn that ethical implications are vital when considering patient confidentiality.
Week 9
The week unleashed with a lot of anticipations. I was still on data analysis, and a lot of challenges opened up. I was so involved with the tasks of researching some aspects of SPSS, which requires high skills and attentiveness to analyze data successfully. Much of my time was spend on compiling data, considering the distributed nature of the geographical location of the participants. Various factors such as financial background and support of the patients would affect the results of the study, and hence keen consideration was of paramount importance. Further, there was a need to analyze the frequency of the patients’ dialysis attacks and any potential disease-inheritance factors. Also, I needed to work on my academic portfolio, which consumed a more substantial part of the week due to its involving nature. Everything I had accomplished in my project needs to be collectively documented during this week. A significant cause of the need to develop the portfolio regards the contribution it would have on the community.
Dialysis is a disease affecting numerous individuals, and the approaches to manage it are adamant. In this regard, my capstone project would be helpful to help the community discover the ways of managing and reducing the susceptibility of this disease. In this regard, the need to develop a decent portfolio with accurate data was critical. Further, the week saw me visit my dialysis patients. The portfolio was essential to guide me into more creativity and developing confidence-building in my project. Checking on dialysis patients is an integral part of clinical care for the nursing profession to assess their progress. Such provided the chance to check if any complications had arisen and whether dietary guidelines were being followed. The physical assessment also impacts the quality of clinical indicators positively.
Also, visiting the patients enhanced their emotional feelings such that they felt some sense of care. Besides, the assignments required the students to describe the approaches used in identifying the best peer-reviewed research. I provided assessing the quality of the articles submitted for publication as the approach I used. The other class required me to compose an essay on assessing the patients’ physical incompetence. I conducted a literature review to come up with a quality essay and submitted it to the assignments dropbox. Altogether, the week ended constructively since I had achieved a lot. Being a busy week, I appreciated the fact that I managed every task that was needed to be accomplished in a timely manner.
Week 10
The week unfolded with high anticipations. It was the final week of the semester, and new activities were minimal, rather finalization of the semester’s events. As such, I was still on data analysis, and this time around, interpreting and communicating the results was the key focus. Descriptive and statistical analyses and data visualization was necessary to make the project more presentable and easy to understand. This is because I was to draft my final report results section with some figures. Additionally, I also focused on completing my portfolio and had to compile data regarding the various challenges faced when handling dialysis patients. Such included keeping patients’ confidentiality and responding to the family members of the patients’ inquires. Portfolio completion is an integral part of the nursing profession for various aspects, such especially if furthering education is the individual’s goal after the undergraduate level. Hence, it was necessary this week to indicate the efforts I have invested in the project. It would also ease the work of my preceptor in awarding my grades by assessing the knowledge and skills I have attained throughout the semester. The portfolio would help me realize my accomplishments and also identify the gaps that needed more effort in the future.
The class assignments also involved a summarization of skills. For instance, one of the classes included providing the procedures for handling an elderly dialysis patient. I explained that managing an elderly patient requires special attention due to the weak nature of their immune system. I suggested that to improve the outcomes of elderly chronic kidney disease patients, and it is crucial to initiate dialysis planning when the eGFR reduces to <30ml/min/1.73m². Another class asked us to summarize the achievement we have gained throughout the whole semester. I highlighted the completion of my capstone project as my greatest achievement. Further, the chance to handle CKD patients was an awful experience as it helped me implement the skills and knowledge learned in class, in the real world scenario. During the week, I scheduled some time to attend to two new cases of dialysis patients in the workplace. This time, I had developed more confidence from the previous experiences and hence did not have many challenges. I only need to implement the necessary measures and follow the procedures accordingly. The week ended constructively, notwithstanding.