Clinical Summation

Clinical Objectives:
I have met the Professional Accountability goal. I am present and accounted for during all clinical time previously scheduled other than one afternoon that my preceptor had to leave an hour early. I personally feel that I should have made a better clinical schedule such as longer periods of time instead of so many short spurts of time.
I use Theoretical Knowledge consistently when communicating and assisting with the staffing matrix and supply requisitions. This facility has just completed its first 90 days of operation and has not yet established a working budget for all areas including the patient care units.
Personal Objectives:
I am currently assisting with the development of a consistent manual supply ordering system that can easily be used until they go partially automated in August. Using a spreadsheet, I am formulating a list of frequently ordered supplies and corresponding order numbers that can be used as a pre-printed requisition.
I am getting a very close look at executive nursing administration and discovering that its a lot of work and much stress at the same time. This has offered me an opportunity to really think about it. Is this really something that I would want for myself? Many of these Directors arrive before eight but a few of them often stay until well after rush hour traffic. It appears to me that the ones who put in these kind of hours are usually nursing departments.
I still have not had an opportunity to look into formulating unit budgets and it does not look like I will get this opportunity because they are not planning to implement unit budget guidelines until 6 months to a year into full operations.
I was hopeful that I would get to observe a board meeting or two to see how the major decisions are made but, these meetings are held strictly confidential and unable to have observers.
Course Objectives:
Professional Accountability: I have been very faithful to my proposed clinical schedule. I am sure to be on time and offer assistance to my preceptor for any of her needs.
Critical thinking: I have been very forthcoming on my clinical needs and expectations with my preceptor and she has included me on everything she possibly could. She answers any questions or finds the answer if she doesn't know it. I have applied my critical thinking skills whenever applicable with TDH survey, chart auditing, formulation of supply ordering system and Matrix development.
Communication: Demonstrates effective verbal and written skills in communicating with individuals, groups, and health care providers. Participated in departmental meetings and helped develop action plans regarding process improvement with the Quality assurance director and case manager.
Client advocacy: Advocated for clients during a pain management meeting on appropriate time frames of pain medication delivery. We will do a quick study on the length of time between patient calls for pain medication and actually delivery to improve patient satisfaction. Spoke to staff members about appropriate Pain Management for the post-operative patient and how to effectively advocate for the patient.

Leadership skills: I have shown leadership skills by offering to contribute to my learning facility by taking on projects such as supply order systems and pain management control. I have also been assisting with the scheduling matrix.
Cultural competence: I have a wide base of knowledge regarding different cultures and ethnicities. I involve myself in an ongoing learning process in this area.
Theoretical knowledge: I actively participated in the Texas Department of Health initial survey of the facility which lasted 3 full days. I have been included in multiple department meetings and Texas Department of Health and Joint Commission preparation meetings. I offer my input regularly on my experiences.
This clinical experience has given me a more objective look at upper management in the nursing world. It is not an easy job. You don't have a buffer between yourself and the CEO or CNO. You take much more responsibility and accountability onto your shoulders with upper management nursing. I have always thought that I have very good leadership qualities. I feel that I could be an effective leader in many situations or positions. Now, I am starting to think that I wouldn't ever want to be that far from the bedside. I like the patient care aspect and using those bedside skills everyday is something I enjoy doing and I am proud to be good at it. It's good to have seen how very different it gets the further you climb the clinical ladder.

Last Clinical Days!!!

I finished up my clinical time this week (thank the lord)! The short days were tedious but I learned some things about Administrator functions that I wasn't familiar with before. My preceptor actuall has to be on-call approximately 10 days out of each month. Something she is hoping to be rid of in the future when they establish a routine house supervisor position control. In the meantime, the facility did well for the Texas Department of Health survey. A few recommendations were given but, nothing major. That was interesting to see an initial survey take place. I have been involved in Joint Commision surveys but, never an initial. This was probably the most interesting thing that happened during my clinical experience. I spent 4.5 hours with my preceptor on Monday and again on Wednesday. The extra half hour each day was to make up for a day that was cut an hour short previosly noted.