NRS 465 Benchmark Professional Capstone and Practicum Reflective Journal Topic 3

Sample Answer

Reflection on personal and professional values and biases is critical for nurses to foster empathy and cultural competence when interacting in their practice settings. Through self-reflection, and feedback from peers and preceptors in the practicum site, nursing students can enhance their self-awareness and understand their values and biases (Contreras et al., 2020).

Values and biases impact nursing practice as they guide decision-making processes and shape therapeutic interactions and relationships with patients. Through a reflection on my personal and professional values including empathy, integrity, respect, honesty, competence, and confidentiality, I acknowledge their significance in influencing my approach to practice.

Again, acknowledging my conscious and unconscious biases is important to recognize their impact on my interactions with diverse people at the practicum site. I am now more aware of my biases and their effects on patients from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Being more aware of the influence of the values and biases in influencing my interactions at the practicum site is critical. Therefore, the steps that I have taken and need to continue taking include accepting diversity as a core part of quality and evidence-based care delivery, working in interdisciplinary teams to embrace divergent yet critical views among the different providers, and accepting feedback from peers and preceptors as well as other critical stakeholders (Gopal et al., 2021).

Furthermore, continuous reflection and learning are critical processes that will enhance my understanding of these dynamics and their effects on care provision, even after the practicum as a nurse in clinical settings.
The values and biases can affect my practice by influencing my interactions and relationships with various groups including patients and their families, colleagues, and critical stakeholders.

For instance, having empathy ensures that I attempt to understand a patient, especially those from a different background than me while integrity implies that I work with the utmost clarity and transparency when dealing with all people, particularly the management (Young et al., 2020).

These values will also influence my decision-making processes, perceptions, and utilization of evidence-based practice for better patient outcomes. By being mindful of these influences, I can critically evaluate my actions and align them with the ethical principles and professional practice standards as advanced by professional nursing organizations.

An individual’s culture and environment have significant effects on their biases, including implicit biases. For instance, cultural norms, societal attitudes and perceptions, and personal experiences influence one’s biases which in turn influence perceptions and behaviors. Therefore, by acknowledging the influences, one promotes cultural humility and sensitivity in their practice environment.

The environment I live and work shapes my implicit biases through exposure to diverse perspectives, experiences, and social dynamics (Young et al., 2020). For instance, my practicum site affects my biases, progressive self-reflection, and awareness which are critical to how I treat and handle patients, especially those from diverse backgrounds.

Self-reflection is a critical instrument for nurses to improve their perspectives and ponder about the decisions they make in care practice. Through a critical examination of one’s values, actions, and possible biases, one can determine growth areas, challenge assumptions, and adhere to ethical principles in their practice environment (Ahn & Kim, 2020).

Therefore, self-reflection is a critical process that fosters accountability, professionalism, and a commitment to providing culturally sensitive quality care to patients from diverse backgrounds.

References

• Ahn, J. H., & Kim, M. (2020). Influence of self-reflection and insight, and academic self-
  efficacy on clinical reasoning competence among nursing students. Journal of east-west
  nursing research, 26(2) 176-184. https //doi.org/10.14370/jewnr.2020.26.2.176
  
• Contreras, J. A., Edwards‐Maddox, S., Hall, A., & Lee, M. A. (2020). Effects of reflective
  practice on baccalaureate nursing students’ stress, anxiety, and competency An integrative review. Worldviews on evidence‐based nursing, 17(3), 239-245.
  DOI 10.1111/wvn.12438
  
• Gopal, D. P., Chetty, U., O’Donnell, P., Gajria, C., & Blackadder-Weinstein, J. (2021). Implicit
  bias in healthcare clinical practice, research, and decision making. Future healthcare journal, 8(1) 40-48. DOI 10.7861/fhj.2020-0233
  
• Young, S., & Guo, K. L. (2020). Cultural diversity training the necessity of cultural competence
  for health care providers and in nursing practice. The health care manager, 39(2) 100-108. DOI 10.1097/HCM.0000000000000294.