| Course | NU108 Health Professions Transitions |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 10 |
| Paper type | Final reflection paper |
| Length | About 810 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BSN (prelicensure) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU108 Unit 10
I Thought Nursing Was the Tasks: A Final Reflection Paper Tracing How a Composite Career-Changer's Belief About Professional Nursing Shifted Across One Term, Assignment by Assignment, and the Next Step on Her Program Calendar
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU108: Health Professions Transitions
Unit 10 Final Reflection Paper
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The student is composite; the assignments named are this course's earlier units, and dates are bracketed.
Where I Started
When I wrote my first discussion post ten weeks ago, I described nursing as the job of the person who stays with patients after the pharmacist's few minutes end. Underneath that was a belief I did not examine: that nursing was mostly a list of tasks, giving medications, taking vital signs, changing dressings, and that a good nurse was someone who did them accurately and kindly. My pharmacy work had trained me to value accuracy, and I assumed nursing would be the same skill applied to more tasks.
What Shifted It
The first crack came in the role profile. Researching sonographers, I saw that two professions can perform overlapping tasks while carrying very different responsibilities, set by different credentials. I did not apply that to nursing yet.
The integrity case was next. Writing about a study group that shared quiz answers, I connected classroom honesty to documentation, and realized that a nurse's record is a claim about her own judgment, not just a log of tasks completed.
The team analysis changed the most. Following a potassium result that nobody owned through a shift change, I saw that every nurse had done her tasks correctly and the patient was still put at risk. The gap was not in any task. It was in judgment, communication and the question of who was responsible for noticing.
Every task in the handoff case was done correctly, and the patient was still at risk; after that case, I could no longer see nursing as the tasks alone.
The communication scenario added courage to the picture. A new nurse who sees a skipped safety check has done no task wrong by walking away, but she has failed the patient. And the scope brief made the shift concrete: in Iowa, the difference between an LPN and an RN lies less in the tasks they perform than in who assesses, plans and decides what the tasks mean.
What I Believe Now
I now see tasks as the visible part of nursing and judgment as the part that makes them safe. A nurse assesses what a change means, decides what to do and who needs to know, and speaks up when something is wrong. Benner described the movement from novice to expert as a shift from following rules to recognizing situations as wholes (Benner, 1984), and I understand now that the first year of nursing school is the start of learning to see situations, not just to perform steps.
This also makes me more realistic about the transition ahead. Duchscher's study of new graduates gave a name, transition shock, to those early months when responsibility, workload and the gap between school and practice feel overwhelming (Duchscher, 2009). Knowing that judgment, not task speed, is what develops slowly will help me be patient with myself. It will also help me ask for the kind of feedback that builds judgment, rather than only asking whether I did a skill correctly.
What Remains Uncertain
I am not sure yet how to build judgment deliberately rather than waiting for experience to supply it. I suspect it comes from asking "what does this mean?" after every task, and from reviewing cases with experienced nurses, but I want to test that in my first clinical course. I am also unsure how my pharmacy habits will help or hinder. Precision with medications will help, but at the pharmacy counter my role ended when the prescription was correct, and I may have to unlearn the feeling that a correct task is a finished one. I plan to ask my first clinical instructor to point out when I stop at the task and miss what it means, because I may not notice it myself.
My Next Step
My next step is on my program calendar for [Month]: the fundamentals course and its first skills check-off. I will practice each skill in the open lab, as my goal plan states, but for each one I will also write down what I would assess before, during and after it, and what finding would make me stop and report. That small habit is my attempt to practice the part of nursing I did not see when this term began. The nursing code of ethics holds nurses responsible for their own judgment and action (American Nurses Association, 2015), and I want to start building that responsibility now rather than at my first job.
References
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. American Nurses Association.
Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Addison-Wesley.
Duchscher, J. E. B. (2009). Transition shock: The initial stage of role adaptation for newly graduated registered nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(5), 1103-1113. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04898.x
The Purdue Global NU108 Unit 10 instructions
Unit 10 usually asks you to reflect on how your understanding of your profession changed across the course. Prompts commonly want a starting belief, the assignments or experiences that changed it, what you believe now, and a concrete next step tied to your program. Two to four pages in the first person is typical. Instructors look for a single thread followed through the term, with specific assignments named and their contribution explained, rather than a list of everything learned. Supporting the new view with a source on professional development adds depth. Honesty about what remains uncertain, and a next step that someone could check, show that the reflection will shape what you do next.
Inside the NU108 Unit 10 example
The paper opens with the author's first discussion post and the unexamined belief beneath it. The section on what shifted it moves through five assignments in order, each with what it added, and the highlighted line marks the handoff case as the turning point. The current belief is stated next, supported by Benner's novice-to-expert model and Duchscher's work on transition shock. A section on what remains uncertain covers building judgment deliberately and the risk that pharmacy habits make a correct task feel finished. The closing section names the fundamentals course and its skills check-off as the next step and describes a new habit of writing what to assess around each skill.
NU108 Unit 10 rubric: what earns full points
Final reflection papers in NU 108 are generally marked on depth of reflection, integration of course work, use of sources, and a credible next step. Depth earns credit when the paper follows one belief honestly from start to finish and shows the change rather than claiming it. Integration rewards naming specific assignments and explaining what each contributed. Source use is judged on a relevant reference on professional development or transition, cited in APA 7 and applied rather than quoted. The next step should be concrete, dated and connected to the program calendar. Clear first-person writing, appropriate length and an honest account of remaining doubts strengthen the overall grade.
Common NU108 Unit 10 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Final reflections often become lists of topics covered, with a sentence about each, and no single change traced through. Others claim a transformation without showing which assignment caused it. Some end with a general resolution to keep learning. Many leave out doubts, which makes the reflection read as written for the grader. Choose one belief you held at the start, show the assignments that challenged it in order, state what you believe now, connect it to a source on how nurses develop, admit what you still do not know, and finish with a step that appears on your program calendar with a date someone could check. Your reader should finish knowing exactly what you will do differently next term.
Get an NU108 Unit 10 example written to your instructions
Your final reflection draws on your own term, so send the Unit 10 prompt and rubric with whatever earlier work you want referenced, such as your first post or goal plan. The free first sample is written from that material to your instructions and returned within 24-48h, inventing no experiences you did not have. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
More NU108 papers and BSN samples
- NU108 Unit 1: Discussion Board Post
- NU108 Unit 2: Role Profile
- NU108 Unit 3: Study Plan
- NU108 Unit 4: Case Analysis
- NU108 Unit 5: Team Analysis
- NU108 Unit 6: Seminar Reflection
- NU108 Unit 7: Communication Scenario
- NU108 Unit 8: Goal Plan
- NU108 Unit 9: Scope of Practice Brief
- NU104 Unit 10: Final Synthesis Paper
NU108 Unit 10 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NU108 Unit 10 sample paper?
You can read the full NU108 Unit 10 final reflection paper here, covering the starting belief, five assignments that shifted it, the new view, remaining doubts and a dated next step, with three references. We can help you write a final reflection on your own term.
What belief changes in the NU108 Unit 10 sample?
The author starts the term believing nursing is mainly a set of tasks done accurately and ends seeing judgment, communication and responsibility as what make those tasks safe.
Which assignment changed the author's view most?
The team analysis of a missed potassium result. Every nurse completed her tasks correctly and the patient was still at risk, which showed that the gap lay in judgment and responsibility, not in any task.
What is transition shock?
A term from research on newly graduated nurses for the overwhelming early months of practice, when responsibility, workload and the gap between school and work all hit at once.
What is the author's next step?
The fundamentals course and its first skills check-off. For each skill, she will also write down what she would assess before, during and after it and what finding would make her stop and report.