NU225CL Unit 1 Orientation Reflection and Objectives Example

A Parent of Two, a Novice With Infants: An Orientation Reflection Turning Four Worries Into Four Objectives for a Pediatric Rotation, Each Paired in Advance With the Written Evidence That Could Show It Met

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

NU225CL: Pediatric Nursing Clinical

Unit 1 Orientation Reflection

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The writer and rotation are composite; objectives are written in general terms and student scope follows the clinical site and program rules.

What I Bring

I have raised two children, now nine and twelve. I know how to calm a toddler at bedtime, how a feverish child looks on the couch and how to talk a reluctant eight-year-old into swallowing a pill. I have also finished one adult medical-surgical rotation, where I learned to plan for four patients, delegate with numbers attached and report changes early. What I do not bring is clinical experience with children. I have never counted an infant's breathing, assessed a toddler who will not hold still or calculated a dose by weight for a real child. Being a parent may help me with families, but it may also tempt me to treat my own children's habits as normal for every child (Benner, 1984). I want to be careful not to confuse what I know as a parent with what I know as a nurse.

What Worries Me

Three things. First, hurting a child during a procedure, especially a needle, and seeing the child look at me as the person who caused it. Second, misreading a normal infant value as a warning sign, or the reverse, because the numbers are so different from adults. Third, freezing when a parent asks me something beyond student scope, like whether their child will need surgery.

Four Objectives

1. Prepare a child for a procedure using preparation and distraction matched to the child's developmental stage. Behavior: before any procedure I take part in, I will choose a distraction that fits the child's age and use honest, simple words. Evidence: a skills reflection describing one procedure, what I chose and how it worked.

2. Teach a caregiver in plain language and confirm understanding by teach-back or return demonstration. Behavior: no teaching ends without the caregiver showing or saying it back. Evidence: a family teaching record including at least one corrected demonstration.

3. Confirm the child's weight in kilograms before preparing any dose. Behavior: I will check the recorded weight against the child in the bed and the unit of measure before every medication I help prepare. Evidence: a medication safety reflection and my preparation notes.

4. Document pediatric assessments in the electronic record within one hour of completing them. Behavior: timed charting after each assessment. Evidence: my documentation, reviewed with my instructor.

Each worry became an objective with a behavior someone could watch, because a worry that stays a feeling cannot be checked at the end of the term.

How the Objectives Connect to the Course

The first two objectives answer my worries about hurting a child and about families, and they connect to family-centered care. The third answers my worry about numbers and connects to safety, which in pediatrics depends on weight-based dosing more than in any adult setting (Cronenwett et al., 2007). The fourth connects to accurate, timely documentation, which pediatric teams depend on when a child's condition changes quickly.

Scope, Stated Once

I will not answer questions about diagnosis, prognosis or treatment decisions. When a parent asks, I will say that I want them to get the right answer and bring the nurse or provider. Having decided that now, I can trust it later instead of freezing (Perry et al., 2022).

What Parenting Gives Me, Weighed Honestly

Some of what I learned at home will transfer. I can read a child's mood from across a room, I am not alarmed by crying, and I know that a frightened parent often needs to be told what is happening before they can hear anything else. Other parts will not transfer. My children's normal is two data points, and both were healthy. I have never had to tell a parent that their child's numbers worry me, and I have never had to hold a child still for something that hurts. I expect the first of these to help me from the first day and the second to take most of the rotation.

What I Will Watch in Myself

I will notice when I am using my parenting instincts and ask whether they apply to this child. I will also notice when I avoid a child who is crying, which I suspect I will want to do, and choose to stay. At midterm I will reread this reflection to see which objectives have evidence building and which do not, and I will rewrite any objective that turns out to measure something other than my own practice.

References

Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Addison-Wesley.

Cronenwett, L., Sherwood, G., Barnsteiner, J., Disch, J., Johnson, J., Mitchell, P., Sullivan, D. T., & Warren, J. (2007). Quality and safety education for nurses. Nursing Outlook, 55(3), 122-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2007.02.006

Perry, S. E., Hockenberry, M. J., Cashion, K., Alden, K. R., Olshansky, E., & Lowdermilk, D. L. (2022). Maternal child nursing care (7th ed.). Elsevier.