Clinical Journal Reflection

You will create 5 entries for your Reflective Journal about a patient encounter. In the 5th entry, you will review the previous 4 entries and evaluate your progress in reflective practice over the course of the term. Each journal should be a minimum of 250 words.

The purpose of this reflective journal is self-reflection regarding the role in the process of self-reflection as a PMHNP provider. Through reflective practice, the student will evaluate their own emotional health and recognize one’s own feelings as well as one’s ability to monitor and manage those feelings. The point of the exercise is to learn yourself, your triggers, the types of cases you end up getting overly involved with, and those you’d rather refer to someone else. The idea is to be able to personally reflect on your behaviors/thoughts/decisions and how those impact you in the role of PMHNP.

1)

Done (You did one last week. I will attach that file on here. I have revised it. Pls read the one you did and the revisions I made. Just a reminder – I’m a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner student (PMHNP). PMHNP students typically do clinicals at the clinic/office setting. I’m currently working as a primary care provider (Family Nurse Practitioner – FNP).

2)

Discuss a patient interaction in which there was transference, countertransference, prejudice/biases, or judgments that you may be making about the patients or that they are verbalizing about you. Have you encountered this before? From where does this originate? Would it appropriate for you to continue to provide care to the patient and if so, how will you prevent these issues from affecting the care you are able to provide the patient?

3)

Describe a significant event/patient interaction you have experienced anytime in your nursing career up to this week. Discuss the impact this had on you in terms of increasing your understanding of the PMHNP role, psychopathology, and/or the provider-patient relationship. Explore your personal strengths and limitations and their effect on the provider/patient relationship. Include reflection on your therapeutic use of self. Your discussion should reflect your specific learning/insight. Identify something specific that you learned from reflecting on this event/interaction and how will you apply that learning in your future practice?

4)

Describe a new experience, significant event/patient interaction, never seen before diagnosis, etc… you have experienced in clinical this week. You can choose the same case you used for your SOAP Note this week if that case had an effect on you. Discuss the impact this had on you in terms of increasing your understanding of the PMHNP role, psychopathology, and/or the provider-patient relationship. Explore your personal strengths and limitations and their effect on the provider/patient relationship. Include reflection on your therapeutic use of self. Your discussion should reflect your specific learning/insight. Identify something specific that you learned from reflecting on this event/interaction and how will you apply that learning in your future practice?

5)

The ability to analyze one’s self and be aware of how one’s emotions and responses affect others is a crucial component to developing a therapeutic relationship with patients. During this clinical/course and particularly through this exercise it is expected that the student develops recognition of their own feelings, prejudices, biases, triggers, anxieties, limitations, and of course strengths while developing the ability to appropriately manage these issues as they arise and how to best align your strengths to overcome your limitations. In this final journal entry, review your previous journal entries and reflect upon your success in achieving this as well as the goals you stated in your first video journal.

Questions to address in your final reflective video include:

• What goals did you set for yourself at the beginning of the semester? Did you meet these?
• What feelings, prejudices, and biases did you experience during your clinical experience and how did you manage them?
• How did you manage your anxiety, self-doubt, and/or uncertainty?
• What understanding or insights did you develop during your clinical experience?

• Has reflective practice impacted you as a person, student, and/or provider? If so, how?
• Will you continue to use reflection in your future practice? If so why and how?