Reflective Journal on Administering an Intravenous Injection

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Introduction:
According to Tashiro et al. (2013), reflective practice is a key element of the nursing
profession. Reflective practice can be defined as the ability of a care profession to introspect
upon the clinical experience so as conduct self-assessment and endeavor to continuously learn
from the experience (Lauren, 2013). In the words of Moon (2013), reflective practice involves
paying attention to the theories and the practical values that determine the everyday course of
action. This paper intends to present a reflective journal entry on my clinical experience of
administering an intravenous injection.
Description:
Anotonio who was a 72 year old patient has been admitted to the hospital for a knee
surgery. The surgery was uneventful, however the patient developed an infection. The
medication ordered was Ceftriaxone 1 g Powder for a solution to be injected to the patient
intravenously, BD. It was my first clinical placement and I was supposed to administer the
medication to the patient via the IV route. I had been a little nervous and as I was proceeding
with the administration, I was unable to find the vein. I tried my best and pricked the wrong site
twice. This agitated the patient and he became anxious. I somehow calmed the patient down and
managed to administer the medication correctly in my third attempt.
Feelings:
After administering the medication, I felt relived for being able to do it correctly at the
third attempt. However, I was extremely disappointed that I had to take three attempts to
administer the medication correctly. Moreover, the patient’s pain and agitation made me feel
demoralized and I doubted my capability as an efficient Nurse. I placed myself in the shoes of

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the patient and felt that I would have reacted even worse if the same happened to me. My self-
confidence had been considerably lowered after the clinical incident took place.
Evaluation:
Upon critically evaluating my clinical experience, I feel that there were certain things that
went well with the clinical experience. I was able to identify the medication and verify the
validity of the medication order by checking the patient medication history with the help of the
unit record number. Further, I was able to select the correct drug from the drug chart and
appropriately followed the hand hygiene protocol. Further, I was able to effectively communicate
with the patient about the rationale for the medication administration. However, in relation to the
six right of medication, I failed to administer the medication intravenously perfectly in a single
attempt. This caused inconvenience and discomfort to the patient.
Analysis:
Upon analyzing, I feel that my nervousness and poor self-confidence, contributed to the
situation. I could have effectively administered the medication in the first attempt. I feel I could
sought assistance from another RN when I was not being able to find the correct vein instead of
trying it myself and causing inconvenience to the patient. However, I wanted to complete it
myself and was also not sure about how my fellow RN would react to my response. It should be
critically noted in this context that during the initial practice placement, nervousness and poor
confidence level leads to involuntary medication errors. It should further be noted here that, upon
transition to practice, due to lack of experience, nurses often find it challenging to deliver
effective care to patients (Zerwekh & Garneau, 2017). Further, in the words of Garside and
Nhemachena (2013), transition to nursing practice must be an effective learning experience so as