Transitional to Professional Nursing: Implementing RN Standards of Practice

Running head: TRANSITIONAL TO PROFESSIONAL NURSING
TRANSITIONAL TO PROFESSIONAL NURSING
Name of the Student:
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Author Note:

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TRANSITIONAL TO PROFESSIONAL NURSING
Registered nurse (RN) practice requires addressing the aspects of person-centered care
along with evidence based practice by implementing the elements of preventative, curative,
formative, supportive, restorative and palliative for providing quality care to the clients. In this
paper the major focus will be on the two standards of Registered nurse standards for practice that
is implemented by the AHPRA nurses while providing health care to the clients (Australian
Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, 2018). The first standard chosen is that the RN “Engages
in therapeutic and professional relationships” and the second standard mentions that the RN
“Develops a plan for nursing practice”. Using the Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle the reflection of the
situation will be presented where the above mentioned RN standards of nursing had been
implemented (Howatson-Jones, 2016).
Description- While I was working as in the surgical ward, I had to care for patient who
was 72 years old and had just undergone an abdominal surgery. He was an Aboriginal and Torres
Strait islander as I inferred from his personal details. Being in surgery, the patient was in lot of
pain and required regular dressing of his wound. Most of the time he was under sedation, which
was administered in order to manage his pain. Therefore it was quite crucial to develop a proper
nursing plan in order to effectively manage his condition and deliver quality care. This required
the implementation of the RN standards of practice that guided me to use the available
assessment data and evidence to develop the best nursing plan.
Feelings- The patient is in a very critical condition even after the surgery because of the
persistence of the severe pain at the surgery site, therefore my feelings regarding the whole
incident was that I need to very careful while delivering hence a proper nursing care plan was an
absolute necessity at this point. As the fifth standard of the RN standards of practices puts
forward that the RN “uses assessment data and best available evidence to develop a plan” ,

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TRANSITIONAL TO PROFESSIONAL NURSING
“plans and negotiates how practice will be evaluated and the time frame of engagement, and
coordinates resources effectively and efficiently for planned actions”, I tried to imply the same in
my practice in order to manage the prevailing condition of the patient. On the other hand, in
accordance to the second standard there was also a need to “communicate effectively, and is
respectful of a person’s dignity, culture, values, beliefs and rights”, which I also tried to follow.
Evaluation- As I was providing care to the patient by following the fifth standard I
critically analyzed the condition of the patient by using the best available evidences in order to
provide safe quality practice to her. I used my experiences in terms of knowledge, feelings,
actions and beliefs so that I could be able to shape the practice according to it. I also documented
and evaluated the plan of nursing of the patient along with the modifications made and treatment
that was provided to him along with the other required details. In terms of the second standard
which involved maintaining of therapeutic and professional relationships with the client, I
successfully established a relationship with the patient keeping a boundary between the personal
and professional relationship. Although he had difficulty in communication since most of time he
was under sedation and had difficulty in verbal communication, I tried to use some hand sings
and gestures so that effective communication can be carried out in a way that the dignity of the
patient is maintained (National League for Nursing, 2017).
Analysis- The RN standards of nursing care that we have focused upon are the first and
the second standard which includes that:
Standard 2:
The registered nurse: