University Nursing Report: Graduate Nurse Challenges and Experiences

This report details the experiences of a graduate nurse during their challenging first year of practice. The report outlines the initial difficulties encountered, including managing complex patient situations, lack of support from senior staff, and the emotional toll of the job. It discusses the nurse's reflections on these experiences, highlighting the importance of teamwork, patient-centered care, and the development of clinical skills. The report connects the nurse's experiences with Tuckman's stages of group development and collaboration theory, illustrating how these frameworks apply to the healthcare environment. The nurse's journey is one of self-discovery, resilience, and a growing passion for professional growth, emphasizing the transformation from a novice to a more confident and skilled practitioner. The report concludes with insights into the importance of patient perspectives and the need for ongoing education and support within the nursing profession.

Running head: BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY
Building Professional Capacity
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY
Introduction
It happens with all graduate nurses that in their first year of practice they undergo a lot of
challenges. In response to that, countries have set out different programs for supporting and
directing the graduate nurse inside the fragile time of development (Parker et al., 2014). I have
found and understood that the role is lacking generic consensus in regards to structure globally
and thus retains inside its flaws that have an effect on the development of graduate nurse. This
report would be describing the experience of a graduate nurse in her first year of practice and
would be highlighting the challenges that are associated with the transition she had.
Reporting
When I started performing my duties as a nurse, the experience was little uncomfortable
as well as troublesome. As I entered into the four bed bay, a trepidation kind of feeling passed
over me as there were two patients who were being fed as well as medicated with the help of
nasogastric tubes that added to extra pressure. After introducing myself to the patients, I started
performing my rounds; the alcoholic patient woke up in agitated and this scared me. The patient
wanted to go out and smoke and I could not allow as this was against the norms of the hospital.
The situation involved the patient and me as I was in my morning shift and was
performing my duties and when such situation occurred, no one came to help me as well.
I started panicking when such situation occurred and mustered all the courage and de
escalated patient with one hand and requested for signal with help of other hand as well.
Responding

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BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY
Firstly, I looked into the nursing job from a different angle and that was not the real
scenario. I understood that the difficult conditions at the workplace have to be handled by me as
no one will come to my rescue in need of help. After gathering courage I tried solving the issues
myself and the process of working as a nurse helped me in understanding complex conditions of
the patients and the way to handle them correctly.
The knowledge that has been received from the textbooks was least helpful and it did not
work well as there was no brief provided about the different complex situations that will be faced
in this profession (Tuckman & Harper, 2012).
I felt helpless when there was no one came to my rescue and I had to handle the entire
complex situation myself. The others were gossiping about me and the incident was sobering and
sensible for me as well. The others felt I am helpless and I will not be able to solve my problems
myself as well.
After the incident, I felt helpless for some time and then I realized that the entire situation
has to be handled by me as this is a professional life and no one will come to my rescue when I
desperately required help.
Relating
The teamwork theory of the Tuckman’s stages of the group development along with the
collaboration theory is the different bodies of knowledge that can be related with the nursing
activities that has been performed by the individuals (Bonebright, 2010). The Tuckman’s stages
of the group development helped in understanding that includes five stages that includes:
Forming

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Storming
Norming
Performing
Adjourning
The proper development of the group is essential in nature in different kinds of field
as the team members will be polite in nature and if there are members who feel anxious in
performing the job (Riebe et al., 2010). This stage will help the employees in knowing one
another and start working with one another as well. The next stage is the Norming wherein
the individuals will start resolving the issues as well as help the colleagues during any kind of
issues faced by them. Proper performance is essential in nature and the group performance
will help in achievement of the goals of the team as well (Tuckman & Jensen, 2010). The
performing stage is essential in nature as the leader of the team will delegate the different
tasks among the subordinates as this will make the work easy (Raes et al., 2015). Lastly, the
adjourning stage is the difficult stage as the members of the team who has already developed
close relationship with one another can find the stage difficult (Haines, 2014).
This theory of the Tuckman’s stages of the group development has connection with my
professional experience previously where I have done my internship as a nurse. The respective
hospital where I have done my internship there was proper team work approach that helped me
in overcoming the different kinds of issues in the workplace that has been faced by them. The
team mates were cooperative in nature and helped me in difficult situations relating to any kind
of patient or any other issues as well.

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However on the other hand, presently where I am working as a nurse and this is my first
job there is no such help that has been received from others. During my first day of the duty, I
asked for help when I was performing my duty in the room wherein there was different kind of
patients who were alcoholic, wherein few were aggressive in their approach as well. When the
alcoholic patient shouted on me as I did not permit him to go out and smoke, I felt powerless as
the patient was becoming more impatient. I asked for help from the other nurses who were
present in the scenario but none came to my rescue. I had to handle the entire situation myself
and I was successful as well. These are the two experiences wherein the collaboration along the
teamwork theory applied in the professional field.
Reasoning
From my point of understanding, I have understood that everything happens for a reason.
In the initial stage I had a different perspective regarding the profession of nursing and I kept
asking questions and attempted at building relationships with everyone. I had a completely
child’s view of the nursing world, imagining it as something similar to a local candy store, with
eyes wide open and hearts aflutter. This event, however, shocked me to the core. The profession
was not what I have expected it to be. The rumors and concepts regarding nurses eating up their
younger counterparts was not simply a rumor. It was actually real. I even began questioning
myself if I took the right career choice. Over the months I noticed that my personality has started
changing, hardening. I felt myself getting drifted in the realm of not trying and adjusting with
whatever is the case or scenario. I felt my essence of being me draining every time I was at work
and that made me look at other avenues of employment too.

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With time as my demeanor changed I could understand why the nurses where that rude to
me that day. Based totally on the ill treatment of the system, they have turned indifferent to such
situations, might be even a common scenario for them. At times I even have felt that this kind of
reaction from them even had a positive outcome for me. There rose in me a need and desire of
developing my skills and knowledge and becoming an advanced clinician. I attempted
immersing myself in education, with my passion for self-development growing day by day. This
situation happened to awaken something in me to get me hooked. The adrenaline and the rush of
the emergency department, along with the supportive team was calling me. I understand that this
kind of environment was necessary for me to learn about advanced patient assessment,
cannulation, interpretation of bloods and dysrhythmias, management of the psychotic patient and
advanced resuscitation. This incident was necessary for me to understand what was the right
thing to do, and when I was in the same situation I made sure all the staff supported on another,
irrespective of their tenuity, or how much junior they were. I started appreciating the other
aspects of the shift, such as not being spattered or attacked by some unwanted form of bodily
fluid. This incident helped me transform into a person who felt appreciated and not abused or
used in any way.
What this incident however provoked in me is the longing for education, its need and for
making an impact that would be lingering. Being significant has always been a part of my
composition and one of my core values. I have always wanted to be remembered by something I
have done, something that would give me the value or even a legacy. I believe this incident was a
good thing to happen as it added to my experience of dealing with patients and even non-
cooperative situations. It gave me a unique experience, something that I have always looked
forward to. Even though in the initial stage it made me doubt my choice, I finally overcame that

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BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY
and understood I am in the right place. I researched a lot on this and found out cases of other
nurses too facing similar situations. That gave me the confidence, idea and courage of going
back and facing the senior nurses and the patients. I have promised myself of being assertive in
all situations and I would like to stick to that.
Reconstructing
The scene with the patient left me unbalanced in light of the fact that my past approach to
manage stubbornness was theoretical. I much of the time made usage of science to pick what
ought to be conceivable as regards comfort and to expect that patients would wish to finish those
focal points. I have achieved then three inductions from the above reflection. To begin with, that
being patient centered is never basic and requires certifiable tuning in and illustration capacities.
My input of what the senior nurses did, to endeavor and dishearten me from a methodology,
endorsing further assessment of the situation, is a straightforward one to make. Nurses oppose
conditions, for instance, this for the most part not well prepared and react as cautiously as could
sensibly be normal. It is basic thinking back to recommend distinctive responses, a further
examination of what animated them regards to young nurse slants (Ekman & Cordaro, 2011).
Second, that experience can be a gainful instructor, the likeness of course books
(Heintzelman, S. J., & King, 2013). In the occasion that nurses are enthused about care, by then
we should be stressed over the inclination that patients make of their own ailment, the treatment
or support that they get (Grol et al., 2013). We need to fathom what patients need to demonstrate
us and need to perceive this suggests we won't for the most part show up in control ourselves,
ace and capable. Our authority might be elsewhere, helping patients to accomplish their own
decisions. Third, that confined to appreciate patient perspectives on sickness or treatment, on

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collaboration for this situation, is to hear how they talk about the condition (Mazor et al., 2013).
How might they portray the distress, how might they insinuate what they did about it? The
course in which the story is shared, how we adjusted, how this influenced us, is as essential as
the substances related. On occasion a patient needs to feel stalwart, even heroic despite of
affliction (Holmes, 2014). The patient had a jugular line set up, which I had expected would
make the scope more troublesome and appropriately likely added to my extended level of
uneasiness. I feel that in case I had not been as nervous I would have will likely intervene; in any
case, obviously both my colleagues and I should have mediated more quickly.
Conclusion
Having seen the inconvenience caused to both the patient and people from general
society, I am by and by aware of the basic of being more confident if similar conditions were to
develop in future. Disregarding the way that I believe I should have interceded at the time, the
experience I have gotten from this has made me more aware of the crucial of consistently acting
to the best favorable position of the patient despite when this may take courage. I assume that
having more conspicuous trust in my ability to yield would have diminished my spread of
obligation and empowered me to act in a more independent outline. There should similarly be a
more critical emphasis to develop strong working associations between healthcare professionals
to in this manner grow levels of social affair cohesiveness.

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