Reflective Essay: Personal Learning Goals in Nursing Program

This reflective essay, written by a nursing student, details personal learning goals and experiences within a nursing program. The essay focuses on improving communication skills to enhance patient outcomes and emphasizes the importance of stress management in nursing practice. It also addresses test and exam preparation, highlighting the benefits of these assessments in identifying strengths and weaknesses, and discusses the significance of APA style format in academic writing. The student outlines plans to apply new knowledge to improve performance and confidence in practical settings, further emphasizing the role of reflection in identifying future learning needs and action plans to succeed in the nursing program.

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY 1
Reflective Essay
Name
Institution

REFLECTIVE ESSAY 2
Reflective Essay
Learning goals
I want to learn effective communication with the patient so as to improve the patient
outcomes. This is because lack of effective communication skills may lead to serious errors that
can be preventable. I will attend effective communication skills and strategies workshop four
months so as to learn how I can raise patient satisfaction. I will also learn effective stress
management skills in order to become successful in the practical nursing program. This is
because nursing comes with a lot of consubstantial pressures that can negatively affect both the
nurse and the patient. I will therefore positive stress management module for four months so as
to ensure my health and that of a patient are not at stake.
Test & Exam Preparation and APA Style Format
Test & Exam
Test and exam are assessments meant to test the knowledge of students. Using a series of
questions to get the results, test and exam help teachers to adjust the course materials as per the
need of the students (Ball, 2017). The most valuable thing about test and exam is that it helps
evaluate my skills as well as overcoming my fears. Test and exam preparation has benefited my
personal and professional development by helping my identify my strengths and weaknesses as
well as making the right decisions in regards to my study patterns. By completing test and
exams, I have met the learning needs of being more confident and also measuring how much
knowledge I have gained. From completing test and exam, I have learnt necessary life qualities
like hard work, patience, creativity and leadership. I have also learnt to overcome my weakness

REFLECTIVE ESSAY 3
as well as improve my memory power. Participating in test and exam preparation has contributed
to my reflective practice by helping improve my analytical skills and career.
APA Style Format
This is the official format style for American Psychology Association used to complete
educational research papers (Go, Lemmetyinen, & Hakala, 2014)). By promoting consistency in
an academic paper, APA style format ensures there is clarity on complex topics. The most
valuable thing about APA style format is that it gives writer credibility. APA style format has
benefitted my personal and professional development by helping protecting me from suspicion
and allegations of plagiarism. By completing APA style format, I have met the learning needs of
being organized and recognizing other people’s research and ideas. One important thing I have
learnt from APA style format is the straightforward prose. This is because it encourages direct
exposition of my research and creating emphasis on my original ideas. I have also learnt that
APA style format helps a researcher to express the key elements of the quantitative results.
Participating in APA style format contribute to my reflective practice by encouraging full
revelation of important information and allowing me to dispense with less distractions.
Plan
In the practical nursing program, I will use the new learning to improve my performance
on different tasks. This is because I believe that the more I practice the new skills, the more I
keep learning hence becoming better in my undertakings. I will also use the new learning to
improve my confidence as I will be able to engage in more meaningful conversations during my
practice.

REFLECTIVE ESSAY 4
Preparations for tests and exams and using APA style format will help me in identifying
future learning needs and action plans by recognizing my skills and behaviors that I need to
fulfill my duties as a nurse. It will also help me identify the gaps I need to fill by reviewing and
measuring my success so as to make the right decision on my future learning needs and action
plans.

REFLECTIVE ESSAY 5
References
Ball, S. J. (2017). The education debate. Policy Press. ISBN:1447339282 9781447339281
Go, F., Lemmetyinen, A., & Hakala, U. (2014). Introduction.
doi:10.1057/9781137465160_1