Reflective Essay: Nursing Placement, Policies, and Procedures

This reflective essay details a nursing student's experiences across multiple hospital wards, focusing on learning objectives related to hospital policies, departmental orientation, and the effectiveness of the probationary period. The essay chronicles observations and insights gained from 52ward, 43ward, 42ward, and 35ward. Key topics include understanding the hospital's operational procedures, the role of the head nurse, the clarity of probationary periods, staffing policies, cyclic scheduling, strategic plans, quality improvement projects, and performance appraisal processes. The student reflects on the importance of fair scheduling, its impact on patient care, the link between departmental and hospital-wide strategic plans, and the significance of performance appraisals in enhancing productivity and promoting patient care, emphasizing the need for fairness and the right of staff to be informed of the appraisal process. The essay highlights the student's observations, interactions with head nurses, and the practical application of learned concepts within the hospital environment.

Running head: REFLECTIVE ESSAY 1
Reflective Essay
Name
Institution

REFLECTIVE ESSAY 2
During my nursing placement, my objectives for the first week included knowing the policies of
the hospital, undergoing departmental orientation, and understanding the effectiveness of the
probationary period. When I arrived on the first day at 52ward the head nurse was in a meeting. I
met her after the meeting and she gave me a tour guide of the department when I learned the
operation of the department. Some of the things I realized with the ward was how neatly it was
arranged and the patient rooms were very clean. The period of probation was also clear and all
the new staff was attaining their set objectives. The probationary period policies were also
accessible to all the staff and the head nurse. I also noticed that there were premade schedules
that were used by instructors to test the competencies of the new stuff.
During the second week, I went to 43ward where I learned about the staffing policies and
procedures. The head nurse had a lot of knowledge in staffing and I, therefore, learned invaluable
skills. I, however, noticed that there was a shortage of staff. It was, therefore, necessary to cover
this shortage to prevent it from negatively impacting patient care due to fatigue of the nurses. I
also learned about making staff schedules and plan for a vacation. I also had to learn about how
to apply scheduling in healthcare. I must, however, accept that scheduling was a bit complex
because of the shortage of staff. The head nurse tried to handle this by using a cyclic schedule
pattern because it ensured fair scheduling. One thing that I learned about fair scheduling is that
improves the working condition of nurses and promotes a culture of safety. It is worth noting that
poor scheduling affects patient care thus leading to poor health outcomes.
I then went to 42ward where I was supposed to learn about departmental quality projects and
strategic plans. However, when I got to the ward at 8.00 am the nurse was in a meeting. The
nurse attended another meeting at 8.30 am before we met at 9.00 am. She showed me the
nursing department's strategic plan that I realized was linked to the entire hospital’s strategic

REFLECTIVE ESSAY 3
plan. Each strategic goal had an action plan prepared by the nurse depending on the situation. I
was informed that all nurses had to participate to ensure that a strategic plan was achieved and
reports were filed to monitor the progress of the plan. I also learned that each department had
service managers that liaised with nurses to ensure that the strategic plans were achieved. I also
had to explore the quality improvement projects related to the strategic plans with the help of the
head nurse.
In 35ward, I was supposed to learn about the process of performance appraisal and the
importance of performance appraisal. When I got to the ward the nurse was in a morning
endorsement until around 8.50 am. When we met, she explained to me that the lead nurse had to
meet all members of staff at the beginning of each year to set annual goals. I was made aware
that staff is normally evaluated based on goals achievement. During my time in this ward, I also
realized that performance appraisal helped in improving productivity thus promoting patient
care. I additionally learned that staff had the right to know the appraisal process before taking
part in it. The performance appraisal could be used for promotions and motivation. I also learned
that the appraisal process had to be free of any form of bias or prejudice to ensure effective
evaluation of staff.