Psychology

Psychology: Reflective Practicum Journal
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Psychology: Reflective Practicum Journal
First Journal
Before starting my practicum at St. Joseph’s Hospital, New York, I experienced a broad range of emotions ranging from excitement to anxiety. Apart from interacting with patients, most of those emotions stemmed from what my life experience as a student nurse under the supervision of Dr. Barnett. On my first day at the facility, I was not only prepared but also excited about what it would feel like working with patients. Despite failing to recognize my expectations, I assumed that most of the duties would be easy to accomplish. I anticipated that interacting with other staff members, talking to students, and realizing responsibilities that I practiced before commencing my practicum to be simple. Contrary to my expectations, my first day at the hospital was challenging, and most of the things I expected to be undemanding proved problematic when I came into contact with real-life problems.
I realized that my communication with patients was weak due to the complicated medical terminologies that I spewed. Another significant problem that I faced revolved around time management. Before beginning practicum, I believed that my time management competencies were perfect. Little did I know that things moved steadily fast in a hospital setting. My work evolved fluidly all through the day. I had to discharge patients and realize the continually changing orders.

I was unable to balance all my duties correctly so that I could ensure that patients received maximum care. Nevertheless, with the help of my supervisor, I was able to navigate through the rest of the day officiously. Dr. Barnett, a fifty-three-year-old gentleman who has worked at St. Joseph’s for the past twenty years helped me to develop a game-plan of how I was going to balance my duties and complete everything within the required schedule.
Second Journal
During my second week at St. Joseph’s, I had acquainted myself with all the activities of the hospitals and was able to balance my duties while ensuring optimum care to the patients. Compared to the first week, my confidence has expanded significantly both on a personal and professional level. However, I faced the challenge of inability to provide a clear rationale for the tasks that I completed to patients who wanted to learn more about these actions. The incapacity to interpret various aspects despite knowing them affected my confidence significantly. I realized that I underscored finishing the tasks that I was allocated rather than providing holistic care to the patients. I sought the guidance of my supervisor who helped me realize that my lack of confidence was related to the failure to communicate evidence-based reasons effectively.
Since effective supervision relies on an association of trust between the supervisor and student, Dr. Barnett proved to be a great supervisor through the unending guidance during my weak moments. Besides being available when a need arose, he was able to offer the necessary support. Dr. Barnett was understanding and always provided meaningful feedback. Importantly, he always empathized with my tribulations and encouraged me. The theory of psychology concept emphasizes the fact that individuals possess unique personality, abilities, traits, and preferences (Oyserman, Elmore, & Smith, 2012). It is for this reason Dr. Barnett was able to empathize with the various challenging situations that I experienced at St. Joseph’s besides providing the necessary help. As a psychology nurse, I look forward to caring for patients of all ages with mental health issues such as depression, bi-polar, dementia, and schizophrenia. I expect to provide specialized care to psychiatric patients at healthcare facilities such as St. Joseph’s. I also believe that nurses require psychology to evaluate the mental states of patients before determining the most efficient way of interacting with them. As a psychology nurse, I will be helping my colleagues to understand patients and help them cope with emotional issues.
Reference
Oyserman, D., Elmore, K., & Smith, G. (2012). Self, self-concept, and identity. In Leary, M., & Tangney, J. (2012), Handbook of self and identity. 2nd Ed. New York: The Guilford Press.