As an inexperienced nurse and university student, I have learned to ask other nursing students for help in any situation that is beyond my scope. I am only a year 1 nursing student however I have read many articles, and researched many theorists to understand the social fabric of nursing knowledge.
It is impossible to clarify all the relevant scientific, technical, clinical and human concerns in clinical situations. As new graduates in 2012, we will become aware that we can’t find everything we must need to know for clinical practice from text books and scientific articles. Even if we could as nurses, there would not be time to find the information as quickly to respond. “As beginner, due to inexperience you may not always know what to do in certain situations. You must therefore rely on other practitioners to recognize what’s significant” (Benner, Tanner, Chesla, 1997).
Clinical judgment is enhanced by discussing your observations and data with more experienced nurses. Even as an experienced nurse you would still consult with your colleagues, draw upon other’s perspectives and benefit from the pooled experience of other nurses.
Knowledge is nothing without practical SKILL
A good reason to be observant as a nurse can apply to this example of an inexperienced nurse and an experienced nurse.
A premature infant has an endotracheal tube taped in her mouth, but she’s extubated. But she looks like she was intubated. Her belly is big and her pulse oximetry reading is 60, and her CO2 is 80, and she is going AHH AHH AHHH, the ventilator is just going along 10 breaths a minute.
An older nurse with more experience just walks in. She sees the CO2 going up and the oxygen saturation going down and she thinks, “she needs to be suctioned”! So the experienced nurse start to hand ventilate her and the less experienced nurse comes over and says, “ I think she is extubated and the older nurse says YOU DO ?! The inexperienced nurse said that it has been going on for hours. The experienced nurse says “ get out your face mask please, im going to take out the endotracheal tube and we are going to intubate this infant”(Benner et al. 1997).
The inexperienced nurse, who let a critical situation go unattended for two hours, was counselled and given more development through clinical instruction. This is a prime example of not being socially aware. If the other nurse did not show up the infant would most likely died.
A well functioning team requires effective communication of experiential learning and a social climate that supports care. Complex knowledge, and shared clinical judgment and strong relational skills.
Even when changing shifts in the hospital, you rely on clinical and caring knowledge that you’ve gained taking care of your patient to the next nurse taking care of the patient. If you fail to notice an important clinical sign or symptom, your mistake can be corrected by others with more experiential wisdom and observation skill.
So to all the nurses out there! We are all on the same team making sure the client is being taken care of!
Benner, P., Tanner, C., & Chesla, C. (1997). The social fabric of nursing knowledge. American Journal of Nursing, 97 (7), 16BBB-16DDD
1 comment:
This is a really good post, I totally agree with what you're saying. There is never a complete learning enviornment without experience. There is so much left to learn and am loking forward to all the clinical experience we will recieve soon! :)
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