Main Issues
What do you feel the issue(s) are in the scenario as described?
In the scenario described an inexperienced second year student is asked to give routine care to a pre-op patient for whom she will be caring both before and after surgery. The Student refuses and it is left to the educator to find out why. Conflict that is managed effectively by a nurse educator can lead to personal growth both for the educator and the student. If conflict is not managed effectively, it can hinder a student’s ability to provide quality client care and damage her potential career as a nurse. Conflict is commonly perceived as being a negative issue. However, the experience of dealing with conflict can lead to positive outcomes for students, their colleagues and clients.
According to Lasater (2007) clinical judgment is a skill every nurse needs. The issues with Sally appear to be her lack of understanding of what is being asked of her and her poor clinical judgment.Tanner (2008) argues that sound clinical judgment rests to some degree on knowing the patient and his or her typical pattern of responses. This could be a result of a lack of preclinical preparation and inexperience. Undoubtedly, ill prepared undergraduate nursing students add to stresses faced by the ward staff and educators (Astin, Newton, McKenna & Moore-Coulson 2005).
As a second year student it is quite possible that Sally does not yet have the skill level to perform the task asked of her. It is also likely that this is her first time on a surgical ward. She therefore may be hiding behind her reasoning of a holistic approach because she knows the night RN has completed the pre-op list already. It is also feasible that she feels threatened by the patient due to the stigma that is attached to drug addicts. She may have a fear of having to perform an assessment on such a person.The whole situation could be a reality shock to her; she has been placed in the situation where it is expected of her to...