Reflecting on Reflection

Sometimes we do things without really understanding why. The same is true with reflective thinking. We have all learned and made changes from our past experiences without actually realizing that it was the reflective thinking that helped us make improvements or positive changes in our lives and professions. Incorporating reflection as a requisite for this blog and other assignments in this course has been both insightful and helpful in putting things into perspective. Although the assignments have seemed easy, putting down my responses into words was challenging. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just write something. I can definitely say that the task of reflection in this course has led to a deeper level of thinking. I can also say that it has helped me conceptualizing where I am at professionally, where I would like to be in the future and the means by which to get there. I now find myself frequently reflecting on situations in my life as a means by which to make decisions. Maybe it’s that I am now more consciously aware of what I am doing. No matter what the reason, reflective thinking will absolutely be incorporated into my professional and personal decisions or “critical thinking”.

My Reflections On The Course of Changes In My Professional Endeavors

                        Nursing has been a love and hate relationship for me. I never thought it to be as stressful and demanding as it is, but yet so gratifying. I have taken many bumps to improve my practice of nursing, and will admit that I am still taking some bumps, just not as often. Thank God, my innate love of learning has carried me through some real doozies (big mistakes/bumps). These trial and errors in my life have matured me and changed my outlook on what is important for me holistically and set a path for new professional endeavors.

                        I am currently employed as a school nurse at a high school that is geared for developing future medical professionals. I have previously worked as a nurse in the support service sector of education for all levels from elementary to college. These experiences have given me some insight on what goes on behind the scenes of education and how those choices/decisions by both administrators and educators impact students. When I combine those experiences with my clinical experiences, and try to understand the correlations between the trends in nursing practice and education, I find that I want to be a part of the changes. I want to be part of the reform.

                        I feel that the my experiences as a nurse, mistakes and all, can be of benefit to those out there that want to become nurses. I am proud to be a school nurse, and I am thankful for the insight into education that it has given me. I enjoy working with the students and being a support for them in their educational endeavors. However, I look forward to one day being a nurse educator, facilitating those educational endeavors.                      

Developing my Philosophy of Nursing Education

Honestly speaking, this program in just one month's time has made me face some harsh realities. I say harsh, because returning to school has been quite a challenge. I entered this program thinking I just wanted to teach. My preconceptions of teaching of course, were based on my past experiences as a learner in the "old" pedagogical way of teaching and learning. What a surprise I encountered; to realize that I was never going to receive any kind of online "lecture" from my graduate professors. The lack of familiarity with this new style of learning, quickly led me to feeling frustrated and lost. After having learned and explored some very important terminology, theories, and concepts, I am happy to announce that I have now become a self-directed learner that can appreciate the freedom of taking initiative for my own learning.
This experience, as the constructivist say, can now be built upon. My experiences as a learner working towards a Master's in nursing education can all play a part in the development of my philosophy of nursing education. I know who I am as a nurse, and have a vision of what I would like to cultivate in others, but who I am as an educator has yet to be developed. Part of me developing my philosophy has been to learn and guide my understanding of education through theories and concepts. However, I feel that the majority of my philosophy will not be so much of what I can gather from text books, but will be based on my personal experiences, values and beliefs of nursing and education, and as I grow professionally, so too will my philosophy of nursing education.

Why Education?

In almost nine years of nursing experience, I have had the opportunity to work in emergency care, home health, college health, school health and in rehabilitative nursing. No matter what area of nursing I am working in, I find that I always enjoy the teaching aspect of my profession the most. I look forward to helping others learn about nursing, but most importantly I hope to indirectly improve the quality of care patients receive, by enlightening the next generation of nursing students in compassion and caring for others. I am currently enrolled in a nursing education theory course; and hope to learn about education in the nursing profession, as well as familiarize myself with the different types of learners. Ultimately, through this course I hope to set the stage for my career in nursing education, and even identify some theories through which I will be basing my educational methods on. .