Self-Assessment of Reasoning

Self-Assessment of Reasoning Kymberly Otremba Ferris State University

Self-Assessment of Reasoning

1 Self- Assessment of Reasoning In the following paper I will look over and explain the content that was significant to me during the semester. There will be four areas of explanation starting with significant content from this semester, thought and feelings on that content, point of view and analysis of my overall thinking. Significant Content There were many weeks of topic that I found significant; however I have three that stand out in my mind. The first being evidence based practice. As nurses we strive on evidence that is what leads us through modern technology. We study facts and use them in our practice. The next was protecting and promoting health through social and environmental change. This was my leader week and I took great pride in putting together a virtual health fair. I believe that health fairs and community involvement is the best way to reach the people of our communities. The final topic that is extremely important to me is physical activity and exercise. I exercise five days a week and teach aerobic classes. I feel that exercise is a great way to stay fit, stay healthy and keep stress at a minimum. Thoughts and Feelings I use evidence based practice every day in my career. I find it very important that medicine is evidence based so we are not using medicine or techniques that have not been thoroughly tested and proven to be the best possible for the patient. Being involved in our communities is a great way to stay connected to the patients we take care of. Many people depend on community programs to receive minor check-ups such as blood sugar screening, cholesterol testing, blood pressure checks and education. My passion is exercise and I want to teach people in my

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2 community why exercise is my passion. Exercise is a wonderful stress reliever, it helps reduce blood pressure and heart disease and it is necessary to maintain a healthy weight. Point of View or Assumptions Before I read on evidence based practice I had an understanding of what is was as mentioned in prior paragraphs. After reading through the text I realize that there is much more to evidence based practice. For example, According to Pender, N., Murdaugh, C., and Parsons, M (2011), a family history is a window to ones health and an invaluable insight into the risk of inheriting specific diseases, shared environmental factors, and individual health concerns (p.109). Having evidence to your family health history helps you and your provider provide accurate care that is best for you. Protecting and promoting health meant that I will use my knowledge as a nurse to educate my patients. I realized after the reading that educating patients that I take care of is only a small part of my job as a nurse. Communtiy involvement is very important. I have the knowledge and expertise to educate and I need to use that to help people in my community. As far as my assumptions on exercise, I assume all people should exercise in one form or another. Fitness is my passion, I would love to be able to take my nursing knowledge and fitness knowledge to my community and educate them on the importance of fitness and what it can do youre your body, mind and spirit. Analysis of thinking The assumptions I have on these three topics are based on experience. I have used my education and knowledge to help the community in many ways. I have participated in health fairs and seminars on fitness. My point of views are based on trial and error, I have seen the amount of

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people that attend community events and how many people are helped at these public fairs. I use fitness to stay fit, keep 3 healthy and keep my stress level low. Discussions throughout the semester have been more beneficial than the actual readings. I appreciate other students points of view. It forces me to see the opinion of others. Other assumptions on the topics I chose that may be valid are people may be too unhealthy to exercise, or to go to community events. Some may say that exercise hinders them by causing knee pain or back pain. Some may say that community events may not help people because they are not seeing a doctor after the screenings we are providing. When I hear things such as this, I use my knowledge and education to try to teach them that the community events are only there to help and even mild exercise is better than nothing at all. These topics are relevant to my practice because I work in the emergency room and we have patients that never see a doctor and only go to community events, never exercise and come to the emergency room and want to be cured of all their chronic ailments. I think the grade I deserve for this paper is a C. I have modest understanding of what thinking is. Some of my skills are developed, however my work is spotty. I feel that my work at the end of the semester was better than the work at the beginning. I have definite emerging thinking skills, but show many weaknesses. I feel that I had many weeks where I took the topic and thought it through and had a really easy time critically thinking, on the other hand I sometimes found it difficult to respond to my peers with a critically thought through answer and my responses were shallow. I know I have a long way to go to be a A critical thinker, however I

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5 feel that I am making progress as I continue through this program and hope to become an expert as I further my education.

Pender, N.J., Murdaugh, C.L., Parsons, M. A. (2011). Health Promotion in Nursing Practice (6th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson