Reflective Analysis of personal Time Management and Nursing

Reflective Analysis of personal Time Management and Nursing An event that was meaningful to me as a nurse happened during my clinical time at St. Michaels Hospital when I did not wash my patient before 8:00 am in order to prepare her to go to a plastic surgery appointment later on that day. My patients 10:00 am Heparin administration was delayed by 45 minutes because she was being washed at that time. This event occurred because I did not prioritize the tasks I had to complete during the day properly, and therefore I learned the importance of time management while I work as a nurse on the clinical unit. Besides me, the people who were involved in the event were the registered nurse who I shadowed, my clinical instructor, and my student nurse buddy. At the beginning of the clinical day, while the events happened, I contacted my instructor, my nurse, and my student nurse buddy. The nurse and I sat down to look at the Kardex of patients and wrote down notes on our Personal Organizational Plan (P.O.P.). On the Kardex, my patients condition was the same as yesterday except she would have a plastic surgery appointment later on that day. Usually the patients husband would visit her daily around 9:30 am and provide care which including washing the patient and helping her to perform bowel elimination. My patient preferred that nurses leave them alone while her husband cares to her. On this particular day, the patients husband had an appointment and could not visit his wife in the morning, which meant it was my responsibility to wash my patient early so she could be ready for her appointment. I verbally informed my student nurse buddy that I would need her help to wash my patient but I thought my memory was good enough that I did not have to write down this specific task on my P.O.P. When I met with my patient, I concentrated on measuring her vital signs, completing the initial assessment, nursing activities, and interviewing my patient for the Roy Care Plan assignment as these tasks were originally listed on the P.O.P. I made sure I finished charting by 9:00 am. Once I finished charting, the nurse came up to me to see if I had bathed my patient and I replied no. From the nurses unsatisfied facial response, I realized I should have bathed my patient earlier in advance. My clinical instructor also asked my student nurse buddy and I the reason the patient had not been washed yet. I thought I could have washed my patient after I completed the charting as I knew the patient usually was washed around 10:00 am by her husband. I felt really bad and irresponsible because I did not wash my patient on time and prepare her for the appointment. My intuition told me there must be an essential task I had missed, but I just could not recall what it was since I did not write it down on the P.O.P. I thought my clinical instructor and the nurse must feel disappointed that I did not perform the task earlier as I remembered my clinical instructor stated clearly to check if any of our patients has special orders or tasks to be done at the beginning of the shift. I believe there are ethical and economic considerations to be taken into account about this event. If my patient was still in the process of getting ready while she received a call to go down to the plastic surgery unit, it would create unnecessary wait time for the plastic surgeon and other patients who would see the plastic surgeon later on. In order to compensate for the extra wait time, staffs at the plastic surgery unit may try to rush things and quality of treatment that patients receive may suffer. Staf fs may have to work overtime due to the delay and economic burden would be a result. In addition, delay of administering Heparin will increase patients risk of blood clotting and serious consequences such as pulmonary emboli, myocardial infarction, and deep vein thrombosis may be resulted. This will be considered as maleficence to the patient (Potter Perry, 2009). Moreover, I believe I should be accountable to my patient by providing safe and quality care to my patient which includes washing my patient on time. This belief arises from my nursing teachers constant reminders to us that it is very important to follow CNOs practice standards during practice. The key issue of the event is time management skills for clinical practice. If effective time management strategies were applied to my clinical practice, the chance of this event occurring would have been minimized and my performance of clinical practice will be improved. According to Chater and Litchfields study done on new graduate nurses who work in a neonatal unit at an Australian hospital (2007), five themes: knowing, planning, support, fulfillment, adapting and being flexible can be utilized to help student nurses and new graduate nurses to better manage their clinical time. Firstly, knowing is essential for nurses to manage time on the unit. The reason is if novice nurses do not know the condition of their patients, then they will not know what interventions they need to apply. More time will be spent looking up and learning about how to take care of the patients conditions. Therefore, obtaining nursing knowledge and familiarity with the daily routine care of the unit can help nurses handle their time on unit more efficiently. Having knowledge about the patients condition will also help novices feel less anxious, gain a sense of control, and raise their level of confidence (Chater Litchfield, 2007). Secondly, planning involves thinking about all the tasks which need to be completed as well as how much time each task requires. Proper planning can guide nurses through their day and ensure that important tasks will not be missed. Taking the time to think about required tasks also saves time because it allows the nurse to figure out what resources will be needed to complete a specific task and get everything ready in advance, rather than beginning a task and suddenly realizing something is missing and having to pause to figure it out. Thirdly, new nurses should not hesitate to obtain support from their preceptors and peers. Researching the right knowledge for a patients problem is time consuming but important, so nurses should not be afraid to ask for help since it is in the best interests of the patient. Also, talking to another new nurse peer will aid in continued development of time management skills. Moreover, when novice nurse are able to manage time and are able to complete all the routine care, they gain a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment (Chater Litchfield, 2007). Finally, adapting and being flexible is essential to mastering time management skills. There are always unexpected and unpredictable events that occur during clinical and being able to adapt and find alternative ways to deal with various situations will help nurses feel less stressed when managing their time on the unit (Chater Litchfield, 2007). Besides the five managing themes stated above, prioritizing is a necessary tool for effective time management. Nurses have to prioritize tasks on their route and finish tasks from high to low priority order. For example, when starting a shift, a nurse should decide which patient requires the most care. The nurse can do this by checking in with each patient briefly to say hello but at the same time to assess their needs. After an assessment is done, it can be explained to the patients who do not need immediate care that they will be taken care of shortly while the nurse attends to those with urgent needs (Waterworth, 2003). In addition, nurses should be careful of some priority setting traps. The first trap is whatever hits first which means a nurse responds to tasks that happen first instead of thinking twice and then responding. The second trap is the squeaky wheel, a patient who is able to gather the most attention from a nurse to hear his or her urgent request may not be the one w ho is the most in need. The last trap is waiting for inspiration, nurses should not be wait to be inspirited to complete a task and they should actively think about what tasks have to be done while on unit (Vaccaro, 2001). I learned effective time management strategies to handle my time on clinical and I will definitely utilize the time managing strategies step by step from knowing , planning , prioritizing tasks, gaining support from other nurses, and being flexible with my tasks. My thinking has changed after analyzing the key issue. It now makes more sense to me the reasons that our instructor requires us to finish all the paperwork on Tuesday night even when we feel tired after spending the whole day on unit. In fact, completing the Diagnostic Complications Sheet and Medication sheet correspond to the knowing phase by gaining knowledge about our patients so that we can provide specific care to our patients, feel less anxious, and better manage our time on unit. By filling the detailed P.O.P., this correspond to the planning theme which helps student nurses organize their day and ensure tasks to be performed will not be missed. In my point of view, I would preserve the action that the register nurse comes to check on me to see if I bathed my patient. With this action, she is being responsible to the patient and also she is offering me support to help me take care of the patient. On the other hand, I would definitely change the way I organize my P.O.P and I would follow my P.O.P. with flexibility and do not just focus on the original task I planned for my patient. For example, once I found out my patient has to be washed before 8:00 am, I will write it down immediately so that I will not forget to complete the task. If a similar situation arises again in my practice, I would inform my student nurse buddy that I require her help to wash my patient before a certain time and ask him or her to remind me to finish the specific task in case I forget or become occupied by some other tasks. In term of recommendations, I think there is no better way than to come to the unit with preparation. For example, student nurses can build their well of nursing knowledge by reading the nursing interventions related to a patients specific condition from the Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing and the Medical-surgical Nursing in Canada. Also, Pharmacology for Canadian Health Care Practice can help student nurses build up their knowledge in medication. The more a student nurse comes prepared for their clinical time, the less anxious he or she will be and can apply the five time managing strategies mentioned above to handle their time on unit more effectively.

Qrb/501 Week 6 Deliverable Essay

Week Six News Article Summaries Post Lehman Brothers Stock Market Crash Discussion In 2006, Brothers David and Tom Gardner started a community database to help consumers choose stocks. Developing the concept of longer-term investments over extended periods, versus the forecast method based on timing and risk. Motley Fool, the name chosen for the firm, asked staff to interview the firm’s top 18 investors to discuss lessons learned from the demise of Lehman’s Brother Stock at the five-year anniversary mark. Seth Jayson has learned to invest a little bit each month into the best companies and has stopped looking for quick fixes. Morgan Housel, discusses his lessons: cash= options, and debt= loss of options. Another point is to consider purchasing more when the stock crashes and to view risk as a gift. The forecast profession is deceptive, and to recognize that the market has recovered in four years. David Gardner predicted the fall of Lehman Brothers six months prior to the fall, which reinforced his methods of helping investors, succeed in the market. LouAnn Lofton recommends separating emotion form investing, to think long term and purchase stocks at lower rates during the crash. Alyce Lomax indicates her fears that people have not learned from the crash and that history has a habit of repeating itself. Alex Dumortier, who is CFA, explains his perspective of considering the unimaginable as possible and to prepare for uncertain measures. Jim Mueller recommends his tool for success has b een to keep a journal. Stating his process is to analyze motivations and trends before choosing to purchase stock. Charley Travers firmly reinforces investing in companies with cash rich balance sheets and strong free cash flows. Matt DiLallo took a time out from the market post-crash and looked for longevity instead of timing, stating â€Å"timing in the stock market is a fool’s errand† (Motley Fool Staff, 2012, n.p.). Chuck Saletta shares his process of choosing based on a solid balance sheet. Isaac Pino believes that Main Street has learned and suffered post-crash but not Wall Street, claiming that banks are still carrying too much debt and leverage. Patrick Morris supports what he learned during college studying finance, that â€Å"stocks are priced to be the present values of future cash flows,† and supports rate of return for stocks yielding more than savings (Motley Fool Staff, 2012, n.p.). Frank Thomas believes in planning and building a buying list whil e maintaining enough cash to support daily living costs. John Divine stresses the need to remain calm and keep the long-term goals in the big picture. Joe Tenebruso viewed the crash as an opportunity to move capital into strong companies and developed a new strategy he named Tier 1. Jake Keator learned that investing takes time and to be patient. Anders Bylund recommends the approach of keeping 10% of retirement liquid. John Reeves expresses that in a down market good companies like â€Å"Starbucks and Apple,† are misrepresented in the stock market but will bounce back in time (Motley Fool Staff, 2012, n.p.). In conclusion, the firm of Motley Fool explains skills learned to excel in the stock market: reinforcing long-term goals with companies in good financial shape, and consider purchasing those companies’ stocks during down markets to maximize return. 2008 Crisis Still Hangs Over Credit-Rating Firms This article has some direct links to business math principles because it addresses some concerns from the 2008 financial crisis. In 2008, some financial guru(s) compared it to the great depression, revamping the name to the â€Å"great recession† (Krantz, 2013, n.p.). During this time many major corporations, financial mainly, went into some sort of bankruptcy and got a bail out from the government. In this article the author addresses how some credit rating agencies were excusing poor credit ratings and banks allowing approval of risky mortgages when they should not have. In 2008 the agencies’ ratings played a critical role in the marketing of risky mortgage-backed securities, such as collateralized debt obligations. Investment banks had also bundled collections of individual mortgages, which alone can be hard to trade, into baskets that could be bought and sold like any bonds. These financial instruments were sold to investors but to sell them, the investment banks relied on the receipt of stellar ratings from the agencies to tempt investors starved for return. The author questions whether or not these companies have learned from their mistakes to avoid making the same mistakes again. This article links to this week’s objectives of applying business principles to make finance and operational business decisions because, in these aforementioned instances, credit rating agencies did not do that. They did not follow the basic math principles of business and instead took a road that surpassed logic and went more into greed. By applying the business math principles these agencies would have known that the risk was too great and would not have approved such deals because of the severity of the risks. Obama to Use Lehman Anniversary to Cite Progress * In this article, the author discusses President Obama’s progress on the economy. He is using the fall of the Lehman Brothers to show how much progress he has made in the economy. He is using certain math principles to try to help America get out of the financial crisis. He is trying to create a budget system but is clashing with Congress on the decisions he is making. President Obama argues that a better capitalized and regulated financial sector will give more credit. This will in turn help fuel the economy. According to the article, the federal government has paid back the debt that the accrued during bailouts of 2008. According to the Pew Research Center poll, the public is not convinced that the economy is fixed. The unemployment rate is at 7.3%, which is high. The article states this high rate is because some people have left the workforce and stopped trying to join it again. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts democra t stated, â€Å"We should not accept a financial system that allows the biggest banks to emerge from a crisis in record-setting shape while ordinary Americans continue to struggle† (Kuhnhenn, 2013, n.p.). Obama wants to continue with his budget and use part of the $700 billion that has been allocated to help bail out other companies. The public accepted this a general success. The end of the article states that the federal government will bring in more revenue this year but still has $700 billion budget deficit. There is a spending problem, and it must be addressed. As a business it has to have an income through goods, sales, etc. to succeed. This needs to exceed the liabilities and expense. In the end, this is not what is happening. * The DOW has a Good Week The Dayton Daily News reported that the DOW Jones industrial average had one of its best week’s this year, rising 75 points (0.5%). The speculation for this positive performance included reports showing both inflation remaining stable and consumers purchasing more. Another helpful act came from Intel’s stock rising 66 cents (3%). Analysts found that reports varied on how the economy performed: some showed that although Americans purchased more items like cars and electronics, major clothing retailers cut profit projections for the remainder of the year because of lower sales. Wholesale prices, however, did not grow much, lending evidence that inflation is relatively stable. Investors stated that trading will likely change drastically after the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on September 17-18, citing that they will decide plans for the bond purchasing program and how much they will cut back spending on those bonds. This article relates to the course objective quite directly. This week’s learning objective ties this course together, taking business math principles and using them to make operational decisions. The DOW Jones shows businesses how they stand against competitors and reveal areas for potential investment. Many corporations have investment advisors watching the stock market and advising when and what to buy or sell. Business leaders watching and analyzing the DOW Jones not only reveals insight into how individual businesses perform but also shows them the prices in certain markets. This is a useful tool for investors to know where to put their money, buying stocks when prices in one market are low and selling stocks in another market where prices have peaked. Your Money: Keeping retirement on track takes focus The main focus of this article was how the financial crisis five years ago has made it harder for people wanting to retire. People today when they want to retire have to take into consideration that in order to retire today there must be a savings in place. According to a retirement survey done by PNC Perspectives people that originally planned to retire between the ages of 60 to 62 will have to work longer than originally expected (Tompor, 2013). According to the survey, â€Å"About 43% of those who are not yet retired and still working said they have a pension; but about 64% of those who are retired have a pension†(Tompor, 2013). This article also shows interviews done with Thomas Palka and Connie DeMetsenare. Thomas is a self-employed business man that does not currently have a pension plan. Thomas at the age of 52 has no plans on retiring any time soon. He knows he has to continue to work in order to have income coming in. Connie is 48 and current is investing in a 401(k) plan through her employer. He and her spouse paid cash for their current house they live in to eliminate being stuck paying a mortgage they may not be able to afford once they retire. Connie plans to retire at the age of 67. Based on this article many aspects can stop a person from retiring. Those aspects include not having a pension or 401(K) plan in place, financial crisis that can affect retirement funds, and having too much debt. To live comfortably a person must have a savings plan in place and eliminate their current debt. Reference AP, A. (2013, September 14). Dow has good week. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/business/dow-has-good-week/nZwx2/ Krantz, M. (2013, September 13). 2008 crisis still hangs over credit-rating firms. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/09/13/credit-rating-agencies-2008-financial-crisis-lehman/2759025/ Kuhnhenn, J. (2013, September 14). Obama to use Lehman anniversary to cite progress. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/09/14/obama-lehman-anniversary/2813687/ Motley Fool Staff, (2013, September 12). Five Years After Lehman: Investing Lessons from the Financial Crisis. Retrieved from http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/9/12/5-years-after-lehman-investing-lessons-from-the-fi.aspx?source=ihpsitth0000003&lidx=1

Donny Is My Leader

Donny Is My Leader The Path-Goal Theory states that, â€Å"leaders motivate subordinates to achieve high performance by showing them the path to reach valued goals or results. † In the case study Donny Is My Leader it shows what Donny perceived as motivation was, in fact, demotivating to some of the members of the group thus affecting the productivity as a whole. His autocratic, coercive and often inconsistent leadership style was the deterring factor that influenced the lack of production from the team.His â€Å"break ‘em down to build ‘em up† philosophy minimized some of the effectiveness and productivity of the team thus damaging the entire team structure. An autocratic leader is defined as one who has unlimited authority, power, or influence in any group. Donny’s power was in an unofficial capacity although the group accepted him as their leader. His constant pushing, pulling and prodding was beneficial to some but not all of the team. One day heà ¢â‚¬â„¢s encouraging and comforting and the next day he’s belligerent, inconsiderate, spiteful and coercive.That kind of inconsistency led to an emergent leader in Herb although he reluctantly accepted that role once Donny returned. Out of all the different powers to have, coercive is the only one with obvious negative connotations. Donny lashed out in several situations both on the track and in the locker room. In one particular incident the narrator characterized his outbursts as â€Å"Donny’s wrath†. Every leader has his or her strengths and weaknesses. Donny’s strength as a leader, in large part, comes from his ability to outperform the team, plan a regimen and assume the leadership role although it was not officially his title.He often slowed down to encourage those who were having trouble completing the two mile run. His actions are in line with the consideration leadership style. Consideration leadership style includes showing concern for subordina tes and acting in a friendly supportive manner. Donny routinely left his place at the front to help the slower and more challenged runners. He often encouraged those who fell behind but he wasn’t shy about lashing out if he felt like they were â€Å"loafing†. Leadership has its weaknesses too. Donny’s weaknesses were of the coercive nature.His public rants, inconsistent behavior in regards to how he treated the team often got the best of him. His tirades went on for hours and frequently spilling over into the following day. Aggressiveness is a like a double edged sword. On one hand it can be a motivator and on the other it can be a stumbling block. Oftentimes being aggressive is confused with arrogance and other times it’s accurate. When Donny sensed a challenge to his leadership style he became emotionally unavailable and uncooperative evidenced by his reluctance to call out the particular number of laps as he customarily did.In my opinion, I think Donny was more of a manager than a leader. Managers are â€Å"process oriented and believe that good systems and processes produce good results. † Donny’s management style was task oriented. He believed in taking certain calculated steps to achieve their goals. In particular, he took that approach with Troy. He instructed Troy to â€Å"walk five laps after you’ve run, and then you’ll run with us for four more. † It’s debatable if you have to be a leader to be a manager or vice versa but Donny was both to a much lesser extent. Although I think he was too emotional and defensive whenever his â€Å"authority† was challenged.The consequences of Donny’s leadership style became evident during his absence. While he was out Herb led the group. Herb assured the group that he would run slow enough for everyone to finish. The difference between Donny and Herb became apparent. Donny was task and time oriented whereas Herb was task oriented and much more pleasant. Herb’s approach immediately made him an emerging leader because each time he led the group the entire group finished the two mile run. When Donny reappeared the group dynamic went back to its original state where some would finish and the others wouldn’t.Donny did his usual chastising but to no avail. Harry mentioned that he preferred to running under Harry and that’s when Donny’s emotional and defensive side surfaced. Donny thought that the way in which he led the group motivated them to achieve high performance by showing them the path to reach the team’s desired goals. The emergent leadership qualities in Herb immediately challenged Donny’s power and influence although Herb was reluctant to accept his new role. Despite the path-goal theory building upon a motivational theory, path-goal theory does not fully explain how leadership styles affect follower motivation.Zach Bunn stated that, â€Å"The path-goal theory is a contingency theory, in that it predicts how a leader’s style will interact with follower needs and the nature of the task. It argues directive leadership for ambiguous tasks, supportive leadership for repetitive tasks, participative leadership for unclear, autonomous task and achievement-oriented leadership for challenging tasks. † (Bunn, 2012) My leadership style is one in which I believe everyone is capable of attaining their goals and it’s my job, as their leader, to help them get there.I would consult with each member as to what their personal goals are and incorporate their goals within the team goals. We would map out the proper steps and begin the regimen. I would pay close attention to the temperament, ability and attitude of each team member by exercising my emotional intelligence while constantly publicly and privately encouraging everyone. I believe in learning how to push everyone in the same direction while keeping them engaged. My negative feedback would not be public. I’ve been taught that in order to get respect, you must give it and constructive criticism goes much further than browbeating and embarrassment.

How to Conjugate the French Verb Aider (to Help)

French students will be delighted to learn that  aider is an easy verb to conjugate. This is a regular verb that follows a specific pattern, so changing it to match the subject and tense is relatively easy. Aider  is the French verb for to help. This is easy to remember because aid is found inside the French word. With that said, this French lesson promises to be a quick one. Conjugating the French Verb  Aider We conjugate verbs in English as well, just not to the extent that other languages do. In French, changing the verb to indicate and support the subject pronoun—the j, tu, il, nous, etc.—as well as the tense is necessary. With a  regular -er verb  like  aider, this is easy. That is because these verbs change the endings in similar ways to one another. Once you learn how to conjugate  aider, doing so with a verb like  accepter  is performed in the same manner. Use this chart to learn the various forms of  aider. It will change according to whom you are speaking of as well as the tense. For instance, to say I help in French, you would say jaide or for we will help, you will use nous aiderons. Subject Present Future Imperfect j aide aiderai aidais tu aides aideras aidais il aide aidera aidait nous aidons aiderons aidions vous aidez aiderez aidiez ils aident aideront aidaient The Present Participle of  Aider Aider  can be transformed using the present participle for uses beyond a verb. In this form, it can also be an adjective, gerund, or noun. To do so, you must use  present participle, which is  aidant. The Common Past Tense of  Aider It is very common in French to use the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  for the past tense. This is an even easier conjugation than the imperfect. No matter your subject, you can use  passà © composà © with an  auxiliary verb  to express having helped in the past. For agir, the auxiliary verb is  avoir.  You will also need the past participle  for aider, which is  aidà ©. This means that when you want to say I helped, you can use the French jai aidà ©. To say we helped, it would simply be nous avons  aidà ©. Its important to note that the  ai and avons in these examples are conjugates of the auxiliary verb  avoir. More Conjugations for  Aider There are other conjugations which you may use at times, though those above are the most important forms of  aider. The following table will give you the subjunctive—a form of uncertainty—as well as the conditional verb forms. You will also find the  passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive forms. Both of these are used in formal writing. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive j aide aiderais aidai aidasse tu aides aiderais aidas aidasses il aide aiderait aida aidt nous aidions aiderions aidmes aidassions vous aidiez aideriez aidtes aidassiez ils aident aideraient aidrent aidassent You will need to know one last conjugation for  aider  and that is the imperative form. This is used for commands or requests, which are common uses for  aider, so this is important to study.   For the imperative, there is no need to use the subject pronoun as the imperative verb implies the who. For example, instead of saying il aide le to say help him, you would simply say aide le. Its short and to the point, exactly what you need when you need help. Imperative (tu) aide (nous) aidons (vous) aidez