Introduction
The purpose of this reflective journal essay is to comment on professional skills and abilities that were mastered throughout DNP-840. These comments will present both successes and challenges that emerged during getting the course objectives and “Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice” by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2006). In particular, the essay will consider professional practice, personal knowledge, additional resources, and course outcomes and align three AACN essentials to these experiences.
Essential V
It is challenging to overestimate the significance of political activism in the nursing profession. Course DNP-840 allowed for understanding that nurse practitioners have valuable experience since they directly deal with the populations and know their issues. That is why the AACN (2006) offers Essential V admitting that healthcare political actions can facilitate the delivery of health care. It means that healthcare professionals are encouraged to engage in policymaking activities to ensure that high-ranking officials take appropriate and practical actions to improve the population’s health.
As for DNP-840, the course allowed for mastering the competency of working with additional resources for influencing optimal learning outcomes. In particular, it refers to the assignment when it was necessary to locate a current healthcare policy and advocate for it. The COVID-19 pandemic is the most crucial concern in the present background, denoting that the assignment focused on it. Thus, the course under investigation has demonstrated how it is possible to identify healthcare bills and show evidence to support or deny them. Bill S5474 by The New York State Senate (2021) was chosen for consideration since it offered to establish a universal and comprehensive medical system for New Yorkers.
That competency did not create significant challenges for the students because finding additional information on the acute topic was easy. It means that DNPs should work with scholarly and governmental resources to ensure that their decisions lead to optimal outcomes.
Essential VI
Interprofessional collaboration is of significance in the nursing profession since it ensures that all healthcare professionals contribute to improved health outcomes. Essential VI by the AACN (2006) reflects this idea and stipulates that a “multi-tiered health care environment depends on the contributions of highly skilled and knowledgeable individuals from multiple professions” (p. 14). This thought indicates that DNPs should know how to cooperate with their colleagues, guide them, and find relevant motivational factors to achieve shared objectives. That is why there is no doubt that this essential is of significance for healthcare professionals.
Course DNP-840 has contributed to mastering the Essential above through enriching personal knowledge and skills. It relates to the fact that an assignment delved into leadership styles. The course task helped the student get acquainted with various leadership styles, including the servant, transformational, and authoritative ones, and understand how they can be implemented in the professional environment. For example, it has been identified that the transformational style is suitable for attaining organizational goals (Eva et al., 2019). Simultaneously, the servant leadership approach is effective for establishing productive relationships with other individuals (Gandolfi & Stone, 2018).
This information demonstrates that the course contributed to the fact that the student has more profound knowledge and skills for choosing appropriate leadership styles. This competency has been mastered successfully since many empirical and evidence-based studies comment on leadership styles and how to implement them. It denotes that the course DNP-840 transforms students into influential leaders, which is beneficial for the medical industry’s future.
Essential VII
In addition to that, there is no doubt that the DNP practice is aimed at addressing and improving the quality of care and the population’s health. That is why it is reasonable to draw attention to Essential VII. According to the AACN (2006), this phenomenon focuses on health promotion and risk reduction to ensure that individuals are less subjected to various threat factors. This Essential demonstrates that DNPs should be actively involved in nursing practice and the decision-making process to ensure that they can contribute to positive outcomes within the given spheres. This phenomenon covers a broad area offering many requirements to healthcare professionals.
Course DNP-840 has contributed to the fact that the Essential is met. It relates to the fact that there was an assignment concerning the direct practice improvement (DPI) project. It was necessary to present a proposed change in patient care delivery, focusing on finance, quality, safety, and patient experience to reduce the prevalence of pressure injuries among patients 75 years old and higher. No one will be surprised by the fact that completing such a comprehensive task has helped me master the competency of professional practice and approach. It refers to the fact that the student has learned how to utilize knowledge from all the spheres above to achieve a specific goal.
For example, dealing with the DPI project assignment has revealed that the use of static air mattresses is a suitable solution to the identified problem (Beeckman et al., 2019). The rationale behind this statement is that these equipment pieces satisfy the needs of patients, healthcare professionals, and taxpayers. This information demonstrates that the assignment under analysis has essentially enriched future DNPs’ skills and abilities.
Finally, it is reasonable to comment on how the course competencies and outcomes were achieved. It relates to the fact that multiple assignments encouraged the student to allocate sufficient time and effort to complete the required tasks. As a result, the student has to get acquainted with much essential information that will be beneficial for future practice. It refers to the knowledge in such areas as policymaking, patient safety, financial affairs, the quality of care, interprofessional collaboration, and many others.
These spheres are of significance for future DNPs since they should have the competency of them. This state of affairs results in the fact that the course DNP-840 provides students with sufficient theoretical information that can further be applied in practice. The rationale behind this claim is that the student has mastered the competencies in the spheres above by considering how this knowledge can be implemented in a real-life environment.
Conclusion
The purpose of this DNP-840 reflection essay was to demonstrate how the student has met the Grand Canyon University’s objectives and requirements. The course under consideration has allowed the student to absorb significant knowledge and master essential skills. It results in the fact that sufficient theoretical knowledge was obtained, which will increase the quality of future practice. Simultaneously, the positive effects of this situation become even more significant when it appears that the course competencies are aligned with the Essentials by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. This fact demonstrates that the student has the required skills and knowledge to cope with real-life tasks that will emerge during professional practice.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2006). The essentials of doctoral education for advanced nursing practice [PDF document]. Web.
Beeckman, D., Serraes, B., Anrys, C., Van Tiggelen, H., Van Hecke, A., & Verhaeghe, S. (2019). A multicenter prospective randomized controlled clinical trial comparing the effectiveness and cost of a static air mattresses and alternating air pressure mattress to prevent pressure ulcers in nursing home residents. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 97, 105-113. Web.
Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendiyaya, S., van Dierendonck, D., & Liden, R. C. (2019). Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111-132. Web.
Gandolfi, F., & Stone, S. (2018). Leadership, leadership styles, and servant leadership. Journal of Management Research, 18(4), 261-269.
The New York State Senate. (2021). Senate bill S5474. Web.