Study Guide for Certification Exam Discussion

The nurse practitioner national certification exams forms part of the most essential examinations in becoming a certified nurse practitioner. National certification exams are examinations that are meant to assess the competency of nurse practitioners before certifying them and allowing them to start their practice. In the next few months, I will be sitting for my nurse practitioner national certification exams and this is one of the most stressful moments given that I am trying my best to strive and pass the exam. Just like all other exams, the nurse practitioner national certification exams are a source of anxiety for me and  feel the need to prepare adequately so that I will pass my exams to become a certified nurse practitioner. This paper will help in reviewing some of the areas of my strengths and opportunities for improvement as well as create a study plan that will guide me in accomplishing by goals. Study Guide for Certification Exam Discussion

Strengths and opportunities for improvement

Self-assessment as a nursing student is essential because it helps I highlight ones strengths and weaknesses, which helps to identify ways of enhancing ones strengths by utilizing available opportunities. As I complete my last round in clinical, I have realized that I have significantly gained lot of knowledge in nursing but unfortunately, I have some other areas of weaknesses that I feel I need to work on to enhance my efficiency. My strengths are majorly as a result of repeated practice of the real issues in nursing that have given me an opportunity to advance my knowledge and capabilities to adequately solve clinical issues with ease. Some of the areas that I have gained most are those that I have had an opportunity to encounter real life experiences and hence, tackle them.

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One of my strengths as a nurse include the development of accurate, precise and fundamental assessment questions. The assessment stage in healthcare is one of the most essential stages in the treatment plan because it is what defines the ultimate decisions concerning treatment plans. Clinical assessment in nursing is essential because it helps in the collection of information from the patient that is used to draw conclusions based on the patient’s symptoms. During the assessment phase, one of the most essential strategies is direct interviews where the clinical questions are formulated to the patient that helps in collecting subjective data from the patient that can be used to identify the patient’s clinical issues. Given the importance of the assessment stage, I have realized that I have strengths in formulating precise and effective questions that are essential in gathering essential clinical information. Study Guide for Certification Exam Discussion

Also, another strength includes the ability to put the patient at ease in a situation that can help in obtaining accurate answers to the proposed questions. Patient assessment is mostly done in form of interviews where the patient’s state of being at ease is essential in obtaining accurate answers. Like any other interview, patient assessment requires the input of the nurse such as promoting a friendly and helpful tone for the questions to minimize barriers to effective communication. For instance, I have the ability to inform my patients that the information that they will provide will remain private and can only be used for medical purposes. Most patients may have symptoms and other disease conditions that they may fear because they feel that the conditions are odd and hence, fear to revel their condition. Informing patients of the privacy of their information will help in reinforcing confidence and therefore give correct are accurate answers to the assessment questions. Also, I have a habit of avoiding my telephone while performing patient assessment because it helps to show the patient my commitment and concern to their issues.

In addition, I have developed the habit of writing down all the responses from the patient because they help in enhancing the assessment stage as the patient feels that their responses are considered important and this enhances the patient-nurse rapport. In addition, writing the responses from the patients helps to ensure none of the responses is forgotten because they are part of what is used in formulating a treatment plan.Study Guide for Certification Exam Discussion

Also, I have good listening skills and the ability to form good relationship with the patients. During the assessment, I always try to show the patient that I am attentively listening by paying attention to their responses without pardoning them regularly. Also, I try to recommend them for their feedback and pose sentiments to allow them give further information thereby improving our relationship.

Despite of the strengths that I have acquired all through, I have also identified some weaknesses that I need to work on to improve my competence as a nurse practitioner. First, I have issues in developing an appropriate treatment plan for my patients. I lack the confidence to independently develop an appropriate treatment plan for my patients without consulting my preceptor. However, my preceptor always accepts my proposed treatment plans as effective for my particular patients which highlights my competence in that area. This weakness is particularly a challenge for my practice because with the nurse shortage globally, I foresee a situation where I am in the facility alone and there is nobody to guide me in developing a treatment plan for my patients. With adequate practice however, I will develop the confidence to initiate an effective treatment plan for my patients without any doubts.

Create a study plan, including specific goals and the tasks you need to complete to accomplish each goal. Include a timetable for accomplishing them and a description of how you will measure your progress. Study Guide for Certification Exam Discussion

Starting this new quarter, I want to register with a nursing website such as discover nursing which is an essential tool in enlightening my future as a nurse practitioner. The website was specifically created with the aim of dealing with the nurse shortage, therefore, the website provides several tools that are of great benefit for professionals and students. One of the challenges that io face include the ability to properly figure out my life as a nurse practitioner and this is the main cause of anxiety that sometimes prevents me from acting as an active nurse practitioner. The anxiety has been my hindrance in developing an ideal treatment plan for my patients hence, incapacitating my practice. Registering in resourceful website will expose me to real life experiences from professionals. The experience from professionals is essential in shedding light on the role of a nurse practitioner which may form part of the questions in my certification exams. While utilizing the website, I will have an opportunity to practice clinical questions that are essential in broadening my expertise and experiences to handle diverse questions pertaining my practice. I will initiate a target of solving at least 100 questions per week and posting questions for issues that I maty find difficult in solving. By the end of my session, I will be more than 80 percent conversant with various treatment plans for a variety of disease conditions.

Another goal for this quarter is to try and practice a case study every week so that I will have the confidence to formulate an effective treatment plan. Case studies are essential tools that helps in reinforcing knowledge and skills among nursing students because they are a true reflection of the real life experience in a clinical setting. Case studies offer an opportunity for one to have  real experience outside the clinical setting and this challenges one to put into practice their knowledge and skills to solve clinical problems.  Along with the use of the website, I will also use my course wok to identify appropriate case studies that help in guiding me to make correct assessments and appropriate treatment plans. By the end of the quarter, I will be approximately 80 percent comfortable in effectiveness in terms of patient assessment and development of treatment plans. Study Guide for Certification Exam Discussion

A third goal for this quarter is to study common diseases among adults in acute care settings to increase my knowledge on the genetic and environmental causes of diseases among the elderly to help in developing appropriate treatment plans for the patients. There are important resources such as the Walden library that I can use to learn the various disease processes related to the case studies. At the end of the quarter, I will be t least 90 percent conversant with various disease processes hence improve my practice experience.

Describe resources you would use to accomplish your goals and tasks, such as ways to participate in a study group or review course, mnemonics and other mental strategies, and print or online resources you could use to study.

The ability to influence my learning, will be determined by the application of appropriate strategies and resources that enhance my learning process. One of the  significant characteristics for this case is that I am a visual learner who can benefit significantly by either reding or through the use of visual presentations such as power point presentations and videos.  YouTube is one of the most essential resources that I will use in improving my knowledge and skills because it has relevant videos that can guide nurse practitioners in all stages of clinical practice including assessment and development of appropriate treatment plans. Besides, YouTube does not require much input such as subscribing to have the videos, instead, a steady network connection is sufficient to access useful videos.

Besides, as stated above the website will be another useful resource that will improve my knowledge and skills in that it will give me access to several case studies and questions that will guide my study. Alongside the website, the Walden university will also provide access to other relevant case studies associated with my coursework. Study Guide for Certification Exam Discussion

Assignment: Study Plan
For this Assignment, you are to identify strengths and areas that need development and create a tailored study plan that you will use after this course to help you prepare for the National Certification Examination. This will serve as an action plan to help you track your goals, tasks, and progress as you near the examination.

To Prepare:
Reflect on your prior coursework. Identify content-area strengths and opportunities for improvement.
The Assignment:

Summarize your strengths and opportunities for improvement.
Create a study plan, including specific goals and the tasks you need to complete to accomplish each goal. Include a timetable for accomplishing them and a description of how you will measure your progress.
Describe resources you would use to accomplish your goals and tasks, such as ways to participate in a study group or review course, mnemonics and other mental strategies, and print or online resources you could use to study. Study Guide for Certification Exam Discussion