Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP Program Discussion

Before starting clinical, write a brief self-reflection paper. Address the following topics in your paper:

Personal goals for this course, including what you hope to learn clinically

Population you will be working with during your clinical, your experience working with this population in the past, and your comfort level with this population

Skills you feel you have adequately developed up to this point

Skills you want to enhance during this clinical experience

Any other thoughts or concerns relevant to this clinical experience

Previous clinical rotations included Walk-in or Urgent care clinic and Primary care clinic. Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP Program Discussion

This semester clinical rotation settings include Urology, Orthopedic and Occupation medicine.

ORDER  HERE A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

I’m in the Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP program.

Self-Reflection Paper

This is a self-reflection paper that I am writing before I start my clinical rotation. In it I am intending to address several aspects that include my personal goals for the course, the population demographic that I will be working with during the clinical rotation, the skills that I feel I have properly developed to date, and the skills that I would like to improve during the upcoming clinical rotation.

Personal Goals

The precise areas that I still believe I need to become more proficient in are taken into account in the personal goals I have set for myself during this course. They are all relevant to my area of expertise as an AGPCNP, or adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner (AANP, 2020; ANCC, n.d.). These goals are realistic, time-bound, detailed, measurable, and reachable. The following are the three personal objectives/ goals that I have identified: Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP Program Discussion

65. By the end of the course, alone and without assistance, conduct full physical examinations on 15 or more senior people older than 65.
66. By the end of the course, to independently and without assistance determine the required diagnostic tests and other tests for 15 or more elderly persons (65 years of age or older).
67. By the end of the course, choose and prescribe the best pharmaceutical and nonpharmacological therapies for 15 or more senior patients (65 years old) with a variety of diseases, while taking the risks of polypharmacy into consideration.

Some of the things that I hope to learn clinically this time include the correct use of assessment tools such as the AD8 Informant Interview and the Clock-Drawing Test for Alzheimer’s. The other thing I hope to learn clinically is how to select the best nonpharmacologic interventions in place of drugs to reduce detrimental polypharmacy (Nguyen et al., 2020). I hope to be competent enough in these areas by the end of the clinical rotation. Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP Program Discussion

Population Demographic

My upcoming clinical rotation will be in the areas of Urology, Orthopedic and Occupation medicine. In these settings and especially in Urology and Orthopedic settings, I expect to encounter large numbers of elderly patients. The population demographic of patients that I expect to be working with during the clinical rotation is therefore that of senior citizens aged 65 years and above. These are formally referred to as the elderly; and they form a crucial patient population for the AGPCNP.

In the past, my clinical rotations have been in the Urgent Care Clinic and Primary Care Clinic. In these settings, I have had the opportunity of working with elderly patients and so I have quite some previous experience already working with the population. I discovered that senior citizens frequented the Urgent Care Clinic especially because they have several comorbid and pre-existing conditions that make them chronically ill. My comfort level working with this population of patients is quite high. I feel very comfortable working with them, even when my preceptor is not around. Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP Program Discussion

Skills

Some of the skills that I feel I have sufficiently developed to date include proper history taking, systematic physical examination, and selection of appropriate tests or investigations. However, I still feel I need to enhance the skills of patient evaluation, prescribing, and follow up.

Additional Thoughts or Concerns

The other thought/ concern pertinent to this clinical experience is that first I am worried that the time allocated by the course for the rotation may not be enough for me. This means that I may have to perfect the psychomotor skills I want next time; and this may be during practice. However, I intend to make good use of the available time and to leverage the support and experience of my preceptor.  Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP Program Discussion

References

American Association of Nurse Practitioners [AANP] (June 17, 2020). Are you considering a career as an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner? https://www.aanp.org/news-feed/are-you-considering-a-career-as-an-adult-gerontology-primary-care-nurse-practitioner

American Nurses Credentialing Centre [ANCC] (n.d.). Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Certification (AGPCNP-BC^®). https://www.nursingworld.org/our-certifications/psychiatric-mental-health-nurse-practitioner/

Nguyen, T., Wong, E., & Ciummo, F. (2020). Polypharmacy in older adults: Practical applications alongside a patient case. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 16(3), 205-209.  Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP Program Discussion