The author of this paper believes that she can

properly and safely. The author of this paper believes that she can improve her leadership and
management skills as she has not had much experience in these areas. By increasing her
knowledge and building up her skills she will only improve her ability to be a better nurse all
around. We as nurses all have voices and by sharing what we know we continue to learn from
each other making the future of nursing one of the strongest professions there is.
Reflective Practice Reference Behaviors/Tenants
This area of nursing can get rather confusing. The author of this paper believes she is
very competent in this area. She understands that everyone can have different beliefs and values
and she respects that, even if they are not the same as her own. While going through these
courses for her BSN the author has learned more about different cultures and what their beliefs
are. During her ADN program they did not focus on the different cultural or religious beliefs
much, she believes they should as this is very important in caring for people of different cultural
groups. There are times when a patient’s beliefs may be unsafe practice, this nurse will then just

try to educate the patient the best that she can on why she cannot honor their wishes. She
respects them and wants them to understand it is not because she doesn’t want to but she
physically cannot without putting her license in jeopardy. This author believes it is important to
constantly be willing to learn, if you do not know or understand something, do the research,
understand it, and become comfortable with it. This should be a commitment that all nurses are
willing to do as healthcare is always changing and learning new things is part of daily work.
Conclusion
As nurses we need to advocate for our patients, their families, and the community itself
as a whole. We must not forget to be advocates for ourselves as well. To advocate means to
identify issues and then find solutions that can be implemented to improve the workplace
(Tomajan, 2012). With a large number of nurses looking to retire in the near future, my job as a
nurse will be to continue learning and developing as a nurse so that I can help new nurses
coming into the profession learn and grow as well. My current position as a wound nurse in the
clinic is wonderful. I can use the knowledge that I gain in my daily work and help to teach others
about pressure relieving techniques and devices, different types of treatment, benefits of
hyperbaric oxygen, etc. I can do more with my knowledge, instead of just talking with the new