My Practicum Experience
Among the many experiences I have had in my life, my practicum experience tops the list as the best. Why? The knowledge and skills gained during this period have helped me become the all-rounded qualified professional I am today. In the institution, I was practicing in, and I will withhold the name for confidentiality purposes, I faced some challenges and achieved some goals and objectives career-wise.
The orientation structure provided during the introductory phase was limited, which stimulated some difficulties in executing the duties that I was delegated to do. The gap in training and communication between the interns and the administration resulted in ambiguity. Before adapting to the environment, we would feel lost or left out of the operations. Second, I recall instances where the hospital’s official staff inappropriately treated me. The duties delegated by the senior nurses were out of my area of study. Furthermore, the delegation was for their benefits, not for my learning purposes. I also witnessed the lack of collaboration because the supervisor I was assigned to would outrightly fail to help me when I need guidance or follow-up.
Despite the shortcomings, I had the opportunity to meet fellow interns from different institutions. I discovered that although we majored in different majors, our goal objective was to gain more experience to deliver better health services to patients. This provided a sense of belonging improved morale in adapting to the new environment. Working with new people who came from different backgrounds also helped me know how to deal with people well regardless of the different beliefs and cultures that we may have. Although some of the colleagues were mean, most of them were kind and supportive, which helped me feel accepted, respected, and understood. Overall, the practicum gave me the chance to apply my sound clinical judgment and critical thinking in patient care and the development of time management and delegation skills.