Week 6 Discussion: Reflection on 19th and 20th Century Nursing (Graded)

Sample Answer for Week 6 Discussion: Reflection on 19th and 20th Century Nursing (Graded) Included After Question

Discussion

Reflect on 19^th and 20^th century nurses and events discussed this week. Which nurse or event from that time period will best guide your current professional nursing practice? Why?

A Sample Answer for the Assignment: Week 6 Discussion: Reflection on 19th and 20th Century Nursing (Graded)

Title: Week 6 Discussion: Reflection on 19th and 20th Century Nursing (Graded)

The nurse that stood out to me the most when reading about the 19th and 20th-century nurses was Linda Richards.  According to the Week 6 Lesson, Richards developed the first nursing documentation system (Chamberlain University, n.d.).  I chose this nurse because charting is an aspect of nursing that is vital for patient care and will always be vital for patient care.  Documentation has greatly evolved over the years.  Most healthcare facilities now utilize electronic documentation.  Without Richard’s contributions to the documentation system, we may not have the good practice of documenting in place today.  I do my best to document everything to the best of my ability while I am working.  Proper documentation helps ensure that patients are receiving safe and quality care.  As nurses, I think that we have all experienced driving home from work only to realize that we forgot to tell the next nurse a piece of information in shift report.  If you document appropriately, the next nurse should be able to see your notes to see what happened during your shift.  For example, if a patient became febrile towards the end of your shift and you gave them Tylenol, you should make sure that all of this was documented in the patient’s chart.  This is important because the oncoming nurse may wonder why the patient is febrile when they check their vitals and give them Tylenol even though the patient just received it.  If you did not document your findings and interventions, a medication error could be made that could be harmful to the patient.  Documentation is also necessary for billing and legal purposes.  It is important to document everything that we do as nurses.  Documentation will continue to be a crucial aspect of nursing.  Documentation is the one way that we can “prove” what we do as nurses.  Every nurse educator and manager that I have encountered always has said “if it’s not documented, it wasn’t done”.  Those are words to truly live by as nurses.  We do so much for our patients and it is important for those interventions to be seen in the clinical documentation.  

After reading about the many amazing nurses in the 19^th and 20^th century, the nurse that I still admire for the contribution she has made in history is Margaret Sanger. She fought for the rights of women in having control of their own body. Her determination in influencing and advocating for birth control changed history. Without her, birth control could still be nonexistent or even illegal. She pushed to educate and bring awareness to lower class communities on various forms of birth control. This allowed women to work on their careers and become financially stable before thinking about starting a family if they choose to. She inspires me to empower women and make them feel confident when they feel like they have no control. Working in the Emergency department, I have come across women who have been sexually abused and harassed, and through Sanger I have become more educated and aware to advocate for women who do not know about their options and the choices they can make for themselves. Sanger has placed me in a position where I can continue to empower women that come into my care, and advocate for them when they feel like they not being heard and seen. Working with women who come to the facility for abuse or who are mentally unstable gives me the opportunity to practice the compassion Sanger had in ensuring women are given a voice.

5. Grading Rubric

Discussion Criteria	 A (100%) Outstanding or highest level of performance 	B (87%) Very good or high level of performance	C (76%) Competent or satisfactory level of performance	F (0) Poor or failing or unsatisfactory level of performance
Answers the initial graded threaded discussion question(s)/topic(s), demonstrating knowledge and understanding of concepts for the week. 16 points	Addresses all aspects of the initial discussion question(s) applying experiences, knowledge, and understanding regarding all weekly concepts.16 points	Addresses most aspects of the initial discussion question(s) applying experiences, knowledge, and understanding of most of the weekly concepts.14 points	Addresses some aspects of the initial discussion question(s) applying experiences, knowledge, and understanding of some of the weekly concepts.12 points	Minimally addresses the initial discussion question(s) or does not address the initial question(s).0 points
Integrates evidence to support discussion. Sources are credited.* ( APA format not required) 12 points	Integrates evidence to support your discussion from:assigned readings** OR online lessons, ANDat least one outside scholarly source.***Sources are credited.*12 points	Integrates evidence to support discussion from:assigned readings OR online lesson.Sources are credited.*10 points	Integrates evidence to support discussion only from an outside source with no mention of assigned reading or lesson.Sources are credited.*9 points	Does not integrate any evidence.0 points
Engages in meaningful dialogue with classmates or instructor before the end of the week. 14 points	Responds to a classmate and/or instructor’s post furthering the dialogue by providing more information and clarification, thereby adding much depth to the discussion.14 points	Responds to a classmate and/or instructor furthering the dialogue by adding some depth to the discussion.12 points	Responds to a classmate and/or instructor but does not further the discussion.10 points	No response post to another student or instructor.0 points
Communicates in a professional manner. 8 points	Presents information using clear and concise language in an organized manner (minimal errors in English grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation).8 points	Presents information in an organized manner (few errors in English grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation).7 points	Presents information using understandable language but is somewhat disorganized (some errors in English grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation).6 points	Presents information that is not clear, logical, professional or organized to the point that the reader has difficulty understanding the message (numerous errors in English grammar, spelling, syntax, and/or punctuation).0 points
PARTICIPATION: Response to initial question: Responds to initial discussion question(s) by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. M.T.	0 points lostStudent posts an answer to the initial discussion question(s) by Wednesday, 11:59 p . m. MT.		-5 pointsStudent does not post an answer to the initial discussion question(s) by Wednesday, 11:59 p . m. MT.
PARTICIPATION Total posts: Participates in the discussion thread at least three times on at least two different days.	0 points lostPosts in the discussion at least three times AND on two different days.		-5 pointsPosts fewer than three times OR does not participate on at least two different days.