Critical Reflection Nursing Doctoral Program

I am optimistic that I will achieve my dream of improving healthcare provision. I have noticed that I have developed a different kind of thinking, I have a quired a lot of skills, I have also developed critical research skills that are needed in the field of nursing. As a developing researcher, I have traveled through the ghosts of my past as I predict the future. I believe I have made tremendous changes that will help in my future career as a nurse researcher. I believe that we all have dreams and that individuals who put their dreams into action are likely to attain success. This paper provides a reflection of my journey towards attaining a doctorate degree in nursing. I will discuss the relevance of reflection to a doctoral nurse practitioner and how I have become a better practitioner.

It is essential to note that patient-centered healthcare is the basis of nursing practice. Nurses should ensure they have the interest of the patient at heart. Therefore, it essential for healthcare practitioners to look back and evaluate how they have attained such patient-centeredness in their previous educational and clinical practices (Fowler, 2015). Through the reflections, I realized that our perception, knowledge, and attitude are highly determined by the experiences we have undergone through. For example, I have learned that evidenced-based practice and evidenced-based management are the pillars of safe and high-quality healthcare services (Lusk & Fater, 2013). The nursing doctoral program has made me realized the relevance of research in a clinical setting. The previous reflections have provided me with an opportunity to look at my past as a plan for the future.

Reflection is considered to be a helpful human activity in which individuals can recapture their experience, mull over and evaluate as they think about their experiences. I wanted to make things better. I believed that the quality and safety of healthcare could be improved. My aim was to help in the integration of a patient-centered approach in managing healthcare situations. Therefore, I made a decision to dedicate my life to improve my profession. I believe that my job is to make my nursing staff and students feel that all the hard work is worthy, and they should realize that providing help to other people is just as rewarding. Such an aspect made it difficult for me to adjust to a new system that requires students to carry out research every now and then.

I must admit that it took me time to adjust to my new life. However, I came to enjoy the process. I became interested in the numerous discoveries that I came across while going through the nursing databases. I considered this a transition process, and like any change, the process of transition is usually challenging. As a curious person, I have taken advantage of such a trait to keep on discovering new nursing concepts. Mostly, I have come to realize the process of finding evidenced-based strategies that can be used to improve healthcare processes. Because of my curious and inquisitive nature, I have understood the role of scholars-practitioners; the roles of a scholar-practitioner involve dedicating time and effort to writing scientific research as a response to questions and issues related to his/her field of specialization, publishing research, participating in academic and professional seminars and workshops as a speaker to share knowledge and ideas with others, and creating connections between two or more communities (Kuhn, 2002) such as the academe and health care.

Relevance of the Program Achieving a doctorate in nursing is a prestigious achievement that will not only make me knowledgeable but will make me a more competent practitioner in the job market (Al-Nawafleh, Zeilani & Evans, 2013). Higher education may seem to be daunting for several people, a phenomenon that can be seen by the fact that there are very few people with doctorate qualifications. I was a nursing director before joining the academic staff in a nursing college in Saudi Arabia, and I have an excellent connection and relationship with other healthcare professions in many hospitals in my country. Most of them have faith in me and hope to improve nurses and midwives’ education in Saudi Arabia, I hope I can do so in the future.

According to Jenlink, (2005) scholar-practitioner should represent a response to questions and concerns posed by the tensions and paradoxes of others life. As a healthcare scholar-practitioner, I should make more efforts to understand and engage in solving specific problems that affect the healthcare performance and work quality. I will, therefore, rely on the skills and knowledge I shall have acquired during my doctorate program to improve the nursing environment in Saudi Arabia. Generally, I am a better person, I am capable of distinguishing peer-reviewed and academic research materials from non-academic materials. Therefore, I will be able to keep in touch with emerging trends in the field of healthcare and promote the application of high quality and safe healthcare provisions. Weaknesses The fact that I am from Saudi Arabia makes it difficult for me to fully adapt the learning systems in America.

My weakness in writing my research is the English language spelling and grammatical mistakes because of I am not a native English speaker. In order to become a better writer, I have resorted to reading peer-reviewed articles a lot to enhance my academic writing skills. I will ensure that I provide tangible evidence to ensure that these leaders are convinced that I have practical ideas. Success in Research Process I believe that the high-quality research is depicted by the ability of professionals to work collaboratively with members of interdisciplinary teams. This is because the collaborative practice is a core competency in health professions practice (Panel, 2011). I plan to improve skills that will make me more effective in collaborative practice environments. For instance, I plan to improve my inter-professional communication and teamwork skills.