The Importance of Self-Awareness in the Development of Emotional Intelligence

According to Stephens, Smith, & Cherry, (2017) transition into practice for nurses’ calls for professionalism in conduct and decision making and consistency with professional values, ethics and adherence with policies and procedures. In order to achieve all these, it is necessary that nurses inculcate a sense of self-awareness, identity development and mentoring to practice. Finally, the paper also focuses on smart goals that can help the GRN enhance their transition to work.

*** THE TEXT IS CUMBERSOM, WHAT IS NEEDED IS TO TAKE 3-5 POINTS ONE PARAGRAPH FOR EACH POINT AND EXPLAIN IN DETAILS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SELF-AWARENESS***

***AN EXAMPLE WILL BE TO TALK ABOUT THESE EXAMPLES,

Self-awareness helps nurses to develop emotional intelligence Stephens, Smith, & Cherry, (2017). Emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability of an individual to be able to understand emotions. The ability to be able to differentiate between various emotions and attitudes and to be able to label them. Emotional intelligence helps nurses to be able to inform decisions and choices based on emotional knowledge and ability to discern between different outcomes of choices. Emotional intelligence also enables one to be able to handle different types of people and emotions with the intelligence it requires. Having emotional intelligence also enables one to be able to achieve their goals and to thrive well in various environments because of their ability to adapt. Self-reliance is thus important as it helps individuals to develop this skill of emotional intelligence.

1. COMPETENCY

Competency can be defined as being able to perform tasks diligently and with the least possible errors. Competency is gained with experience but it may also be developed faster when one is self-reliant. This is because a nurse is able to work without relying on help from anybody which helps them to build on their skills. When a nurse is self-reliant, he or she is able to understand their strengths and weaknesses and they are able to work on areas that they are incompetent in by seeking assistance or advancing their knowledge. Being self-reliant therefore helps a nurse to develop high levels of competence as they can set personalized goals based on their line of duty and work hard towards achieving these goals (Sanders, 2015).

Self-reliance also helps a nurse to develop skills in communication. This enables a nurse to communicate with both colleagues, other health care providers and patients in a professional way. Effective communication helps to build and cultivate mutual trust and respect which is essential in therapeutic relationships. Effective communication helps nurses to maintain both personal and professional boundaries in their practice which enables the nurse to follow rules and regulations. Effective communication also helps nurses to follow such guidelines as the informed consent process which helps them to observe set rules, regulations, professional code of ethics and standards of practice (Mellor, Gregoric, & Gillham, 2017). Communicating effectively to patients helps them to develop a positive attitude towards therapy which helps them to recover better.

Increasing Competency through Self-Reliance

Self-reliance also helps nurses to cultivate a healthy therapeutic environment Hoeve, Jansen, & Roodbol, (2014). Self-reliance helps the nurse to understand the environment the he or she operates in. the understanding of the environment helps nurses to familiarize with moral and ethical principles and the workplace culture. This is made possible because self-reliance allows a nurse to explore and familiarize themselves with their surrounding including the people around them and their cultures. The understanding of the environment to a nurse is important in that it helps nurses to understand and respect patients’ rights and the rights of other workers. To treat people justly and fairly. The knowledge of the environment also helps nurses to improve on their work as they are able to perform tasks quickly and with ease.

Transition to practice in the life of every nurse is always a critical moment since it involves the application of theoretical knowledge into practice (Hart, Brannan, & De Chesnay, 2014). It also increases the sense of responsibility as the nurse stays with the patients and cares for them sometimes without having someone to assist. Another thing that makes transition into practice a critical moment is the fact that nurses have the autonomy to make decisions regarding the patients of which if poorly made may adversely affect the life of the patients. Developing self-awareness is therefore a very important milestone for all the nurses as it helps them to develop competency in various ways.

According to Trotter-Mathison, & Skovholt, (2014) self-awareness refers to an understanding of the self in relation to the environment that one lives in. it involves knowing one’s duties and roles at the place of work, knowing one’s place in the lives of others, personal strengths and weaknesses and learning how to supplement these weaknesses.

The knowledge of all these is important to the GRN as it helps them to overcome their fears and live up to their expectations. This means that the nurses do not struggle to be right by having to keep on reading policies and procedures of practice to make sure that they are right but rather develop a sense of moral courage that gives them the determination to do what is necessary without having to be right.

Developing self-awareness also helps nurses to be conversant with their environment and be in a position to internalize the 4 P’s of professional practice Pines, Rauschhuber, Cook, Norgan, Canchola, Richardson, & Jones, (2014). Finally, self-awareness helps nurses to know what they know and understand and what they don’t know. This helps them to know when to ask for advice, when to seek help and when to direct others into the right course. It helps them to know what morals to cultivate in order to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

Effective Communication and Self-Reliance in Nurses

Relation to work life balance and resilience

***THIS PART SHOULD TALK ON HOW A GRN CAN BALANCE WORK AND LIFE AND PERSONAL LIFE. THE CHALLENGES/BARRIES OF ACHIEVING THAT***

***THE TEXT IN THIS SECTION IS NOT RELEVANT, DISCUSS IN EACH PARAGRAPH HOW IT CAN BE DANGEROUS TO HAVE AN UNBALANCED WORK LIFE BALANCE*** AND ALSO WHY IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A WORKLIFE BALANCE

**** START WITH A DIFINITION OF WORKLIFE BALANCE

According to Mellor, Gregoric, & Gillham, (2017) work life balance refers to the ability of an individual to strike a balance between their jobs and other personal activities or rather other life activities that are not related to work. Work life balance to a GRN might be difficult due to a number of challenges that may develop from fatigue, stress, anxiety and other emotional situations that may limit the productivity if the nurse outside the hospital environments. Some of the barriers that may also limit a nurse from having work life balance May also proceed from personal challenges such as ignorance, incompetency and failure to understand the environment.

It is often dangerous if a nurse is unable to achieve a work life balance. To begin with, the GRN may become unproductive at work. This may be as a result of fatigue or stress. Being unproductive at work means that the nurse is unable to complete daily tasks which may pose a risk to the lives of patients put under the care of the GRN. Such a situation is not only inconsistent with the standards of practice but it also fails to recognize patient’s right to medication.

***FOR EXAMPLE HOW CAN A GRN BALANCE WHAT HAPPENS AT WORK AND ALSO BE ABLE TO BALANCE LIFE OUTSIDE WORK WITHOUT FEELING SUPER STRESSED***

***ON RESILIANCE HOW CAN A GRN BE ABLE TO DEVELOP RESILIENCE, WHICH IS TO BOUNCE BACK EVEN AFTER SOMETHING TOUGH HAS HAPPENED AT WORK OR IN HER PERSONAL LIFE*** TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL EMOTIONS

*** START WITH DIFINITION OF RESILIANCE***

Resilience can be defined as the ability to spring forth or to recover from certain difficulty Chesak, Bhagra, Schroeder, Foy, Cutshall, & Sood, (2015). Beating in mind that some of the work that nurses do is restorative, nurses should be able to develop resilience to enable them recover from various work and life imbalances.

There are various ways a nurse can be able to develop resilience. This include by being able to set goals that enable the nurse to set targets and improve their situations. By being able to strike a balance between work and life which ensures that the GRN is not so tired from the hospital work such that they cannot handle life appropriately. Finally, by developing emotional intelligence, they are able to discern ways in which they can develop resilience by being able to renew their spirit and commitment towards setting goals and working hard to meet them.

Self-Reliance and Development of a Healthy Therapeutic Environment

In every environment, work life balance is always important to ensure that the workers can work without fear, intimidation or discontentment. In the clinical practice, work life balance and the development of a resilient approach to practice is also necessary for the GRN. Self-awareness is just but one of the very many ways that a nurse can ensure a good work life balance and a resilient approach to practice. Self-awareness however complements them all because it has a role to play in all of the four areas of professional practice.

With regard to people, self-awareness helps a nurse to understand their role in the lives of others such as the patients argues Chesak, Bhagra, Schroeder, Foy, Cutshall, & Sood, (2015). It guides nurses in creating a rapport with the society they work in. It helps the nurses to develop a sense of responsibility over the people they are entrusted and this helps them to always be ready to help and to work in the best interests of the patients and the society.

Self-awareness also helps nurses to improve on the cooperation and collaborative efforts. With improved self-awareness, nurses are able to develop respect for one another in their different areas of specialty which helps them to work without colliding or burdening others with one’s responsibilities. Nurses also develop competence and interest in sharing their knowledge and experiences in order to help other nurses. It helps the GRN not to look down on others because of their inefficiencies but to do their best to support them and guide them. Lastly it helps them to seek the support of experienced nurses to develop their skills using the crystallized intelligence acquired from many years of practice.

Self-awareness helps nurses in their efforts to practice with regard to the set policies, processes, standards, norms, values and codes of professional practice argues Hoeve, Jansen, & Roodbol, (2014). In regard to this, it helps them to know what to do and when to do it. This is important when the nurses are faced with ethical dilemmas and when they are faced with hard choices to make. Self-awareness helps develop other skills that may be instrumental in sharpening the leadership skills and helping nurses to make informed decisions. Lastly, it also helps nurses to be diligent and orderly in keeping health records and observing associated values such as confidentiality. Self-awareness trains a nurse to understand how to balance work life and having a resilient approach to clinical practice and care.

The Significance of Work-Life Balance

Increasing engagements is important as it helps a nurse to relate more with people and especially fellow nurses. This helps the nurse to understand and learn better coping skills from other nurses. Increasing engagements also helps achieve a level of relief as it helps to break monotony which develops from doing the same things over and over again. Increasing engagements also increases the overall productivity of the nurse as the nurse is able to freshen up as he or she shifts from one activity to the other. Increasing engagements brings in managerial skills that helps a nurse to be able to balance work life and develop a resilience that ensures and maintains a spirit of hard work and determination (Trotter-Mathison, & Skovholt, 2014).

1. Dealing with fatigue
2. Gaining better balance at work

I CAN SEE YOU PUT LABORATORY IN THE TEXT, WHICH I DOUBT IS NECESSARY IN NURSING, AND I ALSO SEE YOU HAVE SOMETHING ON GAINING BETTER WORK, WHICH IS GRAT. PLEASE MAKE IT MORE PRESENTABLE AND REALISTIC IN THE MEASUREMENT, REALISTIC AND ACTIONS PART.

SMART	DESCRIPTORS
Specific goal	Familiarization with the work environment, people, terms and procedures of service.
Measurement	Measured in terms of errors that the nurse makes. The lesser the errors the more successful the familiarization
Actions	Some of the actions include conducting ground checks to make sure one knows all the areas. The nurse should also spend more time with health workers and spend free time familiarizing with some procedures that he/she might have forgotten.
Realistic	Spending time with people, the environment and conducting tests is undoubtedly the best way a nurse can familiarize themselves with the profession to enable them achieve a work life balance.
Time frame	The nurse should set a time frame for instance 2 weeks so that he/she can work hard towards the attainment of the goal in the shortest possible time.

*** CAN YOU PLEASE USE EMOTIONAL INTELIGENCE AS MY SPECIFIC GOAL FOR THIS PART***

SMART	DESCRIPTIONS
Specific goal	Developing emotional intelligence for a resilient approach.
Measurement	Emotional intelligence can be measured in the ability to cope by understanding others by their weaknesses and strengths. Understanding personal strengths and weaknesses and seeking ways of complimenting them.
Actions	Think critically and develop some tools of analysis before making decisions and choices. Always spend time to meditate and reflect on every activity of the day and look for areas where one should have acted in a better way to change for the better. Seek advice to be able to improve on the weak areas.
Realistic	Practicing more on the tools of intellectual analysis in order to perfect. Making informed choices and evidence based conclusions. Familiarizing with the environment, culture, ethics and morals to understand people more. Creating healthier relationships by observing personal and professional boundaries.
Time frame	The nurse should be able to set a time frame by which he or she should have attained the desired level of resilience in speedy completion of tasks. In this case, 2 weeks is also a rational time frame to achieve this goal.

Smart Goals Recommendation *** I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE ARGUEMENT PLEASE REWORK*** FOR EXAMPLE, ARGUE USING 3 POINTS ABOUT HOW FAMILIRISATION CAN HELP A GRN INTEGRATE INTO A NEW WORK PLACE. EXAMPLE: HOW IT HELPS BOOST, CONFIDENCE, BRINGS UNDERSTANDING AND COMPETENCY  ***

***SAME ARGUMENT SHOULD BE USED FOR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE FOR RESILENCE ***

Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound goals needs to be made to ensure that the GRN has successfully become able to manage the work life and to become resilient in the clinical practice. The goals that the GRN sets are informed by the level of understanding, commitment and the extent to which the nurse is able to balance work life (Mellor, Gregoric, & Gillham, 2017). Therefore, as a registered nurse the important goals to be set will ensure how fast and how effectively a nurse develops resilience at the facility.

These goals include; familiarization with the work environment, people, terms and procedures of service. This should be measured in terms of errors that the nurse makes. The lesser the errors the more successful the familiarization (Sanders, 2015). This is an attainable goal, which is also realistic depending on the time set to achieve this goal. Two weeks for instance is enough time for a nurse to develop professional conduct. Another goal that the nurse may set is the number of working hours or the number of patients to attend to in a day. For instance if the nurse sets a target of 50 different patients, it means that the nurse will work hard towards attaining this goal. If again the nurse sets a time frame of two weeks, it means that by the end of two weeks the nurse will be able to have attained some level of resilience because he or she will be able to attend to patients in a professional way just like a well-experienced nurse in the clinical specialty facility.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to highlight that with the right professional development strategies, transition to practice for the GRN is easier and more effective. It is therefore important for nurses to develop these professional development strategies such as self-reliance which helps them to shape all aspects of their professional care and achieve work life balance and resilience in the specialized care practice. It is also of great importance for the GRN to set smart goals that guides him or her towards attaining resilience and professionalism.

. This paper focuses on self-awareness as an important professional development strategy during the transition to practice. Consequently, the paper addresses the implications of self-awareness and how it helps achieve a work life balance and the development of a resilient approach

References

Chesak, S. S., Bhagra, A., Schroeder, D. R., Foy, D. A., Cutshall, S. M., & Sood, A. (2015). Enhancing resilience among new nurses: feasibility and efficacy of a pilot intervention. The Ochsner Journal, 15(1), 38-44.

Hart, P. L., Brannan, J. D., & De Chesnay, M. (2014). Resilience in nurses: an integrative review. Journal of nursing management, 22(6), 720-734.

Hoeve, Y. T., Jansen, G., & Roodbol, P. (2014). The nursing profession: public image, self?concept and professional identity. A discussion paper. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(2), 295-309.

Mellor, P., Gregoric, C., & Gillham, D. (2017). Strategies new graduate registered nurses require to care and advocate for themselves: A literature review. Contemporary nurse, 53(3), 390-405.

Pines, E. W., Rauschhuber, M. L., Cook, J. D., Norgan, G. H., Canchola, L., Richardson, C., & Jones, M. E. (2014). Enhancing resilience, empowerment, and conflict management among baccalaureate students: outcomes of a pilot study. Nurse Educator, 39(2), 85-90.

Sanders, E. D. (2015). Nursing resilience: a nursing opportunity. Nursing administration quarterly, 39(2), 132-136.

Stephens, T. M., Smith, P., & Cherry, C. (2017). Promoting resilience in new perioperative nurses. AORN journal, 105(3), 276-284.

Trotter-Mathison, M., & Skovholt, T. (2014). The resilient practitioner: Burnout prevention and self-care strategies for counselors, therapists, teachers, and health professionals. Routledge.