Korero Hauora Health Talk - Taranaki District Health Board

How Post Graduate Study HasInfluenced My Clinical PracticeDevelopmentBy Cheryl Sole, RGON, BN, IBCLC, Master of NursingNeonatal Homecare Nurse / Lactation ConsultantI have been privileged to have undertaken post graduate (PG) education focusingaround the child and family within a neonatal context. My journey was one of personalenlightenment and growth alongside professional academic achievements whichhelped in development of my nursing role as the Neo Natal Homecare Nurse andLactation Consultant for the Taranaki District Health Board.Reflecting on the years of study, they corresponded to the need for me to acquirethe knowledge I felt I needed to practice autonomously within the community. PGeducation allowed me to stretch the parameters of my knowledge to look at the worldin which I live and work and critique myself and my nursing ways. I began learningabout myself; what values, beliefs and judgements guided my decision making andwhere they came from and why. The need for self reflection and adjustment is now anongoing process as it helps inform and contribute to my safe nursing practice.To be able to practice safely I undertook child protection studies so that I would havea greater knowledge of child protection issues and all the agencies in the communityto access, if and when I needed their input. As we send infants home that are not fullybreast feeding from the neonatal unit, it was necessary for me to increase my breastfeeding knowledge and I became a Lactation Consultant which supports infantsbreast feeding longer and mothers with difficult breast feeding issues. My AdvancedAssessment and Reasoning Paper for Tamariki stretched my learning further but itwas important for me to develop a systematic approach for infant examination in thehome. The teaching paper and all the presentations I have done gave me confidenceto present to others. Nursing theorists like Jean Watson and her caring philosophycentred my nursing focus back to why I was nursing.I value the influence Gwen Hartrick Doane has given to my nursing practice as sheintroduced her nursing theory of relational practice within a care model which I usedaily with the people I come into contact with. Caring for an infant and their family/whanau comes from a deep respect for their humanity and I work with families/whanauto empower them to make health decisions that are meaningful to them. Caringand healing mean different things to us all and by allowing myself to be open to theunderstandings of another persons world has helped me learn more from the mothersand families/whanau I visit than I ever thought possible.PG learning has given me the confidence to make autonomous decisions associatedwith referral and action for infants and families/whanau in the communities and whenthey are readmitted back into the hospital. It has allowed the transition of care tobe seamless from the hospital to the home with the parents knowing they will notbe alone in their journey; and they decide when they get discharged, not me. PGeducation has changed my way of thinking and being in the world and I see a biggerview, trust all my knowledge and intuition to care for the infants, families/ whanau,myself and others around me.312011 Korero Hauora - Health Talk