Caring with Intention: The Making of A Nurse

Sleep Deprivation

I chose the topic of sleep deprivation because it’s something I’ve personally struggled with while balancing school, work, and life. Learning about how lack of sleep affects nurses helped me understand why I sometimes feel mentally “foggy” or impatient after long days. Research shows that nurses who experience sleep deprivation have reduced cognitive performance, slower reaction times, and higher risk of making errors (Kaliyaperumal et al., 2017). This made me think differently about how my own sleep habits directly affect how I learn and function. It’s not just about feeling tired—it affects safety and judgment.

Professionally, this topic matters because many nurses work rotating shifts or nights. ICU nurses, for example, often struggle with alertness due to job demands and inconsistent sleep patterns (Ganesan et al., 2024). Understanding this helps me appreciate how much rest matters in high-pressure environments. I can see how poor sleep doesn’t just impact the nurse—it affects patient care and teamwork.

My artifacts, such as my sleep journal and a picture of my meditation and reading space helped me remove screen time before bed allowing me to connect the research to my own habits. They showed me how small changes, like winding down earlier or limiting screen time, actually made a noticeable difference. This topic reminded me that if I want to be fully present for patients in the future, prioritizing sleep now is essential

BPSS Model & Nursing Practice

I chose the biopsychosocial-spiritual (BPSS) model because it reflects the kind of nurse I want to become—someone who sees the patient as a whole person rather than just a diagnosis. The BPSS model aligns closely with holistic nursing, which emphasizes caring for the mind, body, spirit, and social environment of each individual (Journal of Holistic Nursing, n.d.). Before this course, I mostly focused on the physical and psychological aspects of patient care, but learning about spiritual and social influences helped me see how interconnected health truly is.

Personally, this model helped me reflect on the different factors that shape my own well-being. I realized that stress, relationships, and personal beliefs all affect how I function. Professionally, the BPSS approach helps nurses build stronger therapeutic relationships because it acknowledges the complexity of each patient’s experience. Research also shows that a nurse’s professional self-concept influences how they understand and practice holistic care (Miao et al., 2024), which made me think about how my own identity will shape my approach to patients.

My artifacts—My T-shirt project that highlights the 6 wellness domains and my spirituality and ties into the diagram of the BPSS components. This helped me visualize and apply this model in a meaningful way. They made the concept feel practical instead of theoretical. This topic ultimately reinforced the importance of slowing down and seeing the full picture of a person’s health experience.

Gibbs Reflection Model- Reflection + Mindfulness

I chose to use Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle together with mindfulness because both approaches help me slow down and make sense of my experiences in a way that feels manageable. Sometimes reflection can feel like something I’m just trying to “get through,” but Gibbs’ model gives me a clear structure that makes the process feel more organized and less overwhelming. Mindfulness supports this because it helps me notice what I’m feeling without immediately judging myself, which makes my reflection feel more honest and grounded. Research shows that mindfulness can strengthen a practitioner’s ability to reflect by improving awareness and emotional regulation (Epstein, 1999).

I also learned that how nurses see themselves professionally affects how we reflect and learn from our practice. When nurses have a stronger, more positive professional self-concept, they tend to feel more confident and make more effective clinical decisions (Arthur, 1995). Understanding this helped me see why mindfulness matters not just for staying calm, but for becoming more aware of my thoughts, reactions, and sense of identity as a nurse. That awareness makes my reflection more meaningful and helps me connect what I’m learning to the kind of nurse I want to become.

My artifacts - a mindfulness script and a small sketch of “pause before reaction” reflect how this topic impacted me personally. Using both tools helped me identify patterns in how I respond to stress or miscommunication. This topic taught me that being reflective and present isn’t just beneficial for learning it’s essential for safe, compassionate nursing practice.

Interprofessional Communication & Collaboration

I chose this topic because healthcare today is built on teamwork, and nurses are often the central communicators in the system. Reading the research helped me understand how interprofessional collaboration (IPC) actually works in practice. For example, systematic reviews show that effective IPC improves patient outcomes and reduces fragmentation of care (Schot et al., 2020). Another study argues that IPC is essential for safe, equitable, and person-centered care (Samuriwo et al., 2022). These findings helped me see that collaboration isn’t optional—it’s a core part of professional responsibility.

Personally, this topic made me reflect on how I communicate in group settings. I sometimes hold back out of fear of being wrong, but learning about the importance of shared decision-making and role clarity helped me appreciate that every team member’s voice matters. Professionally, this is empowering because it shows that effective communication improves trust and confidence within a team.

My artifacts—a SBAR form to display effective communication as a nurse in the workplace, and communication a checklist helped me connect theory to real experiences. They showed how easily miscommunication can happen, but also how powerful good communication can be. This topic reminded me that strong teamwork requires active effort, respect, and clear communication strategies.

Components of Self-Concept in Practice

I chose the topic of self-concept because it shapes how I learn, how I interact with others, and how confident I feel in clinical settings. A recent study found that among critical-care nurses, a stronger professional self-concept is significantly associated with better clinical performance: nurses who rated higher on self-concept measures also tend to have higher scores in clinical judgment and overall clinical performance (Eskandari et al., 2021). Reflecting on this helps me think critically about which aspects of my self-concept such as confidence, professional identity, or competence I feel solid in, and which areas I still need to strengthen to provide quality care. In decision-making nurses with stronger professional self-concept tend to make more confident and accurate decisions (Aboalrob et al., 2025). Knowing this motivated me to take self-awareness more seriously as part of my professional development.

Personally, exploring this topic helped me see how past experiences, values, and beliefs shape how I respond in practice. It made me think about the kind of nurse I hope to become and how my current habits and attitudes contribute to that identity. Professionally, this understanding helps nurses avoid assumptions about patients. Recognizing that self-concept affects how people interpret illness or change reminded me that every patient sees themselves differently.

My artifacts—a visual map of self concept and a picture of me in scrubs. I chose a picture of myself as an artifact for the topic because it captures how I perceive and present myself in the world. Self-concept is made up of the beliefs, feelings, and perceptions we hold about ourselves, including self-image, self-esteem, and ideal self. This picture represents not just my physical appearance, but also the emotions, expressions, and confidence I associate with who I am. It serves as a visual reflection of my self-image, showing how I see myself and how I want to be seen by others. By selecting this image, I can explore the connections between how I feel about myself internally and how I express that identity outwardly, making it a meaningful artifact to examine the components of my self-concept in practice. This topic showed me that developing a strong, positive self-concept isn’t just personal growth—it directly affects the quality of care I’ll provide.

References

Aboalrob, M., Abuadas, M., & Al Qadire, M. (2025). Professional self-concept and its impact on nurses’ decision-making: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 33(1), 45–57.

Arthur, D. (1995). Measurement of the professional self-concept of nurses: Developing a measurement instrument. Nurse Education Today, 15(5), 328–335

Epstein, R. M. (1999). Mindful practice. Journal of the American Medical Association, 282(9), 833–839.

Eskandari, N., Khademi, A., Maleki, M., & Rassouli, M. (2021). Relationship between clinical performance and professional self-concept in critical care nurses. Frontiers of Nursing, 8(4), 437–443. https://doi.org/10.2478/fon-2021-0044

Ganesan, S., Magee, M., Stone, J. E., Mulrine, H. M., Collins, A., Howard, M. E., Lockley, S. W., & Rajaratnam, S. M. W. (2024). The impact of shift work on sleep, alertness, and performance in nurses. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 69, 101999.

Journal of Holistic Nursing. (n.d.). Holistic nursing practice and the importance of whole-person care. SAGE Publications.

Kaliyaperumal, D., Elango, Y., Seshadri, M., & Adithyajothi, S. (2017). Effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive functions among nurses. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, 11(8), CC01–CC03.

Miao, R., Zhou, Y., Li, Q., & Zhang, W. (2024). Professional self-concept in nursing: Components, influencing factors, and clinical implications. Nursing Outlook, 72(2), 134–142.

Samuriwo, R., Dowding, D., & Wood, B. (2022). Interprofessional collaboration and person-centred care: An integrative review. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 36(5), 627–636.

Schot, E., Tummers, L., & Noordegraaf, M. (2020). Working on working together: A systematic review on how healthcare professionals collaborate. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 34(3), 332–342.