Even while learning how to write a nursing exemplar for your assignment may initially appear difficult, once you understand the aim, everything becomes much simpler. As the title suggests, the primary objective is to provide a detailed description of a particular clinical event.
When you understand the problem and choose a solution, you create predictions before starting your research. This blog contains further information about the nursing exemplar, including its characteristics and creation steps.
Definition of a Nursing Exemplar
A nursing exemplar is a true patient story told by an RN to demonstrate their experience. The sample is written from the first-person perspective. It includes the nurse’s thoughts, feelings, intentions, actions, critical thinking, and decision-making process in relation to a specific clinical occurrence.
A clinical practice exemplar is a story from your clinical practice that illustrates something memorable, significant, or that frequently comes to mind. “This patient story demonstrates something relevant or significant to you and represents your therapeutic approach.”
How to Select a Nursing Exemplar
When a scenario is replete with significance, it is memorable. The story conveys essential facts or aims, as well as your perception of an exemplary practice or a deficiency in practice. You frequently recall these events because they stand out in your mind.
Writing a Nursing Exemplar
The procedures listed below will demonstrate how to write a nursing exemplar paper that stands out from the crowd.
· Present it as a narrative account
Describe the nursing exemplar in narrative form. You may use the commonly abbreviated description of the nursing practice situation, but you must write it in the first person.
· Include oral reporting
Oral narration may be advantageous since it is more natural to express ideas, emotions, and concerns orally. Several typed pages with double spacing should do.
· Get a coworker to read your work
Have a colleague review your narrative, preferably one who participated in the patient’s treatment. This may assist you in capturing the necessary description and filling in any assumed familiar data.
· Edit your story
When editing your story, avoid using summary statements and broad language that do not describe what occurred. Avoid phrases such as “I assessed the patient’s possible dangers and mitigated them,” “I provided emotional support,” and “The patient felt better.”
Rather, describe to the reader how you detected potential risks, minimized them, gave emotional support, and, if possible, provided actual results.
· Include dialogue
Include conversation whenever possible to give the reader a first-person account of the incident as it unfolds. Mention any concerns you had or what you hoped would occur when taking a particular activity. This offers a window for your judgment. Check our exemplar examples nursing.
· Be confident
Change the patient’s name, age, family structure, and other identifying details to ensure confidentiality.
Creating Nursing Exemplars
Before beginning, consider whether the narrative reflects your current practice. Write down as much of the story as you can recall with as much specificity as possible.
Here is how to begin:
- Consider your work; generate a list of prospective stories; share a narrative with the group.
- Start writing without concern for spelling, punctuation, or sentence structure.
Elements to Include in a Nursing Exemplar
A nursing exemplar is a useful tool for patient care. The nurse’s documentation influences both nursing care plans and doctor decisions. Consequently, it is essential to create a high-quality nursing exemplar note. The following elements must be included in a nursing exemplar essay:
· Date and time
Date and time should be entered first in every nursing exemplar samples. This section of the note facilitates the retrieval of relevant details about an occurrence and organizes the patient’s record.
· Name of the patient
In some facilities, the patient’s name must appear on each record. Others may mandate that the patient’s name and room number appear at the top or bottom of the page. Each nurse must ensure that identifying information is included in the patient’s chart to avoid documenting the wrong patient.
· Personal and objective data
Subjective data refers to the information the patient provides to the nurse. This data includes the patient’s symptoms, discomfort level, thoughts, and concerns.
Objective data, in contrast to subjective data, is information obtained or observed by the nurse about the patient. The patient’s look, symptoms (grimacing in pain, holding the wall owing to dizziness), vital signs, and test findings compose accurate data.
· Assessment
Depending on the purpose of the evaluation, this section of the nursing exemplar template may include a head-to-toe assessment or a tailored evaluation. In a post-operative nursing exemplar, nurses may discuss the patient’s recuperation, vital signs, and problems.
· Interventions
Document each nursing intervention. For instance, documentation is required whenever you assist a patient with turning and repositioning, provide education, or provide medication.
· Evaluation
After every nursing intervention, the patient’s response should be evaluated. The informational content of the evaluation will vary based on the patient’s condition. When discussing pain medications, it may suffice to mention, “Patient reports pain medication eased back discomfort.”
Elements to Omit in a Nursing Exemplar
It is equally important to exclude certain details while writing a nursing exemplar essay as it is to include crucial information. This does not imply that you should ignore details on the patient’s condition, care, or treatment response.
The items listed below should not be included in nursing exemplar papers.
· Symptoms without intervention
When describing objective or subjective symptoms, you should offer intervention and follow-up information. Do not document symptoms or patient complaints until the occurrence has been documented.
· Speculations
You may believe that nobody knows your patient better than you do. Even if you are very familiar with the patient, it is not the nurse’s role to make conclusions about his thoughts or emotions. Focus instead on what the patient says and does while you document what you hear and see.
· Terminology that isn’t descriptive or precise
The nursing exemplar should trigger an image or story in the reader’s mind. Therefore, a precise and comprehensive vocabulary is essential. “Bladder incontinent; adult brief and bed pad changed owing to incontinence dampness; peri-care administered; no issues regarding skin integrity.”
· Untimely charting
It would be ideal if care was never documented until it was completed. This is crucial because even the best-planned days may have unanticipated occurrences that delay or hinder treatment.
· Family or friend information
When a friend or family member visits your patient, it is allowed to document the visit. You may write, for instance, “Pt. Alert, spouse and children at the bedside, no complaints.” It is never permissible to provide personal details, such as whether someone was impolite to you or the patient or appeared intoxicated.
How to Write a Nursing Exemplar
Following is a step-by-step strategy for crafting an excellent nursing exemplar.
· Be concise and specific
Nursing exemplars are an excellent method for documenting thorough data on every aspect of a patient’s condition and response to therapy. Check our nursing exemplar examples.
· Give the facts
This is your opportunity to explain what you hear, see, feel, and do in the nursing exemplar. While thoroughness is necessary, avoid going overboard. Simply state the facts for simplicity.
· Presentation of notes
Before addressing any additional problems, it should identify the patient’s primary complaint or issue.
· Take note of objective data
Visualizable indications or elements are instances of information.
· Keep track of personal data
After recording the facts, include the patient’s ideas and emotions.
What Do You Write in a Nursing Exemplar?
In a nutshell, as a nurse, you must record everything you notice and any relevant medical information. In a comprehensive overview, the nursing exemplar describes how the patient feels, what they require, and their current state of health.
Ensure that everyone who needs to know about a patient’s treatment gets quick and easy access to the compiled information.
A better submission
After composing your sample, have many people review it (both clinical and non-clinical). Then, ask them to explain your model in their own terms. By doing so, you will be able to determine whether everything you attempted to convey was clear and straightforward.
Check the spelling and punctuation of your nursing sample paper. Keep in mind that you are submitting this chapter for an award, so make it exceptional!
Nursing Exemplars to Support Student Writing
Occasionally, educators’ explanations of writing principles and concepts miss the mark. Some pupils may struggle to comprehend the mentioned ideas or require more instruction. Depending on the class size and level of assistance required, this may not always be possible.
This is when a nursing exemplar may be useful. A model can be a useful tool for aiding students to comprehend essential concepts and skills, as well as assessment needs. For learning to be effective, it is common knowledge that pupils must have a genuine connection to the topic being taught.
Exemplars add to this bond’s strengthening. Annotating the exemplar can aid students by demystifying the process, revealing what specialists know, and providing a benchmark to strive for. There will be notes emphasizing the most important aspects.
Students benefit from both observing and deconstructing exemplar responses. Consider providing your students with annotated exemplars to help them with their writing projects.
Final Thoughts
Creating exceptional nursing exemplars is one of the most important things you can do. We choose to address the subject of how to write a nursing exemplar because of this.
Using the nursing exemplar writing samples and writing instructions offered in this article, you can generate a top-notch, expert-level nursing exemplar. Keep in mind that extensive documentation is always preferable to inadequate documentation.
Also Read: Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Examples and Solutions
