By Roberta Heale @robertaheale @EBNursingBMJ<\/p>\n
A few months ago I wrote about wholistic care and the implementation of acupuncture into my practice. I completed the first course in March and, this past weekend, just completed the second. I\u2019ve taken an anatomical acupuncture program, which translates acupuncture from Traditional Chinese Medicine into a western medicine, anatomical perspective.\u00a0 It has been an intensive and humbling experience.<\/p>\n
I have been reminded that evidence based practice not only includes utilization of the best evidence and partnership with the patient, but also integration of the practitioner\u2019s experience.\u00a0 Patricia Benner, in her seminal work \u201cFrom Novice to Expert. Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice\u201d outlines the transition of nurses from the novice level, where everything is \u2018parts\u2019 to expert where situations are taken in as a \u2018gestalt\u2019. \u00a0I reflect upon this now as I take on a new challenge.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve spent many years working as a nurse practitioner in family practice settings; before that as a registered nurse in acute care floors in hospital.\u00a0 I had simply taken for granted the \u2018muscle memory\u2019 for familiar tasks like giving injections or performing examinations. The physical examination skills required to locate appropriate acupuncture points and the skill in \u2018needling\u2019 is different enough from my practice to knock me back to a novice state. \u00a0It\u2019s been a long time since I was a novice in my practice and, I have to say, it\u2019s frustrating!<\/p>\n
I realize also that these are the physical skills related to acupuncture.\u00a0 I have a long way to go before I have the intuitiveness to know the subtleties\u2026the \u2018feel\u2019 of a needle, the reaction of a patient to the treatment\u2026all the things that are now ingrained in my current practice. \u00a0It\u2019s an uncomfortable place to be, but has renewed my empathy for student nurses and new grads as well as my appreciation for the process of implementation of research into practice. Implementation of evidence is much more than simply reading research and applying the findings.\u00a0 The stage of expertise of the health care practitioner plays an important part of the process and influences the entire patient experience.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll have to keep these things in mind as I begin to practice acupuncture.\u00a0 I\u2019ll try to be patient with myself and to be cognizant of the need for me to practice, practice, practice to move along the spectrum toward the expert level.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Roberta Heale @robertaheale @EBNursingBMJ A few months ago I wrote about wholistic care and the implementation of acupuncture into my practice. I completed the first course in March and, this past weekend, just completed the second. I\u2019ve taken an anatomical acupuncture program, which translates acupuncture from Traditional Chinese Medicine into a western medicine, anatomical […]<\/p>\n