Student Name

Capella University

NURS-FPX6080 MSN Practicum: Professionalism in Person-Centered Care and the Workplace Environment

Professor Name

Submission Date

Professional Identity and Capstone Planning

Question 1: Influence of Specialization and Practicum on Professional Identity and Career Goals

It is essential for nursing students to be able to reflect on their progress in order to help them identify their way in their chosen profession. The practicum helped students incorporate core nursing values of advocacy, compassion, and social justice. The use of motivational interviewing with clients, together with the reflective use of leadership before and during the work environment and after, has given the student a better understanding of the role of the advanced practice nurse. Zhao et al. (2022) conducted a study regarding the clinical experience gained from a practicum site, which showed an increase in professional identity and a commitment to ethics in graduate nursing students. This has helped the author of this piece create a lifelong learning journey and helped the author of this piece develop their ethics, leadership, and skills in providing patient-centered care.

Reference

Zhao, L., Su, Y., Jiang, N., Zhou, F., Liao, L., & Liu, Y. (2022). Changes in professional commitment of undergraduate nurse students before and after internship: A longitudinal study. BioMed Central Medical Education, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03364-0

Question 2: Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as Core Components of Professional Identity

DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) should form part of the delivery of nursing care, as they have long been at the foundation of an authentic and ethical professional nursing identity. Integration of DEI in nursing can be evident when nurses deliver culturally proficient care to reduce inequities and advocate for the health of marginalized and underserved communities. This is further evidenced by Vaismoradi et al. (2022) showing that integrating culturally congruent care in nursing staff’s professional identity enhances patient satisfaction and health equity in a diverse population. DEI should also be evident in the healthcare workplace, where nurses advocate for equity in policies and practices, as well as diversity and inclusion, and anti-discrimination practices in their workplaces.

Reference

Vaismoradi, M., Moe, C. F., Ursin, G., & Ingstad, K. (2022). Looking through racism in the nurse–patient relationship from the lens of culturally congruent care: A scoping review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 78(9). https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15267

Question 3: Patient-Centered Care Experience Applying DEI Principles to Empower Patient Health Decisions

Patients engaged in health means they participate in the management of their health. This is the ultimate objective of person-centered health care, incorporating DEI. During practicum, I had formal therapeutic contact whilst conducting a motivational interviewing appointment with Mr. R, a 54-year-old, recently diagnosed Hispanic male with type 2 diabetes, who had low health literacy and limited English proficiency. Garcia et al. (2024) state that communicating in a culturally appropriate manner increases patient engagement and self-efficacy, resulting in better adherence to a health management plan. Listening and understanding the patient removes barriers and centers the patient’s voice in value-based health care, and I have learned I can empower my patients through this approach.

Reference

Garcia, K. A., Wippold, G. M., Goodrum, N. M., Williams, M. M., & Kloos, B. (2024). Bridging health self‐efficacy and patient engagement with patient‐centered culturally sensitive health care for Black American adults. Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.23147

Question 4: Inspiring Colleagues to Uphold Racial and Social Justice and Address Implicit Bias at Work

One important aspect to uphold racial and social justice in the workplace is to practice behavior modelling. Once you decide to model behavior, you are committing to challenging your own implicit biases, demonstrating a commitment to using inclusive language while addressing your colleagues, and ensuring equity in the provision of care to all patients irrespective of race or ethnicity throughout your career. Ballout (2025) notes nurse leaders exhibit behaviors associated with social justice, which will shape the culture of their teams, and will positively minimize inequities in the workplace and subsequently enhance the equitable provision of care to the community that they serve. Accepting the obligation to uphold social justice, which is part of your professional duty (and no longer a personal philosophy), will create a pathway to change for the organizational sustainability of racial and social justice.

Reference

Ballout, S. (2025). Building an equity‐centered nursing leadership workforce: A framework for transformative change. Journal of Advanced Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.17097

Question 5: Topics of Interest for the MSN Capstone Project

MSN program capstone projects allow for the development of solutions to clinically or organizationally based problems that are evidenced in the field of nursing. One viable way to approach this type of project is the creation of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program for primary-care nursing staff. This program addresses an evidence-based gap in the promotion of workplace health. Based on Pavithrakshmi et al.’s (2026) study, mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) reduces compassion fatigue and burnout of nurses in high-demand clinical settings. This study provides enough basis for the development of the capstone project, the creation of an MBSR for nurses. The completion of this project substantiates the creation of another evidence-based program in the nursing field and improves the health of the population accessible to primary care nursing.

Reference

Pavithrakshmi, K. M., Chukkali, S., & Krishnamurthy, V. (2026). Interventions addressing compassion fatigue among nurses: A scoping review. Journal of Advanced Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.70465