Running head: SELF-ASSESSMENT OF REASONING

Self-Assessment of Reasoning Shannon Sheffer Ferris State University

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF REASONING Self-Assessment of Reasoning The purpose of this paper is to review and reflect upon the content and information that the author has learned throughout this Population Based Health Promotion course. Another aim is to continue to develop and improve her critical thinking skills. The author believes this will

positively contribute to her current nursing practice, enhance patient safety, and work to increase and strengthen her problem solving skills. Significant Content Throughout this course, there have been many weeks in which the author has found the discussion topics to contain helpful and substantial material. The first weeks topic of defining and describing health provided a clear idea as to what the term actually centers around. Week sevens topic (developing a health promotion- prevention plan) provided the time to research, configure, and configure a strategy in order to better control her personal health. Weeks ten (rest and sleep), eleven (stress), and fourteen (physical activity and exercise) happened to be the focus of her personal health assessment and promotion paper. Although the author believed she already had a great deal of knowledge on these subjects, the reiteration of the information allowed her to gain new insight and new solutions from her peers. Thoughts and Feelings Chapter one in the text by Pender, Murdaugh, and Parsons (2011), entitled Toward a Definition of Health initiated the semester by allowing each student to express how he or she viewed health. The author was surprised to discover that this seemingly simple topic could house so much discussion and exchange of thoughts and ideas. The author was astonished that the term health could spark so much depth and provide a great starting point for the class.

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF REASONING Week sevens topic was focused on Developing a Health Promotion-Prevention Plan (Pender, Murdaugh, & Parsons, 2011). This was an especially intellectually stimulating week. The health assessment and promotion paper challenged the author to examine her personal and professional beliefs regarding health and develop an approach to advance her wellbeing.

The topics prevalent throughout weeks ten, eleven, and fourteen discussed rest and sleep, Stress Management and Health Promotion, and Physical Activity and Health Promotion (Pender, Murdaugh, & Parsons, 2011). These subjects formed the theme for her personal health assessment and promotion paper. These topics particularly sparked an interest for the author; she felt as though she had a personal bond to each topic. Within the last twelve months, she struggled with a chronic lack of sleep due to personal and work schedules. In addition, excessive stress is an issue that the author had been dealing with since adding college back into her daily schedule. Although the author had always exercised in some way, the added responsibility of schooling on top of her other daily duties of work and family had definitely decreased her workout routine. Point of View or Assumptions In reflecting back to week ones topic of defining health, the author believed that she already knew to what the word health meant. The author originally thought it was a redundant choice of topic. Prior to reading the text or participating in the discussion, she believed that it was laughable to ask a class of health professionals to describe and discuss the meaning of health. In week seven, the author was fascinated by the topic of developing her own health promotion and prevention plan. She knew there was a potential chance for her to really dig into her inner self and discover what aspects of her own personal health that needed improvement.

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF REASONING The author believed that this topic of personal health promotion (along with writing the paper)

gave her a new way to think through and execute furthering health promotion to her community. The units on rest and sleep, stress, and physical activity and exercise are all topics that the author believe greatly relate and affect her life. The subjects were all of interest to her, though she would essentially learn nothing new. However, the author knew that it would be of great benefit to her to participate in the discussion board questions and converse about the topics further with peers. Analysis of Thinking The author believed the units that had the biggest meaningful effects were the ones that pertained to her life. The realization of this fact leaded her to reason that if she would be able to obtain and include certain facts in her daily life, the author would have the desire to learn, understand, and retain the knowledge. For example, with the topics discussed throughout this course, the author has made multiple strides to changing her health and wellbeing. It has helped her to define her personal health, which in turn aids her in supporting others in their quest for health. In addition, it has also given the author tools necessary to encourage and educate patients on how to achieve health. In reflection to the thoughts and feelings section, the author believes that she had an overall positive view on the topics. In the first chapter, the author was not expecting to gain the amount of information that she attained from the definition of health, both from the book and from her peers. The author believed that this understanding expanded her initial expectations for the class. She realized that even on seemingly simple topics there can be a wealth of information to learn, all she had to do was open her mind and be willing to acquire the knowledge. Developing a health promotion-prevention plan was rather difficult, as the author was required to

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take a mental step back to reflect on why she believed what she did about health. It also required her to be completely honest about her thoughts and feelings in regards to the topic of stress. In relation to rest, sleep, stress, physical activity, and exercise, the health promotion and prevention paper helped her to recognize the need for improvement in each area. The paper expanded the authors original view on the subjects and strengthened her decision to continue down the path of health promotion. The authors overall point of view and assumptions about the themes in this class range from a critic to that of an eager learner. She was critical at the beginning of the class due to the subject content of the first week. She believed her criticism stems from conceited thought process which she believed that she already knew the material so why repeat it. After becoming aware of the fact that the author was able to learn new information from old topics, she developed a respect for this class and willingness to attempt to learn, regardless of the topic. The topics of stress, rest, sleep, physical activity, and exercise are topics of which she had a vast foundation of knowledge. The author believed that her newfound willingness and eager to learn attitude has allowed her to gain new insight and will also be beneficial to her future learning. According to the provided grading scale, the author believes this paper should be graded as a B. She believes her current thinking is both logical and well-reasoned; however, she knew that there are times when thought processes got off track or lapsed and her writing and thinking were not clear. Through this course, the author has expanded her knowledge foundation concerning health promotion. The discussion board questions and responses by her peers have challenged her to examine her current thought process and critical thinking skills. This has made her aware of weak areas and allowed her to begin working to improve the skills. The author believes this class has helped her to grow and learn more about her thought process. In addition,

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF REASONING this self-assessment of reasoning paper has revealed an immeasurable amount of insight as to how to think and process information. The author believes that she has developed a deeper

understanding of how to become a more enhanced thinker, which will correlate into her personal life as well as improving her job performance as a nurse.

Reference Pender, N.J., Murdaugh, C.L., & Parsons, M.A. (2011). Health promotion in nursing practice (6th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson