I discovered many new things about fertility in women diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. My original assumption was that women with this disease have little to no ability to conceive naturally. As I analyzed our research studies, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. Women with cystic fibrosis have a slightly decreased ability to conceive naturally and if they need an alternative means such as IVF, this usually works. This finding will impact my future as a nurse, by being able to provide the best support and education for patients with CF. Having a support system is beneficial when dealing with the conception of a child. I may be able to educate the patient on alternative ways to become pregnant that have been effective for other women with this condition. As I reflect on this project, I have enjoyed the individual steps that have been helping me with the paper in little pieces. This has helped me with my time management skills considering I have other classes that are just as important. An issue that my partner and I have run into is dissecting the information in our articles. The evidence table and the critical appraisal worksheets have helped us break down all of the evidence in a manageable way.
Category: PICOT
From Inquiry Through Discovery
My partner and I did not need to revise our PICOT question upon searching for research articles. We encountered an issue with finding articles within the given time range. This assignment required us to find relevant articles that were written in 2017-2023. When I originally began looking for articles I did not find many that were conducted within our given year range. I then solved this issue by narrowing the year bracket to then populate articles that would qualify. Our PICOT question directly targets fertility in females, but when researching for articles many of the articles were about fertility in males. This was very interesting but was not what we were looking for. In order to fix this problem, I decided to change the keywords I was using in my search. I changed “Females” to “Women” and I also tried to use the word “Ladies”. This then helped narrow the search even further. Thus far this assignment has been manageable. I have used my time appropriately and given this paper about 30 minutes of my time each day depending on the assignment for class. A few things I will take away from this assignment are to change the year bracket before researching the topic. I would also think of synonyms for a word if I am not coming up with many results before I resort to changing my overall question.
Planning the Journey
When looking at the journey ahead, I think the majority of my time and effort will consume writing the final paper. I have many interests and ideas that will help me create an intriguing topic to research. I have decided I will be working with my friend Jordyn. We both are very studious and organized. I will manage my time by breaking the paper down into small chunks that I can complete each day. This will make the paper as a whole, less daunting. As life gets in the way and I have other assignments and exams, I hope to designate an hour of my day to complete a part of this assignment. I hope that by researching a topic that is engaging to me, this paper will feel less like work and more like a fun learning activity. I believe that planning a long, ongoing assignment such as this, will help me as a future nurse plan more efficiently. I hope to learn how to manage my time while trying to juggle many other important things. As a nurse, I will have to be able to balance my time with different patients as well as my personal time for self-care and social life. Creating time to decompress after a long shift is crucial when it comes to burnout in the workplace. By planning my time, I hope to prevent and minimize the chances of burnout and therefore take better care of my patients.
