Report on Progress of Professional Portfolio

Competency Number
Nursing Practice: L-1-2 Pediatric Nursing Demonstrate
knowledge of stages of growth and development of pediatric client.
Significant Learning Experience
One learning experience in this course related to the L-1-2
competency would be when the instructor explained fully about the
importance of learning the stages of growth and development. After
pre-reading the slides then having her elaborate on how to
communicate with each client in different ways regarding their age was
a great informative experience. I am now able to tell the difference in
the stages, which will help me in the future to work with clients of all
ages. An example would be when the instructor explained that
preschoolers are beginning to take initiative and therefore, giving them
an option between how to take their medication (such as using a
syringe or cup) may allow the child to feel more empowered and
comfortable.
What You Learned
The significance of learning this competency is for the nurse to
be able to communicate in a way where their clients are able to
understand what is going on. Another reason why this is significant, is
for the nurse to know when things are growing or developing as they
should at a certain age, such as a toddler beginning to walk between
12-22 months or an adolescent girl experiencing the onset of puberty
around age 10. The nurse will need to understand each stage to
recognize when there is something wrong, and to further investigate
the situation.
Proficiency Rating
In rating myself according to the proficiency rating scale, I would
place myself in the good category. I fully understand the stages of
growth and development in a pediatric client and why it is important to
comprehend in the nursing practice. What was done to achieve this
was reading over slides that my instructor had provided and by being
attentive in class as she was explaining each.
Nursing Practice
The knowledge and experience that I have learned will be
applied each day in the future when I become a nurse by identifying
which stage the client is in and to provide care accordingly. The way
that we treat and care for a client changes depending on which stage
they are in because we will need to provide different explanations and
procedures, an example would be a toddler vs. an adolescent. As a

student nurse I will also apply this knowledge in current situations,

such as caring for my son who is in the preschool age, while
babysitting other children and during the clinical portion of schooling.