Welcome to My Portfolio

1. Welcome to My Portfolio I am Bindu Jose Chavarat. I am currently working as Dialysis nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital at Medical Center, Houston. I completed my BSN from RAK College of nursing, New Delhi, India in 1992. Currently doing my MSN-Nursing Education at University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

2. My Personal Philosophy in Life My personal philosophy in life is built on four pillars –Simplicity, Kindness, Generosity and Honesty. The three leaders who have considerably influenced my life are Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. My daily actions are guided by the preaching of Jesus, “love your neighbors as yourself”(Holy Bible, Luke 10:27). I am always inspired by the famous quote of Mahatma Gandhi, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow and learn as if you were to live forever”(Mahatma Gandhi). I am well aware that my life on this earth is a gift and I am here to make a difference. It is possible only when I am ready to leave my comfort zone and reach out to the needy. All life experiences are learning opportunity in my life.

3. My Nursing Philosophy Years back my grandfather sowed the first seeds of nursing philosophy within in me, by explaining how noble is this profession. Today I consider nursing as my calling and nursing is the delivery of compassionate and faithful care to patients, families and significant others through a holistic approach. I follow in my daily activities St. Luke’s hospital’s nursing mission “Nursing at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital is compassionate, collaborative and innovative”(The source). Knowledge is the core of success in nursing and learning should be a life long process. I consider every patient, family and every day a learning scenario for my profession.

4. My Teaching Philosophy Thepassionfor teaching exists within me from my childhood. My teachings become meaningful only when I can observe positive measurable changes in my learners. I believe teaching should be student centered and teacher should be a facilitator, not a provider(Knowles ,2011).My role as a teacher is to provide them through my expertise, the necessary resources for the students that will prepare them to produce learning, foster critical thinking skills and further motivate them towards scholarship. I believe that in nursing, significant learning occurs in the meaningful and realistic situations. I am flexible in my teaching strategies to adapt to the needs of the learner. Being a nurse educator I will offer all my efforts to positively guide and influence the future generations of nursing. Above all I consider learning a life long process and embrace the four areas of scholarship - discovery, integration, application and teaching, the integral part of my profession(Boyer, 1990).

5. My Strengths • Self Confidence. • Positive Approach. • Adaptable to Changes. • A good Team Leader and a Team Player. • Strong Communication Skills.

6. My Professional Goals Long Term Goals • Continue my education in nursing and allied areas to empower myself with new skills and knowledge. • Utilize my knowledge and skills in the staff development and patient education programsof the hospital and thus improve the patient outcomes. • Contribute my participation in the university level education programs and also make significant contributions to the different areas of Scholarship.

7. Professional Goals Contd… Short Term Goals 1. Complete MSN from UTMB within the designed time frame and graduate in 2015. • Develop skills to identify the learning needs of the individuals or groups and master teaching skills to promote effective learning among learners. 3. Continue acquiring new knowledge and skills in dialysis, and with added knowledge from my MSN education provide educational activities for the nursing staff and patients.

8. Professional Experience Dialysis Nursing experience • March 2008-Present - Acute Dialysis Nurse, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Houston, TX. • October 2006-March 2008 – Acute Dialysis Nurse, Research Medical Center, Kansas City, MO. In the role of a dialysis nurse I am proficient in the treatment modalities of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis .I am also proficient in the therapeutic plasmapheresis procedure. In addition to performing a treatment procedure I consider holistic nursing approach to my patients and patient education is an essential component of our care.

9. Professional Experience contd… Medical Surgical Nursing Experience December 2005-October 2006 - Medical Center of Independence, Kansas City, MO. August 2001-October 2005 – Armed Forces Hospital , Al Khoudh, Sultanate of Oman. June 1993- March 1997 – KFSH, Al Gassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. August 1992- March 1993 – Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center, New Delhi, India. Long years of being a medical surgical nurse exposed me to considerable learning experience and molded me to an expert nurse. My international work experience helped me to understand and appreciate different religions cultures and norms.

10. Professional Experience contd…Teaching Experience October 1997-July 2001 - Nursing Instructor, PVS School of Nursing, Kerala, India. Involved in the Associate Program in Nursing. I was focusing on two subjects and all the students were in the age group of 18-20 years. 1. Fundamentals of Nursing Practicum. The objective of the program is to develop skills to perform basic nursing skills of nursing and understand the scientific Principles associated with it. Involved five hours of class room teaching and eight hours of clinical exposure per week. 2. Medical Surgical Nursing. The objective of the course is to enable the students to understand the various medical and surgical problems with an emphasis on nursing management. Involved five hours of class room teaching per week and students were encouraged to do case presentations.

11. Clinical Competencies • An expert hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and plasmapheresis nurse. • Functioned as Resource nurse in different hospitals and different units. • Actively participated in the Quality improvement initiatives, which resulted in the improved patient outcomes and better functioning of the unit. • Effectively handled the daily and monthly staff scheduling and ensured adequate staffing is covered for effective functioning of the unit. • Actively involved in the in-service education program and chaired the dialysis unit’s education committee ,organizing various education programs for the staff.

12. Clinical Competencies contd.. • Currently functions as unit’s representative to the Staff Nurse Professional Practice council and effectively functions as the voice for the Dialysis Unit during council meeting • Completed the preceptor training course and ready to function as a new employ preceptor. • Effectively explains and demonstrate the hemodialysis procedure to student nurses visiting our unit. • Provided a considerable contribution in achieving the BEACON award of excellence for the dialysis unit during the current year.

13. Professional Organizations • An active member of ANNA – American Nephrology Nurses Association. Through the activities of ANNA I am able to expand my professional contacts. The educational opportunities given by the association and the Nephrology nursing Journal help me to expand my knowledge in my specialty. ANNA is a good platform to improve my educational leadership abilities.

14. Professional Organizations contd… Future Plans. • NLN – National League for Nursing. NLN being the organization for faculty nurses and leaders in nursing education will help me in my career development as nurse educator and also provide networking opportunities.

15. Professional Contacts • Hana Belay, PhD, RN-BC, Educational Specialist, Coordinator of Graduate Education Program at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. Maintains professional contacts on matters of educational activities of nursing staff. • Alex Sardual, MBA,RN-BC, Nursemanager PCU at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and President of ANNA gulf coast Chapter. Maintains professional contacts on matters of ANNA activities. He is a good motivator and guide in all my educational activities. • Lovetter Alegado, RN-BC, Secretary ANNA Gulf Coast Chapter. Maintains professional contacts on matters of ANNA activities.

16. Professional Contacts contd… • Petra Grami, RN,BSN, Nurse Manager, Pulmonary ICU at St Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. Maintains relationship on matters of career development. • Brittany Williams, ACNP, CNS, Clinical educator at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. Maintains relationship on matters of Unit Educational Activities

17. Scholarship • Maintains Professional certification, CNN – Certified Nephrology Nurse. • Contributed my knowledge and skills in receiving the BEACON award for excellence for our Dialysis Unit and recognizing as the first Dialysis unit of the nation to receive this award. • Enrollment into the MSN – Nursing Education program will help me to contribute more towards the field of scholarship.

18. Current Educational Activities Courses Completed • GNRS 5108 Educator: Professional Role Development. • GNRS 5309 Educator: The Foundation of Adult Learning. • GNRS 5355 Educator: Advanced Pathophysiology.

19. Current educational activities • GNRS 5301 Pharmacology • GNRS 5346 Public policy • GNRS 5307 Advanced health assessment • GNRS 5373 Research/Theoretical foundations • GNRs 5337 Innovations in community health • GNRS 5311 Program evaluation educator

20. MSN Current courses • GNRS 5322 Curriculum Design • GNRS 5310 Educator advanced clinic

21. Summary • I am a dedicated hard working and compassionate nurse currently working as a dialysis nurse .My future goal is to focus on teaching and I am working towards achieving that goal.