NUR 301 Module 1 Journal example

Reviewed by Delia Ravenscroft, MSN, RN Concepts of Professional Nursing Practice Southern New Hampshire University Full sample paper Free custom sample in 24 to 48h

Shown in full, this NUR 301 Module 1 journal entry is what a strong first entry often looks like: an associate-degree RN with eleven years on a surgical floor explains why she enrolled, then tests her own reasons against the research on BSN education and patient outcomes. First person throughout, sources cited, one honest doubt left in. The nurse is a composite.

What this page holds

The complete NUR 301 Module 1 journal entry below is written in the first person, about 650 words, with in-text APA 7 citations, three real references and margin notes on why it reads as professional reflection. Searches like "nur 301 module 1 assignment", "nur301 module 1 journal" and "nur 301 module 1 example" land here.

The NUR 301 Module 1 example, in full

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Module One Journal: Why the BSN, and Why Now

Eleven years at the bedside and back in school

I have worked on a 28-bed general surgery unit for eleven years with an associate degree, and for most of that time I thought the BSN was a credential for people who wanted to leave the bedside. When I told my manager I had enrolled, I gave her the practical reason: our hospital now prefers the bachelor's degree for charge nurse roles, and I want to be considered. That reason is true, but it is not the whole story, and this first journal entry is a chance to look at the rest of it.

The research I read this week made the question harder to dismiss. Aiken et al. (2003) compared Pennsylvania hospitals by the share of their nurses who held a bachelor's degree and followed adult surgical patients through their stays. Where that share was higher, fewer patients died within a month of admission, and the gap was large enough that every 10-point rise in the bachelor's share went with roughly 5 percent lower odds of death and of failure to rescue. A national report later set a target of a nursing workforce in which four of every five nurses held a bachelor's degree by 2020 (Institute of Medicine, 2011), and a follow-up report placed nursing education within a broader goal of preparing nurses to address health equity and the conditions that shape health outside the hospital (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2021).

What these sources do not tell me is that I am a less safe nurse today than I will be after this program. The 2003 study measured hospitals, not individuals, and an association across many hospitals says nothing about any single nurse. I know nurses with associate degrees who catch deterioration earlier than anyone on the floor. What the evidence suggests instead is that something in bachelor's preparation, perhaps the emphasis on evidence, systems and population health, changes how a nursing workforce performs as a group. That is a more interesting claim, and it gives me a reason to pay attention to the parts of this program I might otherwise treat as boxes to check.

My goal for NUR 301 is specific. By the end of the course I want to be able to explain, in a staff meeting, one change on our unit that should be based on evidence rather than habit, and cite the evidence. If I can do that, the degree will have changed my practice and not only my title.

What this page is doingThe entry is personal but structured: situation, evidence, an honest limit, and a goal. The highlighted sentence shows the writer reading the study correctly, as a finding about hospitals rather than about individual nurses, which is the kind of critical thinking a BSN journal is designed to draw out. A specific, checkable goal is stronger than a general wish to grow.
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References

Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Cheung, R. B., Sloane, D. M., & Silber, J. H. (2003). Educational levels of hospital nurses and surgical patient mortality. JAMA, 290(12), 1617-1623. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.290.12.1617

Institute of Medicine. (2011). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/12956

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). The future of nursing 2020-2030: Charting a path to achieve health equity. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25982

How this NUR 301 Module 1 example is structured

A journal is personal, but in a BSN course it is still graded on thinking, so the entry follows a simple arc. The writer states her situation and the reason she gave her manager for enrolling. She then sets that reason beside three sources: a landmark study linking BSN staffing to surgical mortality, and two national reports that set and later revisited the goal of a more highly educated nursing workforce. The third paragraph admits what the evidence does not prove about her personally. The entry ends with a concrete goal for the course, which gives the instructor something to check against later entries.

Get NUR 301 Module 1 written to your instructions

Send the Module 1 journal prompt and rubric and a few lines about your own nursing background. The desk writes a sample entry to that prompt in 24 to 48 hours, and the first one is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.

NUR 301 Module 1 questions, answered

What does NUR 301 Module 1 usually ask for?

Many sections open with a reflective journal or short introductory assignment in which the RN student describes their practice background, their reasons for pursuing the BSN, and how they see professional nursing. The prompt in your classroom sets the exact questions, and some versions ask you to connect the reflection to course readings.

Can I use first person in a NUR 301 journal?

Yes. Journals are one of the few places in the RN to BSN sequence where first person is expected, because the assignment asks about your own experience. Keep the tone professional, cite any claim about evidence or outcomes, and avoid sharing identifiable details about patients or colleagues.

Do NUR 301 journals need references?

It depends on the prompt, but citing one to three sources usually strengthens a journal entry, particularly when you make claims about why the BSN matters or how practice is changing. Instructors can see the difference between a reflection that engages the literature and one that repeats common opinions.