This semester I had a patient who I was told was slightly irritated and difficult to deal with. When I walked into his room, I pretended that I never heard that because I wanted to give him a fair shot to turn his day around. At first, he was slightly standoffish to me however I introduced myself, asked him how he was doing, and explained why I was here. I asked if he minded if I asked him a couple of questions, he said that he would be glad to talk to me. Once I was finished with the assessment piece, he started asking me about who I was and what I do at school. I obviously kept it professional, but I told him that I play hockey at school and that I have a year and a half left before I graduate. Then he started to open up to me about his grandson who plays hockey up here in Maine. His face lit right up when he started to talk about him. I asked him some questions like where his grandson played and how old he is. Somehow, we got on the topic of trains and he started telling me about how he used to drive the big cargo trains around New England, he told me how he grew up on a farm, and then raised his kids on a farm. It was really nice to see how just a listening ear and a calm presence could turn somebody’s day around. Once I thanked him for sharing his story with me, he thanked me. He said you really turned my day around; I was getting so frustrated with being cooped up in here all the time. I told him that I completely understood and cannot imagine how hard that must be. He told me his daughter was going to come by later during visiting hours and he wanted me to meet her. I told him that I wouldn’t be here for that, but you can tell her all about our conversation and that I said hi. It really goes to show what listening will do for your patients.
Author: ewalsh11 (Page 5 of 6)
I did notice some safety concerns regarding a few of the medications. For example, Cholestyramine interacts with Acetaminophen and Metoprolol if they are taken at the same time and while taking Apixaban consuming grapefruit juice should be avoided. There were more safety concerns noted but a lot of them were related to timing and food/drug interactions that should be avoided. This would be more related to my patients understanding of these medications. My patient has a clear understanding why she is on each medication. This is important because it increases their ability to comply with the medication regimen they are on. My patient takes Apixaban, Cholestyramine, and Aspirin for treatment of atrial fibrillation. She does understand why she is taking these various medications to treat her condition. There were no serious medication interactions that she was not aware of.
The ocean reminds me so much of nursing. Nursing is a profession that is ever evolving and as a nurse we need to adapt to our patients. In my mind nursing is more of an art than a science because it is about shaping your care plan to each individual patient. The ocean does not run the same path every day just as a nurse does not run the same plan of attack each day. For me the ocean provides a sense of calm and peace. For my patients I want to strive to provide them with a calm sense of peace and comfort.
This module emphasizes the importance of time management, prioritizing, and organization. As a nurse we will have many responsibilities that all revolve around each other, most of us will have more than one patient so we will have to coordinate all those moving pieces with all of our other patients. Being able to pick out the most important tasks and prioritizing what needs to get done first is critical. As a nursing assistant I review all my patients in the morning at the beginning of my shift. What I am looking for at this time is have any of their orders change, are there any new ones that need to get done today, any updates in status, do they have any procedures today. By getting together all this information it makes it easier to decide who I am going to see first. I feel like this skill will definitely benefit me and my time management as a nurse someday.
This module made me realize that you need to know the information, but you also need to have reasoning and judgment because every situation is different. It does not matter how smart you are if you cannot apply that information to various different situations it is not going to do you any good. It is more about your ability to apply concepts to patients than it is to memorize definitions and do things exactly by the book every time. Each patient is not a cookie cutter situation. I realized it before, but this module solidified it for me. As a nurse it is so important to have creative mind to be able to apply your knowledge. To me that is why nursing is science, but it is also an art.
This module stresses the importance of working together a team to provide the highest quality patient care possible. I have grown up playing sports and have been raised to work with others. This profession really excites me for a lot of reasons but most importantly because I will get to work with many other individuals to care for someone in their moment of need. Working with others helps not only provide quality care but safe care to our patients. It does take a lot of communication to effectively achieve this goal, but it is well worth it in the end. To patients having a team of people involved in their care can be overwhelming but it can also be something that they highly value. The more eyes on the patient leaves less room for misdiagnosis but also leave more room for miscommunication. Ensuring that our interdisciplinary team communicates effectively is extremely important to the success and safety of patient care.
This module taught me a lot about different test taking strategies. I have always known it is not good to cram information in the night before or even the day before the test. In this module it advises students to not study or pick up material related to the NCLEX the day before the exam, and certainly not the morning of. This strategy does make sense for this exam because it is so significant that one cannot possibly learn all the necessary information and skills to become a nurse in one day. Before this I thought that it would be okay to review the day before however, it says to do something relaxing, go to a place you like and find some inner peace before taking the exam. I know that for myself this is a very valuable piece of information because my test taking anxiety tends to take over.
There are extremely valuable experiences brought to life in Theresa Brown’s Critical Care novel. These experiences can be beneficial to those just starting a nursing career but also those who are “established” nurses. As nurses we never stop learning, this novel can be of value to anyone in the health care team, such as: licensed nursing assistants, certified medical assistants, medical assistants, and health unit coordinators just to name a few. Nursing is an art and a science; it is being able to prioritize providing the highest quality care to every patient and their families. (95)
Patient Death:
As a new nurse you usually have the impression that you can save the inevitable, death. Death is a natural part of the life cycle; it is something that will happen for all of us. I have worked as an LNA for two years now, I have experienced death with patients on multiple accounts. Some can say that I am insensitive to the subject however at this point I know that this is part of the process. Reading Brown’s first reflection on death about her patient Mary with the agitated husband and big family I was quite surprised at how she handled it. I was surprised at how emotionally invested she was with this patient’s family. It was truly great to see her have such a trusting relationship with them. As health professionals I do not think we always realized the impact we have on our patients, just our presence can bring such comfort to those in need. We are truly in a powerful position as health care providers. It is important that we realize the impact we have on patients and their families. We may not always be having the best of days, but we should always keep in mind our body language, everyone can read it. In a situation when the patient is placed on comfort measures or on hospice it is extremely important to be supportive to the patients needs but almost more importantly the family’s needs. I try my absolute best to treat every patient like they were my family. At the same time there needs to be boundaries. I tell myself what happens at the hospital stays at the hospital. When I walk out of that door after a shift whatever happened is left inside.
Theresa Brown Lack of Self Criticism:
Brown handled her first confrontation with death with grace. The one thing that I would say she should do better or criticize herself more on would be her delivery of how she communicated to the family that Mary had passed. Brown talks about how she had a hard time expressing herself at that moment because she was so emotional. I think it is very important to have clear and concise communication in health care. She told the family that Mary was “gone,” which is fine, but it took her sometime to communicate that to them. In my opinion she should have gone into the room, listened intently, and then instantly communicated to the family that she had passed. It seems more polite to say, “Mary has passed”, or “your wife/mother/friend has passed.”
Meaningful Section:
When Brown had fallen on her knee and injured herself, she talks about how her kids showed her the silver lining of the situation. The silver lining here was that she was able to be home and more present with her kids. This part was important to me because I believe that there is a silver lining in every situation. No matter how hard a situation might be there is always something positive that can be taken from it. I believe that this is an extremely important mindset for health care providers because not every case is going to end in sunshine and rainbows. As nurses it is important to try to show up to work with a positive mindset however also be able to accept that there might not always be a positive outcome. We need to be able to be okay with that so we can show up the next shift ready to take care of those who need us.
Love, Hate Relationship with a Nursing Career:
I believe that there is a love hate relationship with just about everything in life. There are going to be things that you love and hate about everything. I understand this and know that there is way more things that I love about the thought of being a nurse than hate. I see the surface level things of disliking nursing, such as: weekend and night work, being exposed to different illnesses, long shifts, etc.… however I believe that there is way more good that comes out of it than bad. I absolutely love helping people and promoting healthy lifestyles. Those two things are huge in the role of a nurse.
