Trauma exposure impacts the whole person, as healthcare providers we are not only treating the patient as well as the family. The patient might have obvious physical issues, but they need to be looked at wholistically because in my opinion the psychological and spiritual welling being is almost more important. There can be long term physical ailments but if we ignore the mind and only treat the physical, we are only looking at half of the person. I will apply the trauma informed care principles in all my patient interactions. I think it is important to treat everyone the same and treat them like family. Part of this is addressing their past whether it’s good or bad. I will go into it always assuming that the patient has some form of trauma, personally I believe that everyone has some form whether small or big it doesn’t matter to that person it is a “traumatic” experience and we need to support them in a way that speaks to them the loudest. Long-term impacts of adverse childhood experiences can range from physical to emotional/mental and beyond. A few that come to mind right away are PTSD, anxiety, depression, cardiac issues, diabetes (from unhealthy eating and physical activity habits), as well as skeletal abnormalities. I think as healthcare providers this is one of the most important aspects of our care because it helps us develop trust and rapport with our patients, without trust and rapport there is a significant lack in the healing relationship.
Category: Reflection (Page 3 of 4)
There are many factors that influence the health of the vulnerable and marginalized populations. So many that I cannot possibly name all of them in this post. The ones that come to the front of my mind are the elderly, children who are in the “system”, and access to health insurance. People who cannot find jobs that provide them with the opportunity to have access to health insurance or the elderly/early elderly people who are on the cusp of Medicare and Medicaid. There are many factors that go into this but just in the way that we are all raised and brought up in this world sets you up for the person you will become and the opportunities you have. I feel that it also has to do a lot with your personality, there are people who are born into very privileged homes and come into adulthood with inadequate drive and skills to be a successful adult and then there are those who are thought to have no chance at surviving this world and have the most beautiful success stories. Because of this wide range I feel that it is hard to pinpoint very specific ideas as there are so many. Job opportunities, money, support systems, and upbringing are the ones that come to my mind first.
I do not feel that we will ever be able to solve healthcare disparities as this is what makes the world go around. However, I do think that there are always ways to improve. It can be as simple as recruiting and helping people find jobs that provide health insurance. Education is huge and starts young, creating a health conscience vision that our younger population will understand and buy into will make a huge difference. Also providing support groups and systems, the first one that comes to my mind is for new first-time parents, both for moms and dads, it is a team sport. There are also ways that as healthcare providers we can help connect with our patients more by meeting them at their level and learning about where they come from and why they made the decisions they made to put them in the predicament that they are in today. There are so many ways to improve, and it is a revolving door but starting small and working our way up is the only way we can start. We can sit here and think about it and keep coming up with ideas but until people take initiative nothing will change. By taking initiative I don’t just mean the healthcare system workforce, I mean as a country as a whole, everyone needs to do their part in order to live a healthier lifestyle not just those who are providing the care.
In my opinion there is so much stigma around mental illness due to assumptions around those people being incurably crazy. When there is no difference between a mental illness and cancer or some other type of physical disease. Once we know that someone has a mental illness I think it automatically knocks them down on the ladder and we assume that they are incapable of functioning as a “normal” citizen. The factors that I think contribute to self-stigma are: social media, peers/family members, insecurities, fear of being punished, stereotypes, and lack of support.
Someone’s culture can greatly impact their response and the response of their support system in some very negative ways and in some cases some positive ways. Some negative impacts are vulernability, fear of rejection, lack of resources (money and ways to get help), and having their support system turn their backs on them. On the other hand there can be some very positive impacts, it can bring people together, provide the individual with new supports in their life that they did not have before, and could create new opportunities for them to bring more success to their life. The reaction of those surrounding the individual will play a huge role in how they overcome this hurdle. In my opinion it is a sink or swim situation, if there are positive impacts the person will hopefully be able to find new ways to thrive, with negative impacts this could drag the person down preventing them from living their life to the fullest.
My Wellness Reflection
In order to be a successful nurse you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of your patients. This semester I made two wellness goals to improve self-care. Even though these goals may seem simple to other people, they were hard for me to achieve. It took a lot of discipline and reflection to attain them. At first, I was not remotely in the range of being able to achieve them. Nursing is more than being smart academically, it is more important to be the best you, you can be. If you cannot take care of yourself, you cannot expect to take quality care of your patients.
My Wellness Goals
In the beginning of the semester I came up with two wellness goals that would improve my overall self-care. While there are many goals that I could set for myself, the two that I chose were the ones that could improve my life/self-care in bigger ways.
- My first goal is to recognize when my brain is done and needs a break to clear my head and then continue with studying or my other tasks for that day.
- My second goal is sleep and hydration. I do not remotely get enough sleep every night. Some days I drink enough water and other days I am so far off the right amount that I could probably be considered dehydrated. In order to get enough sleep, I will make a bedtime routine for weekdays and weekends.
These goals are important to me because in order to set myself up for success in school and support my overall immune health I needed to improve my sleeping and fluid intake habits, along with recognizing when I need to take a break from studying. When I get frustrated with studying is when I know I have gone too far and should have taken a break sooner. It is important to me that I don’t get frustrated because I will be able to retain more information and be more efficient using my time more effectively. I was successful in attaining my goal of taking more study breaks and being more efficient with my studying however, I was not successful with drinking more water and getting more sleep. While I was studying, I would set timers for 30 minutes or less depending on what I was studying. After each block of time I had to take 10 minutes and drink some water, move, or go on my phone. I tried to set timers for going to bed but that simply just did not happen. Often there are not enough hours in the day to be student athlete and get all my homework done. As for drinking enough water I would make myself drink 2 of my yetis before 12 p.m. and then 3 after 12 p.m. Being in class and not really being able to drink water and then not finding time to fill up my water bottle were the two biggest barriers in me not being able to drink enough water.
Prochaska’s Transtheoretical Model
Prochaska’s Transtheoretical Model is basically people’s willingness to change and readiness to commit to making those desired changes (Behavioral). My willingness to change has slowly declined throughout the semester, because at this point, I am just trying to make it through to the end. It’s sad to say but I don’t care how or what I need to do to make it through as long as my grades are good, and I am alive at the end of it. For next semester I will try to get more rest from the very beginning so that I do not start behind in that aspect of my goals. I want to implement better usage of my planner to be more efficient and effective. When applying this to patient care it is extremely important that I practice what I preach. In order to meet my goals, I will implement more timers, alarms, and better usage of my planner. I will also recognize when I am getting mentally drained. Preventing myself from being mentally over worked will be key to achieving my wellness goals. As I start to get frustrated or annoyed that will be how I know that I am in need of a break. I will also need to put timers on for my breaks because I need to get back into my work in a timely manner before I lose my motivation to actually get the work done.
Conclusion
Throughout the semester this class has made me more aware of my self-care habits. It has really reaffirmed the importance of taking care of myself before I can do my schoolwork and in the future be a good nurse. For next semester I will definitely be more disciplined from the start to make sure that I can be successful in achieving these goals.
Works Cited
Behavioral Change Models. (n.d.). Retrieved November 02, 2020, from https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/mph-modules/sb/behavioralchangetheories/behavioralchangetheories6.html
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.
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.
