The thing I did best today, was, communicating with my patient, and doing his physical assessment. My clinical rotation this quarter for Galen College of Nursing ,is at the VA medical center, in Louisville Ky. The VA medical center is a govt hospital for the veterans. My clinical group and I, are working on the medical surgical/telemetry floor. I had to sit out of classes last quarter, so I was a little nervous about getting back into things. But, to my surprise, I was able to, get right back into it. As I was getting my assignment for the day, I was thinking “Am I going to remember what to say, or how to perform certain skills?” But, to my surprise, I was able to jump right back in. My patient was an 84 year old male, admitted with a blocked common bile duct. I was, able to talk with him, and do his assessment with no problem. I was glad, however, that my instructor allowed us to pair up that day with our patients that way we could learn from each other. I enjoyed talking with my patient, and hearing about his military service, and his family. …show more content…
This has taught me that I am sometimes too hard on myself. This experience has taught me, that I don’t give myself credit. I have learned a lot in nursing school, and in my medical career as a whole. In the future I will continue to prepare for clinical or work and jump right in and do what’s asked of me . If, I am unsure of something, I will just ask for
Also, I am a vendor associate at Trader’s Village Flea Market in Grand Prairie, Texas. I interact with customers frequently on the weekends and assist with the selling of bedroom décor. With this experience, I have learned valuable communication skills and patience, both of which are essential skills that are beneficial for nurses to possess. Furthermore, I am willing to collaborate with other team members to provide the best care possible. I will continue to challenge myself in order to improve my clinical skills.
IPE Activity 1 - Shadowing and/or Interviewing Team Members During this clinical period, I had the opportunity to shadow a surgeon, physician assistants and orthopedic technologists in the fracture clinic. What did you learn about the professions/roles on this team that you did not know previously?
Day two clinicals. This day went so much smoother. I had the same two patient as the day before and one got discharged and I got a new patient. I feel like my second day I had an amazing relationship with my one patient. I got her to eat a little more that day because I knew what to talk to her about.
I got to see several ways that nurses provide care for their patients. I observed ICU nurses care for their ill, elderly patients. I witnessed physical therapy nurses assist their patients to ambulate immediately post-surgery. I noticed how fast ER nurses work to triage their patients. I learned a lot from those nurses but could not decide which unit was meant for me.
I'm not sure if that was out of nervousness on my first day or if it's because the long-term patients tend not to respond at times. Whatever the case may be, I'm going into next week with this knowledge and knowing I want to correct this issue before it becomes an issue to myself and my
This learning actively greatly assisted in building my confidence, which I required in order to be successful in the new graduate RN role. Good collaborative working relationships are based on clear communication and collaboration with the patient and all members of the healthcare team. (Kieft, et al. 2014 ) This semester I had no issues with regards to speaking with physicians and other members of the healthcare team, and I continued to actively participated and contributed to daily rounds on all 3 critical care units.
What do you do next? When I was assessing my patient, she had no problem with that. All the time I was assessing her, she was telling me about her life.
My first activity was sitting in the bed board meeting. This takes place every morning with the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), departments nurse managers, departments charge nurses, house supervisor, wound care nurse, Infectious Disease (ID) and social services. The purpose for this meetings is to address important information to plan the day. Some of the information that was mention was: How many patients are admitted at this time, open beds, pending discharges, foley telemetry, central lines, sitters, and inmates.
Because everything that morning was moving at a fast rate I had started to feel stressed and overwhelmed. I was questioning myself and my abilities in that particular skill. I did not want to harm a patient with my inexperience. My instructor was going to watch me, and I told her that I feel unsure of myself. She talked through the procedure with me and with her calm demeanor and assurance I was able to perform that task with no problems arise.
This week I had the opportunity to spend some time in both the OR and Endoscopy unit. Going into the practice days I was excited and optimistic about what I was going to take away from the experience, as I considered my possible future in working in the operative setting. However, by the second day of practice, I realized that I wasn’t overly excited about either of the units and that the expectations I had set out, didn’t quite match up like I had hoped. Even though I don’t feel as though nursing in either of the units is for me, I was able to take away new knowledge that I believe has enhanced my overall nursing practice.
An event that was significant to me throughout clinical placement was when I forgot to introduce myself to a visually impaired client. The event that I encountered occurred on my second day of clinical placement at Fieldstone Commons. This event highlights the need for effective communication when treating a patient that suffers with visual impairment. I assisted in morning care for multiple clients, one client stood out to me in particular.
One of my major goals was to become more proficient in my reporting skills. I have enhanced my communication skills, and I am now able to give report not only to other nurses, but physicians as well. My reports have become more concise, more organized and I have received a lot of positive feedback from staff. I have had the opportunity to watch several procedures including a nasal intubation, insertion of central lines, and the removal of intra-aortic balloon pumps. The staff were so supportive of my learning, and frequently pulled me away to see new skills being performed.
I was able to create better therapeutic communication skills, pick up on the patient’s ticks, learn how to assess for triggers, etc. I will use this in the future because I will come in contact with patients who suffer from a mental illness on any floor I work on. They may not as serious as some of the patients I worked with on this clinical rotation, however, it is still important, as a nurse, to recognize and address mental health issues with patients. I also learned just how important self-care for nurses is. It doesn’t take long for nurses to begin to feel burnt out and lose passion in what they do.
I got to watch six cataracts surgery being done from 9am to 11am. Some of the patients that were getting cataracts I saw the day before in the medical office side of the building or that morning. While I saw back there, there was an anesthesiologist nurse back there. A scribe, a surgery tech and the doctor performing the surgery.
What was important it was the fact that he took the patients consent to allow me to remain in the premise as well. He explained that I was a medical student and was learning from this experience. The patient agreed and I made ground. I really wanted to be there and heaved a sigh of relief. Everything was just as what we had been taught- the MGC (Meet, Greet, Consent) and the doctor gave a perfect show of