Reflection On Dementia Care

Palliative care is known to be a methodology structured to handle medical cases where patients have life-limiting illnesses (National Cancer Institute, 2018). This approach is often specialized and requires a multidisciplinary team to deliver relief to the patient through the management of physical and mental challenges that come with terminal diagnoses. The objective of this approach is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and their family (Ferrell, et al., 2007). Evidence based practice has come to support this methodology due to the measureable improvements in these patient’s lives (Kavalieratos, et al., 2016). Often, managing patients with life-limiting disease can present as a challenge,

My grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in early 2005. Visiting him every few years, I could see his recognition abilities deteriorating as the disease progressed. Eventually, he reached the point where he nearly forgot everyone except the one person he had spent the most time with; his wife. At the time of his death in 2013, he was in the advanced stage of Alzheimer’s. My experience with my grandfather and realizing that although many people have to go through this, there is not much awareness of these diseases, inspired me to choose dementia as my topic of interest.

In week 7 we had visited Wesburn Manor, the Long-term Care (Clinical Placement) setting. It was our first time there, therefore as a group, we oriented the place. At this time, we went to each nursing station on each floor and introduced ourselves from the organization we were from and how we will be providing patient care to the clients in this setting. We were educated by our clinical instructor on the different access codes in the building, the policies and guidelines, our assigned floor and the appointed personal support worker. Our role of professionalism as a nursing student was represented as we came prepared and greeted each healthcare and staff member. From the professional standards, I have learned throughout my clinical

Direct clinical care provided by advanced practice nurses (APNs) is defined by six characteristics – use of a holistic perspective, formation of therapeutic partnerships with patients, expert clinical performance, use of reflective practice, use of evidence as a guide to practice, and use of diverse approaches to health and illness management1. APN practice is distinct from medicine in its holistic approach to patient care. As conceptualized in Shuler’s model, although advanced practice nursing does encompass certain aspects of medicine, it distinguishes itself from the medical model by merging both nursing and medical values.2 The holistic perspective emphasized in APN practice considers the patient as a whole, encompassing all dimensions

Neuroscience tells that each human being have a different and unique way of communicating, speaking, and interacting, and that humans have different experiences of conflicts that allows one human to connect with the other (Teitelbum, 2016). Having the power to communicate with one another is a privilege, but being able to connect and speak from the heart is a gift. Nursing is a profession that allows a person to give comfort and care through an effective communication which bridges in healing a person’s body. Being unable to positively communicate with the patient causes an enormous struggle in building a relationship between the patient and the nurse. This paper will point out the positive and negative communication a nurse used to interact with her patient and will offer alternatives to improve the nurse-patient relationship.

According to Julia Wood (2004), “communication is a systemic process in which individuals interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings. However, Sheppard (1993) suggests that, in the nurse–patient relationship, communication involves more than the transmission of information; it also involves transmitting feelings, recognizing these feelings and letting the patient know that their feelings have been recognized (M, 1993)”. It is a two way process. The patient conveys their fears and concerns to their nurse and helps them make a correct nursing diagnosis. An excellent communication skill between nurses and patients is essential for the successful outcome of individualized nursing care of each patient. The ability to communicate

Although reflection is an imperative foundation of nursing practice, it is only effective in promoting future clinical practice when the practitioner continually identifies their weaknesses and strengths to support their personal growth. They will also be required to develop this process during their practice to improve outcomes for service users (Johns, 2013). In accordance to the NMC revalidation process (2015) school nurses are required to provide a record of their knowledge and how it promotes their clinical practice. Clinical reflection is identified as a recognised educational tool for this process (Queens Nursing Institute, 2015). This evidence highlights the importance of the the student school nurse’s role in reflecting on this critical

In this assignment I will explore a clinical experience where dignity was maintained and reflect on my practice. It is important to reflect in both personal and professional development. Reflection will allow me to recognise both good and bad practice and how I can improve as a person as well as professionally. For this assignment I will be writing in first person, as it is appropriate for a reflective essay. Hamil (1999) can be used to support this, in the essay. I will also use Gibbs (1988) reflective framework to structure this assignment, as it can help with understanding what went well, what did not do so well and how to improve. Whilst reflecting on the clinical experience where dignity was maintained, I will analyse the situation and use literature to validate my findings. Royal College of Nursing, (2008) defines dignity as ‘Dignity is concerned with how people feel, think and behave in relation to the worth or value of themselves and

Dementia is one of the most feared diseases and expensive to society currently. It is defined as a clinical syndrome of acquired cognitive impairment that determines decrease of intellectual enough capacity to interfere social and functional performance of the individual and their quality of life. It is a known fact that patients tend to express themselves through their behaviour and expect their carers to understand this notion. The diverse kinds of causes of different behaviours are inability to communicate, difficulty with tasks, unfamiliar surroundings, loud noises, frantic environment, and physical discomfort. Many diseases can cause dementia, some of which may be reversible. The term dementia has not been used uniformly in the historical

The purpose of experiencing a hospice clinical was to give me the opportunity to observe and participate in the care of my patients who are receiving hospice care in their home. My first encounter occurred in Jenks, Oklahoma at the patient’s personal home. Upon entering the house, we were greeted by his wife and one of their sons. Before we spoke with the patient we had a pre-conference in the patient’s living room with his wife. My nurse asked how the patient’s wife was doing and the wife stated that she needs more help with his care. She feels like her husband needs some form of an assistive device for walking, getting in and out of bed, an assistive device for urinating, and a chaplain. In response to this statement the nurse asked her if she would like a walker,

While working several shifts in an Alzheimer's unit in a local care facility, I had the opportunity to meet a registered nurse named Sarah. Sarah had plenty of insight on what it is like being a nurse in a facility. During my observations of her duties I witnessed many things that opened my eyes as to what I want in my future career choices.

The research that I am going to be performing during my collection of information will consist of a survey given to doctors, nurses, patients, and family members from several of assisted living communities here in Manhattan. These facilities include: Meadowlark Hills Retirement Community, Via Christi Village, and Stoneybrook Retirement Community. My study lacks the use of funding to help in the development of professional questionnaires, a team to assist in research, and a larger sample size to support a greater collection of information about facility operations, services, and care provided.

I think if I was not attached to the belief that I will never be a great nurse, I might be less likely to have less empathy and respect, and be more shy because I won’t want to say anything that makes me sound like I have an “attitude”. What I have noticed every since Sunday is that I do value how hardworking and helpful I am, and that what I do is not easy at all, but I hold little value to my communication skills. What I mean by that is maybe I need to be even more aware of what I say to people. To this day I still don’t think I did anything wrong to that patient, but she made me realize that I need to be more aware of what I say and some people get offended more easily. I am going to continue to focusing on others and showing respect. I am going to start balancing critical comments and showing interest in others’ points of view. I know that I have to adjust and learn from this criticism from this one patient, and I can’t let it go to my head, but I am going to also over power it with the thousands of compliments I get everytime I work from my patients, coworkers, and even the patient 's

Patient-centered care is one of the six important aims identified to redesign the US healthcare system by the 2001 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Crossing the Quality Chasm. Various definitions of person-centered care in dementia exist in the literature. The Institute of Medicine (2001) defined patient-centered care as “being respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, values, and ensuring that patient guide all clinical values”. However, the concept of person-centered related to dementia is greatly influenced in the United States by Thomas Kitwood, an English scientist who studied and wrote several papers on personhood, person-centered care and dementia starting the mid-1980s

A patient I formed a therapeutic relationship with was a 72-year old man, Robert O’ Brien. Robert was a regular at the hospital. However, when I met him he was uneasy as he was new to my ward. He was familiar with nurses and other members of staff on another ward. Robert had to stay in my ward for two nights. He had difficulty moving his legs, had lots of pressure sores and also suffered from MRSA. He also felt quite lonely since his wife passed away just a year ago. He used to care for her as she suffered with dementia for the 5 years prior to her death. I did the vital signs of all patients on the ward. Last on my list was Robert. On meeting him we began to talk and found common interests like sport and farming. Before I knew