Being in a hospital with a sick child can be one of the most stressful moments for a parent to go through. Nevertheless, on a daily bases, we as pediatric nurses work closely with these parents to ease their stress as we strive to send them home with a healthy child. To ensure a smooth transition from the stressful state of mind, it is vital to identify goals and needs, plan interventions and to advocate effectively for the patient and parents’ unique needs.
A few weeks ago, I took care of a two year old with hip pain that presented with more complex problems when lab results came back. Mother and father seemed very distressed when they were informed about the abnormal wbc and platelet counts. As mom only spoke Spanish, most of her concerns were expressed to dad and dad seemed even more stressed because he did not understand the implications of this information, the conclusions that he made in his head terrified him. “My daughter came here with hip pain, what role does her platelet count and wbc play in all of this? The orthopedic doctors said a lot of things but I don’t feel like I understand what is going on. Is there something they are not telling me? Does she have cancer?” father expressed to me.
It was apparent that the questions and concerns expressed were weighing heavy on the family. I informed both parents that I would contact the MD along with an interpreter to address their concerns. The MD walked in while I was obtaining my assessments, I informed her of father’s concern. I emphasized the importance of having an interpreter at bedside when new information was being provided to the family. Additionally, I informed her of father’s increased anxiety in not knowing what was going on. Language barrier, uncertainty of med...
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...e it was always clear to me that each family presents with unique needs and addressing them varies. In an effort to manage similar incidents, I will address these needs as quick as possible.
If this event were to occur again, I will act similarly by taking the same steps: understanding the needs of the family and advocating on their behalf in obtaining answers to their questions and concerns. I do not think that I will act different if this event were to occur again. This situation influenced by practice. In future encounters, I will utilize our interpreter service to ensure that families understand what is going on. It was through having an interpreter while the MD was going over information with the family that eased the stressed endured by the family. They were able to ask all their questions and get an answer that was not abrupt but rather made sense to them.
Although I respect and trust nurses and doctors, I always carefully observe what is being done with myself or my family members. After watching Josie’s story and being in the process of becoming a medical assistant, I feel this story has given me an initiative to ensure patients and their families are kept safe. The generation we live in is technological, there are many resources for patients and families to utilize to educate themselves when it comes to medical conditions. Some people like to self-diagnose and it makes it harder for doctors and healthcare workers to work with those patients. This is when communication and active listening becomes especially important to work through what is fact and what is misplaced
Patient’s experience with the healthcare team to the standards of patient centered care, there are some parallels and differences. In Barry and Edgman-Levitan’s text Shared Decision making: The Pinnacle of Patient Centered Care, it explained how the patient centered care is divided into three broad areas. One of the areas discussed about information, communication and education. It stated that “Adequate information must be shared with the patients and this would include clinical management…This is very relevant in understanding the concept of self-care and individual health promotion..” Barry& Edgman-Levitan (2012). In Ms. Patient’s case, the doctor was able to explain thoroughly to the patient and her parents about her current health condition and idea of scoliosis so the patient can have a better idea about self-care while reassuring her parents. Therefore, the doctor successfully shared adequate information about the patient’s condition so she can better understand how to manage herself effectively. Another example from one of the broad areas was idea of integration and coordination of care, “patients feel vulnerable when they are faced with illnesses and they feel the need for competent and caring healthcare personnel.” Barry& Edgman-Levitan (2012). In this case, both the doctor and the nurse proved themselves as part of a caring healthcare personnel when they tried to have a casual conversation with the patient in the beginning and asking her
Today I received a referral from a family who is seeking help regarding their dysfunctional family structure. The Simpson’s are a nuclear family that is having difficulties living as a family. I have already spoken to Marge Simpson and agreed to find a way to get her husband and children to therapy. She has very high aspirations of attending therapy with her family because she has longed for a “normal” functioning family in which her husband and children interact in a much healthier manner than they do now. She described her husband of being careless, her son uncontrollable ate times, and her daughters disconnected from the family. We have set up the meeting for next week, Wednesday at six, when she believed her family would be more willing to attend and actually participate in the therapy session.
Nursing interventions should encourage family members to participate as well as be the ones who care about their child most. Special attention is needed to pay for children who attend day-care facilities and follow-up care is necessary. Word count: 1674.
Pediatric nurses must take time to answer the parents' questions and instruct them in how
There was clearly a barrier in communication with the mother and the nurse. Even though the mother was able to make her English be understood. The nurse should have had the mother repeat back the instructions of how, when and route to give the medication to the child. In the initial assessment this nurse could have asked more information about the culture and language that the patient follows. This information should have been used to have an interpreter and or language line in the room to communicate the information to the mother. If there was an improved cultural awareness may have enhanced the care given to the family in this case
Reinventing Healthcare-A Fred Friendly Seminar was produced in 2008. The film explores the current issues in health care at that time. This paper explores the issues that were addressed in the movie and compares them to the problems of health care today.
Utilising John’s model of structured reflection I will reflect on the care I instigated to a patient with complex needs. The patient in question was admitted to the Emergency Assessment Unit for surgical patients then transferred to the ward where I work as a staff nurse.
...the patient’s family more within the assessment after obtaining the patients consent, but my main aim in this case was to concentrate the assessment, solely on the patient, with little information from the family/loved ones. This is a vital skill to remember as patients family/loved ones can often feel unimportant and distant toward nursing staff, and no one knows the patient better than they do, and can tell you vital information. Therefore involvement of family/ carers or loved ones is sometimes crucial to patient’s further treatment and outcomes.
Therapy Analysis The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficacy of my work as a co-therapist during the fifth session with the simulated couple Katy and Michelle. I will discuss our therapy agenda and the goals we hope to attain during the session. It is prudent to begin by giving a brief outline of the couple’s present problem and the patterns of dysfunction that I have identified within their relationship. In my opinion, it is the therapist’s job to recognize patterns and behaviors that disrupt the intimate bond between the partners.
Not only are nurses responsible for being the eyes and ears for the physician, but also, they are responsible for providing emotional and physical support to children and their family. I value the trust patients/families instill in their nurses, and the ability of nurses to provide culturally and ethically appropriate care to their patients. I believe there is so much more to being a great nurse then just knowing what the book says about an illness. I want to provide the best care for children at all times by adopting the best practices of other
My experience in mental health clinical was very different from any other clinical I had before. In a mental health clinical setting, I am not only treating client’s mental illnesses, I am also treating their medical problems such as COPD, diabetes, chronic renal failure, etc. Therefore, it is important to prepare for the unexpected events. In this mental health clinical, I learned that the importance of checking on my clients and making sure that they are doing fine by performing a quick head-to toes assessment at the beginning of my shift. I had also learned that client’s mental health illness had a huge impact on their current medical illness.
This reflective essay will discuss three skills that I have leant and developed during my placement. The three skills that I will be discussing in this essay are bed-bath, observing a corpse being prepared for mortuary and putting canulla and taking it out. These skills will be discussed in this essay using (Gibb’s, 1988) model. I have chosen to use Gibb’s model because I find this model easier to use and understand to guide me through my reflection process. Moreover, this model will be useful in breaking the new skills that I have developed into a way that I can understand. This model will also enable me to turn my experiences into knowledge that I can refer to in the future when facing same or similar situations. Gibbs model seems to be straightforward compared to the other model which is why I have also chosen it. To abide by the code of conduct of Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) names of the real patients in this essay have been changed to respect the confidentiality.
I believe placing student nurses in the clinical setting is vital in becoming competent nurses. Every experience the student experiences during their placement has an educative nature therefore, it is important for the students to take some time to reflect on these experiences. A specific situation that stood out to me from my clinical experience was that; I didn’t realize I had ignored the patient’s pain until I was later asked by the nurse if the patient was in any pain.
This week’s clinical experience has been unlike any other. I went onto the unit knowing that I needed to be more independent and found myself to be both scared and intimidated. However, having the patients I did made my first mother baby clinical an exciting experience. I was able to create connections between what I saw on the unit and the theory we learned in lectures. In addition, I was able to see tricks other nurses on the unit have when providing care, and where others went wrong. Being aware of this enabled me to see the areas of mother baby nursing I understood and areas I need to further research to become a better nurse.