Jean Mitchell Consent

This essay will explore the care of a patient. The individual I have chosen to write about for this assignment has been fully aware, and given her consent to allow me to use her health, lifestyle and her personal circumstances in my assignment. The staff and my mentor on the ward have also given their consent that I may use and discuss the care in which the individual received in the hospital for my assignment.
For the purposes of this essay, and in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Councils (NMC) Code of Conduct (2008) she will be referred to as Mrs Jean Mitchell in order to ensure her identity remains confidential.
According to Chapelhow et al (2005) there are a number of enablers which are essential to becoming an expert practitioner;
This essay will begin with a brief introduction to Mrs Jean Mitchell’s medical history/background. It will then discuss both assessment and communication issues in relation to Mrs Jean Mitchells care received/given.
Patient Background - Mrs J Mitchell is an 83 year old female, she has been married for an 64 years to her husband whom she met when she was 18 and later married when she 19 years old. They have a large family together, 7 children, and over 50 great grandchildren. Jean’s husband is her main full time carer however she came into hospital after he was struggling with his own health and couldn’t cope at the time with looking after her as well. Jean has encephalitis which is a serious condition that causes inflammation of the brain. Jean also suffers from dementia in the later stages which she was diagnosed with 6 years ago and has progressed very quickly. Jean is a lovely women and is dependent on others for all her care through no fault of her own. She has become increasingly frail and recently had a fall which
(Littlejohn and Foss (2008))
Jean Is always talking and asking questions , these questions are often invalid as Jean is very confused , it is very hard to communicate with her about her condition and what the next stages in her treatment are . Timothy W.Cross (2010) said that often nurses have little time nowadays to talk to and explain issues to patients. Despite this on my ward the nursing staff subsequently made time to explain details to each patient about their condition and what was going to happen during their stay on the ward. If the patients had any questions the nurses would answer them to the best of their knowledge or get a doctor to come and speak to the patient individually to settle the confusion. Wilson, 2009 said that there is an issue with Dr /Patient relationships. Wilson believes doctors don’t spend enough time empathising with their patients. However the doctor who was looking after Jean came round the ward twice a week, and could be contacted if needed, to see her. The doctor was always willing to do more than expected, for other patients on my ward they would also come to see the family if requested, to explain further plans for the care and treatment plans. Jeans family’s often requested this, as Jean would not be able to pass any information on to her family and