(AN ASPECT OF NURSING CARE)
Reflection on Clinical Practice – First Placement (Year 1)
The following essay is a reflective account on an event that I, a student nurse encountered whilst on my first clinical placement in my first year of study. The event took place in a nursing home. All names have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the patient (NMC, 2008).
Throughout this essay I shall be using Gibbs model of reflection. The following reflective account also forms one aspect of the EC hour’s directive, namely that of caring for clients with mental health problems.
I have chosen to reflect on the event described in this essay as I feel that it highlights the need for nurses to have effective communication skills especially when treating patients that have suffered a stroke and also those that have a mental illness.
Mrs. Lewis was admitted to the nursing home as a permanent resident following a severe stroke which left her paralysed on her right side. Due to the stroke Mrs. Lewis suffered aphasia (loss of speech) and also dysphasia (difficulty swallowing). Prior to having a stroke Mrs. Lewis had been diagnosed with dementia which meant that she was often very confused and could be anxious. Mrs Lewis was completely reliant on healthcare assistants to help her with all activities of daily living.
Mrs. Lewis’ dysphasia meant that all medications and feed had to be given via a PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) feeding tube. On this particular day my mentor asked me to administer Mrs. Lewis’ medications and to set up the Peg feed unit ready for later in the day. I had observed my mentor give medications via the Peg tube on other patients and had practiced administering medications and feed in this way numerous times for other patients so I felt reasonably confident in doing this.
I had not met Mrs. Lewis before and upon entering