Reflection On Shadowing Experience

On January 27, 2016, I shadowed Lauren in the emergency department (ED), which was a fast paced day full of thought-provoking and interesting patient interactions. Looking back on my second week in the ED, it was far different from my first week. This week we spent more time with fewer patients, whereas the previous week we spent less time with a wide variety of patients. Through my shadowing experience I gained knowledge on charting techniques, how to provide support to infants in the ED, how to adjust to help the patient (even if that means speaking Spanish), and how to work with patients who are having a distressing experience in the ED. This week I was able to reflect back more to my knowledge of APIE charting and developmental ages, so that I could ask more questions geared towards relating our courses to practicum experience. In this journal, I will focus on two patient interactions, each which were unique, provoked thoughts
The first patient interaction I observed was with a 4-year-old female who was complaining of an itchy buttock. Lauren and I met the patient and her mother in the hallway because we heard the patient crying. At our initial meeting, we got onto the child’s level and asked if she wanted any toys. The patient was so distraught that she was crying, shaking, holding onto her mom, and breathing heavily. Lauren and I picked toys that were developmentally appropriate, such as bubbles and a book, in order to make the experience less stressful. The patient was in Piaget’s __stage, and Erikson’s __ stage. Knowing her developmental age helped me to realize why this experience was so traumatic to the patient because of _____. Reflecting back, I would have also brought the patient a pinwheel to