I enjoyed my experience on the acute level one floor this week at Methodist specialty and transplant hospital. Being on this floor was completely different than previous floors I had been exposed to. On the unit I felt like I had to be a lot more alert in this environment, because it was an environment I wasn’t familiar with. On the unit there were five registered nurses, two techs, myself and another student nurse. When I arrived on the floor I helped the tech give out breakfast trays. While on the floor I participated in recreational therapy as well as flash. Since being a Methodist that was my first flash meeting. It was interesting to see how each nurse would come and give report to doctors, as well as others on the interdisciplinary health care team.
The thing I done best today was being comfortable and adjusting to the environment, after very little time arriving on the floor. I feel like this was important because of the type of mental health diagnosis and behaviors I was exposed to on this specific unit. Shortly after arriving I had two opportunities to help the techs with patients whom were incontinent in bed. On the female side we were warned about a patient whom dislike females, she has acted very aggressively towards females as well as doctors in the past. While on the female side we were told to be cautious. On the male side we were told that the patients were very sexually inappropriate. One patient on the male side was very determined to enter the nurse’s station and would try to enter forcefully numerous times. It was interesting to see change in behavior, because when we arrived on the floor he was very comatose and would no respond to anyone. Three nurses had to escort him away from the door. This behavior was due to not receiving his Ativan, which he refused to take that morning.
In order to deal with these concerns, I learned to just be comfortable and not worry about what could happen. Instead, I was calm and very alert. I also joined the tech and had an interview with one of the patients whom waned to speak with her. During the interview I was surprised how timid and shy the patient was seeing that I was present. It made me realize some patients are more frightened by you then you would believe. He told us his suicidal ideation had gone away and he believes he is Edgar Pope. Believing he was this author and that he wrote the book helped him cope with his thoughts. My day turned out very well, I seen a lot of abnormal behaviors and was exposed to new diagnoses.
This event impacted me by reviling the importance of being comfortable around this population of individuals. When working with this type of population of individuals you have to expect things to occur that you may not be comfortable with. Participation in therapy helped me learn how disoriented patients thought processes can be. It also helped me see them being cheerful and enjoying life.
In my career I believe being comfortable in your environment is critical in how you provide care for individuals. In the future I will make sure to develop a sense of comfort in my work place. When circumstances occur like his again I will be prepared knowing that adjusting to environment is a part of nursing. Changes in environment happen all the time in nursing and it’s something we may have no control over in most circumstances.