Clinical Journal 3/4/16
On this clinical day the nursing staff, students, and patients were involved. Upon arrival, the nursing staff was extremely helpful (a complete difference from the first experience on the chemical dependent side.) We were asked what our expectations were and were assigned to nurses for the day. We started off by pulling medication for each patient, and the nurse was very helpful in explaining the purpose of each medication to me. We then passed out medications, but I noticed the patients weren’t being told information about the medications, such as side effects. My assumption is that it has already been done, and the nurses don’t feel the need to repeat it every time. After passing medications, my nurse and I sat in with a patient speaking to her physician. She was manic and was trying to get him to switch her medication because of the side effects. She gave the physician a long list of medications she has tried and all of the complications she’s had with them. The ultimate conclusion was the she needed to try ECT again. My nurse and I then went to the nurses’ station and she created care plans for each patient. After that it was mostly sitting in the nurses’ station and talking, so I attended a group therapy. There, they played a game called apples to apples, and learned about different perspective. It was interesting to see everyone’s thought process. The rest of the day consisted mainly of reading charts and talking to the nurses.
One situation that really stuck with me was the way a tech acted toward the patients. She was obviously annoyed with them and not willing to help. One patient being discharged asked the tech to call her case manager and see if there was another pair of shoes for her because the pair she was given didn’t fit. When the tech called her case manager she said how annoyed she was and that she wanted to hurry up and get rid of the patient. The case manager then came to the nurses’ station and said similar statements including “I will get her 10 bus passes if that means she will hurry up and get out of here.” The tech then turned to me and said “at the end of the day, I don’t care about these people” as she nodded towards the patients. It was shocking enough to hear comments like that from the tech, but even more shocking to hear the case manager act that way. It made me feel sad for the patients that they don’t have care takers who are truly invested in their treatment and success. It also made me wonder why those people even bother working there. That made me realize that I want to work on a floor where I am truly invested in my patients, and I care for them 100%. I don’t ever want to come to that point in my career where I stop caring.
This has taught me the importance of compassion. I find myself a compassionate person, but I feel that I will now be even more aware to strive for that. I want patients to know and feel that I am there for them and that I care about them.
I will use this in the future when I care for patients. I will be conscious of my actions and my words to the patient and behind their back. I will give the best possible care to my patients with compassion and kindness.
Today I felt sad when I heard the tech and case manager talk that way. I was disappointed in their actions, and expected more than that from care givers.