NURS 5117 Critical Care Nursing

Demonstrates the Self Reflection of achieving the Objective that was Identified in the Previous assignment.

 

 

This paper demonstrates the self reflection of achieving the objective that was identified in the previous assignment. It also the evaluation of methods used in achieving the objective and identification of areas that require further development.

As a registered nurse, I have gained expertise in handling different types of patients such as children, adults, and people belonging to an old age group. I have learnt to deal with very sick patients who were admitted in intensive care units and were on life supporting machines. I have learnt to communicate with them with empathy and patience and also understand their needs and demands. I have learnt to be patient with patients who are on life supporting machines or are taking life saving drugs. I have also learnt to handle the family members of the critical patients and provide proper information regarding the illness, medications and the preventive measures to be followed after the treatment. It will develop a strong relation between myself and the patient . I have learnt to be compassionate enough to listen to my patient. This will help them to develop a trustworthy relation between  us. It also leads to increase in patient satisfaction, confidence, health and wellbeing. I have also learnt various measures that are to be taken for the safety of patients who are admitted in the intensive care units. These are the protective measures taken by the doctors and the nurses to avoid various kinds of infection, injuries or accidents (Ball et al. 2013). It is a top priority in my hospital as it leads to serious complications, slow recovery, increased length of hospitalization and also unnecessary deaths of patients. For example, if there is a gas bubble in blood during  a cardiac surgery it will block the flow of blood to all the parts of the body leading to heart attack and death (Daly, Speedy and Jackson 2017). There should be proper teams to handle  and proper measures should be followed in order to ensure patient safety (Epstein and Turner 2015). I have also learnt to provide a person centered care especially to patients who have to undergo any surgical process, for example a cardiac surgery. I have learnt to put the patients and their families in the centre and consider their desires, families, family situations, lifestyle which will lead to a positive outcome. I am also trained in providing them emotional support, giving them courage and encouragement to fight with the disease they are suffering from. I used to involve family and friends in the discussion by sharing responsibility and power and made sure that the healthcare services are flexible .I have also learnt to contact a social worker and a doctor if the patient needs any sort of help especially if the patient is aggressive.

In order to achieve my objective I have also undergone training sessions with my seniors and mentors to handle emergency cases such as cardiac arrest and be patient enough to handle abusive behavior of such patients. During an emergency cardiac arrest, the patient is assessed physically and the electrocardiogram is performed to monitor the activity of heart. The medicines are given by the means of intravenous method and oxygen is given through the help of tubes (Lewis et al. 2015). I was trained to deal with patients who were on life support machine that is ventilator. I have learnt to interpret various machines such as electrocardiogram, defibrillator and pacemaker. My mentor also provided information about various life saving drugs and inotropic drugs to save patients in emergency. I have become more confident in  handling emergency cases in the ICU after the ALS course and the VIVA conducted by the university has helped  me to understand the importance of leadership in an emergency situation. I am able to interpret ECG and have gained knowledge about invasive and non invasive ventilation in depth. I am also able to interpret ABG and X-Ray. I am able to recognize the abnormal signs and symptoms of a deteriorating patient and have learnt the implementation of various strategies and measures that should be taken to prevent further worsening of the situation    (Wall, Andrus and Morrison 2014). I have been trained to take the help of seniors when the patient is in critical condition (Urden et al. 2014).

Although, I have gained expertise in the field of nursing in my career, but still there are a few areas in which I need improvement in order to provide quality care to my patients. I need to improve time- management skills during dealing with patients. I need to learn more special skills to monitor the patients and provide quality care to patients. I need to improve my knowledge and learning with my mentors and senior doctors. I also need to improve my knowledge in the field of nursing such as different causes of impaired hearing such as otitis media, otosclerosis, and various disorders of inner ear such as Meniere’s disease and acoustic neuroma.

I will gain knowledge about the different causes of blindness such as cataracts, glaucoma, age- related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. I need to be more efficient in performing a leadership role and improve my performance level in the field of nursing for critical patients.  I will take guidance from my seniors about how to deal with patients suffering from intellectual disorders and those who are suffering from blindness and deafness (Huber 2013). I will improve my learning on how to perceive, comprehend and transmit messages during an interaction with patients suffering from schizophrenia. I need to improve my communication skills with the patients who are deaf and blind and unable to handle aggressive patients in ICU. There is a need of setting goals for improvement in these areas.I have learnt  clinical and technical skills to deal with patients in the critical care units..There are areas of improvement such as leadership and  time management skills,  according to the feedback of my mentor  and personal experiences with patients admitted in critical care units. (Ehde et al. 2014).

References

Ball, J.E., Murrells, T., Rafferty, A.M., Morrow, E. and Griffiths, P., 2013. ‘Care left undone’during nursing shifts: associations with workload and perceived quality of care. BMJ quality & safety, pp.bmjqs-2012.

Daly, J., Speedy, S. and Jackson, D., 2017. Contexts of nursing: An introduction. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Ehde, D.M., Dillworth, T.M. and Turner, J.A., 2014. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for individuals with chronic pain: Efficacy, innovations, and directions  

Epstein, B. and Turner, M., 2015. The nursing code of ethics: Its value, its history. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 20(2) for research. American Psychologist, 69(2), p.153.

Huber, D., 2013. Leadership and nursing care management. Elsevier Health Sciences in Australia. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 8(1).

Lewis, S.L., Maltas, J., Dirksen, S.R. and Bucher, L., 2015. Study guide for medical-surgical nursing: Assessment and management of clinical perceived quality of care. BMJ quality & safety, pp.bmjqs-2012 problems. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Urden, L.D., Stacy, K.M. and Lough, M.E., 2014. Critical care nursing: diagnosis and management. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Wall, P., Andrus, P. and Morrison, P., 2014. Bridging the theory practice gap through clinical simulations in a nursing under-graduate degree program