Professional Experience Placement Driscolls Model

Question: Discuss about the Professional Experience Placement for Driscolls Model. Answer: Introduction: This reflection refers to an episode that occurred during my very first experience of a Professional Experience Placement (PEP) in a medical ward. For the purposes of optimal and professional account of the events, I will utilize the stages outlined in Driscolls model of reflection. Furthermore, it will assist me in the analysis, review and evaluation of my experience to subsequently make healthy choices and changes in future practice. Pursuant to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) code of conduct and professional standards that uphold the confidentiality of the patients in any setting of nurse-patient interaction, I will not mention the names of the parties involved (Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 2016). Also, I will discuss two areas for improvement and the strategies to achieve positive outcomes. What? During that morning, there was a change of shifts among the nurses and I was allocated a 40-year old female patient for the routine vital observations by my mentor. The patient was a victim of robbery, violence and gang rape. She had deep cut wounds and bruises that had been dressed and bandaged by the night shift nurses. Again, she had sustained genital injuries, and an Intravenous drip of Ringer's lactate was in place. With the excitement of executing my first duty of a nurse, I said: Hi, I am here to take your vital signs. Immediately, she turned, facing the wall (away from me) and with aggression, yelled at me to leave her alone. With no prior anticipation of this reaction, I got frustrated and dropped the chart for recording her vital signs. Moreover, my mentor and several nurses quickly ran into the bay as soon as they heard the yell. I stood still, in shock even forgetting to pick the patients chart. Worse off, one of the nurses was angered and ordered me to get out of the room and wait at the nurse station. However, the other nurse and my mentor asked me not to panic and slowly take deep breaths. It was a sickening moment, and I always had it reflect in my mind anytime I stepped at the gates of that training facility. So What? This stage was the most challenging. I felt like the patient had been unfair to me considering that I had politely greeted her and presented my intention in what I thought was a respectable manner. On the other hand, a feeling of inexperience and unprofessionalism came to my mind. However, after a collective counseling and guidance from my mentor and the nurses, I came to realize that I was wrong to defend my feeling during the event. It was wrong and unprofessional for me to get emotional and drop the patients vital signs chart just because she had been aggressive in her response. Additionally, I knew the clients history of being robbed and gang-raped. It translates to generally ignoring her psychological distress and the pain of physical injuries probably cosmetically and in other ways (Yelland and Whelan, 2011). Professionally, I ought to have employed excellent communication skills and critical thinking. First off, situation analysis could have helped me devise the best way of approaching the patient (Anon, 2016). I was supposed to greet her and ask how she was feeling at that time and if there were any needs that she needed to be fulfilled. Additionally, seeking permission before undertaking any nursing intervention is paramount because some patients may have personal and cultural beliefs especially in invasive procedures. I would have politely explained the purpose of taking vital signs and eventually pose the question of whether she was ready for the procedure or she felt that moment was not necessary. By dropping the chart and getting emotional, I deeply increased the patients aggression and anxiety, a factor that aggravates her psychological instability. Also, she ultimately refused to be attended to by any student nurse. If I had used good critical thinking and communication skills, the patient would not have gotten aggressive (Rape et al., 2015). Again, she was an educative ca se of issues of rape, violence, and robbery but because of my encounter, she refused to engage with any other nursing students for learning purposes. Now What? Upon reflecting on the case, I learned that nurses should possess skills that maintain the focus of communication on the patient and displays active listening. Again, they should help in dispensing information in a professional way. Another lesson was that nurses should not let their personal feelings affect the therapeutic relationship with the patient. In the future, it is important to demonstrate professionalism in communication by adopting some critical skills. Some of the skills are listening and looking at the cues. In my scenario, the cues included the patients anger and turning away when engaged in a talk. The cues help in inclining the interaction towards being patient-centered. I shall also engage in asking facilitative questions to elicit more cues so that I can understand the core of the problem. Asking questions that are open like how are you helps relax the patients anger but instead open up their souls for more engagement (Bramhall, 2014). Again, I shall apply the skills that demonstrate listening like empathy, summarizing, checking, making guesses that are educated, reflection, paraphrasing, and acknowledgment. The two key areas of nursing that I can improve upon this reflection are staff training and clinical governance. According to the report prepared for the Australian commission on safety and quality in healthcare, poor provider-patient communication is among the leading causes of court cases and even morbidity. I would schedule continuous medical education (CMEs) sessions that focus on empowering staff on communication (Jacobs, Stegmann, and Siebeck, 2014). Through clinical governance, I would employ effective communication skills as a role model to other health care providers (MacVane Phipps, 2015). More research, experience and help from other professionals would be my strategies to handle similar situations in the future. Through research, I would dispense evidence-based interventions for the good of the pati ent (Mabbott, 2011). More experienced staff have the best ways of understanding the patient. Therefore, they may help me handle the cases professionally. In conclusion, the encounter was entirely about efficient and professional communication in nursing. Currently, I am one of the best communicators in our nursing school learning from the experience I had with that patient. References Anon, (2016). [online] Available at: https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Final-Report-Patient-Clinician-Communication-Literature-Review-Feb-2013.pdf [Accessed 20 Sep. 2016]. Bramhall, E. (2014). Effective communication skills in nursing practice.Nursing Standard, 29(14), pp.53-59. Jacobs, F., Stegmann, K. and Siebeck, M. (2014). Promoting medical competencies through international exchange programs: benefits on communication and effective doctor-patient relationships.BMC Medical Education, 14(1). Mabbott, I. (2011). Nursing Evidence-Based Practice SkillsNursing Evidence-Based Practice Skills.Nursing Standard, 25(33), pp.30-30. MacVane Phipps, F. (2015). Clinical Governance Review 20.2.Clinical Governance: An Intl J, 20(2), pp.101-104. Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au. (2016).Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Professional standards. [online] Available at: https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards.aspx [Accessed 20 Sep. 2016]. Rape, C., Mann, T., Schooley, J. and Ramey, J. (2015). Managing Patients With Behavioral Health Problems in Acute Care.JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(1), pp.7-10. Yelland, T., and Whelan, F. (2011). An introduction to handling aggressive patients.The Veterinary Nurse, 2(10), pp.568-576.