It has been
four weeks since my arrival on at the Spring Grovel Psychiatric Hospital. The
expectations and apprehensions I had prior to walking on the unit have vanished.
Since walking on the unit I have toured the unit, gained a working patient
relationship with a client, and developed a therapeutic relationship with more
than one patient on the unit. Throughout my time on the unit I have developed a
rapport with the staff. I felt it was essential to have a relationship with
regular scheduled staff as they are the persons whom interact with the patient
on a daily basis and more frequently than I do. Many of the staff has been
helpful. I had the pleasure of speaking with the head nurse while monitoring
the lunch room. She took time to educated myself and a fellow classmate on the
importance of assessing patients while eating. Many of the patients are on
sedative medications would could inhibit eating and swallowing. This then poses
as risk for aspiration an pneumonia. I have also had the opportunity to sit in
the team meetings that occur Thursday mornings. These interdisciplinary
meetings are done to evaluate the health of patient, develop interventions, and
educate patients. Patients are called into these meetings daily to review their
medications, any changes in medications, and to evaluate the effectiveness of
current therapies. Moreover, I have developed a relationship with a patient on
this unit, Mr. DJ. My client has made me
aware of and more empathetic to persons with mental illness. Through my
interactions with Mr. DJ I have been able to assess him and his coping while in
the hospital. While I personally feel a mental illness is no different than any
other diagnosis, I am aware everyone does share my view. The psychiatrists and
nurses are empathetic to the patients and respectful. There are some patients
that tend to have “short fuses” and become rowdy when given an answer this
dislike, however, majority of patients and staff have a mutual, respectful
relationship.
My understanding of what Reflection of Empathy means is that I see my physical form as do others when they look in the mirror, and this I believe, should be of a nurse and all health professionals to their clients. BCRI, has made me to be extremely observant of the world around me, because I come to realize that I am a people watcher and I watch people when the believe they are alone. My clinical experience in the Center really gives me the opportunity to show my emotion, motivation, and emphasize through therapeutic communication with people in the outside world similar to what I do in my Ministry. It helps me to see through another person's eyes, it is also good to know that creative imagination is facilitated by emphatic listening. Hearing what they're sharing during our one to one discussions each time we are there about their situation and problems that brought them to center makes me to think about the issues of life. The ability to discern my interaction with them and come up with questions necessary, rise out of the gift of empathy reflection as a nurse. I am enjoying my clinical at BCRI, the clients, Staff, my Professor and my classmates are all wonderful.
ReplyDeleteReflection of empathy is when you are to convey therapeutic interaction verbal and non-verbal to a client in their time of distress. Thus far in the mental health rotation my observation skills have advanced. As a mental nurse thus learn I have learned at RICA is about observing and in some incidents having a matter of fact attitude depending if the client have a defense mechanism of some sort. Conveying that you genuinely care however still setting boundaries and being clear to the client what is expected of him/her. Working with the children at times it was easy to fall in the trap of sympathy however once you realize that the circumstances may have been manipulated you will have to learn how to assess to see what is actually go on. There were several times when my client would behave in a way that she wanted someone to feel remorseful to get what she desires at the time. I had to learn her different behaviors by observing and was able to showing therapeutic interventions because I knew what to expect with certain behaviors however, when the circumstance would get out control I would distract and kindly remind her what our main purpose of our relationship is for.
ReplyDeleteI must say, I love and very much enjoy the learning experience at our clinical site this semester. Spring Groove surprisingly has exceeded my expectations. What I most enjoy is the joy I feel we bring to the patients when we are there interacting with them. Our therapeutic games and group times are times where I feel we really bond with each and every patient who chooses to participate. As the weeks go by, I have noticed how the patients are becoming my comfortable with us. The one’s who once resisted socializations look forward to talking to us as soon as we arrive on the unit. The ones that were once, isolative with a flat affect, are noted to be smiling and are more talkative. It’s almost liked they had to watch and feel us out in opinion. I truly appreciate that because, in the world of mental health, one I feel, should not easily trust everyone they encounter. As a group, we have become more aware of many of the signs and symptoms of many of the current mental health diagnosis, so we are able to identify some of the noticeable side effects experienced by the patients such as rapid/pressured speech, severe hand tumors, the Parkinsonism shuffle, and those that are responding to internal stimuli (RTIS).
ReplyDeleteThe staff, so please do not get me wrong because I too am a mental health worker at a hospital facility. I have always enjoyed my position and went to school to get my BA for the purpose of assisting those living with some form of mental illness. The problem that I have noticed with some mental health workers is that many lose their “good insight” after so many years of working in the profession. Many also tend to lose their compassion. I do not mind the workers at our current facility. What I have noticed is that they make sure that their patient care rounds are faithfully completed every 15 mins. Besides that, they do not interact in any social form with the patients. They are more so there to monitor them, redirect them for safety reasons, and to make sure that each receive their prescribed medications. There are a few male staff members who seem to interact very well with the patients, including playing table games but as for the female workers, I have not seen that side as of yet. The second week we were there, we discovered that there is such a thing as “quite time” from the hours of 4pm to 6pm. During those hours, the television is shut off, and the patients are left to roam the hallways with nothing to do or keep their attention. Many appear more depressed in their affect during those hours. I found those hours to be very sad and feel that it changed the atmosphere. To me, quite time seemed more of a punishment than anything. The rationale was that it allows for a calmness. It actually made our time there very sad but our game time/ group activity helped to brighten the patient’s mood. I strongly disagree with this method but the charge nurse is “in charge”
The environment, well I guess there is not much to say when you have individuals locked inn at a facility where many have resided for 13 plus years. It is stuffy, hot at times, and managed the best it can be. There is a television room, game room, dining hall, and the hallway for everyone to pace if need be. What I can say is that, staff make sure that there is plenty of food and snacks for the patients. They also have a good schedule system where activities are orderly. There is phone time, shower time, washing cloths time, meal times, and medication times. Each patient in my opinion is on top of things because that is their day to day routine. Overall, I feel that the staff have the patient’s best interest at heart which is all that matters. The patients on the other hand although many wish to be release at some point sooner then later, are functional, supportive of one another, and compliant with the rules of the facility. I am really appreciative to have this learning opportunity and feel blessed to be in position to assist those in need.
Nana B. Osei-Bonsu