Nursing Care Experience - Essay Example

"Nursing Care Experience" is a great example of a paper on care.
My third day at the medical surgery floor was met with confidence and enthusiasm. I worked with a delightful nurse who tested my knowledge and ensured that I understood the purpose of the medication. Instead, I cared for two patients instead of the usual one. This was an anxious experience since I was not sure if I could care for both of them efficiently. However, my anxiety turned out to be misplaced since the 55-year-old patient only needed his sheets changed. The high point of my day was putting a condom catheter on my 86 year old patient. The smile on his face warmed my heart and reminded me why I joined the nursing profession in the first place; to lessen the pain and suffering of sick people.

I learned a lot of things today. Firstly, I learned how to do an EKG on a patient. Secondly, I learned where the different leads go and the appropriate places to put them. Thirdly, I had an opportunity to put a condom catheter on a patient. In addition, I am getting more comfortable and confident in giving bed baths. In addition, my ability to grasp things quickly enabled the nurse to teach me a lot of things. Furthermore, it helped me to earn her respect which will help me get assistance from her in the future. However, I was unable to separate myself entirely from the patients and their families. As a result, their experiences had a profound impact on my world view.

The experience of caring for my grandparents helped me to care for the 86 year old patient. Caring for my elderly grandparents taught me that the elderly are embarrassed when other people have to help them with basic hygienic activities. As a result, they need to be handled with respect. Consequently, I regarded the 86 year old as my grandfather and treated him with respect. This helped to preserve his sense of dignity. As a result, he was happy that I made sure he ate and that I treated him as if he was a member of my family. Moreover, my empathy and caring nature enabled the patient to feel comfortable.

All the patients were provided with great care. In addition, they were given words of encouragement that demonstrated the commitment to their individual wellbeing. The quality of care provided by nurses can be enhanced if they use Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). The electronic devices will reduce medical errors by providing relevant medical information on the patient at the point of care. They will save the time nurses take to research medication information by enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of electronic patient charting.

Today I interacted with a family that was in a dilemma over whether they should remove a member of their family from life support. The person had been under life support for three years. This had not only drained their financial resources but also emotionally. In the end, they made the painful decision of removing the life support machines. The agonizing experience helped me to understand the pressure that families in similar situations go through. I have always believed that no human being should decide when the life of another human being ends. However, that experience changed my perception on the subject as I developed an appreciation for the distress that families that had to make that painful decision go through. 

Tomorrow I want to learn how to prioritize and document the inputs for my patients. This will be achieved by finding the nurse I worked with today and requesting to work with her again. I will volunteer to document the inputs of the patients we will care for. Hopefully, she will be as nice and helpful as she was today.