In the medical field, it can be rather difficult for providers to fully be available for individual patients. They have a busy agenda with others to attend to as well. The benefit of being a student nurse is that you have the opportunity to give your full attention to one patient, and attend to their needs. Patients tend to become overwhelmed in hospitals, so it can be difficult for them to feel comfortable. A goal that I made for myself this semester was to ensure that I was comfortable working with patients, as well as ensuring their comfortability as well.

Within my clinical practice, I had a lot of interactions with patients. One example that stuck out to me the most was a patient that had a spinal injury. This patient was also facing signs of delirium. When I went into the room, I immediately noticed that this patient was in a lot of pain, and was obviously confused as to their surroundings. I initiated my assessment, but took many breaks to reorient my patient to the entirety of what I was performing. This was a large challenge for me, because I had never really encountered a delirious person before in my life. I personally was a little uncomfortable, and did not know how to go about taking care of this patient. However, I told myself that it is important to provide specialized care for everyone regardless of their differences. As I worked with my patient, I noticed that they were requesting to go to the bathroom quite a bit. As a student at this particular facility, I was not able to perform transfers. Therefore I myself could not aid with this patient’s needs. I went to the nurse and requested help, but the nurse was stated that they could not perform the action when I asked. At the time, I did not understand why the nurse was not able to perform a transfer for the patient when I asked. Reflecting on the experience now, I understand that the nurse could have been caring for many patients, and probably was too busy to multi task with a transfer. I could have done things differently was by asking others for help. Although there were not many certified assistants on the floor, I could have asked other nurses or providers to aid with allowing this patient to go to the bathroom. I also could have created a nursing care plan with the nurse by creating a schedule that allows the patient to go to the bathroom once every hour. By doing that, the nurse will be prepared to help with the patient, and the patient will have many opportunities to relieve themselves throughout the day. By using these methods, I can make a difference for creating a safe environment for patient care. This experience allows me to take on the role as a student nurse to advocate my patients needs and rights, when they were not capable of asking the nurse themselves. I will use my nursing skills to think of alternative ways that patients can receive proper care. I have learned that it is important to acknowledge all perspectives to allow everything in the healthcare field to go along smoothly. This was a great learning opportunity for my nursing career, so that I can have more confidence in the future, when preparing to advocate for other patients in the future as well. Therefore, this situation proved to make a difference for my patient’s care, as well as how I intend on providing care in the future.