Definitions
Nurses are implored to think critically when juggling various tasks in order to guarantee patient safety. Critical thinking involves strong decision-making and problem-solving through analyzing, interpreting, and synthesizing patient information. According to Cohen (2017), clinical reasoning provides support to critical thinking as it requires the nurse to make decisions based on evidence-based practices. The nurse has to have sufficient knowledge of scientific and technical research-based understanding of general medical cases. The critical judgment applies to specific patients, whereby the nurse chooses the data to collect regarding the patient, interprets the data, conducts nursing diagnosis, and specifies the most-suitable nursing action.
Gibb’s Reflective Cycle
Description
Therapeutic communication involves enhanced exchange through the use of different techniques. These include open-ended questions, active listening, clarification, focusing, paraphrasing, silence, restating, and reflecting (Carmack & Harville, 2019). My reflection is based on the experience I had with a diabetic patient in the hospital ward. Since I was a first-year student, I have been in the company of more experienced nurses.
Feelings
As a nursing student, I kept thinking about how nurses interact with critically ill patients. As the patient was being brought into the ward my mind gravitated around seeing how the nurse would converse with him to and understand his needs. During the experience, I realized that nursing is a broad discipline requiring a high level of care and professionalism. This gives me the confidence to read more as I prepare to become a fully practicing nurse.
Evaluation
The experience provided an opportunity to understand the positive and negative aspects of caring for a patient. In particular, I appreciated the role of a nurse in evaluating the patient’s needs as the primary step in ensuring they receive the best care possible. This includes diagnostics, medication, patient management and support, which go a long way in promoting the healthiness of society (Kelly, 2018). On the other hand, the experience uncovered the challenge of dealing with such critical cases in everyday practice. My desire to train as a nurse was informed by the need to help people heal better. The education provides vital knowledge and skills that provide proper guidance in using the best practices and providing high-quality care to all patients.
However, I was not prepared for the actual work as I was filled with anxiety and the need to think and reason critically to ensure the patient gets well with less suffering. The profession calls for much more than attending to the patient but also working as part of a bigger team supported through therapeutic communication. The team comprises other medical professionals, including physicians, pharmacists, and therapists. Effective communication with each one of the team members ensures the patient is provided the right medical attention, including medication and applicable exercises.
Analysis
Healthcare practitioners have a duty to ensure that they effectively interact with patients to understand their condition. This can principally be facilitated through therapeutic communication, which guarantees the medical staff the opportunity to conduct a proper diagnosis. Based on the findings, it is possible to recommend the appropriate laboratory test and advise on the best medication for the patient’s condition. The experience underlined the importance of the nurse using different communication techniques to decode the message being passed by the patient. Moreover, communication with the patients can be challenging. This may hinder the prospect of providing patient-centered and holistic care that will address the patient’s needs (Riley, 2020). That’s why the nurse has to learn and use a mixture of verbal and non-verbal forms of communication depending on the patient. Communication can be enhanced by active listening, seeking clarification, being patient, maintaining eye contact, and allowing the patients to express themselves freely. Through the experience, I appreciate the value of therapeutic communication in reducing poor communication that may lead to poor healthcare service delivery.
Furthermore, nurses have to attend to different patients with varying needs. This makes the profession quite challenging because the patients’ multiple needs come along with quickly changing preferences. Nurses have to capture the demands to ensure safe patient care is delivered in a proper manner. However, creating sufficient time to communicate with their clients is a challenge. The situation requires the nurse to adapt to the patient’s different needs and understand that each client will have varied needs. If the nurse fails to allow enough time to let the patient express themselves, there is a probable barrier to communication in the healthcare setting (Grant & Goodman, 2019). Therapeutic communication aids the process of capturing different needs and, at the same time, follows professional standards in caring for the patient. In this particular case, I realized that the patient was able to prioritize the patient’s needs, practice effectively, and maintain safety through professional conduct and trust.
Summary
In general, the experience underlines the need for a nurse to be assertive in professional practice. I learned the requirement to be well-informed in making decisions that will positively impact healthcare delivery. The insights I accumulated from experience improved my awareness of understanding patient needs through therapeutic communication. Riley (2020) states that a proper exchange between the patient and the nurse is the pedestal for supporting immediate action. The nurse is able to fully understand the patient’s needs and implore evidence-based practices to provide personalized care aimed at the best interest of the patient.
Additionally, good working relations among healthcare professionals help to improve cohesiveness which is integral in patient-centered and evidence-based care. The different professionals involved are specialized in different areas. It is through good communication among the team that each one can decide on the best way to approach the patient’s condition and prescribe the most suitable intervention (Kelly, 2018). The experience supports the need to nurture interpersonal relations that is based on the ability to communicate with the patient and professionals involved in providing care.
Action Plan
The experience provided firsthand interaction with the patient in nursing practice. It forms the basis for expanding my knowledge in the nursing profession by reading literature that will help to enhance my understanding of the diverse areas connected to the nursing role. The experience mainly highlighted the need for effective communication in understanding the patient’s needs. I desire to expand my proficiency in different modes of communication that enhance the approach the understanding the patient’s needs. The knowledge will facilitate my future practice in providing prompt care, which is an integral component in enhancing the quality of care (Mills, 2017). I will expand my scope of nursing education through regular professional reflective practice. I also aim to invariably and confidently enforce the doctrines and professional ethics as set out by the National League for Nursing, relating to the private needs of patients.
References
Carmack, H. J., & Harville, K. L. (2019). Including Communication in the Nursing Classroom: a Content Analysis of Communication Competence and Interprofessional Communication in Nursing Fundamentals Textbooks.Health Communication, 35(13), 1–10. Web.
Cohen, S. (2017). Critical thinking in long-term care nursing. Hcpro, A Division Of Blr.
Grant, A., & Goodman, B. (2019). Communication & interpersonal skills in nursing (4th ed.). Sage/Learning Matters.
Riley, J.L. (2020). Communication In Nursing. (9th ed.). Elsevier – Health Science.
Kelly, K. V. (2018). The therapeutic value of communicating a diagnosis. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 11(1), 7–8. Web.
Mills, J. (2017). Therapeutic Communication In Mental Health Nursing: Aesthetic And Metaphoric Processes In The Engagement With Challenging Patients.Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 38(8), 684–684. Web.