Today 10th july 2023, we learnt about autism. As it is the third week of stimulation practice (autism week). There was invited speakers today who educated us on autism and the different spectrums of autism. Myself and other students got engaged on the online session.

Today, i learnt about

• The different spectrums of autism.
• How we professionals should get to know the individual very well as well as their families ir carers
• Show care and empathy.
• We should be very open, honest and condour towards our patients and their families respectively.
• Always check on their autism and health passport
• Liase effectively with multi desciplinary team.
• Listening and getting more information from family and members and cares in other to meet their needs and requirements.
• Know more anti psychotic medications and their indications especially with people with Autism
• Checking underling cause and triggers
• Participation with MDT meetings to put comprehensive plan together. (Holistic care) consulting every one around.
• Redefining people with autism and not labelling them with autism or learning difficulties.
• How autism can cause difficulty in communication a d skcial functioning as well as causing high level of IQ in the high spectrums, anxiety, low mood and depression.

What i can do improve my practice as a result is to research more on autism to gain knowledge and insight of the different spectrums and showing more empathy towards them. Understanding and trying to meet their needs through holistic care.

One of the NMC code of conduct in this given reflection will be to prioritise people. Most people with autism are vulnerable and cannot sense danger. As a professional, we need to prioritise our patients with little or complex needs to give them more attention, love and care to enable comprehensive plan with the help of others professionals and family members.

On this weeks reflective writing, i will be talking about one of the online sessions which caught my interest. It is about dance movement psychotherapy (DMP). During our online session, we relaxed our bodies, soul and mind. We did this together as a group. We communicated in between with our colleagues and tutors. We promoted team building. Myself and all other students got involved, showed interest and participated.

What really went well for me is that, i engaged well and felt relaxed and harmonious after the session.

Dance movement can also make patients feel more loved, valued and relieved. It can help lift people’s spirit and help them to stay committed to achieve one aim. It is very intrusive and inclusive. Eg people in wheelchair or learning disabilities can use their arms and feet (sensory) through different senses. It also helps to distress to gets hralth cate professionals and patients get connected. If gives opportunity to shate knowledge and reassurances to others.

I was also physically and mentally ready for the day and that really helped with my charisma.

What i could have done better was to drink more water( fluids) to keep more hydrated and energised.

I personally learnt about interpersonal communication, team work, courage, commitment, competence, (6c’s),patience, effective communication skills, brainstorming andself awareness.

In relation to the NMC code of conduct, i believe preseving safety will be very essential in this given senario. I will need to check my surroundings to make sure that is all clear from any hazards or spillage before partaking in any activities or movement. I recommend wearing anti slip socks and drinking lots of water prior any engagement or dance activities. We should ensure safety of ourselves and to others at all times.

My reflection will be based on a role play i withnesed at my stimulation center in my place of Study (Roehampton University) . The activity involved a female patient with her husband who was to be assessed by a student nurse. The student nurse was also to report his findings and observation back to the nurse in charge.

From my visual observation, i learnt that as a student nurse, i ought to be early at start of shift for any handovers and be physically and mentally ready for the days activity. We as students should be confident in ourselves to enable patients to count on us and also to gain trust and confident in us. We should try to engage more with our patient if they are capable of speaking about themselves rather than allowing family and friends do the talking. This engagement with the actual patient will enable us (student) gainmore information from the patients. By so doing it can also lead to building a good rapport and trust with the patient.

The changes i observed from the student nurse was that he accept feedback from we the audience and applied it to his perform and his next approach to the patient. He listened well and took some notes and then incorporated it to his next approach to the patient. This time he corrected his first mistake by putting on his name badge, gained consent of the patient before beginning any care, wearing his uniform appropriately, being ready physically and mentally, being apologetic on his lateness, asking more open questions, feeling less intimidated but more confidence and also graining the patients trust to enable the patient confined in him to tell him she is being abused violently.

Finally the relevant code of conduct (NMC) will be to promote professionalism and trust within our working environment. We should be professional at all time and also enable our patients gain trust with us wirh their health and well-being as well as counting on us should they need help.

With confidentiality on the other hand, As a professional (student nurse) i owe the duty of confidentiality to all my patients receiving care and also sharing the information gathered appropriately. We must ensure our patients are informed abkut how and why information is shared by those who will be providing care. Abd must be disclosed if we believe someone may be at risk of harm.