It is important to reflect on our experiences to find out the why and generate knowledge about who we are and how these experiences can impact our transformational change and generate knowledge that can potentially guide future practice ( Clarke, 2022) . I will be using Gibbs(1998) reflective mode to make sense of what happened, what it says about myself and how it can inform the future.

Description of what happened:

It was in the afternoon after drug round. A call bell from one of the rom went off. At first, a healthcare assistant (HCA) went to answer the call. Shortly after, I could hear some screaming and crying. The HCA came to tell the nurse that he could not understand what the resident wanted and she was getting upset. We all went to see her. The nurse could not figure out what she was asking, what made the resident even more upset. The nurse wanted us to go so that she could continue trying but I asked her if I could stay with her instead. I started by comforting her. Her communication cards did not work, I started by using elimination process. I asked her if she was in pain and she denied, I asked if she wanted to watch the television y pointing at it but this was not the case either. At the end, I asked her if she wanted to go back to bed as I remembered that she does not like to stay in the wheelchair for long period of time. She said yes, visibly relief that at the end , I managed to get her message.

M is one of the resident I was looking after. she is a a .. years old who had a stroke that left her bed bound and unable to communicate her needs.

Feeling:

M is a ..old who had a stroke that left her bedbound and struggling to communicate her needs. I spent some time with her on her admission offering reassurance as she was distress by the move from the hospital and was clinging to the carer that escorted her. I think that time spent with her on one to one has helped me to understand more about what she is about. I felt so proud and happy that I managed to understand what she wanted and left her happy. It really made my day. ,there was a certain rapport that could help in our communication and that did help as she was less emotional while I was figuring out what she wanted to communicate. Also, I felt proud that I took the risk to stay with her . The old “me” would have taken the chance offered by the nurse to leave the rom so that she could deal with the situation. Instead I offered to assist her and that paid off. I feel that the confidence in my abilities has grown

Evaluation: What was good and bad about the experience.

It was good that I managed to anticipate the resident’s needs using the knowledge I had of her history and the time spent with her

when she was being admitted. I also used the touch to comfort and reassure the resident while I was figuring out what she wanted to communicate. I think the time spent with her was helpful in building a therapeutic rapport with her also as she was less emotional

Analysis: What sense can you make of the situation?

This experience was a reminder that it is crucial to know people we look after. Some time, it s just a simple details about the resident that would make the whole difference. I think the time spent with her on her admission has helped in building a therapeutic rapport with her. She was less emotional all time I was trying to figure out what she was trying to convey. A good understanding of the service user and their experience is a pre- requisite to an effective communication (Kourkouta and Papathanasiou,2014).

Conclusion:

This experience will guide my future practice. I need to continue to put service’s user at the centre of everything and continue to have the “I can do it” attitude

Reference:

Kourkouta and Papathanasiou (2014) Communication in nursing. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PMC3990376/ doi: 10.5455/msm.2014.26.65-67