Reflection On Maternity Week Simulated Practice Placement

The first week of our simulated practice learning placement (SPLP) we focused on maternity. Initially I was feeling quite apprehensive about this week as I don’t feel I have a ‘maternal instinct’ that a lot of women talk about and I find the idea of caring for babies quite overwhelming. Before this week I had never even held a baby before! I would like to take the opportunity to reflect on both the forum theatre and the infant feeding workshop as I feel both activities had a significant impact on my practice.

During the infant feeding session, we had the opportunity to hold the baby dolls. I told my colleagues that I had never held a baby before and didn’t know what to do! My colleagues who are parents themselves showed me what to do! From this I have learnt how to properly hold a newborn baby and hold them in a way that facilitates breast feeding. This week really came full circle as my friend had a baby last week and I met their baby for the first time over the weekend and held a real baby for the first time!! I have used my newly acquired skills in real life already! It was a lovely experience, and I would now feel confident to hold an infant in clinical practice and will not be scared of the infant dolls in simulation!

I also really enjoyed the forum theatre and thought that this activity inspired interesting conversations between the group, surrounding both maternity and the emergency room. The situation we watched was a suspected domestic violence situation of a pregnant woman and her partner in in the emergency room. We discussed questioning types and what sort of information you may need to gather in this type of situation. Also, what to look out for and signs of domestic violence. This brought discussions on types of fractures/injuries that can indicate the mechanism. For example, the patient said that she fell and out her hands out to break her fall, if this was true, she probably would’ve had a ‘colles’ fracture of the wrist, but she had a ‘nightstick’ fracture of the ulna which normally occurs due to the forearm being in a protective posture, i.e., protecting the face from being hit. This meant that the story did not line up with the injuries presented, this should ring alarm bells that they’re covering up the truth and why are they? It was interesting to hear how everyone would approach this situation in their own way from my colleagues as fellow students and our lecturers as experienced nurses who each have their own experiences of similar situations. We had lecturers who all had different health care backgrounds from emergency nurses, midwifes and health visitors. It was interesting to find out how different parts of the MDT contribute to these situations. Reflecting on this experience my practice will be improved as I am more prepared to come across these kinds of situations, I know what to look out for and which members of the MDT will be best to call on to help me deal with the situation in a way which keeps the patient at the centre. To continue to build upon my practice this has inspired me to do some further reading into emergency nursing as this is something that I am particularly interested in. This will also help me to prepare for my part two module ‘managing and preventing deteriorating patients.’

This practice is relevant to the code as it has enabled me to practice effectively. Following on from this maternity insight week I feel I can care for both mothers and children effectively. I have developed a range of knowledge and skills that will allow me to care for this group of people safely and effectively. I am aware that one insight week does not make me an expert in maternity care and I have gained insight into the roles of other HCPs within maternity care and would therefore feel comfortable to call on the appropriate HCP when there was a situation in which I needed help.

Leave a Reply