Synopsis
Reflective writing is very critical in the development of a health professional and plays a crucial role in enhancing career progression. It provides students with field experience on how to respond to specific issues in line with his or career by using the right information gained and developed the right strategies to solve it (Dubé & Ducharme, 2015). This study is aimed at providing an understanding of how to establish reflective writing on health based on an interaction with a health consumer who describes or narrates his or her journey and experience with the illness. The study will be developed through the use of Gibbs Nursing Reflective model that will help in understanding how the patient assessment will inform my development as a health professional (Emery & Chang, (2017). The model is made up of six steps in which each step leads to the other. These steps include; Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion as well as the development of an action plan. The development of the arguments applies the use restitution narrative where a description of a patient experience goes from sickness to an experience of successful recovery.
My clinical interaction with a heart failure patient happened during my six months internship experience at hospital cardiac surgical ward. The patient had gone through a cardiac surgery that saw him undergo a heart transplant. He was an aged man of between the ages of 50 to 65 who spend most of his career in the construction industry as an engineer. In my assessment to establish the nature of his condition on whether it was chronic or was an acute problem, the patient narrated his experience or journey of persistently fighting the heart failure condition (Wald, White, Reis, Esquibel & Anthony, 2018). He described that the state began at his early 40s when he developed some small signs and symptoms however he could not detect whether it was a severe problem. Due to the nature of his construction works, he usually associated these signs and symptoms with associated career risks such as fatigue, coughing as a result of exposure to dusty conditions, increased chest pain as a result of hard labor among others.
It was my responsibility in the cardiac medical ward to conduct a medical evaluation on how the patient was responding to treatment or recovery from the surgery process which was successfully done by our hospital cardiovascular specialists. The patient was in the ward for seven days within which he was able to share with me his experiences that resulted in the cardiac surgery. In most cases, cardiac surgery or heart transplant is done as the last end option for heart failure which informed me that indeed the patient had gone through painful experiences before the surgery (Spaling, Currie, Strachan, Harkness & Clark, 2015). The management of heart failure from my professional background can be a very daunting task, and therefore he motivated me because he showed great positive strength in overcoming the situation unlike in most patients who end up succumbing to death not necessarily because of the condition but because of the psychological and emotional experiences they undergo in their fight.
Application of Gibbs Narrative reflective model
The condition becomes worse during his early 50s which showed that he did not visit any doctor for diagnosing when he first began experiencing signs of fatigue and weakness, persistent coughing, chest pains, lack of appetite, rapid and irregular heartbeat as well as increased shortness of breath (Duke et al., 2017). These conditions and the failure for medical checkup and examinations for diagnosis were the results of worsening of his health. However, he was forced to visit a doctor when the conditions became worse by experiencing increased chest pain, fainting, and severe weaknesses, rapid and irregular heartbeat as well as sudden, severe shortness of breath and coughing (Lee & Riegel, 2018). Upon examination and the doctors recommended that he undergoes a heart transplant as he was at the end stage of the health failure which could result to death at any moment. He shared his experiences of social isolation where he felt abandoned by friends and family, physical restrictions from his career, increased living in fear which was caused by the increased uncertainty of his condition as well as losing a sense of control (Overbaugh & Parshall, 2017). However, his experience with the modern medical or health technology, he gives an account of giving him another hope of living. He responded very well after the heart transplant, and within very few days at the medical, surgical ward he could feel healthier than before with reduced feelings of fatigue, chest pains and other associated symptoms such as respiratory conditions. The brief therapy and medication are given to him after the surgery was very critical to improvement on his health and was able to be discharged after spending ten days in the facility.
The account of experiences he went through gave me a sense of being limited in life from different aspects. The gave account of being limited to his day to day operations and had to spend most of his time taking precautions to avoid worsening of his condition. The feeling of isolation in the journey was evident as the patient gave an account of how people and close friends and family gave up on his treatment journey which had become a financial burden to them. His experience of the endless times he felt he could die gave me a feeling of living in fear which in this case resulted from the increased uncertainty of the condition, increased frustrations, behavior change due to increased restrictions from his typical day to day schedule. However, he gave an account of how medical counseling and therapy helped him become more confident that he could conquer the condition. This gave me a feeling of how empathy plays a critical role in improving patient’s recovery journey. However, during medication periods, the patient could undergo some reactions to the strong medications which gave him very negative experiences such as vomiting, nausea, nervousness as well as dizziness and in most cases I felt that the patient was experiencing a sense of losing control. However, the condition became better day after the other and significantly improved his prior symptoms.
Description
The interaction gave me both good and bad experiences which in one way or the other played a critical role in my professional development as a healthcare professional. The patient exhibited some different symptoms during the recovery journey. However, the good things about the interaction were that the patient was able to recount his journey from being sick, reaching a turning point in his life as well as getting better with an overall positive impression of the hospital experience. There were moments of comfort when the patient was feeling better or responding well to the recovery phase, but there were also experiences of discomfort when the patient was in the extreme or varying degree of pain and physical dysfunction (Lockhart, Foreman, Mase & Heisler, 2014). There were experiences of compassion when the patient felt that he was loved and people showed concern as well as backgrounds of isolation and especially when he was undergoing severe pain and felt emotional isolation, physical separation as well as experiences of acceptance. It was difficult however to manage all these experiences, especially where the lessons could come consequently as it had a significant impact on his response to medication.
There were negative experiences of emotional disconnect as most times it was difficult to understand what the patient was going through. Such experiences were inhibitors to our interaction but were able to learn different strategies through the help of the doctors and another specialist on how to overcome such experiences and contribute to quality health care and attention on the patients. They were the critical learning experiences from my assessment compared to the positive experiences as they posed a challenge on what should be done in case such an experience occurs again. The most traumatizing experience was, however, the loss of hope at some incidences when the patient was experiencing varying degrees of pain after the surgery. Such experiences leave you with limited options and ability to render our services and help them because most of the times he was unconscious.
From the patients’ perspective, the risk of heart failure starts with increased shortness of breathing followed by increased conditions or feelings of fatigue as well as loss of appetite and changes in a patient’s body weight. It is essential to note that once these signs and symptoms have been identified or experienced by an individual, it is important to conduct a doctor or a specialist to help you with the diagnosis. Lack of early diagnosis may lead to worsening of the situation and eventually to a level that it cannot be managed (Wakefield, Groves, Drwal, Scherubel & Kaboli, 2016). With the improvement in the healthcare sectors, most hospitals have developed quality measures to enhance the quality of care given to their patients. The development of inpatient care management has played a critical role in enhancing the efficiency of health care services provided to cardiac surgery or heart failure patients. However, patients close monitoring is essential for these patients due to the different medical response experiences which subject them to traumatic experiences (Asselin & Schwartz-Barcott, 2015). The monitoring should be done in a caring environment with the relevant nurses and another specialist to enable them to attend to various emergencies or any symptoms that require their intervention during the recovery phase and especially from the patients who have just come out of the ICU and from the surgical operations. This will enable the patients to respond appropriately to the changes in their psychological states other than increasing confusion which is likely when the patients overstay in the hospitals (Sethares & Asselin, 2017). Most important it is critical to maintaining constant and effective communication with the specialist involved in the treatment as well as with the family as it’s a form of therapeutic measures that help in enhancing quick recovery among the patients. As a health care professional, this is critical in strengthening care management among patients with cardiac attacks or heart failure (Clark et al., 2014). Development of the appropriate environment and conditions for recovery is paramount and contributes to increased efficacy in risk identification from any side effects of treatment, risk mitigation as well as management and hence enhancing the quality and efficiency of health care provided.
Feelings
Conclusion:
This interactive experience provided an opportunity to not only offer health care services to the patient but a chance to develop an understanding of what most patients undergo. The patients narrative of his experiences helped me appreciate and understand the role played by healthcare specialist in building hope for the patients who may feel helpless in such conditions or become a source of motivation (Wingham, Harding, Britten & Dalal, 2014). It was a crucial learning experience that some of the traumatic experiences require a different management perspective where more efforts will be shifted towards the understanding of the emotional and psychological well-being of the patients (De Vleminck et al., 2014). There is a relationship between the patient’s emotional state, belief and attitude and the rate at which they recover no matter the condition they may be experiencing. The patient, strong resilience and determination to overcome and desire to live his normal life was so critical and contributed to quick recovery and was a great challenge to me as a profession.
In future, I seek to develop my counseling skills on how to increase self-awareness, build patients’ confidence through instilling hope, through effective communication as well as growing my assertiveness to their emotional and psychological needs. This will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the care given to the patients and improve their recovery journey or experience by reducing the negative through positive thinking.
Conclusion:
The use of the Gibbs Nursing reflective model has been essential in developing my professional experience of a patient’s journey with an illness. The model provides an opportunity to understand the real experiences of what the patients go through from their perspective other than developing our understanding through analysis of the signs and symptoms we observe in our patient management and assessment practices. It was effective in helping me identify my strengths and weaknesses in providing health care for patients as a healthcare profession. Recognizing the emotional and psychological needs of consumers was my major weakness while my power been in developing effective communication with the patients and helping them receive the best health care services. The study has therefore contributed to understanding the importance of reflective wring in the health care profession and in enhancing professional development.
References:
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