At clinical on Friday I had the opportunity to care for three patients. One in particular
really taught me a lot about what it means to be a nurse. As a nurse you must remain unbiased,
and give the same level of care to every patient no matter how they are treating you. I had a
patient who was schizophrenic, and had all restraints placed on him. His daily goals were to stop
hitting, punching, cursing, and spitting. It was really eye opening for me to see a nurse being
physically and verbally abused by a patient. She just let it go and continued to care for the
patient. This was a good experience for me to watch how a nurse practices positive
communication with a patient that is being very mean towards her. The environment was not
safe and the nurse could have been harmed due to the patient’s violent behavior. Instead of
losing her cool, the nurse stayed completely calm and her demeanor did not change.
Another lesson that I learned was to learn when it is best to just listen to the patient.
Another lesson one of my patients had just finished her third day of treatment in the
hospital. She was very chatty when I got there, I could tell this was a sign she was feeling much
better. She was alone and her husband was coming to get her that day. Even though she was
married her husband could not be there for her over those three days due to work. I could tell
the patient really wanted to talk to someone so I stayed and chatted with her for a long time. I
could tell that this made her very comfortable with me. It really built and strengthened our
student nurse patient relationship. Most patients might feel a little bit uncomfortable having a
student nurse care for them, due to the fact they are tremendously inexperienced. If you take
the time to really listen and be there for your patients then they also become comfortable with
you and we are then better able to administer better care. Overall at clinical I have gained lots
of good experiences that will make me a better nurse, and I look forward to learning more.
really taught me a lot about what it means to be a nurse. As a nurse you must remain unbiased,
and give the same level of care to every patient no matter how they are treating you. I had a
patient who was schizophrenic, and had all restraints placed on him. His daily goals were to stop
hitting, punching, cursing, and spitting. It was really eye opening for me to see a nurse being
physically and verbally abused by a patient. She just let it go and continued to care for the
patient. This was a good experience for me to watch how a nurse practices positive
communication with a patient that is being very mean towards her. The environment was not
safe and the nurse could have been harmed due to the patient’s violent behavior. Instead of
losing her cool, the nurse stayed completely calm and her demeanor did not change.
Another lesson that I learned was to learn when it is best to just listen to the patient.
Another lesson one of my patients had just finished her third day of treatment in the
hospital. She was very chatty when I got there, I could tell this was a sign she was feeling much
better. She was alone and her husband was coming to get her that day. Even though she was
married her husband could not be there for her over those three days due to work. I could tell
the patient really wanted to talk to someone so I stayed and chatted with her for a long time. I
could tell that this made her very comfortable with me. It really built and strengthened our
student nurse patient relationship. Most patients might feel a little bit uncomfortable having a
student nurse care for them, due to the fact they are tremendously inexperienced. If you take
the time to really listen and be there for your patients then they also become comfortable with
you and we are then better able to administer better care. Overall at clinical I have gained lots
of good experiences that will make me a better nurse, and I look forward to learning more.
