Reflective Essay on Communication

I am a health veneration suspensor (HCA) on an elderly care surgical ward and we nurse m all a(prenominal) different tolerants who flummox had elective surgery and corrective surgery subsequently a trauma. I have a lot of contact with forbearings who weather with insanity, ongoing confusion due to urinary tract infections and can very practically display challenging and aggressive behavior.I have pitch on a daily basis that longanimouss create can frustrated when they cannot leave what they want, and I was sure that with my strong accent I would come across as harsh. This left me feeling worried and sometimes inadequate because it is in my bloodline and soulal nature to want to jockstrap those in my care. As intermit of my Personal Assessment Document (PAD) my mentor and I decided that I would I would push myself to speak with patients much and clear how they reacted to me. I would state the patients purple This is me folder to try and engage them on a more perso nal level.With this wistful account I for come in be discussing an experience that I had on my ward and how through thoughtfulness I have managed to gain more confidence in my cleverness to talk to my patients and convey my compassion in the way I cash in ones chips with the patients in my care.I will use the reflective framework devised by Atkin and white potato (1994) to construct this account. It is the right model of reflection for me to look back and gip from my experiences.Personally, being a good student and health carer does not dependable come with reflection in the mind but also reflective practice which, according to the nursing standard enables a student to buzz off their skills, increase their knowledge and deal with emotionally challenging stickuations (RCN 2012). Reflection is something that should be engaged with on an every daytime basis and from very early on in your health care career. It enables you to carry on caring close to the patients you treat an d how to improve yourself personally and professionally.I enjoy some(prenominal) the personal rewards and the challenges that go hand in hand with working with patients with dementia. I find that on the drive home I tend re-evaluate everything in my life and be grateful for the now. A patient whom will go by the anonym of Polly to confirm her confidentiality (The NMC Code of professional Conduct, 2004) was admitted to the ward with a fracture to the bonk of her femur.I was advised that the patient was very confused, and would spit at staff and be both physically and verbally aggressive when commenceed but would constantly watchword out that she needed help. She was in the early to middle stages of Alzheimers complaint and had come from a care home for those suffering with dementia. Alzheimers sickness is characterised by the loss of short term memory, deterioration in both behaviour and intellectual performance and sl haveess of thought (Dictionary of Nursing 1998).In handov er that break of day I found that I would be working with her that day, and as she was fleck operative I would need to wash her and try to mobilise her to sit out in her chair so that the physiotherapists could help her to walk once more and get her on the pathway to being discharged back to her care home. I found that I was nervous in approaching this patient as I did not want to upset her or get hurt. Personally I would always wake patients like Polly who require the maintenance of more than one member of staff last as it is kick napstairs to leave the patient to sleep so that they are well rested. That, and from handover I had learned that Polly had experienced a rather active night.Before waking Polly I had read her personal This is me purple file to find out if she had any preferred names, and how she liked to be talk too. This is me was devised by the Alzheimers familiarity and is intended to provide professionals with reading about the person with dementia as an indiv idual. This will enhance the care and support restrainn while the person is in an unfamiliar environment(Alzheimers society 2011). With this information I could help maintain a similar routine for Polly and I would not confuse her by overloading her with too many questions and instructions.I woke Polly up gently, and sat myself sight in the chair by her bed so that I was not standing over her. I spent close to thirty minutes with Polly get her up and ready, the patient did not get upset or frustrated with me, andshe was able to do most of the washing and dressing herself with help from me. Once this was completed I handed over to physiotherapists that they too should stock this approach with Polly.I spent twelve days in total with Polly. In this time she was aggressive with me, and she would spit at me when I approached her. Yet, once I used her preferred name and tailored my approach to what she needed from me, I found that Polly was a pleasant and wonderful lady, who could b e the complete face-to-face to the patient that was inaugural handed over to me that first morning.Morris and Morris state that the symptoms of dementia are experienced by each person in their own unique way (2010) and this is reinforced by the publication of the this is me leaflet. It enables staff to in reality look at each individual patient and assess what their inevitably are. In reflection, if I had not read this leaflet and just departed ahead and woke Polly up as I do each patient, the events of the day could have taken a very different path. I found that by talking to Polly as requested in her leaflet that she reacted in a calmer manner and did not get as anxious or frustrated as quickly as my colleagues had prepared me to think.Reflecting over my first day with Polly, I do not remember struggling to rate my words more clearly than what I normally would have done. Polly was not deaf, nor was she a child and I kept it in my mind that this patient was still a scared la dy who had broken a titanic part of her body and was in a large amount of pain. Furthermore, she readiness not be able to sink this fact as clearly as someone without dementia.Hobson states that, the HCA will need to learn to adapt how they campaign to understand what the person is saying to them and that this can only be achieved by entering the like world as the person with dementia (2012, P337). At times Polly would pretend to cry like a child and resort the words Oh Mummy, mum, mum. Oh Mummy but not be able to give an function when questioned what was wrong and how could we help her. Taking this into consideration, Polly might not be actually asking for her Mum but actually trying to communicate a much deeper need.My understanding of how patients with dementia communicate lead me to advert to Pollys hip and ask her if she felt pain there when she moved, to which she replied yes she did. In reflection I found this was a much better approach rather than just asking if Poll y valued any pain relief. Elkins has express that asking the patient with dementia a direct question is almost a waste of time, as the patient does not have the information to give you. Instead it is more beneficial for the patients moxie of self worth to ask them a question with an optional answer of yes or no. It could also be said that a record rather than a question is better because it leaves the patient feeling more in control (2011).From this experience, I suggested to the nurses that when doing their drug round that they should lower themselves down to Pollys eye level and ask her if her hip hurt her, rather than standing at the end of her bed or beside her asking if she wanted any pain relief. This suggestion meant that Polly had more regular pain relief, and as a team we knew when she was in pain.Furthermore, this information could be added to her file and become part of Pollys future care pathway. Elkins raised the very same argument that once an effective communicati on bridge had been achieved, the individual is much more like to remain calm and anxiety free This would draw that dialogue between patient and healthcare professional had been greatly ameliorate and would continue to do so in the future (2011).In reflection, I have found that I was so focused on the need to be understood through my use of English that at times I under-estimated the importance of non-verbal communication. Now, having taken a step back I see that I am almost in the same boat as the patient suffering with dementia, we are both just an individual attempting to communicate (Hobson, 2012) and as a HCA the method of employing feelings and emotions should become more significant than the spoken word (Hobson, 2012).Although my confidence in speaking to patients is always growing, I am more appreciative of how much more effective my body language, and the short letter of my voice can be when communicating with a patient with dementia. Yes, facial expression after these pa tients can be a challenge but getting past the dementia and working in ways that compliment the patients mindset will be of morebenefit to the patient. By spending some time reading each patients information leaflet I am able to help maintain a patients well being and create a more anxiety free environment for our patients.