Narrative Essay About My Clinical Experience

“How can I be good again? I just lost my wife and son in a car accident. There's nothing in life that can cheer me up. I have become an alcoholic who is now jobless.” I said. My Therapist, Dr. Newman, told me “Trust me, Mr. Smith. Only time can heal your wounds if you allow it to. Well, that's the end of the session, and I want to recall the accident that occurred so we can talk about it tomorrow.”

Week three in clinical was difficult for me, I had a great experience overall but I hated seeing and holding a baby that had passed away at 21 weeks. To know what the family could possibly be going through was heartbreaking. I wouldn’t exactly know what to do if I was with the patient and her family exactly. I do know that I did place her in the room when she was admitted to triage. I do feel good about seeing the scenario play out, while being a student rather than being in the field alone. Other than that I was able to see the beginning stage of labor as well as a C-section. Everyone was so bent out of shape on making sure I eat and that I don’t faint, but it seriously wasn’t bad. As a matter of fact I was too intrigued with the mother rather

“Oh I got my heart right here. Oh I got my scars right here…” With the slow beat of The Weeknd, I took a right onto the highway. Where was I going? I didn’t know. I was just going to drive my thoughts away. Peering down into my windows, the moon shone on my interior, lighting up everything. It was just me, the moon, and my freedom. I turned the radio louder to blast out my thoughts and just think about the song. I do this therapeutically. Driving makes me feel better, especially when I have no certain destination or deadline. My only goal is to chase the moon in an eternal game of tag, but for some reason I’m always “it”.

My clinical experience today has been a completely different, from any others. Today, Ashley my preceptor was scheduled as the charge nurse. I was surprised by the differences between a floor nurse and a charge nurse with their different responsibility each of them possessed. My first thoughts of a charge nurse were to merely fill in the cracks in the floor, to assist other nurses maintain their patient loads and to cover breaks and lunches, all the same, that is not always the case. This clinical experience has supplied me with a whole new aspect, as well as, a great deal of esteem for the charge nurse. In addition, to the previous mention responsibilities of a charge nurse, in

I sat at the kitchen counter, staring at the green cabinets and bowls of fruit. I wanted to play in tonight’s soccer game, but my mind was still foggy from the drugs I received in the hospital the day before. I didn’t want my teammates to see me like this. My hair was matted from where my head rubbed against the blue hospital pillow, and a wrinkled piece of clear tape secured a nasal feeding tube onto my cheek. I hated what the tube meant: that I was inadequate and that I couldn’t drink by myself. I was someone who insisted on doing everything on my own, and the thin, flexible tube was a physical reminder that I could not. My mom and dad lauded my bravery, but I dismissed them. I didn’t believe bravery was dictated by necessity.

Sept 10 & Sept 17 Sept 24th: On the 10th, it was orientation day because it was the first day for clinical. Gretta took us around BMC. It was nice to walk around and see each floor. We go our picture taken for our ID. On the 17th and 24th, we were not allowed to be on the floor yet because our ID was not ready.

On November 30th, 2015, I ventured to the Santa Monica Convalescent Center to spend time with patients in the dementia ward. At first, I thought I would not enjoy spending almost two hours with people who were unable to be cognitively present due to varying degrees of dementia and Alzheimer’s, which impairs their ability to retain memories and sometimes returns them to an almost baby-like mindset. However, I soon formed several bonds with many of the residents there. A woman named Kathy, a volunteer from nearby Presbyterian church, handed out copies of well known Christian hymns and soon everyone was chiming in as best as they could. I then sat down across from a woman named Alice and asked her about her life. She is an elderly African American woman who answered my questions with very opinionated and interesting answers.

This week I had rotation at Genesis and also Cumberland Hall. Genesis was very different that what I expected. When I think of a “rehab” I think of people all sitting around with major withdrawal symptoms, a very strict schedule, multiple one-on-one session, and with no smoke breaks. At Genesis, throughout the day the client was able to do their own thing until the scheduled group session and smoke breaks. I was placed on the male unit and I was very surprise of the self-awareness that I experienced. Just listening men talk and tell their stories brought on a whole new prospective and quickly changed the image of the addict stereotype. While I was there we also established that all the clients was first timers and all fathers, and afterwards I was able to sit and think about how grateful I am to have my father who’s not an addict. I have had the luxury of always having a clean and sober father; which I had taking for granted.

Our clinicals at Cadbury at Lewes is quickly approaching an end and we are still learning new things each day. Everyday we do something new and so another skill is checked off. Yesterday, we got numerous things done, it was a very busy day.

I remember when I started my recovery I was discharged from the detox program into a six month transitional program. Transitional living that deal with people recovering from addiction are often referred to as recovery residences. The Transitional Living Center provided me a place where I could re-establish my own self-worth. When I was at the transitional housing I felt safe from the possibility of a relapse. My recovery plan was individualized according to the determination of my needs. They taught me what my triggers were and how deal with them in positive ways. I remember when my six months were up and I was getting ready to be transferred into the supportive housing program to be integrated back into the community. Supportive housing allowed

I was able to make connections between the clinical and the lectures. I was able to apply the knowledge I learned from lectures and our assigned textbooks, readings, and videos to clinical. Over the course of the semester, I became much more comfortable being on the floor at the psychiatric hospital. I was able to see the symptoms the patient presented with and make connections as to what their diagnosis was. as well as the as well as see the therapeutic effects of the medication they were taking. My clinical provided me with exposure to patients with borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, eating disorders, and bipolar disorder. I was nervous about clinical simply because I didn’t know much about mental

Throughout my clinical experiences I have encountered a large variety of school cultures and environments. I've been lucky enough to work with both public and charter schools and have first-hand experience with grades one through four. While I have taught and observed all of the typical subjects including math science, reading, and social studies, I have also worked in the schools to educate students in theater as well as health and physical education. From all of these experiences I learned that my greatest passion is in working with young students, grades K-2, in underprivileged schools.

The first thing that comes to my mind about this clinical experience would be exhausting. I had only three hours of sleep because I had forgotten I had a prior obligation later in the evening, so was unable to leave Alamosa until 2100, so I did not get home till 2330. I had to get up at 0400 to then go to SCCF. Four hours asleep, while sick was not a good idea. It was an extremely tiring day that I feel like I am probably missing something in this journal.

My goal for clinical experiences is to apply what I have learned throughout my semesters to a clinical setting. I want to become more competent in my skills. I want to be able to look at a patient and identify clues that help me create a focus assessment. I also want to be able to use the patient medication to identify some adverse effects to create a preventative plan of care. My goals are to become more structured with my care plans. I want to make them more patient centered and more focused on initial issues that the patient might have then move it towards preventive methods instead of having my preventative methods first . I also want to become more confident in preparing and starting IV. I know that perfecting starting an IV will come

The most gratifying experience for me was my interaction with patients. Along the course of their hospital stay, I established a kind of relationship that allowed me to not only see them as patients, but to see them as real people. Each patient had a unique story; a story that defined them a individuals and that had led them to this point in their lives. The patient presenting with a Lupus flare was a 42-year-old female that had to give up her job and career because of the chronic disabilities the disease brought over the years. She had developed chronic kidney disease and was on dialysis waiting to match for a donor kidney. Over the years she had given up hope, and this attitude had an impact on her marriage. Her husband wanted to donate