Reflective Essay

The last week of classes for NURS1005 were a series of clinical skills activities. These activities refreshed the student’s minds on what they will be doing on placement and how to do it. We got assessed on three clinical skills; taking and recording vital signs, blood glucose levels and doing a urine analysis. I’ve chosen to reflect on taking vital signs and how I performed them. Reflection is a very important part of learning from experiences which is essential in nursing. Nursing practises continue to change and it is easier to go with and to add to that change if you are reflecting on your practise. This essentially makes nursing practises better for the patients. I have reflected on the process of how I took the vital signs during my clinical skills activities. I was very nervous but believe I performed them well due to how I was taught, what I have read and seen and the vital signs signified how my peer was acting which was healthy and within a normal range. Even though I felt I did them well, there were improvements that could and have happened since. Most of the improvements are minor in comparison to the strengths I have but it is important to recognise improvements when needed so you are giving the best and accurate care. I was aware of these improvements needed and tried to strengthen them during my clinical placement which helped me learn different ways of doing processes and also the rationale behind the processes.

Usually, we start the observations around 22:00, reporting any NEWS score over 3 or anything untoward to the the Staff Nurse who will inform a doctor who may order an ECG, which I would perform and report straight back to him/her. This is an example of how communication and co-operation is so important to working in partnership. Any missing ‘cog’ in a machine could spell disaster, especially in the care industry.

Therefore, a formative assessment was performed in the third week of placement without any concern pass or fail results (Gopee, 2015 p.174). However, the vital signs assessment tool (VSAT) was created by the author of this report (Appendix A) based on evidence based practice (EBP) in order to meet the clinical learning environment (CLE) needs as suggested by Bradshaw et al., (2012). Although, the STN feels happy to perform the assessment, nevertheless, the STN requires support since this is the first time to perform VS on a real patient. Consequently, a mentor checklist was used (Appendix B) to create CLE (RCN, 2007), to reduce the level of anxiety also to enhance learning experience (Anderson, 2011) and to ensure the STN feels being part of

The process our prototype package covers is how to assess the state of a patient's essential body functions using vital signs. In order to check a patient's vital signs you must assess their temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate and blood pressure. This process is used by college students who are pursuing a career in the medical field. The part of this process we will be showing is how to properly check someone's pulse and respiration rate.

The goal of hemodynamic monitoring in a critical care environment is to allow care providers the immediate ability to assess a patient’s cardiopulmonary and cardiovascular function (i.e. tissue perfusion). In school we learn basic techniques to achieve this. Every student will say that every teacher always asks the same question “What are you gonna’ do first?” The answer is always the same “ASSESS THE PATIENT!” Assesing blood pressure, finger clubbing, peripheral pulses, capillary refill, LOC, I/O and presence of cyanosis are all non-invasive methods of hemodynamic monitoring that any nursing student on our level can rapid-fire at a moment’s notice. This semester we are learning how

The patient was in the intensive care unit. The patient was attached to an EKG monitor, required

On arrival to the operating room, all patients were continuously monitored with electrocardiography, non invasive blood pressure and pulse

My clinical day began earlier than before. I began by checking my patient’s current chart, I was introduced to my nurse, and then I headed off to my patient’s room to perform my vital signs.

All vital signs should be recorded on each visit, including blood pressure, temperature, pulse, respiration rate, pain, weight, height, and body mass index (BMI). Significant fluctuation of any vital signs is a red flag and needs to be evaluated. False readings due to poor techniques or manufacture malfunction of equipment should be ruled out. Abnormal vital signs may be related to cardiac, pulmonary, or gastrointestinal systems. D.E.’s vital signs were within the normal limit during this visit.

“Anyways.” I cleared my throat as my voice caught on the last syllable. “I need to check your vitals. Blood pressure, heart rate, water levels, and the like. We’re required to make sure that the patient gives us consent before we commence, so is it alright with you?” I was bored at the end of the speech, having repeated this to every single patient that I ever

The fetal heart rate did not drop below 80bpm and it responded with nursing interventions such as oxygen, maternal position change, and increased fluids. Therefore this sign was confirming to the nurse that there might be an issue and that this patient needed to be monitored closely.

Vital signs consist of the measurement of patient’s blood pressure, temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate and oxygen saturation (Jarvis 2013). They are routinely measured by nurses to gain a baseline assessment of patient’s state of health, monitor for any fluctuations, recognise changes in patient’s condition and to detect for signs of deterioration (Dougherty and Lister 2008 cited in Phillip et al 2013).

Vital signs indicate the measurement of the basic functions of the body. There are four major vital signs which are routinely monitored in health care. They include Body Temperature (BT), Blood Pressure (BP), Pulse or Heart Rate (HR), and Respiration rate (RR). Vital signs vary with age, weight and gender. Recording the values of all vital signs daily at least once is a primary standard in acute wards in hospitals. However, recent multicentre studies found that the level of documentation of vital signs in many hospitals is poor. Among these vital signs, the respiration rate is not commonly recorded even when the patient mainly has respiratory problems. Respiratory rate is the quantity of breaths taken by a man for each moment. Respiration rate

The last part of the day involved assessing vital signs, including; temperature (oral, rectal, axillary, and tympanic), assessing pulses, respiratory rates, blood pressure, pulse oximeter assessment, and measuring height and weight. Nurses use vital signs as a starting point and they can learn a lot a person and s/he ailments immediately from this information (#C2).

At the start of my clinical day I went to go meet up with my nurse, who was Angie. After meeting up with her I headed to Marjorie’s room to go take her vital signs. I took her temperature, blood pressure, pulse, respirations, and pulse oxygen. I also asked if she was in any pain. I ambulated Marjorie to her chair and to her walker, where then I took her on a walk in the hallway which he did very well with. I checked on her intake on the breakfast she received during clinical.