Shadow Experience Reflection This paper will discuss the shadowing experience that I had while following two different nurses at Swedish American Hospital in Rockford, Illinois.
Description of Experience My shadowing took place on Sunday, September 27, 2015, from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. on the 9th floor of Swedish American Hospital, in Rockford. Since I shadowed from 3-11 I had the opportunity to follow two nurses throughout my day. The 9th floor is made up of patient rooms, of all the patients I got to visit that day, some of them were recovering surgical patients, while others were brought up from the emergency room. Because this was not a specific unit floor, I was introduced to a wide variety of cases. During my shift, I saw a woman …show more content…
The PCT’s, or patient care technicians, are a hugely supportive resource that the nurses have. They go around and take vitals every hour and report to the nurse where they are at, as well as any other issues the patient may have mentioned to them. The nurses rely on them for a huge number of things, and are able to communicate very affectively what they need help with, or would like done. The nurse-doctor interaction that I witnessed was very professional. The surgeon came to the patient’s room and made the nurse gather all the supplies he needed, she got a little irritated because he did not inform her he would be needing all the materials beforehand. He performed the procedure, then he left. This made the nurse a little more irritated because he did not tell her whether he would put in the orders for discharge before he left, leaving her a little blinded on the future patient’s care. Lastly, we have the nurse-to-nurse communication. The ladies on the 9th floor know they can all count on each other to lean on. There was always someone there to help move a patient, or transfer a patient between floors. I saw nurses bouncing ideas off of one another, and the ease of a shift change as they discussed their patients. Overall, everyone seemed to enjoy the others company, which provided for a good shadowing environment. Another …show more content…
This means that I will have to do thorough assessments all every patient, no matter what they are in for. When Teresa was interviewing a patient for the first time, she remained very focused on what she was doing even though the patient insisted on sleeping. She had to get him to drink a powdered potassium even though he tried to put it down after each sip. Another patient, did not want any more antibiotics because her IV site was very painful. Teresa told her that after she took one more, she would remove the one that was causing pain. This was a way to encourage this specific patient to keep fighting through the pain. This is something I want to always remember because even if I am having a bad day, I cannot take a short cut with a patient, I have to give them my best efforts all the time. After this shadowing experience I cannot wait to continue my nursing education and be able to make a difference in people’s
Description of Experience My shadowing took place on Sunday, September 27, 2015, from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. on the 9th floor of Swedish American Hospital, in Rockford. Since I shadowed from 3-11 I had the opportunity to follow two nurses throughout my day. The 9th floor is made up of patient rooms, of all the patients I got to visit that day, some of them were recovering surgical patients, while others were brought up from the emergency room. Because this was not a specific unit floor, I was introduced to a wide variety of cases. During my shift, I saw a woman …show more content…
The PCT’s, or patient care technicians, are a hugely supportive resource that the nurses have. They go around and take vitals every hour and report to the nurse where they are at, as well as any other issues the patient may have mentioned to them. The nurses rely on them for a huge number of things, and are able to communicate very affectively what they need help with, or would like done. The nurse-doctor interaction that I witnessed was very professional. The surgeon came to the patient’s room and made the nurse gather all the supplies he needed, she got a little irritated because he did not inform her he would be needing all the materials beforehand. He performed the procedure, then he left. This made the nurse a little more irritated because he did not tell her whether he would put in the orders for discharge before he left, leaving her a little blinded on the future patient’s care. Lastly, we have the nurse-to-nurse communication. The ladies on the 9th floor know they can all count on each other to lean on. There was always someone there to help move a patient, or transfer a patient between floors. I saw nurses bouncing ideas off of one another, and the ease of a shift change as they discussed their patients. Overall, everyone seemed to enjoy the others company, which provided for a good shadowing environment. Another …show more content…
This means that I will have to do thorough assessments all every patient, no matter what they are in for. When Teresa was interviewing a patient for the first time, she remained very focused on what she was doing even though the patient insisted on sleeping. She had to get him to drink a powdered potassium even though he tried to put it down after each sip. Another patient, did not want any more antibiotics because her IV site was very painful. Teresa told her that after she took one more, she would remove the one that was causing pain. This was a way to encourage this specific patient to keep fighting through the pain. This is something I want to always remember because even if I am having a bad day, I cannot take a short cut with a patient, I have to give them my best efforts all the time. After this shadowing experience I cannot wait to continue my nursing education and be able to make a difference in people’s