Clinical Experiences Journal

For ten minutes, I just held her hand while her eyes slowly opened and closed. The first patient I worked with was a woman in her seventies. She had had a whole host of physical problems. Her back went out; she had a hip replacement. Now it seemed she might have dementia or Alzheimer's Disease. The medication the head nurse gave her was strong and made the woman fall in and out of consciousness. I kept asking the head nurse what I could do, and all she would say was, "Just stay with her for now. I don't want her to get too confused." In addition to performing some of the basic duties like helping the woman get to the washroom, reach for the television remote control, eat, and take her medicine, the only thing really left for me to do was to hold her hand. I was glad to. It made me feel good, like I was actually giving her human touch, not just the clinical sterility of the hospital environment. I really appreciated my experiences working with the seniors because they enabled me to be calm and approach the job of nursing with compassion.

Not all my clinical experiences have been as peaceful as that, however, I worked with a woman who had been in and out of drug treatment facilities. She had been doing crack cocaine and heroine, and she had recently been admitted for a stab wound. She was emaciated, had track marks on her arm, and had poor personal hygiene when she was admitted. The patient was also belligerent. It was a very difficult case for the nurses on staff to deal with. Some became exasperated and lost their temper at her. The patient raised her voice a lot and drew attention to herself. I noticed how the nurses on staff handled the stressful situation. I reminded myself that I would also be encountering many situations like that, patients that were difficult to handle. I will try my best to be kind and patient with them. I really appreciated what I learned from all my clinical experiences because they illuminated what the day-to-day job of nursing is like: interacting with people and helping them feel better.