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Growth and Experience

This semester I completed my first hospital based clinical rotation. Looking back, I grew and learned a ton through this experience. I was put in a lot of situations in clinical where I did not know how to respond. A lot of the times my patients would say something to me and it would leave me feeling awkward and not knowing what to say. However, as clinical progressed and I learned more through my communication class, I could see how I improved in my communication skills. Reflecting back on the first time I had to go into my patient’s room, I was so nervous and anxious, and this was manifested in my communication. I would stumble over my words, and even my nonverbal communication showed that I was nervous. Week to week I saw myself becoming more comfortable engaging in my conversations with patients. I learned to utilize silence in my practice this semester as well. At first, as I was completing head to toe assessments, taking vitals, or doing other things I always thought that I needed to fill the silence with words. However, as the semester progressed I realized this was not the case. I learned that each patient is different and how to be flexible in my practice. After first entering the room, I could understand what patients wanted to engage in conversation and how some needed silence. I never understood how silence could be therapeutic, but after experience and learning this semester my thoughts have changed. Mindfulness techniques were also something that I learned that will stick with me in my nursing practice. I could realize as I was walking onto my unit or before I entered my patients room that I was nervous and breathing really fast. Taking a few seconds just to engage in deep-breathing or just listen to the sounds around me, could change my mood and attitude for the rest of the day. Especially this semester, I struggled a lot with controlling my nonverbal communication techniques. I had to wake up so early for clinical and I was introduced to so many new things I have never done before. I was taught to assess my patients’ pain, it is very important to pay attention to their non verbals, but I never really thought about what my nonverbals could tell a patient. My nonverbals showed my patient that I was not confident and that I was nervous. When a patient sees that their caregiver is not confident, it doesn’t exactly instill confidence into them either. I learned to ask questions when I did not know what I was doing, but also to be confident in my ability and skills. 

After identifying a few places where I realized I needed to grow, I think it is also very important to assess a few areas where I still hope to grow. One of these areas is my tone of voice, this is because I am a very soft spoken and quiet person at times. When I would engage in conversations with my patients, I would sometimes have to restate my questions to my patients because I did not say them loud enough. Another area I would like to grow in is my comfortability in assuming the role of the nurse. I still found myself nervous to go to clinical and doubting my ability to be a nurse. I hope next autumn semester will be a lot more growth and improvement in my practice.

Inaccuracy of TV Drama’s

As I have learned so far this semester, communication is such a vital part of being a healthcare provider. Also the patient and provider relationship is very complex because it needs to remain professional, yet as a nurse it is important to build a relationship that is loving and trustworthy. I have seen the importance of good communication and relationships from my experience in clinical this semester. Clinical has been very eye opening to me and taking therapeutic communication has helped me grow in these important skills. Witnessing my nurses interact with patients, as well as getting to interact with them myself has given me a good base for my future career as a nurse. This week I was tasked with watching a video pertaining to a healthcare situation and to observe the relationship between the provider and the patient. I decided to watch a few episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, which I’ll admit is one of my favorite shows of all time.

The provider/patient relationship in Grey’s Anatomy was very interesting to observe and it was easy to point out some positive and negatives in the show. Watching Grey’s Anatomy after being a semester and a half into nursing school, I now view the show with a completely different lens. I have the knowledge of what a therapeutic provider/patient relationship should look like so it was fun to analyze how the show portrays the relationship. A positive I noticed in Grey’s Anatomy is that the provider seems to care very deeply for his patients. The tone of his voice and even the nonverbal communication of the providers show genuine love and care for their patients. However this can be a dangerous game because this semester I have learned about boundaries in a provider/patient relationship. It can be very easy to cross from a therapeutic relationship with a patient to then cross boundaries and the relationship being unhealthy. So in the episode of Grey’s Anatomy I watched I did not explicitly see any boundaries getting crossed, my fear is that the provider/ patient relationship is a little too personal. Another positive I saw in the show is how much the patients seem to trust their provider. Of course this is a TV show where the relationships are not real, but building trust in a provider/patient relationship is essential. It is very critical for the provider and patient to have the patient’s best interests at heart and to trust one another to seek the best outcome. 

The observations I discussed above can have very large impacts on the patient and the provider individually. Many surgeons are shown in the show spending a lot of personal time with the patient and building a personal relationship which is good. However, maintaining a level of professionalism and distance from patients is also very essential even for nurses. Caring deeply for patients is a very awesome skill but maintaining boundaries and professionalism is essential to prevent burnout and mental health difficulties in providers. Grey’s Anatomy is a great show however it can provide a lot of misinformation about relationships in healthcare. It is also very easy to misinterpret the roles of many different providers in the healthcare setting. For example, the role of the nurse can be very overshadowed in this show. I am thankful for my knowledge I have learned so far in nursing school that helps me view healthcare dramas with a different lens than in the past.  

Clinical experience and communication

Clinical this semester has been a very valuable experience for me in so many ways. I have been exposed to so many situations already that are gonna prepare me to be a nurse. Something I have noticed is how valuable it is to possess good communication skills. Whether it is communicating with the patient, their family, or coworkers it is a necessary skill to possess. However, I have begun to notice how much I still have to improve upon in my communication. I am very excited to continue to build upon my communication skills and learn more through education and practice. 

I have already started to face challenges in my communication during my clinical experience this semester. One challenge I have encountered is my listening skills, which I have struggled with in the past. One task I have to perform at clinical is completing multiple head-to-toe assessments on my patient during my time on the unit. I complete these assessments while in my patients room and it takes me awhile because I am slow and there is a lot of charting to do. It is very hard for me to focus on charting and completing my assessment but also engaging in conversation with my patient. It has been very difficult to carry a conversation with my patient while simultaneously charting and observing for my assessment. Another challenge that I have faced is controlling my facial expressions and non-verbal skills whilst on my unit. I have clinical very early in the morning and I am usually very tired, so it is hard for me to control how I look to my patient. I have not been very good at controlling my non-verbal communication skills and it is something I need to work on.   

This semester I have also learned a lot about myself and barriers I face in achieving effective communication. Something about myself is that I get really anxious about engaging in conversation with people I do not know very well. It is very clear that I get uncomfortable and nervous talking to patients. I have struggled with this for a very long time, but I have improved a ton over the past few years. I have gotten multiple retail jobs, which have forced me to interact with a bunch of different people throughout my day. Though I still get uncomfortable and nervous I know that this clinical experience will help me to improve. What also stems from my anxiousness is my poor listening skills. I am so concerned about what I am going to say and not fumbling over my words that I truly do not listen to what other people have to say. I am excited to implement a few things to help me improve in areas that I struggle. First, I have been reading a lot of cool articles in and outside of class about tips to engage in effective communication. These articles have provided me with cool practical tips I look to use in my next clinical. I also have been learning a lot about stress management and breathing techniques to help me calm my anxiety. Finally, I hope to get more rest the night before clinical so I can appear energized and my patient will be confident in the care they are receiving.

Lukas Buck Blog #2

Lukas Buck Blog #2

Communication is one of the most important aspects in life. Being able to communicate effectively is one of the most valuable skills to possess. I am excited to learn more about communication and some skills that will help me to interact with patients and coworkers more effectively. In an attempt to learn more about how people communicate, I decided to go to a very popular coffee shop in The Short North called One Line. This is one of my favorite places where I go to catch up with friends and to work on school work. The other day I decided to go in the morning, which is the busiest time of day, to observe people and their communication. The discoveries I made regarding verbal and nonverbal communication and the use of technology were very interesting. 

Nonverbal communication was the most difficult to observe for me. This was because I had to pay really close attention to facial expressions, hand movements, and so many other things to observe nonverbal communication. One very interesting interaction I got to witness was between two people engaging in conversation. Nonverbal communication skills I noticed were these two people making eye contact, which shows how they were interested and engaged in the conversation at hand. The facial expressions of both these people were very animated and emotional, with continuous smiling, jaw-dropping, and many other emotions. To me it seemed that these people were both engaged and focused on the conversation they were having. However, later another larger group sat down at a table across from me and I got experience their nonverbal communication. It was clear to me that not every person in this group was interested in the conversation. I saw this through people staring off into the distance and not making eye contact, as well as not very animated facial expressions.

I also witnessed how the use of technology impacted conversations. It is very obvious how communication can benefit and be harmed by the use of technology. I mostly saw phones sitting face up on the table while people were engaging in conversation with each other. I do not recommend leaving your phone face up on a table while having a conversation, for as soon as you receive a notification your attention is taken away from the other person. Another thing I saw was two people both on their phones not really engaging in their conversation at all. They were just staring at their phones and did not seem interested in conversation at all. I think people should just enjoy their time talking to another person rather than letting their phones dictate their attention. 

Verbal communication was very fun to listen to and witness, while I was sitting at the coffee shop. It was very cool to see the different ways people communicate verbally. Tone of voice was very interesting to listen to as you could hear concern, excitement, confusion, and many other emotions. I could also tell good listening skills through verbal communication. Good listeners asked very good questions about what the speaker was saying which helped further the conversation. Interrupting was something else I noticed, some decided to speak over another person or always relate something back to themselves. Overall, this experience was very valuable to me and it will make me pay more attention to how I am communicating in the future

My name is Lukas Buck, I am currently a sophomore at The Ohio State University. This is my second year at Ohio State and it is my first year in the nursing program. A little bit of my background about my life is that I was born in Neenah, Wisconsin. I lived in Neenah until I was four years old then my family and I moved to Columbus, Ohio. My family and I have lived in Columbus my entire life since I was four and now I am nineteen years old. More specifically, I grew up in New Albany and attended school there. I was very blessed to be able to attend New Albany Schools, and I ended up graduating in 2018 with valedictorian status. Then for my first year of college I attend Columbus State Community College, with hopes of transferring into the nursing program at Ohio State. With one semester of nursing school under my belt I am very excited to see what the future holds for me academically. As of now I am most excited to study mental health and hopefully be a mental health nurse practitioner.

Outside of school I have a lot of hobbies and things that give me life and make me happy. Primarily, I am very active in my faith and it is the most important thing to me in my life. I do many things to pursue my faith including attend church at Veritas Short North every Sunday. I am also a volunteer leader for Young Life, which is a Christian outreach ministry that seeks to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. I lead at Pickerington Central High School twenty hours a week, pursuing high schoolers and trying to introduce them to Jesus. I also love reading, I start everyday by spending thirty minutes to an hour reading my bible, and I love to read fiction and Christian books when I have time. 

I also enjoy spending a lot of my time with my family. My family is very important to me and spending time with them is one of the things I enjoy doing the most. I have two very loving parents, Susie and Fred and four older brothers named Nick, Jack, Alek, and Zack. All of my brothers are married and still live in Columbus, excluding Zack who recently moved to California with his wife. However, this summer I had the privilege of traveling to California for the first time to visit him. California is a very cool place, as I got to enjoy the beach, the ocean, and the mountains. My brother Nick and I are very close and we enjoy playing and watching soccer, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones. My mom, Alek, and Zack are all nurses, which then inspired me to want to get into the profession of nursing. I also have a baby niece named Josie who is only one month old, but she has been a great addition to the family who brings us joy.

I am very excited to see what this semester holds, I am hoping to leave myself enough time to do the things I enjoy. It is very hard for me to balance academics, my faith, friends, work, family, exercise, and my girlfriend. It is hard to give all these things my utmost effort, but I have begun to realize that I cannot give everything the amount of time it deserves. I will be doing my best to balance everything in my busy life, but I am excited to learn more about being a nurse this semester.