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Looking back on my clinical experience this semester, I can definitely say that it prepared me to expect sudden changes. This semester obviously hasn’t ended the way anyone would like, but regardless I learned a lot about myself through my time that I did get to spend on the floor. This class really prepared me for the tough situations I’m sure I will continue with my patients. When I tell people about this class they about this class, they’re usually taken aback, as they don’t realize that we have to prepare and be ready to talk about things with people who are sometimes complete strangers.

Throughout the semester I’ve definitely gotten better at trying to diffuse harsh feelings in my patients. The feelings were usually directed at their stay in the hospital, no one wants to be there, but under it all usually they were just lonely and wanted someone to talk to. I’ve definitely noticed myself using the communication lessons regarding staying calm during arguments without trying to. I think that those strategies are completely valid and are useful in and out of the hospital. Those concepts are the most useful to me, and I think that overall more people should take a course regarding therapeutic communication. As a society we struggle to communicate more and more and find ourselves sitting at desks with computers or phones and slowly we forget that others have emotions too, and they’re as valid as our own.

I’ve also seen a pretty vast improvement in my ISBAR reporting. When I look back on my first few times attempting to chart or write up a report my skills were quite obviously very fresh, which isn’t too unexpected. However, it was nice to watch the growth of those skills throughout the semester.

When it comes to the skills I look forward to homing in on, I think that I could definitely improve on my strength in asking nurses more questions. I’m not shy about talking to my patients, I actually feel comfortable pulling their curtains and doing what I need to. My hesitancy still sits with being able to walk up to the RNs and feeling confident, which I understand may be a bit backwards, but overall, I know that’s what I need to work with in the coming semesters. I would never be afraid to ask someone for help if I knew I need it, but if I have a general question that’s where my anxiety is. I know this will diminish with time and I look forward to being back on the floor I the fall (hopefully). This semester was one hundred percent a learning experience and although I didn’t get to say goodbye to my first unit ever, I’m thankful for it nonetheless.

For my blog I watched an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, in this episode many different storylines intervened but in one Owen talks to a young boy and tells him that the foster family he could go into may be very good for him, he speaks to him in a therapeutic way that makes the child feel better. Although in Grey’s Anatomy the surgeons are the ones usually talking to the patients, it is still interesting to see how people still crave reassurance from parts of the medical team. The child was visibly upset and the communication between him and Owen truly improved his day.

Another interaction that I thought was great was when a baby was being prepped for a facial reconstruction, the parents were obviously very nervous. The two doctors told the mother that it was perfectly natural to feel that way and said a few words that made them feel safe and secure in their child’s care.

An interaction that I thought was totally out of line was when a man came in from an ambulance impaled by two metal bars from a construction accident. He was being wheeled in when someone said, “I hope his name is Bob, you know, like Shishka-Bob”. When the other doctor giggled the patient responded, “My name is Leon”. Granted they had no idea that he was conscious, but I can imagine that in that moment of fear and agony, the last thing that the patient wanted to hear was a joke.

I think that the way these people interacted with their patients were actually some

good examples of what could happen in a real hospital setting. As practitioners it’s important to remember that we don’t always know how lucid a patient actually is or what they can hear when we might be in the hallways.

So far throughout my clinical experience, I haven’t run into too many communication issues. I would say that the thing that jumps to mind was my first clinical I asked a nurse a question and she gave me a rather short answer, I could tell she wasn’t a nurse that took a student that day and seemed pressed about something. I understand she could very well have been busy or stressed but her response took me aback a bit. I was cordial and told her I’d ask someone else, but the experience stuck with me for the day. I think this is because I’m not normally in a place where I have to ask questions often and being struck down made me feel a bit more self-conscious than I already was.

I think that my biggest issue communicating is not feeling like I should ask for help unless I feel like I can trust that person not to judge me for not knowing the answer. Which I completely understand is a huge part of nursing, but I still tend to feel the slightest bit hesitant for whatever reason. I think this is just a part of my personality. I grew up always having to be the best at things, I’m a huge perfectionist and I tended to pick up things pretty quick as a child and if I didn’t then I’d sit and try it for hours until it did click. Unfortunately, I feel this left me with a bit of a complex that makes it hard for me to take rejection, I obviously have been rejected from things and people before and I’ve matured through the last year alone so much however it’s still something that sticks with me longer than I’d like it to.

I can get over this by reminding myself that everyone feels new to things at some point in their life. I have to remind myself that I used to feel scared doing so many things that I eventually mastered and became confident in and new skills will be added to that list eventually, but I need to open my mind and ears to the help of people who’ve gone through it before I have. I need to be receptive to the nurses on my unit and make sure that they seem like they’re in a position to help me more adequately than I did last time. I can make sure that I take my instructors for all they have and practice good mental health strategies, so I don’t let myself focus on the way certain people made me feel and focus more on the education I receive from those who will help me.

My clinical experience overall has been a very good one so far, I’m excited to move through the motions of nurses and PCAs and better understand the ebb and flows of daily life on the floor.

For my second post, we were required to sit somewhere casually for thirty minutes to watch the interactions and communications of others. This assignment came as a sort of blessing because I have been trapped in my sorority’s basement for hours at a time during our recruitment this weekend. I am able to watch upwards of forty five women talk amongst themselves and for the first time, I’m really watching.

It’s interesting how they use their hands to create an impact on the words they say, they flutter them quickly when talking about a girl they interviewed who they had a great conversation with. Others scrunch their eyes and tilt their heads when they speak of an interview that felt empty and dull, they show that they’re disappointed even though I can’t fully make out the words they say over the noise of the room. The others make eye contact, showing their interest in the other’s findings, some look down at their phone with scanning eyes and thumbs scrolling.  I doubt they fully comprehend what they’re being told.

There are two girls sitting at the front of the room, they have laptops in front of them and are in charge of making sure active members get to places at the right time to meet the right girls. They have furrowed expressions and are usually head down, shoulders crunched over the laptops looking at excel sheets and checking phones. They exude the non-verbal queue of wanting to be left alone and the appearance of stress.

I see girls abandoning their conversations regarding recruitment and morph into conversations filled with smiles and laughter, conveying that they are carefree and enjoying their time. Others communicate fully on their electronics, their faces look blank, more so because they’re thinking about their text they’re drafting than what their facial expressions consist of.
I think that the idea of instant messages is super interesting, but I completely agree when people say that you cannot convey messages effectively through it. The loss of facial expression to the things people hear greatly hinders effective communication, at least in my opinion. The saying that people, “Hide behind their keyboards”, is very valid. I feel that when people don’t communicate openly with others face to face they lose valuable feedback that could make it easier to resolve issues quickly and more effectively.

The room comes to a quiet when the two leaders at the front stand, to gather attention and receive respect, and a girl’s face turns red and she retreats into herself, showing embarrassment, after she’s called out for speaking out of turn.

Overall I think that communication has come a very long way since the beginning of time, but I also believe that humans are losing a great part of communication when they choose to make text messages their sole form of communication.

Hello! My name is Sarah Droesch and I am a second-year student in this course, obviously pursuing a nursing degree. For my grade I am a bit old, I turned twenty this past July making me the second oldest of three children. Sandwiched between two brothers, I am the only girl which I actually don’t mind in the slightest. My older brother, Sam, will turn twenty three this month and recently graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in operations management. My younger brother, John, is eighteen and attending Ohio University as a freshman pursuing a degree in business. Although I’m a bit of a black sheep amongst my siblings as the only female and child not following a business degree, my brothers are a huge part of my life and I am so incredibly excited to watch them flourish through the next few years as they start their careers.

We grew up in Vandalia, which is few minutes north on I-75 from Dayton, Ohio. My high school was a moderate sized system with purple and gold colors and an aviator as mascot, on account of the Wright Brothers being born in Dayton. High school held some of my fondest memories, and although I miss a few people from those days I have expanded my horizons so much over the last three semesters.

Aside from my family, I loved volleyball in high school, after playing the sport for eight years my career came to a close after my senior season. I’m looking forward to playing more intermural matches on account of me packing my kneepads freshman year and never utilizing them. I finally want to pull them out of retirement.

I always had an inkling that I would end up in the healthcare field, but my freshmen year confirmed it. The day of convocation my knee began to ache, which morphed into an extremely sharp pain so bad that I called my mom and went to urgent care. Fast forward three months, two misdiagnoses, and a handful of confused doctors, I was admitted to the Wexner Medical Center and diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease after a week of testing. During my time there I was surrounded by a few nurses who made my time so much more bearable. In the midst of my freshman year, peak exam season, not yet admitted into the nursing program, I was stuck in a hospital bed extremely ill. Those women made me smile and feel reassured that no matter what happened regarding my admission into nursing that at the end of the day I would regain my health and accomplish so many other things. They made me realize there was a distinct line between different nurses, you could easily decipher who was there because they had to be, and who was there to actually help people. They made me feel heard and safe in some of the scariest moments of my life, and since that week I knew in stone that nursing was the profession I wanted to pursue.