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I watched the TV show “Nurse Jackie”. The way the main character, Jackie, communicates with patients creates strife between them. Nurse Jackie is addicted to opioids, and she hides her addition from her family and friends. In this particular episode, Jackie is caring for a man who is also addicted to opioids.

Jackie treated the man like a second-class citizen. She talked down to him due to his addiction. She was judgmental when she asked him questions about his substance abuse history. Her blatant verbal comments and her non-verbal communication of eye rolling and exasperated body language created a hostile environment. This caused the patient to lie. Not only did Jackie treat him poorly, but her use of opioids hinders her ability to help the patient. She projected onto him because she is not emotionally stable or self-aware.

This episode highlights the negative effects of abusing substances not only on oneself but on the people that we take care of. Jackie let her insecurities of substance abuse and anger affect the way that she treated her patient.

My biggest communication challenge thus far has been communicating with patients with decreased levels of consciousness; specifically, people who are not alert and oriented x4. In clinical, I had a woman who did not remember where she was or what she was doing at the hospital.

I started off orienting her with place, time, and the reason she was in the hospital. I found that I got frustrated after I oriented her multiple times in a few minute span. I noticed that I started to say it louder when hearing was not the problem. I was adding to the problem by adding extra “noise” to the situation, literally and metaphorically. She needed to be reoriented again and did not need me to say it louder.

To overcome this, I can remind myself how scary it would be to be somewhere you do not know and not know why you are there. It will increase my empathy for the patient to put myself in her shoes and really feel for her situation. When I feel my frustration rising, I can take some deep breaths to refocus and center myself. Additionally, I could put orienting details on her white board. This may help ease her mind and also serve as a reminder when there is no one in the room.

I decided to take a break from homework and watch the people around me at Starbucks. It is no surprise to me that most people here are “plugged into” technology. Most people have not looked up from their screens and seem totally oblivious to everyone around them. I took 15 minutes to just watch with no other distraction and nothing on my table. I was surprised to feel isolated and awkward while doing nothing other than watching; before, when I was working on my homework I did not feel isolated. I was oblivious to the fact that I had such limited interaction with the people around me. As I continue to type and watch, I feel less awkward and less like an outsider than before.

There is a lot of nonverbal communication happening here, specifically, at the community table. A girl came up and sat down. As she sat down, the girl next to her gave her a dirty look and moved her things over a quarter of an inch. She acted like she tried to make space but no real effort was made. I assume she only did it because it is a social norm to make room for people around you—especially at a community table. The dirty look she gave the girl who sat down communicates to me and everyone around her that she did not want anyone to sit next to her and make her feel cramped. It is ironic that she did not want anyone to sit next to her considering that she is sitting at a community table.

Besides the baristas interacting with the customers, there is limited communication happening between customers. The barista working the cash register seems to be very friendly. She is constantly smiling and greeting everyone who walks up to her.

Three tables over from me, two old friends are catching up. I cannot hear anything other than bits and pieces of the conversation. One girl was sitting down doing homework and then the other girl came up and surprised the girl doing homework. They are now sitting together chatting. I can tell that this meeting was not planned due to the initial body language between the girls. The girl who walked up to the table threw her hands up and to the side and said “Abby!!!” It looked like a gesture that meant something to the effect of: “what are you doing here?” They seem to be very interested in what the other person has to say. They are both leaning in and smiling and nodding when the other person talks. They are using very animated active listening skills.

Unplugging at a Starbucks has opened my eyes to the lack of communication between people. It also will make me think of the nonverbal communication I will actively try to portray when sitting at community tables. I do not want to be like the girl who seemed so upset by the presence of another.

Hi! My name is Olivia Trianfo. I am in my junior year at OSU. I am from Dublin, Ohio which is only about 25 minutes from campus; however, I live on campus with 6 other girls.

I am very close with my family, so it is nice being close to home. My dad is a doctor and used to work and teach at OSU. Medicine has always been something I was interested in. From a young age, my dad let my siblings and I dress up and play with all of his medical equipment. I thought it was the coolest job and loved going to “take your child to work day.”
During my junior year of high school, I got the opportunity to shadow various medical professionals. I fell in love with nursing. I loved that they were the ones that interacted with the patients the most. I have always loved being with people and that, coupled with my interested in medicine, made nursing the perfect profession for me.

In the future, I would love to work in the field of women’s health. I am not sure in which capacity yet. My mom, sister, and I all share the passion of working to end human sex trafficking. My mom works for an anti-sex trafficking organization and my sister is in law school in hopes of impacting legislation around sex trafficking. From a young age, they brought me alongside their fight to end sex trafficking. I attribute my desire to help women to them.

In my free time, it is likely that I will be at a coffee shop. I love going to coffee shops or trying new places in the short north with my friends. I also enjoy going to workout classes such a spin class and 30/30. I am not in many clubs on campus; however, my goal is to be more involved this semester.