Nursing Reflection Paper: Your Volunteer Experience

Name
Lecturer
Nursing reflection
Date
Nursing reflection
Before volunteering, I had not imagined how much responsibility I could handle. The volunteer experience made me realized how much attentive to details I can be especial when I documented charge sheets and also did reconciliation for the department. One thing I was able to reinforce what I had learned before was the essence of record keeping as a nurse. Record keeping is imperative in that it can be used to seal loopholes for the organization in as much as revenue is concerned. Missed charges and missed record impacts negatively on the productivity of the department and also means lost income for the hospital. I also got a chance to try my hand at various kinds of diagnosis and examination. One was when a patient came in, and I could tell she had fluid in her chest from the crackles sound she was making. At this point, I remembered the treatment for such was Lasix, and then the patient would be put on BiPAP; however, I noted that she was sick already, and BiPAP would be contradictory. We managed to treat the patient’s nausea and after that placed her on BiPAP.
Another big score during the volunteering period was that I was able to put theory into practice for the first time. In my first days at the hospital, I was very nervous and not sure of my abilities. However, as the days progressed, I grew in confidence and was able to perform procedures under the watchful eye of the nurse in charge. One Saturday we had a trauma patient who had just been involved in a motorbike accident. I was excited by the opportunity as it gave me a chance to perform an A-line insertion on the patient. Having done arterial blood gasses (ABG) before, I knew using an arterial line to measure consistent and accurate blood pressure wouldn’t be a problem.
Volunteering at the hospital presented me with the opportunity to transfers theoretical knowledge learned in class to a real-world situation where I was able to use my skills and knowledge to help save lives. The central aspect of my learning was record keeping, practical A-line insertion, BiPAP procedure, ABG among other notable aspects of nursing that I had learned before.
These practical lessons have helped built my conf...