CNO Research Paper

CNO Paper
Name:
Institution:
Discuss an experience, event or change in your practice or practice setting that was significant to you
During week five of my practice, I picked a patient based on her admitting diagnosis, not knowing her medical history. The patient was in a critical health condition; she could neither eat nor take medicine and even explaining to me what was ailing her body was a problem. From the way she struggled to get out of bed, I could tell that she was going through a lot of pain. She pulled her IV out at one point and removed her nasal cannula. Furthermore, she had a frowning face. I wanted to take her vitals, but it seemed impossible to me, that compelled me to try new therapeutic techniques that I thought could assist me in assessing her vital signs. For example, to measure temperature, I had to massage her cheeks and also lightly rubbed her arm to take her O2 sats. I also examined her heart rate, and it was 183 BPM, that surprised me and I had to call the team nurse immediately. Unfortunately, she was occupied, and I opted to seek the assistance of my clinical supervisor, who accompanied me to check on the patient’s condition.
My supervisor reviewed the patient's medical assessment record to find out if there was any medication prescribed to help the patient recover. She identified an antipsychotic drug, and so I administered it to my patient. That was around 1000 hours, at 1030 I checked her vitals, and it was still beyond the standard range, after examining her history, I realized that her heart rate had slowly risen since the previous night. I, therefore, made up my mind to wait and see if the patient could respond to the medication because I knew the drug that she had taken was going to take some time to work. At 1300, I checked on my patient and realized her vitals were stable, her heart had resumed to the normal rate of 84 BPM, and the patient appeared relaxed in bed. I felt happy and motivated to see her in this state because initially I was worried about her condition, and I could not comprehend why this was happening to her. I later realized that the patient was very anxious because of her Dementia, she did not know where she was and what was going on with her (pulled her IV and Nasal cannula out).
Based on your description above, what were your strengths and what were your areas for improvement
My strengths lied in therapeutic caring ethics. When I come to contact with each patient, I reflect on this and ask myself whether I attend to this client in the most caring way that is why I attended to an anxious patient with ease (CNO, Nurse Practitioner, p.5). I needed to improve in checking all documents concerning the patient so as to provide proper medical care to the patient. That is because medication history is crucial and hence there is no need to rush to providing medical care. Furthermore, I needed to improve on dealing with the patient in scenarios where the patient refused to take medicine and food.
What input have you gained from your peers about your practice?
After interacting with the team nurses, I have learned the importance of following the evidence-based practice in administering medication, how to deal with ethics and more significant the need...