Personal Reflection on Ten-Day Placement Program

PERSONAL REFLECTION ON TEN-DAY PLACEMENT PROGRAM
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Personal Reflection on Ten-Day Placement Program
My ten-day experience as a placement at a healthcare center treating leg and toe infections of diabetic patients allowed me to learn about the issues related to this healthcare treatment. My working there exposed me to various previously unknown aspects of patient treatment and my expertise; I learned that a patient's beliefs and culture matter greatly in their adequate treatment. Besides, this helpful experience facilitated me in learning about values, ethics, and safe approaches, which form an integral part of the working of a public healthcare facility. In the same way, my encounter with various types of patients and learning about their complications broadened my exposure and knowledge of this healthcare issue. However, the most significant observations I made in this period are about the negative impacts of absentees on the National Health Service's investment and the impact of denial of treatment on patients' responses. Therefore, in the following paragraphs, I intend to make an in-depth day-to-day discussion about my experience and the learning it accorded to me; moreover, I would use this reflection to make suggestions regarding the management of patients' punctuality as too many absentees deteriorate a student's learning experience and waste NHS's investment.
My first-day experience at the core clinic involved treating patients with toe or leg infections caused by diabetes. I spent the day exercising my skills in debriding (removing the damaged part) the friction callus of a patient with type-I diabetes. My first-day experience exposed me as a too-cautious healthcare professional showing hesitation while removing the patient's nails. Moreover, this day's work made me understand the significance of showing a much quicker treatment response than I did that day. The second day of my placement brought other learning opportunities for me as on this day, I successfully removed traumatic nails from three diabetic patients and learned to use phenol as an antiseptic for wounds.
The most significant aspect of this day's work experience was not related to the patient's medical history or diagnosis and treatment; instead, how three patients were turned away from getting treatment stimulated me to look at the matter through a different lens. The first patient to be turned away was a female who was feeding milk to her child; since the application of phenol as an antiseptic may cause harm to the child, the patient was not allowed to get the treatment. The second patient was an eleven-year-old boy who was not administered the treatment since he no longer had pain in the leg, and his ingrown appeared almost invisible. The other person who was turned down was a person who was planning to go on vacation within eight weeks of the duration of treatment. Since this holiday trip would significantly deteriorate the chances of healing wounds, he was not allowed to have the treatment due to possible complications and failure. This day's work experience was also insightful as it helped me learn about anesthetics to be given to these patients before the treatment...