Importance of Sensitivity and Accuracy in Nursing: A Reflection on a Critical Incident

HEALTHCARE

Analysis of Journal
Health care service is among those services which requires sensitivity and accuracy in the
execution. Health is the primary concern for human beings and any insensitive or careless
action taken in this regard could actually cost in a high way. Taking nursing as a profession
has been one of the decisions which has helped me in gaining the qualities of being sensitive
and active in each and every action that I take or execute. Nursing is one of the professions
which demands that the person has to be accurate and attentive in nature. The responsibility
of nurse is quite critical as she is the one who needs to follow the instructions of the doctor in
the most specific manner and has to deal with multiple patients at a time, keeping in mind the
medical history of each patient. This specifies that the nurse has to be specific in her
approach and her decisions in the emergency situations should be accurate too (Allen, 2019).
A nurse is the one who has to act as a doctor in his absence and thus, the medical knowledge
along with the mental management or psychological management of the patient is to be
handled by the nurse.
WHAT?
During my internship I remember an incident where I realized the significance and sensitive
score that needs to be maintained by a nurse. I was dealing with an old lady who had a
fracture in her right leg, was 86 years old, had diabetes and was eager to visit her husband’s
home after his death, seven months ago. She was living with her son, after her husband’s
death and was going through mental stress more than physical. She has been missing her
husband’s home and wanted to spend rest of her life. But due to her health issues and
psychological pressure, her son has brought her with him. She slipped in the bathroom due to
which her right leg was fractured and she was brought to hospital where I was doing my
internship. While servicing her one morning, she managed her morning activities with little
help due to which I appreciated her and she took me wrong that if she does her activities on
her way, she could visit her husband’s home. This impacted her mentally in a positive
manner and she expressed her joy to her son when he visited her in the evening. His son was
really annoyed and agitated and he immediately called me and asked if I have given her false
hope for reacting positively to her treatment. He spoke in a loud voice to me which created
pressure on me and I asked the old lady if I have said her any such words in the morning as
her son was stating. I talked to the old lady through reaching her face and speaking loudly so
that I am audible to her as I carried a perspective that she has hearing problem. This made her
son angrier and he asked me to talk to her in a proper manner and not shout at the patient as

that may impact her mental condition. When he stated that his mother doesn’t have any
hearing issue and why and how can I talk to my patient in this manner which is unethical n
my profession, that moment I realized that I have mixed up the report of my other patient
with her. This lady doesn’t have any hearing issue and the way I talked to her my body
language, expressions, volume of voice all has been unethical. The moment I realized my
mistake I apologised to the old lady and to her son from the bottom of my heart and made
them comfortable. The old lady has also been impacted psychologically and this would have
impacted her physical health too. The willingness of going to her husband’s place has been
enhanced and this could have an intense negative impact when she doesn’t get over there.
The lack of communication, lack in anger management, lack of clarity in the patients’
medical history, mismatching the medical history, all took place in this incident and in the
career of a nurse all these actions are considered to be unethical. The incident took place in a
ward of four which impacted the other patients too and this, also impacted the outlook of the
nurses working in that organisation or hospital. The way I communicated with the patient and
the patient’s family member all were inaccurate and this, made the incident a lesson for me or
my profession.
Reflection (SO WHAT?)
The experience which I gained through this incident has been quite productive for me and it
actually was the best lesson which I learned during my internship at the hospital. Dealing
with elderly patients requires immense patience and handling them is a bit difficult. Though
the incident has been marked with my multiple faults and absence of mind which created the
issue or the scenario. The son of that old lady was completely furious because of my
unexpected reaction and this impacted the old lady too. Being a nurse to an elderly person,
the foremost requirement is to manage anger and express and explain every bit of the word
uttered in the simplest manner. In technical words, communication is one of the major and
the significant considerations in the profile. It was observed that my communication was not
appropriate and specific in words. The old lady mistook my words of appreciation and this
gave her the hope of visiting to her husband’s place which was no way possible from her
son’s end. Had I appreciated her just for her activities and not provided her with the hopeless
hope, the scenario wouldn’t have taken place (Rogers & Bush, 2015). The second issue that
was created cause of my fault was that I reacted to her son’s statements and questions in a
wild manner. A nurse could or should never be wild in her approach no matter, what her
patient is going through (hearing issue) or how worse the situation is. The reaction to the