Nursing Assignment Essay 2022

Running Head: NURSING
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The essay is going to discuss about the various ways in which the health personnel
communicates with the patient in respect to two kinds of hospital setting that includes
neonatal intensive care and discharge planning in a patient attempting suicide. A large
number of patients who commit suicide are seen to be suffering from psychiatric disorders at
the time of their death. Thus, it is important for the healthcare professionals to identify the
symptoms as well as the signs of the psychiatric disorders that are generally linked to suicide.
It clearly demonstrates the need of communication skills as a part of effective interpersonal
communication in healthcare. In neonatal intensive care there is a specialist ward that has a
special team of doctors and nurses to take care of the new babies that are sick or premature.
In the discharge planning for suicidal patients there is a need to develop a risk assessment as
well management plan by the healthcare personnel that can help the patient to get in a better
condition.
Discussion
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
The case study shows that the mother is very worried regarding the admission of the
child in NICU and does not want to leave her alone and for that the client was undergoing
counselling with the hospital healthcare practitioner. The healthcare personnel established a
very good therapeutic relationship with the client. This helped the client in understanding the
amount of stress she was going through as her child was being admitted in the neonatal
intensive care unit (NICU). Her husband was also not present with her at that time and this
was a huge aspect of stress in her life. The health practitioner very nicely linked the absence
of a support in her life to the level of depression that she was going through (Al Maghaireh et
al., 2016). This helped the healthcare personnel to demonstrate a patient-centered approach

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that is very much required for the parents whose children are admitted in the NICU. Patient
centered approach for the parents is very necessary as they tend to be at a critical mental
stage that can hamper their mental peace and can cause anxiety and panic attacks (Russell eta
l., 2014). The healthcare practitioner was showing respect, compassion and genuineness
while talking to the client as she was asking her questions like whether the client was tired or
not as she was waiting in NICU the entire day. This developed a sense of trust in the mind of
the client as she can sense that the counsellor was genuinely concerned about her. For this the
counsellor even suggested that the client should call someone from their family and friends
who will understand her situation and can support her emotionally through these stressful
weeks and months when her baby was admitted in the hospital (Al Maghaireh et al., 2016).
The body language that has been used by the practitioner was very congruent. It
showed that the healthcare staff was worried about the client’s condition and wanted to help
her. For that she even gave certain suggestions that can lead to reduce the depression that is
being faced by the client. The staff also used a number of skills for communicating
effectively with the client as she asked the clients a number of questions and also gave certain
advices that can help her to come out of the stress (Ramezani et al., 2014). There were no
noise barriers at the time of counselling that can interfere with the effective communication
as the health practitioner was very much ethically competent and did had any preconceived
notion about the client. This helped her to generate a bond with the client as they had no
psychological, personal, physical or physiological barrier in between them. This made the
communication even more effective.
If I were the health practitioner then I would have conducted a regular meeting
between the nursing staff working in the NICU and also among the parents as that will be
helpful for both of them. In this way the staff will be able to communicate with the parents at
a regular basis and the parents can also know the progress of their child (Schulman et al.,

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2015). If there would have been a need to develop cultural sensitivity then I would have
respected their beliefs and traditions so that it does not become a barrier in the treatment of
the child. There is a need to develop cultural competence in the nursing job (Hsieh et al.,
2014). The one thing that I learnt about the communication skills in the healthcare practice is
the need and importance to address the patient or client’s issues and demands. I need to
remain a lot more mindful in this aspect as the treatment plan must be according to the
requirements of the patient or the client and also should be acknowledged by them. It should
not solely revolve around the illness of the patient (Busse et al., 2013).
Discharge Planning
The role of a health practitioner in preparing a discharge plan is very much crucial.
They tend to help the patients who are suicidal or are admitted to the hospital after they are
being attempted to the hospital (De Santis et al., 2015). The health practitioner helps the
patients in the prevention of suicide and also prevents them to committing any further
suicidal attempts. Suicide is one of the most common cause of death among the youth and
also among the individuals who are depressed. Thus the health practitioner tried to comfort
the client and started a very mutual relationship with the client so that they can feel very
connected to their social environment and with the counsellor while talking about the various
aspects of her life that clearly showed her suicidal attitude (Bickley et al., 2013).
The health practitioner tried to give a patient centred approach to the patient so that
they can feel that the concern shown by her is genuine and she is really interested in her life
problems. This way the healthcare practitioner was working on the discharge planning that
included a comprehensive risk assessment of suicide (Ghanbari et al., 2016). The counsellor
should also advice the patient about community based services along with treatment of any
psychotic disorders. The counsellor should also assure the patient that there will be follow-up
meeting after the discharge. The healthcare staff clearly showed the sense of empathy

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towards the client along with respect, compassion and empathy. This was reflected by the
body language of the healthcare practitioner as it can be clearly seen that she was very
considerate with the patient (Betz et al., 2016).
The approach that has been taken by the healthcare personnel at the time of
counselling the patients was very congruent that defines the extent at which the body
language is matched with the others. As the patient was getting vulnerable the health
practitioner also became very considerate and that can be understood by the way of her
talking with the client (Drake et al., 2016). The healthcare personnel used a number of
effective communication skills by communicating well with the client. Effective
communication is a very important step for the counselling process of the patients who are
prone to suicidal attempts. This helps in knowing their psychological, physiological, social
and psychosocial approach towards life. This is thus, the most important part of the
communication (Ghanbari et al., 2016).
As the counselling process is very much required for a suicidal patient thus, it is
important that there is reduction of the noise barriers. There was no potential noise barriers in
this communication between the counsellor and the client as the health practitioner asked the
questions keeping in mind the sensitivity of the situation that helped them to talk freely about
the entire situation (De Santis et al., 2015). If I were the health professional in the scenario
then I would have asked questions about the life experiences of the client as this will help the
client in knowing about the person in the life of the client who can support the client and also
help them to keep safe so that the patient does not feel isolated and would also help them to
keep safe when they are not under the supervision of the hospital (Betz et al., 2016).
If there had been a need to demonstrate cultural sensitivity then I would have
personally talked about the patient if she has any such inhibitions or beliefs that is restricting

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her to talk openly about the condition. This is very much important as ethnic understanding is
an important part of the patient who come from a different cultural background and thus
might not feel accepted or part of the society (Bickley et al., 2013). I however liked the fact
that the counsellor was very considerate about the situation of the patient and the one thing
that I learnt from the effective communication in the healthcare process is that it is very
important for the patients to be vocal about their needs and from the perspective of a nurse it
is important to know, understand and collect the cues that can help in the identification and
better assessment of the patient condition (McCarthy et al., 2013).
Conclusion
Thus, the conclusion that can be drawn from the essay is that the role of the healthcare
professional is very important to perform certain functions that will help the patient. These
functions or roles can vary in different hospital setting and also in different patients. The
essay clearly demonstrated that effective communication plays a very important role as it
helps to connect the healthcare personnel and the patient. It also helps in the better
understanding of the patient’s condition and can help the doctors in taking the correct method
of treatment.

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References
Al Maghaireh, D. A. F., Abdullah, K. L., Chan, C. M., Piaw, C. Y., & Al Kawafha, M. M.
(2016). Systematic review of qualitative studies exploring parental experiences in the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Journal of clinical nursing, 25(19-20), 2745-2756.
Betz, M. E., Wintersteen, M., Boudreaux, E. D., Brown, G., Capoccia, L., Currier, G., ... &
Moutier, C. (2016). Reducing suicide risk: challenges and opportunities in the
emergency department. Annals of emergency medicine, 68(6), 758-765.
Bickley, H., Hunt, I. M., Windfuhr, K., Shaw, J., Appleby, L., & Kapur, N. (2013). Suicide
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Busse, M., Stromgren, K., Thorngate, L., & Thomas, K. A. (2013). Parents’ responses to
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