The essay critically reflects on the experiences of an adult patient within the healthcare system. The analysis will use the Gibbs Reflective Cycle, and the case scenario for the reflection involves Mr. William Taylor, often referred to as Bill who is aged 75 and has had two falls.
Contribute Materials
Your contribution can guide someone’s learning journey. Share your
documents today.
Running head:PREVENTING PATIENT FALLS AND HARM FROM FALLS1 Preventing Patient Falls and Harm from Falls Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation
Secure Best Marks with AI Grader
Need help grading? Try our AI Grader for instant feedback on your assignments.
PREVENTING PATIENT FALLS AND HARM FROM FALLS2 Preventing Patient Falls and Harm from Falls The essay critically reflects on the experiences of an adult patient within the healthcare system. The analysis will use the Gibbs Reflective Cycle, and the case scenario for the reflection involves Mr.William Taylor, often referred to as Bill who is aged 75 and has had two falls. Primarily, Jasper (2013) asserts that reflection on experiences in healthcare is considered vital for learning from experience by nurses and other physicians. The Gibbs Reflective cycle has six stages for analyzing reflection. In this essay, the focus will be on describing the situation, explaining the feelings elicited as well as values and beliefs, conclusions, and suggesting a suitable action plan. Gibbs Reflection - Six Stages Description The chosen incidence for reflection involves a fall that Mr. Bill had while on his routine prescribed motoring excursive near his home. Bill had gone to the shop. On his way back, he did not stop to blow his nose and tripped over a concrete piece, which flopped him into the gutter on the side of the road. The gutter bruised his chin, elbow, and nose and wrecked Bill’s right shoulder. Immediately after the fall, he lost the use of his right arm even though he did not feel any fracture. Consequently, Bill could not put his weight in any of his legs, which made him roll on his back to get up. Four weeks later, bill again had a fall while in his house after feeling dizzy. In his explanation, Bill said that his experience with public hospitals is terrible due to extended wait times. Therefore, he refused to be taken to a public healthcare facility. His other medical conditions include rhinitis, high blood pressure, enlarged prostate, and anemia Feelings and Thoughts I felt sorry for Mr. Bill regarding his fall despite being unsure of whether it was his fault or not. Ideally, there was nothing he could have done, as it was an accident for him to
PREVENTING PATIENT FALLS AND HARM FROM FALLS3 trip over a piece of concentre. However, I feel that it was careless of him not to stop while blowing his nose. Principally, nose blowing could be energy intensive and affect body balance. Moreover, being at risk of impaired motor abilities, Mr. Bill should have gone to the shop with someone by his side. In this regard, in case of any incidence, he would have received help. Furthermore, it was dangerous and careless for him to be out motoring when nobody wise was there. Values and Beliefs I believe that the incidence in which Mr. Bill fall into the gutter could have been avoided. In this regard, his GP had prescribed some motoring exercises for him. However, I feel that he had not been told about seeking out help and avoiding going out when there was nobody around. Therefore, if Bill had gone out with another person or when people were around, he would have avoided the fall or reduced the effects from the fall since he had to carry his shopping in one hand afterward. According to theNational League for Nursing. (2017),nurses have a responsibility to ensure that patients understand essential healthcare requirements aimed at boosting their health. Therefore, either Mr. Bill disregarded the safety measures while having his motoring exercises or his GP did not educate him properly on the same. Analysis According to theNational League for Nursing. (2017),falls in patients are mainly caused by personal and systematic factors. In this regard, personal factors are patient specific and include lack of adherence to physician explanations as well as the provision of inadequate care by nurses. Falls, which occur at home, are usually a result of patient-related factors. Regarding Bill’s incidence, his fall was caused by personal factors. In this regard, Bill went against the safety requirement on patients with reduced motor abilities by deciding to go for an outdoor walk without the care or supervision of anyone. Notably, the accident
PREVENTING PATIENT FALLS AND HARM FROM FALLS4 had been anticipated by his GP, and that is why he was required to take periodic physical exercises. However, specific guidelines relating to the exercise include having a person watch over such patients. Bouldin et al. (2013) explain that patient falls are a leading cause of injury to many individuals and raise the cost of care. As such, Mr. Bill lost the ability to use his left arm after the fall and his skin was peeled off from the chin, elbow, and nose. The injuries are significant and required immediate attention. For instance, peeling of the skin can cause infections if not treated in time. On the hand, the injured arm could have dislocated, hence the intense pain. However, as asserted by Mathews, Ryan, and Busman (2015), some patients do not access care in time due to personal reasons such as bad previous experiences and self-perception that the injury sustained might not be severe. Consequently, Mr. Bill having had a bad experience in a public hospital decided to stay at home and observe the injury. Consequently, no medical care was received. He only took painkillers to manage the pain he was feeling in his right arm. Conclusions Drawn Home-based care in elderly patients is not effective. Taking note of Mr. Bill’s incidence, there was nobody to look after him, as his wife was busy with the guests. Moreover, he does not have young kids whom he could walk with. Therefore, he moved around alone. However, even after he fell, there was nobody to support him. The phenomenon is different from hospital-based care in which patients are closely monitored, and those who stroll outside of the healthcare facility ate tracked back (Abraham, 2016). Primarily, the negative elements of home-based care, especially in elderly patients, is that there is no close monitoring by community nurses and there is a limited adherence to physician’s prescription by patients. Therefore, if these elements are not eliminated or managed well, incidences of injury in non-healthcare environments will increase. Another
Paraphrase This Document
Need a fresh take? Get an instant paraphrase of this document with our AI Paraphraser
PREVENTING PATIENT FALLS AND HARM FROM FALLS5 negative feature of home-based care is the lack of timely access to medical attention. According toReeve (2018),delayed access to care could lead to more complications thereby increasing the cost of care and length of stay in hospital settings. Patients understand primary medical practices and adhere to most directives by nurses and other physicians. Regarding Bill, he had painkillers at home and understood that they were vital in stopping his pain after he fell. Moreover, he remembered to take the motoring exercises as prescribed by the GP. Principally, the two positive aspects can be leveraged and extended to better home-based care. In this regard, patients can be taught on how to manage long-term diseases such as diabetes or kidney dialysis from home, and with periodic nurse check-ups, the aspect of home-based care can be improved. Currently, the ability to remember the physician’s directives and manage some medicines will contribute to enhanced trust in home-based care in the future. Action Plan Going forward, I will focus on increasing the level of elderly patient monitoring in- home care as well as improving the level of awareness among community members regarding the issue of falls. Primarily, I will have the number of community nurses increased for them to be able to monitor patients who have been discharged while at home. Moreover, I will take up the role of disseminating healthcare information among community members on how to help those who are unwell. For instance, Mrs. Bill was busy with the guests and therefore, disregarded the duty of taking his husband out for a walk. It is likely that she would not have done so had she known how risky it was to Bill’s health. Lastly, it will be essential to improve communication between patients and their doctors through other approaches rather than eye to eye. In this regard, Bill could have informed his GP about the fall and received professional advice instead of waiting for one more day. Conclusion
PREVENTING PATIENT FALLS AND HARM FROM FALLS6 The Gibbs Reflective Cycle effectively analyses the case scenario involving Mr. William Taylor.The analysis has enhanced my professional understanding of patient falls in elderly patients regarding causes, effects, and reactions. Ideally, I now understand why patients fall while on their own in home settings and why they hesitate to receive care. Primarily, the falls result in injuries, which are sometimes costly. Therefore, in eliminating these issues, enhanced monitoring of patients under the home-based care and proper understanding of healthcare information by those around them and other community members will be ideal. Moreover, it is vital for public healthcare facilities to enhance their services to better patient experiences.
PREVENTING PATIENT FALLS AND HARM FROM FALLS7 References Abraham, S. (2016). Managing patient falls in psychiatric inpatient units: Part 2.The healthcare manager,35(2), 121-133. Bouldin, E. D., Andresen, E. M., Dunton, N. E., Simon, M., Waters, T. M., Liu, M., & Shorr, R. I. (2013). Falls among adult patients hospitalized in the United States: prevalence and trends.Journal of patient safety,9(1), 13. Jasper, M. (2013) Beginning Reflective Practice. 2nd edition. Andover: Cengage. Mathews, M., Ryan, D., & Bulman, D. (2015). Patient-expressed perceptions of wait-time causes and wait-related satisfaction.Current Oncology,22(2), 105. National League for Nursing. (2017) Core Values. Online. Available at:http://www.nln.org/about/core-values Reeve, E. (2018, October 15). Assessment of Attitudes toward Deprescribing in Older Medicare Beneficiaries in the United States. Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2706177