Topic Assignment 2022

Running Head: TOPIC
TOPIC
Student Name
University Name
Student Note

1TOPIC
Description of the experience:
While working in a hospital, as a part of my collegial team, I faced a situation where I had to
tend to three patients that were admitted in the emergency ward of the hospital. It was the night
shift on a public holiday and thus, there was a shortage of staff in the hospital. As a registered
nurse, I was placed to take this shift along with two other nurse trainees. At around 2 am, three
patients were admitted in the emergency ward of the hospital. One patient belonging to the age
range of 75-80 years was admitted with a hip fracture. She had suffered a fall while going to the
washroom. When she was admitted, she was extremely agitated and unable to move. She started
screaming in pain when she was being transferred from the stretcher to the bed in the emergency
ward. Another patient that was admitted at the same time showed signs of suffering from a heart
failure, as he was experiencing angina. This patient was a 45 year old man, accompanied by his
family. Upon questioning his family, it was found that he had a medical history of hypertension
and also suffered from two heart attacks in the past two years. He was having trouble breathing
and as a result was also very agitated. This patient was also very nauseous and was seen to sweat
profusely, exhibiting all signs of a heart failure. The third patient had been admitted with
excessive uncontrolled bleeding from his hand. Upon questioning it was found out the he is a
diabetic, suffering from Type 1 diabetes. By the time he was admitted to the hospital and into the
emergency ward, he was losing consciousness because of the amount of blood lost (Hirsch et al.,
2008). Seeing the urgency of all the three cases presented, I was not only intimidated but also
gravely confused about how to proceed. I had a hard time in understanding which patient to tend
to first and what medical procedures to follow.
Student Name: Semester: Unit Code:
Student Number: Year: Unit Number:

2TOPIC
Feelings and thoughts about the experience: I had two trainees under me, and one of the
trainees suggested dividing the tasks. She said she would tend to the angina patient, by first
providing him with an external oxygen support, and then taking his vitals. And if required, also
provide him with some medications like digitalis or diuretics, to help relieve his pain, only upon
my consent (Mebazaa et al., 2015).
The trainee further suggested that the other trainee should tend to the elderly with a hip fracture
and conduct her primary health assessment, especially the pain assessment. After which I nodded
and suggested that I should tend to the diabetic patient.
I felt extremely embarrassed that I couldn’t categorise and separate the tasks myself, considering
my seniority. My poor organisation skills and problem –solving abilities, not only led to
increased patient discomfort, but also could have led to severe health deterioration of any or all
of the patients. My lack of problem-solving skills further caused me trouble in carrying out my
primary assessment and also in understanding and evaluating the assessment of the two other
patients.
The patient suffering from angina, after his primary assessment, was administered a diuretic to
help prevent further deterioration of his heart health. He, according to my evaluation, was
suffering from a heart failure.
For the patient, with the hip fracture, we consulted an on call orthopaedist, to help provide her
with the necessary pain medications and also briefed him about the medical history of the
patient. He suggested that we should conduct an X-ray, to understand how severely, which part
of the hip has been fractured. He further suggested us to give the patient general anaesthesia. He
further told us to carry out the required blood and urine tests (Riemen & Hutchison, 2016).
Student Name: Semester: Unit Code:
Student Number: Year: Unit Number:

3TOPIC
For the diabetic patient, we checked for signs of infection like redness, swelling and pain, as well
as ran blood tests to check on the glucose level in the body (Hirsch et al., 2008).
Tending to the three emergency cases was not only tiresome but also very confusing for me. I
felt highly intimidated, and embarrassed that even though I knew the medical procedures that
needed to be followed, I had trouble executing them and prioritising them in accordance to the
cases presented. I further felt heavily humiliated when I swathe trainee assigned under me, work
more efficiently in this matter, than me. As much as I am grateful that she kept a calm head and
sought the situation out, I feel very frustrated that given my seniority I was not able to prioritise
the cases or efficiently divide them within ourselves, in order to efficiently manage them. I
should have known whom to consult and should have been able to take swift, informed
decisions.
Later, I had a talk with my head nurse, who helped me understand that in cases like these critical
thinking and effectively organising the tasks are very important in order to avoid patient
discomfort. She told me that practice and experience is very important in effectively dealing with
emergency cases like these. I told her how overwhelming the whole experience for me was, to
which she informed me that nurses should be able to handle these situations efficiently as the
incidence of emergency cases, which require immediate attention of the clinically trained
professionals in the healthcare sector are imminent.
My poor management and problem solving skills limited me from using my other nursing skills.
I hope I learned how to evaluate the different cases and distribute them within my team, in
accordance to their expertise.
Student Name: Semester: Unit Code:
Student Number: Year: Unit Number:

4TOPIC
Evaluation of the experience:
Nurses are responsible for the overall wellbeing of the patients in a hospital setting. The nurses
are trained to help implement certain nursing skills in order to help improve patient outcomes in
emergency cases. Skills like time management, quick thinking skills, remaining calm and
asserting the right medical procedures, effective organising and prioritising of the tasks in order
to help increase the affectivity of the medical treatment procedures provided by the healthcare
facilities (Stevanin et al., 2015). Apart from good management skills, nurses also require to have
excellent problem solving skills that help increase the productivity of the individual nurses as
well as improve the patient outcomes of the healthcare facilities (Gould, Drey & Berridge, 2007).
However, the situation was very challenging for me. I feel awful that I let myself get intimidated
by the emergency cases and not act the way I was supposed to. I feel very frustrated that given
my seniority I was not able to prioritise the cases or proficiently divide them within ourselves, in
order to efficiently manage them.
If I kept my calm, I could have easily supervised the three cases better and helped my trainees
execute the different medical procedures efficiently. I needed to contact an orthopaedist upon the
admission of the patient with hip fracture and assign a trainee to him, so that she could carry out
the tests and other procedures the doctor recommended.
I should have assigned the other trainee, who had some experience of dealing heart patients
before, to the angina patient
However, I feel relieved that my head nurse has told me to assist her in emergency cases, so that
I can learn from those experiences and implement the different management and problem solving
techniques that she will be using during my shifts.
Student Name: Semester: Unit Code:
Student Number: Year: Unit Number:

5TOPIC
Analysis:
Emergency cases require immediate attention and can thus be very intimidating for novices or
amateurs like me. However, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of
Professional Conduct, a nurse should always be able to “identify and minimise the risk of
patients and client” (Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 2019). Thus, as a registered nurse I should
have been able to keep my calm and not get intimidated by the urgency of the three cases. I
should have been able to effectively organise and prioritise the different primary assessment
procedures that needed to be done by me in both the cases.
This encounter taught me to improve my communication, management and problem solving
skills as well as the importance of remaining calm and confident in the actions that I take during
emergency situations. If a nurse is not confident with her actions or approaches, the patients are
likely to see through it and feel reluctant to trust their healthcare providers and their decisions
(Kieft, de Brouwer, Francke & Delnoij, 2014).
I would need to be more calm and view the situation from the perspective of the patient as well
as a medical professional, and evaluate the different possible outcomes of the varied procedures
that can be used to treat and care for a patient. I believe this will not only increase the accuracy
of my decision but also increase patient satisfaction and improve patient outcome.
Thus, not only would I need to prioritize the tasks, but also I need to accurately solve the issues
presented by each case that I am attending. If any guidance in decision making is required, I
should ask the respective specialists or my senior nurses. I also understood that this skill would
develop overtime, with exposure to new cases and patients.
Student Name: Semester: Unit Code:
Student Number: Year: Unit Number:

6TOPIC
Action plan:
For situations like this in the future, I would like to be more calm and patient in emergency
situations with time constraints. I hope to absorb as much knowledge possible during the training
session I would attend with my head nurse. I hope to be able to prioritise the different medical
procedures that are to be followed in these individual cases. This would help increase my
productivity as a nurse and would allow me to contribute in the improvement of the hospital’s
overall patient outcomes.
I would further need to improve my time management skills and understand which activities or
medical procedures would consume more time. This incidence also highlighted the importance
of nurse- patient interaction and its ability to calm the patient in emergency cases like these. The
most important skills however is the accurate assessment of the patient’s medical issue and
efficiently documenting and paying heed to their health concerns and opinions (Jonsson,
Jonsdottir, Möller & Baldursdottir, 2011). This, can further increase patient satisfaction and help
build a trust between the patient and their healthcare provider. This would help the medical
practitioners take a holistic approach while treating their patient. This can further result in the
improvement in patient outcome.
I would also need to learn more basic pain management skills, especially in cases like the ones I
faced- hip fracture and angina- to help calm the patients and reduce their agitation, which would
ease the process of their treatment (Plaisance & Logan, 2006). I would also need to nurture skills
to help the patients as well as their families by providing them with mental support and
continuously interacting with them.
Student Name: Semester: Unit Code:
Student Number: Year: Unit Number:

7TOPIC
Conclusion:
Looking back at the situation, I feel extremely embarrassed that I got so easily intimidated. I
should have been able to assess the level of importance of the two cases presented. After talking
to the head nurse, I feel like I can assess this situation better, in order to help decrease the level
of patient discomfort. However, I would still need training in order to develop time management,
problem-solving as well as critical thinking skills, to help improve the patient outcomes of the
emergency ward of the hospital (Wangensteen, Johansson, Björkström & Nordström, 2010).
Considering the offer proposed by my head nurse, I would need to manage the assigned to me as
well as attend her training in order to develop my nursing skills.
At the end of the training, I wish to acquire more knowledge regarding efficient handling of
patients in emergency cases. While effectively managing the situation, I hope to abide by the
nursing rules and guidelines, to increase the accuracy of my decisions.
Student Name: Semester: Unit Code:
Student Number: Year: Unit Number:

8TOPIC
References:
Gould, D., Drey, N., & Berridge, E. (2007). Nurses’ experiences of continuing professional
development. Nurse Education Today, 27(6), 602-609. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2006.08.021
Hirsch, T., Spielmann, M., Zuhaili, B., Koehler, T., Fossum, M., & Steinau, H. et al. (2008).
Enhanced susceptibility to infections in a diabetic wound healing model. BMC Surgery,
8(1). doi: 10.1186/1471-2482-8-5
Jonsson, T., Jonsdottir, H., Möller, A., & Baldursdottir, L. (2011). Nursing documentation prior
to emergency admissions to the intensive care unit. Nursing In Critical Care, 16(4), 164-
169. doi: 10.1111/j.1478-5153.2011.00427.x
Kieft, R., de Brouwer, B., Francke, A., & Delnoij, D. (2014). How nurses and their work
environment affect patient experiences of the quality of care: a qualitative study. BMC
Health Services Research, 14(1). doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-14-249
Mebazaa, A., Yilmaz, M., Levy, P., Ponikowski, P., Peacock, W., & Laribi, S. et al. (2015).
Recommendations on pre-hospital & early hospital management of acute heart failure: a
consensus paper from the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of
Cardiology, the European Society of Emergency Medicine and the Society of Academic
Emergenc. European Journal Of Heart Failure, 17(6), 544-558. doi: 10.1002/ejhf.289
Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au. (2019). Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Enrolled
nurse standards for practice. Retrieved 17 August 2019, from
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-
standards/enrolled-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx
Student Name: Semester: Unit Code:
Student Number: Year: Unit Number:

9TOPIC
Plaisance, L., & Logan, C. (2006). Nursing Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Pain.
Pain Management Nursing, 7(4), 167-175. doi: 10.1016/j.pmn.2006.09.003
Riemen, A., & Hutchison, J. (2016). The multidisciplinary management of hip fractures in older
patients. Orthopaedics And Trauma, 30(2), 117-122. doi: 10.1016/j.mporth.2016.03.006
Stevanin, S., Bressan, V., Bulfone, G., Zanini, A., Dante, A., & Palese, A. (2015). Knowledge
and competence with patient safety as perceived by nursing students: The findings of a
cross-sectional study. Nurse Education Today, 35(8), 926-934. doi:
10.1016/j.nedt.2015.04.002
Wangensteen, S., Johansson, I., Björkström, M., & Nordström, G. (2010). Critical thinking
dispositions among newly graduated nurses. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 66(10), 2170-
2181. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05282.x
Student Name: Semester: Unit Code:
Student Number: Year: Unit Number: