Reflective Writing: Infant Care, Hypothyroidism, and Nursing Practice

This reflective writing assignment explores the experiences and responsibilities of a nurse caring for a newborn, focusing on a case study involving a baby diagnosed with hypothyroidism. The paper emphasizes the importance of holistic care, patient-specific approaches, and the development of trust between the nurse and the infant, drawing on Erickson's theory of psychosocial development. The assignment analyzes the emotional aspects of newborn care, detailing the nurse's feelings, observations, and the value of maintaining accurate records for treatment planning. It highlights strategies for managing pain, administering medication, and creating a non-threatening environment to foster trust, ultimately aiming to provide comprehensive care that supports the baby's well-being and development. The reflective writing also provides an action plan that includes appropriate medication, pain management, and holistic care.

Running head: REFLECTIVE WRITING
REFLECTIVE WRITING
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1REFLECTIVE WRITING
Introduction
Babies are the best gifts in this world and being a mom is the best possible experience
that a woman faces in her life time. The emotions surrounding the baby are amazing and are a
thing that needs to be cherished.
Description
This case study focuses on a new mom sharing her experience on being a new mom. The
case study focuses Elise and Violet, where violet had been diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
Since Violet is just a week old. The care that she requires has to be extremely patient specific
and the baby should be dealt with extreme care.
Feelings
There are certain codes of nursing that has to be maintained by the nurses to provide an
appropriate care to the patient. Violet was just a week old and hence should be handled with
extreme care (Hockenberry & Wilson, 2014). As a nurse I believe that how we deal with babies
is important. As per the Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development, the trust and mistrust is
the first stage of the psychosocial development of a child (Cherry, 2012). As a nurse I will be
able to win the trust of the baby.
Analysis
A child should be able to comprehend that the care giver should address their basic needs.
If these needs are not addressed then anxiety may develop out of mistrust, which can have a long
term effect on the baby (Cherry, 2012). It is necessary for the care givers to set up a non

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threatening environment for the child such that a sense of trust develops in the baby regarding
the care givers.
It can be seen from the transcript that the nurses cuddled the baby and entertained her
with toys. The transcript provides with the idea that the nurses took extreme care while
prescribing the doses of medicines for the baby, as choice of a wrong doses can bring about
adverse effects in the child (Hockenberry & Wilson, 2014).
Values
Throughout the treatment regimen of violet, the nurses were involved enthusiastically
starting form blood tests to everything. As a nurse I could provide a holistic care of treatment to
the child (Hockenberry & Wilson, 2014). Before starting the treatment we need to collect blood
from the baby. As a nurse I could understand that it is necessary to distract the attention of the
baby. It becomes very difficult for a mother to see blood being extracted from her baby, or her
baby crying out in pain (Carter, 2013). Therefore as a nurse I suggested that it is better to feed
the baby at the time of extracting blood from the child, so that most of the baby’s attention goes
in having the food.
Conclusions drawn
The reflective writing gives an idea about how nurse should provide holistic care to a
baby. The paper focuses on the fact that a mere cuddling can have a positive impact on a baby
and can have a long term development of trust on the care givers (Szcześniak et al., 2012).
Maintenance of e records can have some positive impacts as it helps the heath care professionals
and the nurses to evaluate the care that they have provided and helps to prepare the future action
plans for the treatment.

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Action plan
Plan- to provide appropriate medication to the baby, pain management while applying
medications, to give a holistic care to the baby to ensure the development of trust in the baby .
Strategy- Doses should be checked and rechecked with the physician to ensure correct doses. It
is necessary to distract the baby while injecting medicines or extracting blood samples.
Distraction can be caused by interacting with the baby by interacting with the baby or enhancing
the mother to feed her baby (Hockenberry & Wilson, 2014).
Conclusion
Mastering the art of caring for children is one of the foremost duties of the nurses. The
article focuses on the inter-personal relationship between the baby and the nurse which will
ultimately help in the development of trust, which help the baby to adjust to the care received.

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References
Carter, B. (2013). Child and infant pain: principles of nursing care and management. Springer.
Cherry, K. (2012). Erikson's theory of psychosocial development psychosocial development in
infancy and early childhood. The New York Times Company. http://psychology. about.
com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial. htm [26 May 2012].[Links].
Hockenberry, M. J., & Wilson, D. (2014). Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children-E-Book.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
Szcześniak, M., Colaço, M., & Rondón, G. (2012). Development of interpersonal trust among
children and adolescents. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 43(1), 50-58.