Reflection Essay: Nursing Contribution to Patient Care and Outcomes

This reflection essay, written by a nursing student, explores their contribution to patient care, emphasizing the importance of effective communication, patience, and holistic approaches. The essay presents a case scenario involving a young patient with pneumonia, detailing the nurse's actions in providing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual support. The student highlights the use of the 5 R's of reflection and the importance of adapting communication styles for different patient demographics, such as children and the elderly. The essay underscores the nurse's role in addressing patients' needs and the challenges encountered in healthcare, concluding with a commitment to providing comprehensive and compassionate care. The essay references several key nursing and healthcare publications to support its arguments and provide context to the scenarios provided.

Running head: REFLECTION ESSAY
REFLECTION ESSAY
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1Reflection Essay
Reflection essay on my contribution to the patient as a nurse
As a nurse I want that my patients gets the best possible treatments, and I would always
assure that I would try my best to go beyond any limits to provide the quality of care to the
patient. I am dedicated as a nurse and I believe a dedicated nurse would provide care to the
patient in any circumference, because this is the job that I am entitled with. I will offer my
listening ear to whatever they say and would try to help them out in every possible way to see a
better outcome. Like any other job this job will also pose challenges, but it is up to me, how I
will deal with it. It becomes very difficult to see a person in pain or being limited in the extent I
can comfort them, but the reality is that I am also bounded by some limits beyond which I can’t
extend my help.
There are few qualities that a nurse should possess. One is the excellent communication
skill with the patients. It is necessary to know what or how the patient is feeling or it is necessary
to explain the pros and the cons of the disease to the patient and his family. To give a proper care
I need to communicate and consult with the specialist (Cockell & McSherry, 2012). Therefore I
should possess excellent communication skills. In this job patience is the ultimate key to provide
an efficient care to the patient. Some patients are just not happy with the type of care they are
getting. It is my duty to listen to them patiently and then make sure that there is no valid
complaint. Then I will try to reassure him that he is being given the perfect quality of care. All
valid grievances of the patient and his family should be addressed properly (Engel & Prentice,
2013).

2Reflection Essay
In this reflection essay I would like to introduce a case scenario of a patient and the
quality of care I provided to the patient by using the 5 R’s of refection (McAllister, 2013). One I
came across a girl, who was admitted into the community hospital for a week because of acute
gastroenteritis. After the treatment she was being discharged from the hospital. After one day her
mother observed that she was having difficulties in breathing and after a day she began spitting
out green sputum.
It was diagnosed that he has contracted with community acquired Pneumoia. A doctor
can assess the patient and can prescribe medications and do the necessary treatment. But it is the
role of a nurse to help the patients meet their needs including physical, mental, emotional and
spiritual needs. The child was crying out of pain; I consulted a doctor and provided macrolides
and antitussives to give her some relief.
I tried to divert her mind from the pain and tried to talk something else. Since she is a
girl of just 9 years, she was feeling anxious and was scared of the procedures. I assured her and
tried in my possible ways to draw out the fear from her. I provided her with oxygen as she was
having respiratory distress. I ensured that she gets a proper care on my part. I took measures to
improve the airway patency. I ensured that she takes enough fluids, placed her in the semi fowler
position.
I have learnt from the past clinical experiences that when we are dealing with children
we should avoid the medical jargon. The words used have to be as simple as possible to get
down to the level of the child. Before application of the planned treatment, it is important to
make a personal relationship with the child (Hazinski, 2012). All these experiences has helped
me to gain knowledge about, how to deal with such situations.

3Reflection Essay
Once I came across a heart patient who was just 2 years old and was going to have his
first open heart surgery.
The night before the surgery, I went to him with a bag of toys. It contained the tubes that
would be used, hairnet that he would wear the next day. He was fascinated with his new toys
instead of being afraid.
All these activities have helped me to understand how to deal differently with different
patients. When you are communicating with a child it is very difficult to explain her difficult
situation (Hockenberry & Wilson, 2014). Again we have to deal differently with an elderly
person just as I have stated above.
Thus it can be concluded that with the increased specialization in the field of health care,
the type of care provided by the nurses are also getting diverse. The nurse always remains in the
primary team of care because she always has the information about the patient as a whole. As a
Nurse I would try to provide a holistic care of approach to the patient. I would try to support him
spiritually, mentally and physically to get a better outcome.

4Reflection Essay
References
Cockell, N., & McSherry, W. (2012). Spiritual care in nursing: an overview of published
international research. Journal of nursing management, 20(8), 958-969.
Engel, J., & Prentice, D. (2013). The ethics of interprofessional collaboration. Nursing
ethics, 20(4), 426-435.
Hazinski, M. F. (2012). Nursing Care of the Critically Ill Child-E-Book. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
Hockenberry, M. J., & Wilson, D. (2014). Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children-E-Book.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
McAllister, L. (2013). Reflective Practice: The What, the Why and the How, of Reflection?. The
ANZTLA EJournal, (7), 50-63.
Stodd, J., James, M., James, A., Cowan, C. J., Tomlinson, M., Middleton, A., ... & Team, L.
EXPLORING REFLECTION IN THE SOCIAL AGE OF LEARNING.