Clinical Paper for Off-Sight Observation Experience: Special Procedures
Madison Munday
University of North Dakota
Clinical Paper for Off-Sight Observation Experience: Special Procedures For my off-sight observation experience, I was assigned to shadow at Special Procedures. I had the opportunity to learn about many different conditions and procedural techniques, so it was an excellent contribution to my nursing education. At Special Procedures, I was able to follow three patients. In this paper, I will discuss two of the clients I saw, and I will explain their stories and conditions. This will include knowledge of their current treatment, any medications they are on, and any diagnostic tests that apply to their condition. …show more content…
However, the one thing I would suggest as another intervention would be to make C.Z.’s time at Special Procedures a little less tedious. She explained to me what a toll treatment has taken on her life. She explained that six weeks of treatment twice a day on top of all of her other appointments began to wear on her and her husband. The nursing team did bring coffee as C.Z. waited for her hour and a half infusion, and while that was a nice gesture, I think more should be done to help make the routine more comfortable. I noticed she wasn’t sitting with a backrest; she was sitting on the edge of the bed faced away from the television. For C.Z.’s emotional health and for the sake of her experience with treatment, I would try to make her more comfortable. Encourage her to lie on the bed or sit in a chair facing the television. I am a firm believer that the little things like this can make the difference for the patient, so while it is not a medical intervention, I believe it is a nursing intervention that could improve C.Z.’s infusion therapy experience.
Patient two R.K., a male in his sixties, was my second patient. He suffers from a condition called hemochromatosis, which is a high iron level in the blood. R.K. had no signs or symptoms of his condition, but in 2002 he was required to have a physical for work, which he failed because his ferritin level was 1000ng/mL. The recommended …show more content…
He would talk about his schedule and the newest addition to his company, and it was clear to see that he had a lot on his plate. I began to think more about how his diagnosis of hemochromatosis would affect his life. For one, I researched hemochromatosis and found fatigue was a common symptom of people with high iron levels (O’Connell & Sheahan, 2011). With his busy schedule, I can imagine that iron imbalance would contribute greatly to fatigue in his life. Also during R.K.’s visit, the nurse asked if he made it in for treatment twice a week as suggested by his provider. R.K. explained that he often did not make it in twice a week due to his busy schedule. I can understand his struggle of having to make two appoints a week since 2002. With R.K.’s demanding schedule, that may not always be possible. R.K’s care seemed to be exactly what the nursing textbook, journals and guidelines recommend. However one intervention not discussed with R.K. and the nurse was diet. Both the U.S. Health and Human Services National Guideline Clearinghouse and O’Connell and Sheahan in a Journal of Nursing and Health Care of Chronic Illness discuss management of hemochromatosis through diet. The guidelines for hemochromatosis state dietary management is unnecessary, but vitamin C should be avoided as it enhances iron absorption (National Guidelines Clearinghouse, 2011). Also in a study conducted on patients with hemochromatosis,
Madison Munday
University of North Dakota
Clinical Paper for Off-Sight Observation Experience: Special Procedures For my off-sight observation experience, I was assigned to shadow at Special Procedures. I had the opportunity to learn about many different conditions and procedural techniques, so it was an excellent contribution to my nursing education. At Special Procedures, I was able to follow three patients. In this paper, I will discuss two of the clients I saw, and I will explain their stories and conditions. This will include knowledge of their current treatment, any medications they are on, and any diagnostic tests that apply to their condition. …show more content…
However, the one thing I would suggest as another intervention would be to make C.Z.’s time at Special Procedures a little less tedious. She explained to me what a toll treatment has taken on her life. She explained that six weeks of treatment twice a day on top of all of her other appointments began to wear on her and her husband. The nursing team did bring coffee as C.Z. waited for her hour and a half infusion, and while that was a nice gesture, I think more should be done to help make the routine more comfortable. I noticed she wasn’t sitting with a backrest; she was sitting on the edge of the bed faced away from the television. For C.Z.’s emotional health and for the sake of her experience with treatment, I would try to make her more comfortable. Encourage her to lie on the bed or sit in a chair facing the television. I am a firm believer that the little things like this can make the difference for the patient, so while it is not a medical intervention, I believe it is a nursing intervention that could improve C.Z.’s infusion therapy experience.
Patient two R.K., a male in his sixties, was my second patient. He suffers from a condition called hemochromatosis, which is a high iron level in the blood. R.K. had no signs or symptoms of his condition, but in 2002 he was required to have a physical for work, which he failed because his ferritin level was 1000ng/mL. The recommended …show more content…
He would talk about his schedule and the newest addition to his company, and it was clear to see that he had a lot on his plate. I began to think more about how his diagnosis of hemochromatosis would affect his life. For one, I researched hemochromatosis and found fatigue was a common symptom of people with high iron levels (O’Connell & Sheahan, 2011). With his busy schedule, I can imagine that iron imbalance would contribute greatly to fatigue in his life. Also during R.K.’s visit, the nurse asked if he made it in for treatment twice a week as suggested by his provider. R.K. explained that he often did not make it in twice a week due to his busy schedule. I can understand his struggle of having to make two appoints a week since 2002. With R.K.’s demanding schedule, that may not always be possible. R.K’s care seemed to be exactly what the nursing textbook, journals and guidelines recommend. However one intervention not discussed with R.K. and the nurse was diet. Both the U.S. Health and Human Services National Guideline Clearinghouse and O’Connell and Sheahan in a Journal of Nursing and Health Care of Chronic Illness discuss management of hemochromatosis through diet. The guidelines for hemochromatosis state dietary management is unnecessary, but vitamin C should be avoided as it enhances iron absorption (National Guidelines Clearinghouse, 2011). Also in a study conducted on patients with hemochromatosis,