Monmouth Medical Center Reflection

As my psych rotation at Monmouth Medical Center comes to an end, I took a few moments to reflect on my experience and see what I’ve learned. It was surprising to me to note that my feeling towards this field of nursing was quite the contrary to my original expectations. Initially I assumed that the time we spent on these units would be simple, informative and enjoyable. I knew that my friendly talkative nature would be helpful in this setting where I got to practice the therapeutic techniques I’ve learned about, while getting to see some of the psychological disorders we discussed. Although I started out on the beginning clinicals with the typical anxiety of starting something new, I never imagined that a few weeks later I’d still have unsettled …show more content…
My partner went to observe the interdisciplinary meeting while I went to go talk to some patients in the dining room. I walked in a little bit nervous but confident, but after a few minutes I was just left with nerves. I was talking to a smart fellow with grandiose delusions in midst a manic phase of his disorder. Some of the other patients were looking for my attention and started getting closer to join in the conversation. While I was getting slightly uncomfortable with the close proximity of so many patients, I kept calm and a little box of personal space around me. That morning I went to the group to music and social work group like I did the previous week, but the anxiety was getting worse. During lunch I tried to identify the trigger and assumed that it must be that I’m more of a control freak and some of these patients are quite literally “out of control”. That explanation didn’t sit too well with me, but it did make sense so I just continued on with the afternoon talking to more patients and some of the staff. I didn’t feel very good that day, but I assumed that it’s just because the mental health field is not for me. I started to believe that and accept it until the next week’s