Description

This essay aims will argue about the type of care received by Mr Taylor and will evaluate how the service delivery could be improved by reflecting on the experiences of Mr.Taylor. Mr. Taylor is a 75 old man who had suffered from three falls back to back, three years before that is still having an impact on his life. While describing about his own experience, he also brings forwards some of the bad experience related to medical care that disappointed him and refrain him from further visiting a hospital  

However this essay will refer to the NSQHS standards of nursing and the “Need theory” of nursing to reflect on the experience.

The subject of my Gibb’s reflection is Mr. Taylor, who is a 75 years old man and had suffered from three falls consecutively. It can be seen from this case scenario that, due to his past experiences, Mr. Taylor does not want to visit a hospital, and rather waited for the next day to see the GP. His unwillingness to visit a public hospital is due to the fact that once he had to wait unattended, for about 11 hours in the waiting room with an intense pain of kidney stones, and thus he prefers to wait at home rather than spending time in the waiting room.

Mr. Taylor’s experience regarding the GP had also questioned the attitude of the health care professionals. Few years back Mr. Taylor had a 30 cm tear in the muscles due to a sudden fall, where he encountered a surgeon who used an abusive sentence that directly displays violation of patient’s respect and dignity.

Hence the key themes that will be discussed in this essay is, equal care for very patients, irrespective of the age group and ethnicities and the ethical conduct of the health care professionals. The main rationale for choosing these themes are due to the fact that each and every person has got the equal rights of getting the basic care , which is also in compliance with the Australian nursing standards and the codes of ethics of the nurses.

While reflecting on the experience of Mr. Taylor, I was surprised to find out that the person had an immense sense of patience and in spite of all these, still has faith on the health care professionals and still appreciates the ways of treatment. Focusing on the incident where Mr. Taylor actually had to wait for long 11 hours with pain, I should admit that although hospital wards, sometimes remain overcrowded, but some considerations should be meant for elderly people like Mr. Taylor, so that they atleast get the basic primary care treatment (Shahriari, Mohammadi,  Abbaszadeh & Bahrami, 2013).

Feelings and Thoughts

Apart from being active in their treatment, empathetic words and being in tune with the sufferings of the patients acts as a healer for the patients. Hence, I strongly feel that, referring an old man as an old rag is equally disrespectful and rude.  

Apart from the nursing codes of ethics there are some of my personal values that I have received from my parents that directs me to treat each and every person with respect and the dignity. It is this personal belief that would help me to develop in my professional practice. Furthermore before taking up the profession of nursing I was made well aware of the different nursing codes of ethics whose main element is care and compassion (Zahedi et al., 2017). Apart from providing care to the patient, it is the duty of the nurses to preserve the basic human rights of the patients and put their interest in the first hand. It is this personal belief that helps me to determine what is right or ethical for the patient (Lachman, 2012).

This case scenario displays both the aspects of adequate care and inadequate care. Instances of inadequate care that can be found in this case study is that, Mr. Taylor had to wait for long 8 hours in the waiting room of a hospital with a pain of intensity 8, due to a kidney stone. The patient did not get the adequate care and had to visit the pharmacy by himself to get the pills, when the intensity of the pain peaked, which proves that there were lack of nurses to take care of the patient.

There had also been some instances of adequate care, such as the type of care received from the female physiotherapist, where Mr. Taylor was taught how to use the arm with the assistance of the other arm, and other lifting exercises.  It seems that Mr. Taylor is also quite satisfied with the advanced technology of the health care such as a pill cam. Mr. Taylor also had an experience with iron infusion, where he had been totally satisfied with the role of the nurses as she played a comprehensive role of a nurse, starting from taking care of the patient to providing him with psychological support. A nurse is accountable to assess the patient and provide him with a holistic (Van Zwanenberg & Edwards, 2018).

Health care professionals should work in accordance to the requirements of the patients. The “need theory” of Virginia Henderson, a health care worker should get inside the skin of the patient to understand the need of the patient (Ahtisham & Jacoline, 2015). Reflecting on the adequate care that he got, it can be said that the physiotherapist actually knew the type of care needed by Mr. Taylor at this position. Furthermore, as per the NSQSH standards, it is essential to work in partnership with the patients for a safe delivery of the health care (The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care., 2016 Furthermore, it is essential to have adequate workforce in a clinical care setting to support the heavy load of the patients (Abbott, Mc Sherry & Simmons, 2013). Had there been adequate staffs, Mr. Taylor would not have to wait for long in the waiting room.

Values and Beliefs

Conclusion Drawn

The one negative indicator in this case study is lack of proper attendance of medical staffs and the physicians when Bill has visited to a public hospital with complications in kidney stone. He waited there for 11 hours with intense pain and agony. The second negative aspect include, inappropriate behaviour coming from doctor. The doctor who was operating Bill’s arm replied that sewing 30 cm tear in his muscle will be like sewing old rag into a new pair of jeans. According National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard (2012), to partnering with the consumers is an important aspect of care. Here partnering with the consumers means attending the healthcare service users via satisfying their queries and concerns while giving them proper health related information. However, Warnock (2014) are of the opinion that information must be given in such a way that it patient and family members do not feel disheartened or loss faith from the treatment.

The first positive indicator is proper support from his family members. Bill mentioned that when he encountered serious injury in his arms muscle, his wife supported him and helped him getting dressed on his way to hospital. She also drove her husband to hospital and afterwards too as Bill was unable to drive post 7 to 6 months of injury. The second positive aspect includes knowledge of Bill about the medicines. He is well aware about the name of the medicines along with the name of the disease against that particular medicine works. According to According National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard (2012) proper knowledge of the patients about the medicines helps to avoid medication errors or medication overdose and at the same time helps informed decision making. Active support coming from family members help to increase the patient participation in care and in this case, Bill or Mr William Taylor received support from his wife (Boger et al., 2015).

The main plan will be involving patient in the decision making process by providing correct information in a friendly manner and that too on time. First strategy include the breaking of the bad news can be done with a friendly approach with no use of harsh or sarcastic sentences. This will not demotivate patients or demoralise them as in case of Mr Taylor or Bill. Second strategy will be to attend the patient without waiting them in long line. Taking into consideration of the other patient needs as well, patient will be informed when and how he or she will be treated.

Conclusion

In conclusion it can be said that there were many instances in the scenario that demonstrated adequate care as well as inadequate care. However, it is necessary to assess one’s personal belief and then link them to the nursing standards. Furthermore effective planning and collaboration with the family strengthens the type of care.

References

Abbott, P., Mc Sherry, R., & Simmons, M. (Eds.). (2013). Evidence-informed nursing: A guide for clinical nurses. Routledge. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Ta4PpT5uLL8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR3&dq=clinica+governance+in+nurrsing ots=J2KQYGWIYo&sig=6L_umLOFGv2-WCkoYA4P_fgIbi8#v=onepage&q=clinica%20governance%20in%20nurrsing&f=false

Ahtisham, Y., & Jacoline, S. (2015). Integrating Nursing Theory and Process into Practice; Virginia’s Henderson Need Theory. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 8(2). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3712593/

Boger, E., Ellis, J., Latter, S., Foster, C., Kennedy, A., Jones, F., … & Demain, S. (2015). Self-management and self-management support outcomes: a systematic review and mixed research synthesis of stakeholder views. PloS one, 10(7), e0130990. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130990

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3748548/

Lachman, V. D. (2012). Applying the ethics of care to your nursing practice. Medsurg Nursing, 21(2), 112.

Shahriari, M., Mohammadi, E., Abbaszadeh, A., & Bahrami, M. (2013). Nursing ethical values and definitions: A literature review. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 18(1), 1.

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care., (2012). National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards…Access date: 24.10.2018. Retrieved from:https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/NSQHS-Standards-Fact-Sheet-Standard-10.pdf

Van Zwanenberg, T., & Edwards, C. (2018). Clinical governance in primary care. In Clinical Governance in Primary Care (pp. 17-30). CRC Press. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781498793575/chapters/10.1201%2F9781315375687-2

Warnock, C. (2014). Breaking bad news: issues relating to nursing practice. Nursing Standard (2014+), 28(45), 51. Retrieved from: https://rcni.com/sites/rcn_nspace/files/ns.28.45.51.e8935.pdf

Zahedi, F., Sanjari, M., Aala, M., Peymani, M., Aramesh, K., Parsapour, A., … & Dastgerdi, M. V. (2013). The code of ethics for nurses. Iranian journal of public health, 42(Supple1), 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3712593