How I made a difference

            Reflecting on my clinical experience this semester I’ve realized how much I’ve learned. From my first to my last clinical I grew in confidence. The process of gaining this confidence came through many patient interactions. When thinking of how I made a difference, I can think of one patient interaction I had with a woman on week two of clinical. Per our routine, we were sent off to follow our nurse for a few hours. Within those hours, we were assigned a patient and had to perform a bedside assessment on them. Typically, these assessments take about 15 minutes but that day it took me over an hour and a half. 

            I began my assessment by following the flow of the clinical paperwork in front of me. With every question I asked she would give me a lengthy response that gave me insight on her life. I really remember when I asked about her diet and if she was tolerating it. She went on to tell me about all the things she would cook for herself throughout the day. I got to learn all about her family and even her past marriages. When she was telling me about her cooking she went on to mention that one of her husbands was Greek and he would cook her all types of Greek food. Not only did she tell me about the foods he would make for her but she would tell me about all the Greek weddings she got to attend. I made a comment to her asking, “did you and your husband ever get to break the plate?” She quickly responded with “oh honey we did more than break the plate”. We both chuckled and I went on finishing my assessment continuing making conversation with her. 

            When I finished up my assessment I finished with asking her if she needed anything. I went on to say how it was lovely meeting her and thanked her for letting me practice my new nursing skills on her. She then thanked me for taking my time to listen to her. She went on talking about how lonely it is being hospitalized during times like these. It had been weeks since the last time she had seen her grandchildren so she really enjoyed getting to talk about them with someone. At first our conversations were nothing more than an assessment to me. I then realized how conversing with someone can really impact their day. This made me realize how much a difference I can make with conversations.