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Erin Power
Trent University
Running Head: REFLECTION
On September 28, 2017, on the surgical unit of the Ross memorial hospital in Lindsay, I
went to answer a call bell with one of my peers, as I had done multiple times that day. The
difference with this time in particular was that as I walked into the room one of the primary
nurses was yelling “I need someone to help me” fanatically. In that moment I was shocked. My
patient, who was stable fifteen minutes ago when I brought him a fresh cup of water, was lying
dead weight in the nurses arms. Thankfully, another nurse on the unit came into the room just
after me. They helped lower the patient to the ground and tried to rouse him. No lab experience
had prepared me for this situation. While I knew what had to be done, get a pillow for his head,
check the vitals, check his chart for a code status, I froze. I did not know where to begin, it was
as if my feet couldn’t move. By this time there were multiple staff members in the room who
took charge. I stepped back and began recording down the vitals that the primary nurse was
calling out. I helped as much as I could. When they needed the commode I was off to get one,
they needed cloths to wash the patient before they got him back into bed, I was ready.
In that moment I felt almost useless. As if all of my schooling were going to waste. I was
disappointed in myself that I did not have the confidence to jump in and use the skills I know I
have. Two of my classmates were in the room as well, and neither of them displayed confidence
during the situation either. This made me feel as if I was not falling behind in my skill
development. However, I did feel as if the staff nurses thought poorly of us students because we
were not as much help as we should have been. When the situation was under control and we had
the patient back in bed, we debriefed with the primary nurse. This debriefing I found was very
helpful. She explained to us what went wrong during the incident, including the poor
communication between the members of the health care team. There were too many people
trying to be the decision maker. As well, in the chaos the name of the patient was incorrectly
Running Head: REFLECTION
stated, causing the wrong physician to be called, which lead to incorrect orders to be made. So
while it seemed that the staff nurses were calm and confident in the situation, they were stressing
more than it had appeared. Consequently, causing errors in their paper work, not necessarily in
Research suggests that the response my classmates and I had, which was to freeze and not
really be sure how to help, is common in new nurses (Lindsey & Jenkins, 2013). There is a
experienced during undergrad nursing programs, and a new nurses confidence during a real life
event (Lindsey & Jenkins, 2013). With more experience came more initiative, which lead to
better clinical practice for new nurses (Lindsey & Jenkins, 2013).
Feedback from nurses whose education had an emphasis on simulations repersented their
increased levels of confidence all dimensions of emergencies (Kaddoura, 2010). This includes
initial care, stabilization, communication with the health care team, and being the leader of the
situation. This increase in confidence was a result of having been able to evaluate and refine their
skills in an environment which you can learn from mistakes, is risk free, and intended to enhance
your skill levels (Kaddoura, 2010). This style of learning is very beneficial as students are able to
While the Trent/Fleming school of nursing provides simulations for student to learn from,
as of this far in the program there have not been any emergency situations. Even when the
simulation is on a life threatening situation, we are aware of what they will be prior to our
assigned simulation. I think that in the upper years of the program it would be beneficial for the
labs to have surprise mock codes that students are not expecting, but are able to apply their
knowledge which they have developed thus far. While I was caught off guard while at my
Running Head: REFLECTION
clinical placement, I am confident that with time I will become more efficient at responding to
critical situations. I have learned from this situation I will now be able to apply it in the future.
With more exposure to these situations, comes knowledge and confidence, which will be
References
Kaddoura, M. (2010). New Graduate Nurses’ Perceptions of the Effects of Clinical Simulation
on Their Critical Thinking, Learning, and Confidence. The Journal Of Continuing
Education In Nursing, 41(11), 506-516. http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20100701-02
Lindsey, P., & Jenkins, S. (2013). Nursing Students' Clinical Judgment Regarding Rapid
Response: The Influence of a Clinical Simulation Education Intervention. Nursing
Forum, 48(1), 61-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12002