REFLECTIVE PAPER

Reflective Paper

Reflective Paper

Introduction

It is generally accepted that communication through positive body language, could have a beneficial influence on the overall well being of a patient. It could be argued that direct patient communication is a key part of the patients experience and therefore should be addressed as a component part of the patient journey alongside clinical and other considerations. The incident that will be discussed occurred whilst out on placement, on a paediatric ward. The age of the children on this ward, ranged from birth, up to eighteen years old, with many different types of illnesses and conditions. This particular incident involved a young girl, the student nurse and senior staff nurse. In order to respect the rights of confidentiality, throughout this report, the girl will be referred to as Charlie (NMC 2004)

Discussion

Charlie was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome (RS) when she was two years old. According to Candy et al (2001), only girls can be affected by RS and for no explicable reason, between the age of nine and twenty-four months they begin to deteriorate, their limbs become stiff and may be regarded as showing spastic quadriplegia. Apraxia, the inability to program the body to perform motor movements, is the most severely handicapping aspect of RS. Charlie is now nine years old and no longer has control over her body. Due to Apraxia, she lacks any verbal communication skills, although Charlie understands everything that is being said to her.

It was during the morning on the second week of my placement on this ward, when the incident occurred. I was walking down the ward, when I noticed that Charlie seemed quite distressed, she was propped up into a sitting position in her bed, supported by a number of pillows. Her arms were waving about and she was making some crying sounds. I walked over to Charlie and tried to ask her what was wrong. Due to Apraxia, Charlie had great difficulty communicating verbally. At this point in my training, I had little knowledge of the effects of RS and I did not realise that Charlie could understand everything that I was saying. However, Charlie's non-verbal behaviour indicated to me that something was wrong. Charlie tried so hard to verbally tell me what was wrong, but she could not make me understand, I tried to appear relaxed and therefore encourage Charlie to try again, although with her arms moving about, ...