NURSING PRACTICE IN THE THERAPEUTIC PROCESS

Nursing Practice In The Therapeutic Process



Nursing Practice In The Therapeutic Process

This paper discusses the role of the nurse as a person in the therapeutic process and analyse the bio-psychosocial principles that underpin the therapeutic nursing interventions for John. The aim of this assignment is to reflect on an incident that took place whilst I was on my practice placement. The client involved in the incident will be referred to as "Carol", for the purpose of maintaining patient confidentiality, as stated in the Code of Professional Conduct (2002). The incident took place whilst I was on practice placement at a local care in the community resource centre, a centre which psychiatric clients used to visit, for support and continuum of care and recovery from their illness. The duration of the placement was seven weeks.

I will explore this incident and give my understanding of the event in relation to professional, legal and ethical considerations. In order to present a well-structured reflection, I have chosen to utilise a framework of reflection by Gibbs (1998) to help me present my reflection in a natural sequence of events. The framework is iterative and enables me to ask myself a series of questions at stopping points, to help me put the experience into an organised manner.

DESCRIPTION

I first met the client Carol in the kitchen of the resource centre on a wet November afternoon. The theme of the Tuesday Café was 'Soup and Rolls'. I had known for a few days that I would be involved in this activity and I was very much looking forward to it. I would assist with the serving of the meal and the collection of the monies. Working alongside two community support workers, I felt confident in my own ability, and sure that I was about to enjoy the next hour and a half of socializing.

A steady flow of hungry clients passed through the kitchen doors, each clutching a bowl of soup and a roll as they left. Carol was one of the last clients to make her way to the kitchen, and to be precise, I had not even realized that she was there until she exhaled a shrilling sound of laughter, after which she spoke so rapidly I could barely understand what she was saying.

"This is Carol", one of the support workers announced.

But before she could finish, Carol had trundled over to me and introduced herself as best as she could.

"Are you a nurse? I was a nurse, I used to be in charge, you lot should leave those babies alone".

All this in one sentence, I was quite bewildered but showed interest in her conversation to try and assure her that I was there to listen and support her. Once again Carol began to laugh, it was the kind of laughter that I would remember for a very long time. The second support worker, who I was not at all familiar with appeared to have a good rapport with Carol, I presumed ...