April Update

Everything is really starting to come together now. Exit interviews are coming upon us; research and mentorship hours are due soon; prom, senior breakfast, and graduation night are around the corner; the ever-looming Final Presentations are almost here. I'm still nervous as ever, but slowly working towards the last presentation.
Today, I had 3 committee meetings happening all at once. This is such a stressful time. Core classes are being jam packed into busy days already full of Senior Project work to be done.This week alone, aside from core class HW, I had a 5th interview with a Junior, 2nd part of a Lab Report, Research checks, prom committee (it's getting down to the wire and I had to help take charge), a Civics Award presentation, iSearch essay. It's been difficult keeping up with my extra curriculars outside of school because I keep cancelling to stay home and do work. I now know that because I had to skip a couple mentorship days for HW and even though I went during Spring Break, my goal of 100 total hours at the hospital will remain unattainable at 86 hours. :(
One more month to go. Just need to make it past there and I am free... until college debt hits me.

Blog 20: Exit Interview

Content
1) What is the best way a nurse can help a patient recover from knee surgery?

• Answer 1: For a successful post-knee surgery it is essential for a nurse to perform accurate patient assessments throughout recovery.
• Answer 2: A nurse must prevent muscle atrophy and practice proper sanitation, and aseptic techniques. 
• Answer 3: Decrease recovery time by involving patients in the process of their own care.

Best answer is 1 because accurate assessments allow the nurse to track the progress of patients and act accordingly based on findings which incorporates answers 2 and 3. 

 
2) Talking with my mentor and through research.
3) Changing the basis of my topic from patient-centred care to recovery. Research, research, research.
4) Mentorship/Mentor and research. Formatting and coming up with answer. Giving real life applications from those found in research. Giving my project depth.

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

Literal

a) I, Allyana Salud, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

b) My mentorship with San Dimas Community Hospital and mentor, Aubrey Abiva, RN, helped me complete the independent component.

c) Independent Component Log - The log is combined with my Mentorship log which can be found at the right-hand side of this blog.

d) For my 2nd Independent Component, I completed an extra 32 hours at my mentorship in addition to the 50 required. At San Dimas Community Hospital, I volunteer at the Medical Surgical Unit of the hospital every Thursday from 4-8PM.

Interpretive
At San Dimas Community Hospital I help nurses by, taking call lights from patients and directing the right nurse depending on the subject matter to their patient, running specimens to the laboratory, clerical work, relaying paperwork from one wing of the unit to the other, putting up patient assignments for the night shift, making rounds to talk with patients and get them what I can, stocking rooms with gloves and carts with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), as well as anything else a nurse might ask of me. The most significant things I have learned from the Independent Component were gathered through my interviews, shadowing my mentor, and observations made.

A letter of proof showing I have done at least 30 hours of work.

Volunteering at a hospital is serious business and there are many laws (that I researched and learned about in orientation), such as HIPPA, that were made to protect the privacy of all patients in the hospital. The pictures displayed are the ones I was given the permission to take for this component.

                              

                 

My mentor, Aubrey Abiva, has been a guiding                        A majority of my time is spent at one of the  

    force throughout the senior project. She                             nursing stations in the Medical Surgical Unit.

agreed to be the interviewee for my interviews                       There I manage call lights, prepare charts for

   3 and 4 and let me shadow her while she                            incoming patients, and update the assignment

gave me topics to research as well as advice on                       board. When I'm not doing clerical work I 

     the answers I came up with for my EQ.                          observe nurses or make rounds on the floor to

                                                                                          see if I can assist patients with anything.

                            

 The outside of the rooms in this unit have 2                                  I am not allowed to enter isolation 
  crucial signs about patients for nurses and                                 rooms even with personal protective      visitors to keep in mind. The falling star is a                              equipment (PPE). This is important for 
sign for those that are prone to falling and the                                controlling the spread of infection
 stop sign warns them if they are in isolation                                 which I learned more about through
      or shouldn't be in direct contact with.                                      research. If a nurse were to go into 
                                                                                             one of these rooms without PPE they 
                                                                                                could endanger other patients and 
                                                                                                          the health care team.

                               

 This chart talks about contact precautions with                     This is a box of safety gowns that includes 

 the patient or patients inside. Visitors are to go                     instructions on how to use them. They are

  to a nursing station before entering and will be                 sitting on a small rolling cabinet which contains

 briefed by the nurses there. They'll be told what              other PPE such as, gloves, masks, and antiseptic

   PPE to wear and what or what not to do while                 wipes. One is located in front of each room that

visiting. Again, this has to do with controlling the                  houses a patient in isolation or with contact 

      spread of infection for the safety of all.                       precautions. Although, I cannot enter these 

                                                                                    rooms I make sure the cabinets are stocked. 

My Story - Video Maker

"My Story" is an example of patient-centred care implemented at San Dimas Community Hospital. I observed one of the nurses using it with patients and now visit other patients throughout the medical/surgical unit when I volunteer to give them the care package if nurses are busy. 

     The first picture in the short video I created displays the contents of the bag I delivered to patients. It contained an eye mask and ear plugs in a little zipped pouch along with the little booklet titled "My Story". The second shows the front cover of the booklet which reads, 

     "The care that San Dimas Community Hospital provides reaches beyond clinical expertise. Working together as your partner in healthcare our passion and commitment is to care for you and your loved ones with, warm, personalized attention."

     The inside is where I helped patients tell the staff more about them so they could get to know them and make them feel more at ease during their stay. From my research and the nurse who showed me "My Story", I learned that interaction helps create a comfortable bond between health care team and patient.  Connecting on a more personal level will help the patient be more confident in their nurse's directions and even to ask questions or for recovery advice.

Applied

At the hospital, my mentor, Aubrey Abiva, helped me come up with 2 answers to my EQ through interviews and shadowing. One of them was about deterioration of the patient's condition as a result of infection and muscle atrophy and the other was about increasing a patient's understanding and comfort level. She told me about muscle atrophy while shadowing, and in the interview she explained how pain control is important to dispel any discomfort so patients can gradually start to exercise. This will help them regain their strength preventing muscle wastage and recover from surgery. I observed the precautions her and the other nurses took when going into isolation rooms. They have a procedure to put PPE before they enter the patient's room and take it off immediately after. Throughout the day, they will be going back and forth to other rooms and if an infection happens because of something left on their PPE the results could be very harmful to a patients recovery. She also talked about how increasing a patient's understanding makes a more compliant patient. The nurse knows best and following their instructions can lead to faster recovery. She showed me some of the packets and pamphlets they give to patients based on their condition and the advice it has for them. According to one of them, for recovery from knee surgery, it is best to rest and not strain yourself before you are ready to move. Exercise is important to prevent muscle wastage, but can lead to dire consequences if done too soon.
From other observations, I noted just the sheer number of times I had to restock PPE cabinets or put gloves in rooms shows that there really is a great importance in prevention of the spread of disease. I also how important documentation was, by seeing the amount of times doctors, nurses, dieticians and more consulted a patient's chart for information and updated it with new findings.