I was working in the hospital as a student nurse exposed to an environment where nurses are given the responsibility of taking care of sick patients that need medical attention. Offering my help as a student eager to be a nurse also gave me experience that I could not have gained in any other way because at the ward I encountered challenges that needed me to think critically and come up with solutions to the challenges. I was tasked with the responsibility of taking care of the patients that were mentally ill; they needed special attention and care to ensure they are always in good health.

It’s a requirement for all nurses tobe behave in a professional manner where all their activities are in line with the professional guidelines that guide the professional career, as a student nurse, the same rules and guidelines bind me just like a professional nurse. The professional ethics guide the nurses while they are taking care of the patients to have a uniformity in the provision of the healthcare services to the patients. The nurses can be held responsible for anything that might occur to the patient hence following the professional conduct will enable them to know how to conduct themselves in a manner that they can answer questions in a court of law in case of any challenge.

Inter-professional teamwork is required in nursing because nurses are needed to work as a team in dealing with the challenges that require the collaboration of many people to deal with the challenge (Murdaugh, Parsons, and Pender, 2018). Some activities involved in treating the patients cannot involve one professional hence when one has the interpersonal skills of relating with colleagues the better. As a student nurse, I was involved many times working with my colleagues at work in dealing with various challenges that we experienced and required the collaboration to complete the work. I improved my interpersonal skills of relating to other people.

Various theories give guidelines on how nurses are supposed to conduct their activities, and the nursing theories include the theory of interpersonal relations. The theory is about enhancing the interpersonal relationships among the nurses and between the nurses and the patients as well (Patricia Benner, and Christine Tanner, 2009). Nursing emphasizes interpersonal care between different stakeholders involved in nursing. Patients need to have good relations with the nurses that are taking care of them to have the freedom of asking for help whenever they need any help from the nurses. The offering of nursing services requires a personal relationship between the nurses and the patients for the nurses to understand what the patient is going through. As a student nurse, I was supposed to work with the experienced nurse and acquire the relevant skills regarding the nursing profession. The theory put more emphasis on the reactions of patients to medical and care that they get from the hospital.

Communication is essential in nursing because giving wrong information can lead to misdiagnosis of disease leading to the wrong prescription affecting the patient (Polit, and Beck, 2008). Wrong treatment of disease that doesn’t exist might make the patient die because they are treated for an illness that doesn’t exist. There have been reported cases where patients have been treated wrong because of poor communication. Where investigations are done, and the nurse is found to be the cause if the problem action can be taken against the nurse. Some policies are developed to guide the nurses in their work to give the nurses a plan on how they are supposed to engage in various activities that will not bring conflict between the nurses and the patients.

Feelings

When I joined the mental health hospital team as a student nurse, I had the idea that dealing with mentally ill persons was a hard and disgusting job. I never thought that I could learn anything from that hospital. What I did not know I would have much to learn here regarding my job as a nurse. My job mainly involves caring for the sic, monitoring their progress and recording and reporting about their status to the doctors (Mooi Standing 2010). After being assigned the duty of monitoring the vitals of the patients, I felt that they were not treating me according to what my profession involved. I   expected that I would be given a more complex task that may be involved in administering medication and assisting the doctors in functions that would help me learn more.

Before I encountered the case of Mr. A, I had already gotten used to my work, and I had not thought that monitoring the patient’s vitals was such an important task. Mr. A had a high pulse rate was registered 3 I the news score. This was the highest that I had ever recorded on the new score, and it had exceeded the required rate that the hospital had given. This made me very worried and led me to sound, and the doctors took action. Mentally ill people cannot communicate effectively if they have a health issue and it is upon the nurses to keep monitoring them. When the doctor called an ambulance for the patient to be taken to the general hospital, I came to see the importance of the work I was doing.

Helping Mr. B handle his hygiene was something I was not very much comfortable with at first. I thought for an adult who could not take care of his hygiene was not something that could be taught at that age. What I failed to understand that the person was mentally ill and they need help. But afterward I came to learn deep down Mr. B was a good person who faced a mental challenge and he needed me to help him. We created a bong with him, and I started to like him as he also liked me. Within some few weeks, he was someone who looked nice and trimmed his beards.  I think one should not judge his working place without taking time to know.

During the experience, I felt like someone who was learning a lot and changing my life together with changing other people’s life. The feeling that I had before had already been, and I had started to see the benefits of my work. In the case of Mr., A I felt that I had changed his life since by himself he could not have communicated that he was not feeling well. I thought that if I had neglected my work and did shoddy work Mr. A condition could have worsened or maybe he could have died. I started liking my job; I continued to do work with passion feeling that whatever I was doing was bringing change. Mr. B could not still be able to observe his hygiene if it was not for me. Seeing Mr. B being neat made me feel proud of the work I had done to him, and I saw I felt the need to work more to improve the lives of these patients.

My reaction to the two patients was mainly because of what I thought was right or wrong according to myself but what I had failed understand that my work involved helping other people. Despite me viewing it has right or wrong I had to do it for the good of the patient (Burns, and Groves, 2018). The patients are what matters and their welfare. Monitoring and caring for them is what should one feel good. It took time for me to adapt to what on the job after I got used to it I loved the job, my experience there made me learn a lot about nursing. Mentally ill people are like children who need frequent monitoring since most of them cannot express what they feel. They need to monitor and helped accordingly to prevent them from succumbing to simple illness. The experience also taught me that even to normal people and adults frequent check-ups help one detect early illness. I saw the need for monitoring and checkout practically and how it can save a life.

After working at the mental hospital, I feel that my work as a nurse will be dedicated to helping people out with their problems. I felt that helping makes me feel the worth of my work since I help save and improve lives. After this, I will dedicate my life to helping patients to cope with their health problems and improve their lives to the best. I understood that for me practice my career it is not necessary I am directly involved in administering medication. Monitoring patients’ vitals is also vital to work that helps improve the lives of patients.

Evaluation

During my stay at the mental health hospital, there were ups, and down, not everything went well. When I was monitoring the patients, I encountered Mr. A whose pulse rate had exceeded 1 going up to 3 in the news score. This terrified me a lot because I had not experienced such a high pulse rate for the little time had been monitoring these patients. Mr. A case terrified me a lot. I thought more about what worse could happen to Mr. A. I got confused on what to do first before I could decide. I thought of performing an ECG myself, but that would be against the rules. On the case of Mr. B, I felt that very uncomfortable handling a man who could not take care of personal hygiene. At a particular time, I thought of refusing to help the man, but after some time I was able to handle the task. The best experience was when I saw the information n I recorded about the patients help them. For #example, Mr. A was helped by being taken to the general hospital further medical check-up.  On Mr. B’s case, I was able to help him maintain personal hygiene. He was able to shave his beards and maintain that.

Serving as a student nurse at the mental health care, ended up well according to me. This was a life changing opportunity where a learned a lot about my career (Henri Tajfel 2010). I was able to meet other professionals who we shared a lot of experience in which I was the one benefiting a lot from them (Polit, and Beck, 2008). Being in a mental hospital, I learned a lot about these patients; they require a lot of assistance that many people in society cannot offer. Mentally health needs more care similar to that of children. At the end of the experience, I knew all that it entails being a nurse. I had a good experience with caring for my patients.

I had a good working relationship with other workers; I was reporting to the nurse on duty and the doctor in charge. I was also handing over the duty to the other nurse who would be taking over the shift from me. The relationship between all these staffs and I was perfect. Most of them were very helpful and supportive of me from my first day at work. Then use on duty could always guide me on my daily activities on my first day to ensure that I understood what was needed and I did it correctly. They all understood that it was hard for new nurses to work on mental hospitals for the first days. All the help I required good from my fellow employees. The nurses to whom I left the shift to sometimes we could meet and discuss our experiences at work and help each other. The doctor in charge was a very experienced one whom I learned a lot from him. He was very good at what he was doing, and I learned a lot from him, he was committed to helping boy the patients and the fellow employees in solving problems.

My experience helps me learn and a lot and develop critical thinking on solving health problems. According to Gibb’s theory, one has to gain experience in the working field which I understood more and learned more about providing care for the patients (Jennifer Moon 2007). It was not an easy task for me, but eventually, I was able to gain experience and love my job. The patients were pleased with the services I offered since I understood their conditions. They were more corporative with me than they were with other people. Mr. A was pleased after I saved his life although he could not tell me how he was grateful. Through his facial expression, I could see that yap he was happy and our relationship with him could prove it. Mr. B was pleased and cooperative too. Despite having a mental problem, he was eager to change his physical condition and learn more about hygiene.

Analysis

My experience at the mental health hospital relates much to the literature through the lesson I learned there. I had an experience that tested my ability to persevere and be persistence on something that is against my beliefs and at the end I change to be someone who likes what I thought I could not like. In the literature, I get to learn on some characteristics that I never believed that I could meet with in real life, but I came to meet them at the mental hospital. In the literature, I learned that learning never ends and in one’s lifetime one must always be eager to learn, and I proved that at the hospital since each day I learned something new.

From the reading, I learned that that learning is a process that has a starting point but end when someone dies. No one can claim to know everything concerning a specific field of study since new things always arise hence need to keep on studying and learning (John Dewey 2009). When at the hospital I gained a lot about the mentally ill and my nursing career that I thought I knew, but I didn’t know of. In the literature, I read about how being open-minded could change someone to the best and improve his/her knowledge about a specific field of study. It is deceiving to believe that you know everything and close all the chances of learning something new. It makes one a fool not to be open to learning new thing and open to change.

My work entails interacting with other colleagues that help in the provision of healthcare services, the colleagues that I interact with include social workers that ensure all activities within the health facility. Also, psychologists are involved to ensure that the patient is understood and diagnosis of the problem known as well. People with a mental health condition require therapist hence physio and occupational therapists. Interaction with my colleagues has helped me improve my interaction skills.

Diagnosing the problem with Mr. A went well since I was able to realize the problem in advance and prevent further complications. Mr. A was able to be checked by the doctor and taken to the general hospital for further check-up and treatment hence saving his life. Mr. B also was able to receive help on the maintenance of his hygiene. He was able to learn how to shave and maintain his beard and observe personal hygiene which he could not observe by his own before. In Mr. A, s case he could have received better care if the mental hospital was well equipped to treat him. The time it took for him to breach to the hospital could have helped him recover faster and maybe prevent his condition from escalating. Mr. A could not communicate with the health problems he was facing. He needed to be closely monitored, and maybe the previous nurse on duty did not perform his works has required. There should be a way of ensuring the nurses do their work as required.

In Mr. B case, he could have received better case if observation of personal hygiene was something the hospital considered as policy and observation to be ensured that all will observe it. If it was a requirement, his hygiene could have been looked at much earlier and maybe the time that he arrived at the hospital. The Ginn’s theory supports that in the hospital the patients should regular care vend thorough check-ups to ensure they are in good health and prevent them from succumbing to a minor illness that could have been discovered if detected earlier. If Mr. A had received better check-ups earlier, he could not have been suffering to that extent because the problem would have been detected much earlier.

My contribution to the mental health care was beneficial to the patients and myself. At the hospital, many patients benefited from routine check-ups that ensured their vitals are well monitored and they are in good health. Those that were found d to be having some health problems received immediate treatment hence improving their health. I was unable to contribute in some part like diagnosing the problem with Mr. A, and it made me call for help. I had no expertise help that I could offer to him; hence I had no other option but to call for help from the doctor.

Conclusion

Mentally ill people are not easy to handle; it requires some persistence and hard work to b able to help them accordingly. It took me some time to get used to the environment and work correctly. To some point, I felt unsafe being near them as people consider them to be unstable. That are humans just like any other humans; hence they deserve proper medical attention and care. I learned that I know a lot about nursing, but still, there is a lot I have to work on to improve my skills. I learned a lot that I think would help me care for more patients in the future. Because learning never ends, I expect to continue learning for both my benefit and the patients.

Action plan.

I need to take more time in hospitals and acquire more experience that will be beneficial in my career. I need to be open-minded and ready to learn. I need to devote my life to helping and improving my skills. I need to develop the ability to associate and create a bond with my patients to help them be more open to me. Establishing trust with patients helps better the treatment and diagnosis. I need to be prepared to face more case that is worse since in the health sector we solve health issues.

The essay conclusion.

Above I discussed my experience as a student nurse at a mental hospital where I met different patients and did work that I did not expect to do in my career. I was not used to it and hated it first, but after some time I came to love the work. I liked it in such a way that I record personal success that I can attribute the kind of exposure I was given. I now devote my life to improving my skills in nursing and helping patients.

Reference List

Burns, N. and Groves, K., 2018. The practice of nursing research. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders Company.

Henri Tajfel (Editor) (2010). Social Identity and Intergroup Relations (European Studies in Social Psychology) Cambridge University Press ISBN-13: 978-0521153652

Jennifer Moon (2007). Critical Thinking: An Exploration of Theory and Practice. Routledge Publishers. ISBN-13: 978-0415411790

John Dewey (2009). How We Think.  www.bnpublishing.net ISBN-13: 978-1607961376

Mooi Standing (Editor) (2010). Clinical Judgement and Decision-Making McGraw Hill Publishers ISBN-13: 978-033523626-8

Murdaugh, C.L., Parsons, M.A. and Pender, N.J., 2018. Health promotion in nursing practice. Pearson Education Canada.

Patricia Benner, R.N. and Christine Tanner, R.N. eds., 2009. Expertise in nursing practice: Caring, clinical judgment, and ethics. Springer Publishing Company.

Polit, D.F. and Beck, C.T., 2008. Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.