Clinical competency

Its been five weeks of mdical nursing internship at Harjula hospital. I always participated in taking care of the patient’s hygiene needs in the ward ie taking care of oral care, changing of diapper., feeding, positiong and monitoring of vital signs monitoring etc.

I had the opportunity of working with the ward pharmacist to learn about medication and how to do dosetting. I practiced using the patient medication list in the electronic system to do dosetting for three shift . it was very sucussfully on the second attempt. I learnt to ensure the safety of patient medication by being aseptic. This was done by sanitising my hands and using hand gloves when dealing with medication.  I made sure I had the right patient, the right medication, and the right dose . A second person will have to check the medication before they are administered to the patient.

 Under the supervision of my mentor I practiced  the preparation of antibiotics and infusing it to the patient. I gave oral medication to patient on daily bases according to the instruction of my mentor.

There was a patient who has being diagnose of prostate cancer, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension borne metastasis, diabetes type 2 and asthma. This patient case gave me the opportunity to study the symptoms of these diseases  and the medication that can be used for treatment.

I observed my mentor dressed the wound of a patient and later was also allowed to practice dressing the wounds in between the toes of a patient who was transferred to the hospital from the university hospital because he had sepsis.  During the last week of the intenship, also succefully dressed the  surgrey wounds of a patient who has being transferred from the university hospital under the supervison of a nures I was assigned to.

In the last week I also had the opportuinty practicing documentation using the patient electronic system. Finnish language was a problem but with the help of a translator I was able to document every activity of the day and also wrote the report on all the patient we attended to and the supervising nurse approved it.

Learnt about Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. This  is usually spread in the community by contact with infected people or things that are carrying the bacteria. This includes through contact with a contaminated wound or by sharing personal items, such as towels or razors, that have touched infected skin.

There was a patient in one of the rooms who had MRSA, so I was educated about how to take care of such patients. Before I enter the room, I use an alcohol base hand sanitise, put on nose mask and wear hand gloves and the put on the protective goon before attending to the patient and immediately after that I take off everything sanitise my hands again and leave the room. This is to make sure that the bacteria do not spread to other room

I also learnt about  RSV ( respiratory syncytial virus ). A patient had been admitted in the ward with this kind of virus and everybody that visits the patient including visitors and nurses had to wear a nose mask for safety. This got me asking questions about the virus, the symptoms, how one can contract such a virus, people who are more vulnerable and how to treat people with this kind of virus.

My mentor took time to educate me on this, Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. However, it can lead to more severe respiratory infections, particularly in infants, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems. RSV is highly contagious and spreads through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms of RSV infection may include coughing, sneezing, fever, wheezing, difficulty breathing, and in severe cases, pneumonia or bronchiolitis.

Treatment for RSV typically focuses on relieving symptoms, as there is no specific antiviral medication available for it.  However, in severe cases, particularly in infants or those with underlying health conditions, hospitalization and supportive care may be necessary.

Preventive measures such as frequent handwashing, avoiding close contact with sick individuals, and practicing good respiratory hygiene (covering coughs and sneezes) can help reduce the risk of RSV transmission. This explains why the use of nose mask, washing  and sanitising your hands with an alcohol based hand sanitiser was every crucial in this regard.

Ethical competence and professionalism

Working together with my mentor, I learnt that as a nurse, you are responsible for your own actions so there was the need to be professional in your actions in order to alleviate the pain of the patient and not worsen their plight. As a student, one thing I did was pay critical attention to every task that was assigned to me, knowing very well that i was going to be responsible for it.  Anytime am instructed to give medication, I make sure I get the instructions right and identify the right patient,  in monitoring of vital signs, I make sure I do not inconvenience patient by going to the wrong person.  I also assisted patients with the utmost respect, love, and care.

Guidance and teaching competence:

The handing over briefing was very important because that is where the team taking over is informed of the kind of care every patient needs. From the meeting we get to know what has being done already and what needs to be done. Even though this meetings are always done in finnish, my mentor briefly inform me what needs to be done per the meeting. This  gave me the opportunity to learn from experienced hands how to assist the patients with their daily activities. Now I can independently guide some of the patient myself.

Patient safety and quality of social and healthcare services:

Patient in the hospital are all old people who have being transferred there from the university hospital and can not go home because their medical condition needs to improve. Some are also waiting to be taken into a nursing home. Most of them use patient aids, some are bedridden, some need their diapers to be changed and help them to visit the toilet, others also need help with oral care and also giving of medication. Some patient can also do certain things for themselves and needs just a little help, because of this, I have learned to use all the patient aids to able to adequately assist the patients whiles preventing accidents from happening. I always think of the safest way to assist patients I attend to. That is why it always is best to know the needs of the patients before attending to them. also make sure that drugs go to the right patient.

Working Competence:

As student on internship, I express  my opinion regarding certain situations and also ask for the justification of certain decision taken examples are why certain medication have being introduced, why some doses have being increased or reduced and why other have being put on hold. In some case I realise that there are some differences in what is taught at school and what is done practically.  I am comfortable working with such a hospitable team and learning from them. Through these interactions, I learned that nursing is a team work and so sometimes, there must be deliberations before certain decisions are taken.

learning skills:

Though I have not had the opportunity in practicing all the nursing  skills I set as a target for myself, this internship has offered the opportunity in putting some of the things taught at school into practice. This has given me a clear picture of the kind of targets I will set for myself in other internships. I look forward to practicing more in my peroperative nursing internship and also exploring more clinical aspects of nursing.