Reflective ISTAN Journal
1. Complete head to toe assessment. Documenting all of my findings
Wound care and culture on right foot puncture wound.
Deep breathing exercises to help increase patients O2 sat levels
Replacing pediatric non-re breather to an adult non-re breather mask and monitoring the patients O2 sat levels as they continued to drop.
2. I realized even more now, that team work is very important, I had an amazing team with Shane and Tabitha and I feel we worked well together, communicated well and pull on each other’s strengths. We remained calm in the chaos and really worked together.
3. I will change my gloves more often. I changed them at least a dozen times and maybe the instructors did not see me but they commented that I pushed my glasses up with gloves on, although I use the back of my hand to push them up, I will be more aware of doing so in the future. And also that it’s OK to ask questions with you do not understand something.
4. I learned that you must always check your medications several times before administering it- and to double check the infusion time on IV push medications. I also learned that communication is very important between team members and to communicate clearly with each other.
5. I feel it is frustrating that Stan has many technical difficulties, when we are told that he had respiration's of 38 and it goes unnoticed when I put my hand on his chest for the entire minute I was assessing his apical pulse and had a hard time get 16 counted and this right after he malfunctioned. I just feel if we are going to get dinged on something like that maybe making sure he is working properly is best. I am not entirely sure what the purpose is if we only hear of the things that we do incorrectly. Positive feedback is just as important as negative and I feel this is greatly lacking in the IStan component. I also feel that if you want it to be a learning experience then the students should not be working hard to do the best they can and they hear the instructors conversations inside the booth that have nothing to do with ISTAN. We are giving it our all and they should be as well. I am not being critical I am just trying to be honest and give accurate feedback.
Sounds like you had a fantastic day! I am glad to see all of the things you were able to accomplish, very productive!! I know you work hard, looks like a dream team to me :)
ReplyDeleteI understand your frustration, we had a misunderstanding with a patient beverage. It was a Coors Lite wrapped in paper with 'Soda' written on it. The team assumed it may be a trick to get a beer in while at the hospital, haha! You really never know what people are capable of when they want something badly enough! However, it was actually a coke and there was a slight struggle in understanding if it was a trick or actual coke for the patient. All in all, what was taken away was that the team was excellent in observing this discrepancy. It may have been a hiccup, but patient safety was priority.
You are a rock star regardless, glad it was a good day!!!
Sometimes patients are allowed to have alcoholic beverages in the hospital. Back in the stone age when i was a young nurse. the nursing homes had fully stocked bar. Those were the days!!
DeleteSounds like an interesting day Lisa! I agree that unfortunately ISTAN has become a negative experience for many students rather than a learning experience...which is supposed to be the intended purpose for the simulation. But on a positive note, one thing that all of the groups seem to take away from the experience is that, like you said, team work is so important! It's great that you all worked so well together.
ReplyDeleteI agree karen. Istan should be a positive learning experience.
DeleteLisa thank you so much for you valuable insights and feedback. The only way to make the experience better is to have students let us know what they experienced.
ReplyDeleteMs. P