Introduction

I will discuss a personal experience, which identifies the nurse/patient relationships and whether it was successful or detrimental. In addition, I will look at the module content, experiencing mental illness, and how relevant the module content was to inform my practice. I was working on a elderly dementia ward, specifically clients with challenging behaviours alongside the dementia. I aim to explore the clinical experience and explore my feelings about how the clinical situation transpired, and describe what I would do differently if I was in the same situation again. I will be using the Atkin’s and Murphy’s (1994) framework for reflection.

Reflective Model

The Atkin’s and Murphy’s (1994) framework for reflection goes through a six stage model. The first stage of the model is the new situation/experience. What is the new situation/experience?. The second stage then proceeds to look at your awareness of your thoughts and feelings surrounding the new situation/experience. The third stage asks you to describe the situation/experience, the key events/issues and your thoughts and feelings. The forth stage looks at your analysis and acknowledgement of your feelings, challenging assumptions and exploring alternatives to the situation. The fifth stage looks at the relevance and use of knowledge in the situation/experience. Finally, the sixth stage looks at the identification and development of future learning skills.

Description of patient

The care setting where the nurse/patient relationship was formed, was a 20 bedded, single sex, male ward. The ward cared for clients that had a diagnosis of Dementia with challenging behaviours.

A patient I will call Phil, to maintain confidentiality (The NMC Code of Professional Conduct, 2004) had been on the ward for approximately 3 months. I had already spent two weeks with Phil and had developed a good therapeutic relationship.

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I first met Phil on the first day of my placement, Phil was appropriate and appeared warm when I approached him. I was given a brief case history by my mentor and was told Phil had been aggressive to a number of staff members. I initially felt unsure about approaching Phil, however, I still engaged myself in a conversation with Phil to develop a therapeutic relationship.

In the following two weeks I had daily one to ones with Phil. Phil discussed personal issues with myself and enjoyed the input I was giving him. Phil began to trust me and ...

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