Extracts from this essay...

Introduction

The aim of this assignment is to discuss and indentify a nursing skill whilst on placement. The nursing skill I will be discussing is bed bathing a male patient. A bed bath in this incident was necessary as the patient was unable to mobilise himself to the bathroom due to suffering from a recent stroke which had caused greatly reduced mobility. To adhere to the Nursing and Midwifery code of professional conduct (NMC 2008), I will maintain my patientâs autonomy, to respect his right to confidentiality. Therefore no names will be used. Clear verbal consent was gained from my patient as the NMC states (NMC 2008a), to enable myself to reflect on this experience. I am going to use Driscollâs (2000) model of reflection, What? So what? What next? To reflect upon this experience and too gain knowledge and understanding of how the skill has to be adapted between males and females. It is also to enhance my personal and professional learning which will assist in developing my nursing knowledge. What? As a female student, going out for the first time onto a ward with mixed sex patients was very nerve racking for me. I was comfortable with bed bathing females, but the thought of having to bed bath male patients really worried me.

Middle

I felt very nervous, but continued to wash the patients face. With consent we then removed his clothes, ensuring at all times he was covered using towels to maintain his privacy, dignity and (NMC 2008b, C). I could see he had his own body wash so I placed some in the water. I made a comment to my patient of how nice the wash smelt and how nice he would smell all day, he laughed and joked with me which helped to break the ice and for me to relax. Once I had washed and dried the upper half I covered him with clean towels and moved onto change his pad. I made the patient aware of what I was about to do. Before I began I applied a pair of disposable gloves as I would be coming into contact with bodily fluids (WHO 2009). I removed the pad and started to clean around the genitals, my associate could see I was hesitant and supported a confused face, as I was unsure of what and how to clean the penis. So he promptly stepped in and guided me how to clean the foreskin to maintain cleanliness. We then continued to communicate with the patient as we rolled him to remove the pad and replace with a clean one.

Conclusion

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