Keown, 2016

Bradley Keown
Kapiolani Community College
Professor Harrison
Nursing 360
Reflective Journal
Week 5

Keown, 2016

Reflective Journal: Week 5

Week 5 Objectives:
1. Continue to learn and explore the psychiatric wing of Queens Hospital.
2. Complete group leadership activity.
3. Continue to work on time management throughout the day.
During the 5th week of my clinical experience at Queens, I had the opportunity to assist
in the care of a patient suffering from bipolar manic disorder. Over the course of the day I was
able to float about the floor and interact with multiple patients, as well as co-lead a community
meeting. There was a lot of activity on the floor and it required a high amount of concentration
to keep track of all the patients while moving about and working with them. I am finding that
working on these floors can be difficult because you never know when something is going to
happen and throw off the schedule you are trying to stick to.
An incident that stands out to me was when a patient acted out aggressively by throwing
over one of the heavy tables in the outside area. I came into this clinical with an open mind that
anything can happen, so I wasnt too alarmed because he was alone in the outside area. It was a
good learning experience because I was able to watch how the seasoned staff reacted to the
incident. Due to it happening outside of their view, there was a quick response to investigate by
all members and then the patients assigned nurse engaged him to deal with the situation. He sat
with him and informed him that his attitude was unacceptable and asked him to put the table
back. After some time, the patient apologized and replaced everything to its right spot. I was
impressed by how calm his nurse was while sitting outside with him and I hope I can use this as
an inspiration in the future.

Keown, 2016

An incident that went especially well was the group community meeting that I was able
to co-lead. After having watched one on my first day, I was glad to finally be involved in one
and helping to encourage participation from the patients that joined in. We had a full circle with
five patients, the chaplain, the charge nurse, and two student nurses. We started off by going
around one at a time with our name, a favorite hobby, a goal for the day, and something positive
that happened that day. We followed this by having each person introduce a stretch for the group
to do. Finally we thanked and congratulated everyone for their participation. It was a good
experience because we were able to promote socialization, trust among patients and staff, and
encourage them to reflect on positive events of the day.
An incident in which I had an ah-ha moment was when I was interviewing my patient
that was diagnosed with bipolar mania. She really showed me that people with mental illness
can still be fascinating. Her speech was very unique because it was clear and articulated with an
English accent, but she had tangential tendencies with loose association. It might not sound
professional, but it was a lot of fun simply listening to her talk. I could redirect her, but after
each time she would switch topics seamlessly and just ramble on and on. Unfortunately, she had
multiple staff attempting to talk with her over the course of the day and she became agitated and
no longer wished to speak with me by the end of the day.
Week 6 Objectives:
1. Work on the Family Treatment Center at the psychiatric wing of Queens Hospital.
2. Work on completing group educational leadership activity.
3. End the mental health clinical rotation on a positive note.