Specialty Clinic Memo

Words: 940
Pages: 4

GO TEAM! It was a day like many other days in The Specialty Clinic; busy with heavy patient load both in number and acuity. Most of us had just sat down briefly to do some charting. Usually by 430 or 5pm, I can count on the day tapering off a bit and have time to catch up from the busy day. When a patient arrives our secretary (PSSA’s) place the chart in a rack within the nurses station. We basically go by the honor system, so to speak; if you have time then you take the next patient. Well I’m pretty sure that on this particular day none of us felt like we had time or energy to take another patient at this exact moment. When this scenario occurs I have learned to reason that when a patient not previously …show more content…
I also keep in mind that if this were me or my family member then I would hope I could get my treatment ASAP. When the day continues to be busy up to the end of our shift, this is when teamwork really impacts my day. You see, at The Specialty Clinic we routinely use a team approach for patient care. The team approach has so many benefits, not only do we have 2 nurses assessing a situation, we share the work and are able to give the patient more attention and time. In complex situations we bounce ideas off each other, one nurse might call the MD while the other is starting an IV or administering an ordered treatment. Routinely one nurse will be doing the required “skill” while another is entering orders, documenting in the patient room and/or going for supplies, warm blankets, and …show more content…
I sat at her bedside to start her IV and began questioning her about her symptoms, her past medical history, her quality of life, etc. While I was providing the nursing skills needed and conversing with the patient, my co-worker was charting in the room. As this beautiful young lady with long blonde hair explained her condition and the struggles that she has endured through her high school and early college years, my eyes welled up with tears. This was exactly where my daughter was just 5-10 years ago. I began asking her about her search for a diagnosis and found that she and her family were going down the same path that we had been down several years ago. She had been suffering with extreme pain, fatigue, dizziness and all the unpleasant symptoms of POTS just to name a few. I shared our daughter’s journey with this young lady and her Father. I was able to REALLY understand what they were going through with the suffering she was having to endure at her young age. I cried with her and expressed my sympathy to her Father for what he and her Mother were going through, watching their daughter suffer while searching for answers and not coming up with anything concrete. Both the patient and her Father said that they had not met anyone else who had experienced anything so similar to what they have experienced. She expressed how she felt some healthcare workers don’t believe her