Running head: CLINICAL EXEMPLAR

My Clinical Exemplar
Danielle Giaritelli
University of South Florida

CLINICAL EXEMPLAR

My Clinical Exemplar
Throughout my last semester of nursing school, I have been able to reflect on clinical
experiences that have molded me into the type of nurse I aspire to be. A clinical exemplar is a
real patients story, told in first person, that conveys something you remember as important or
significant and illustrates your clinical practice. According to Pacini (2006), it also includes a
nurses thoughts, feelings, intentions, actions, critical thinking, and decision-making process.
A clinical experience that taught me the importance of quick decision-making, while
utilizing critical thinking was one I had during my last semester of nursing school. My placement
was on a neurology floor, which requires very close attention to patients at all times. Because of
this, I knew the importance of knowing my patients baseline in order to know if something was
different in later evaluation. While documenting, I was approached by a frantic family member
wondering what was going on with the patient. When I had checked on her 30 minutes prior, she
was lethargic but awoke easily. Instead of saying what I observed earlier, I ran into the room
because of this patients diagnosis and the risks for complications involved-status/post
craniotomy.
I immediately began trying to awake the patient as I had done earlier with no response. I
proceeded to try and wake her through stimulations, sternal rub, and a pen against her toenail
with no reaction. While calling for help, I stayed with the patient, checked her pupils, and
continued to try and awake her. I wanted vital signs done immediately and a blood glucose. Also,
I thought it was necessary to call the Rapid Response Team. My preceptor made it into the
patients room, along with the nurse manager. They continued trying to awake her as well. They
asked me what happened and when I explained it to them they were thankful I acted so quickly.

CLINICAL EXEMPLAR

The rapid response team came and performed the further actions necessary to make sure the
patient was okay.
This situation was extremely scary, but invaluable because of the experience gained. I
realized how important it is to act fast when a situation can turn critical so quickly. I learned how
to stay calm, even with the patients family is upset. I was able to prioritize what I needed to do
for that patient that was best in that moment in time. This experience gave me more confidence
in handling emergent situations and is a start of knowing how to handle situations like these in
the future.

References
Pacini, M. C. (2006). Writing exemplar [PDF document]. Retrieved from
https://www.med.umich.edu/NURSING/framework/application/WritingExemplars.pdf