NUR 4116P

Call to Make a Difference: POST-PRACTICUM REFLECTION

Reflect upon your personal practicum experience using the following key components:

(Note: you may answer these questions about the overall activity, or you may choose to reflect upon an interaction
with an individual, a conversation, a specific incident, etc. that occurred during practicum. Answer your questions as
completely and concisely as possible.)

Submit a 2-3 page paper presented professionally, written in a scholarly P/F

tone. Students must receive a “P” in all areas to meet satisfactory
requirements for this assignment.

1. Noticing: Provide some background information about what you will

discuss here— what is the “story”? What did you observe? What did
you see & hear? What did you do? Were your expectations met or not
met?

I participated, with a team of other students, in a Friday practicum experience

that involved visiting Little Sisters of the Poor. This is a small community of
poor elderly individuals being care for in a residential facility run by Sisters
from the Catholic Church. Little Sisters of the Poor was established in 1874 by
a group of 6-Sisters who felt the elderly population needed assistance to be
cared for and loved. Here we are now 145 years later, and they are still
spreading their mission.

During our time at Little Sisters of the Poor, we interacted and served a
population of older people that presented with a variety of backgrounds, and
needs. Each morning and afternoon the residential home provided opportunities
for activities, learning, interacting, and growth. After breakfast, the residents
were gathered in a common area where they participated in games that often
involved some sort of education. They discussed a lot of history such as;
musicians, what life was like in the early 1900’s, what was it like to go to
school during that time, we learned about different animal sounds, and we even
did a “cooking” presentation where we learned about Dave’s Killer Bread. In
the afternoon, it was more social interaction, games, and a relaxed atmosphere.
We played board games, we gave manicures, we played bingo, and we played a
game called “guess that sound.”

My expectation were met. It was a positive experience and I felt like the
residents were well cared for. They appreciated our visits. It was difficult and
emotional, saying our goodbyes. What made it even harder was the fact that it
had become known knowledge that the residential home is closing within the
next year and the Sisters are moving on.

Rev May 2019

 2. Interpreting: How do your values and experiences take shape after your
practicum experience? What problems did you see? What
assets/solutions to the problems did you witness?

My values have not changed. I have always felt that the geriatric population is
a vulnerable population that has a tremendous amount of needs. And with the
growing population, the need is only growing with it. Problems that I had
witnessed involved lack of immediate help to get a resident to the bathroom. At
first, we were given somewhat of an attitude from staff when we told them we
weren’t to be helping with ADL’s. Sometimes it would take 20 + minutes to
find someone to help take someone to the bathroom. Some of the time, there
was miscommunication from the staff on what their expectations were for our
involvement with the residents. There wasn’t always clear guidance. For
example, one morning we were told to bring all of the residents outside, and we
expected someone to meet us out there. But no one ever showed up, so we just
took the residents for a walk, brought the ones that wanted to go back into the
activities area and gave them coloring activities to do. Other than that, the
residents were very well taken care of. It was a very nice community and the
staff cared for the residents.

As far as assets or solutions for the problem, I believe identifying the

boundaries to the staff and letting them know what we were allowed to do and
not do was all that was needed. Otherwise, they were very kind and nice, and
very easy to work with. I believe in every nursing home, if there isn’t enough
staff available, there will always be conflicts with bath-rooming issues. Older
people also tend to have to void more often. That can present with challenges if
you have 1 person serving 10 or more people. I’m not sure what their CNA or
Nurse to patient ratios were, however, the residents were well dressed, bathed,
fed, and I didn’t see any debilitating conditions from carelessness.
3. Responding: What did you learn about the needs of this community?
What gifts did you offer?

The needs from this community are immense. These residents need 24 hour
care. They are not able to toilet on their own, dress themselves, many cannot
feed themselves, and they need ongoing care. This is a very isolated and
vulnerable population. These residents have been uprooted from their lifetime
homes and families and placed in a facility being taken care of by strangers.
This is their new life and their new “family.” They have to be able to adjust to
their new life. One resident was really grieving over the loss of her husband,
never seeing her children or grandchildren, and missing her home. Many times,

Rev May 2019

 she was crying, she was emotional, refused to participate in group activities, and
many times yelled out that she wished she were dead. I was able to sit with her,
talk to her about her life, the things that interest her, her children, her spouse
and how they found each other. Talking about these things lifted her spirit. I
found out what books she loved to read and spent an afternoon reading to her.
It was an amazing opportunity to speak to her heart and hopefully provide some
temporary shelter from her grief. We were not able to offer assistance with
ADL’s; however, we were able to offer loving-kindness, listening, humor,
opportunities for learning, and served them in a capacity to meet emotional,
spiritual, and psychosocial needs.
4. Reflecting: How has this practicum experience influence your academic
life? How has this practicum experience affected your personal life?

This practicum has given me a deeper understanding of the social aspect of

geriatric residents in a nursing home. I’ve realized that these folks have the
same needs that I do for feeling cared for, for socialization, and emotional and
psychosocial health. In nursing, it is easy to get tunnel vision. Caring for
patients involves more than just taking care of physical and medical needs. I
love the broad shift toward holistic nursing, because that brings everything into
the picture. I truly hope that the future trend of nursing moves more towards
making the time to holistically care for a patient. The drive towards moving
patients in and out quickly, insurance driven care, and the huge focus on
numbers, is sad. I appreciated the holistic care being given to these residents in
this home. The atmosphere was quiet and therapeutic. I didn’t notice an
atmosphere of being “rushed.” The staff was friendly, welcoming, and attentive
to the resident’s needs. No matter where I end up in nursing, I want my patients
to feel cared for. I could be the best skilled nurse around, but if I didn’t not
make my patient feel loved and cared for, then I have failed my mission. That
is my biggest take from this experience.

Rev May 2019