Reflection on the Development and Application of a Fundamental Nursing Essay - 1

Reflection on the Development and Application of a Fundamental Nursing Skill in Nursing Practice - Essay Example While Scoliosis is the curving of the spine away from the midline, hence goes sideways (Burtner, et al., 1999, pp.748-57). Spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy patients and the feeding process I realized that patients with health conditions such as James have difficulties when it comes to feeding since he has problems with personal control and swallowing of food and drinks. For that purpose, keen nursing care needed to be given to ensure that the patient feeds and drinks well and is not suffocated in the process as fluid or food particles are likely to accidently sucked into the lungs. The swallowing process is governed by the swallowing centre in the medulla, and in the mid-oesophagus and distal oesophagus by largely autonomous peristaltic reflex that are coordinated by the enteric nervous system. If in the process of swallowing respiration does not stop, fluids and other food particles may enter the lungs causing suffocation (WGO, 2007). During the entire period and specifically dur ing the above mentioned event, other experienced care assistants were available to guide me through the process besides the mentor whom I had been assigned to. The purpose of being at this care home was to learn and improve on my skills of handling people with mental disability and James proved to be the best person to observe and learn from and thus fit a case study description. In the process of fluid feeding, it was important that I have a personal beaker that was dedicated to this activity and for this patient. His beaker was blue with small holes and a spout. Dysphagia may occur in two primary forms and these include Oropharyngeal Dysphagia where patients have a problem initiating a swallow as... The researcher talks about his five week program at a learning disability care home situated on the northwest of England. It was quite an experience and worked as an eye opener in my nursing career. At the time of his placement and throughout the period, the author of the paper happened to observe and took part in a program aimed at feeding the residents within the learning disability care home. In this program, the researcher focused mainly on a resident called James (real name withheld for confidentiality reasons) the NMC Code of conduct require nurses to respect patient confidentiality at all times. In this work the researcher will be using the Gibbs reflective cycle 1998 to guide him in writing and reflecting his thoughts and feelings about his experience. The Gibbs reflective cycle consists of six stages of and helps leaners reflect on what they have learnt or experiences they have gone through. This patient has a medical history of spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy; he suffer s from epilepsy and also scoliosis. As a result of his health condition, James has developed dysphagia- the difficulty someone may have in initiating a wallow or the sensation that foods or liquids are somehow hindered in their passage from mouth to stomach- and for that reason he has to eat and drink in a way that does not harm him and relies on nursing assistance. The author of this article tells that his experience while working at the disability care home exposed him to various issues that are considered in the management of patients with cerebral palsy.