Hello Class,
The Nursing Profession is a caring and compassionate profession, however, it can be complex at times. Within my years of being a nurse I definitely utilized all of the professional core values. The values that truly serve me as a nurse are honesty, integrity and patient equality. I strive to understand my patients to better serve them and their needs but there was a time when I believed that I went against those values.
A challenging experience for me was having a trans gender patient. The experience was difficult because I have never had a sick transgendered patient where I had to provide care for. I usually do outreach and health fairs that support the LGBT community however, this was my first transgendered patient on the job. Before meeting the patient, I received report that this patient was difficult and verbally abusive towards the staff and I automatically thought to myself that I would have a rough day.
I went into the room with a positive attitude and introduced myself. I asked the patient how to address them and she replied “as she, her, I am a woman”. I then asked the patient if I could perform my head to toe assessment. She said “yes”. She also said that, “you are the first person that asked me how to address me and did not just call me a man” . She was impressed about the way I made her feel comfortable. This experience changed because I was able to learn from this person and also confront my own challenges. I believe that myself and the other staff did not treat this patient with the equality she deserved. We did not consider the fact that maybe she needed more compassion in order to overcome her challenges.
With continuous training and exploring certain topics, challenges in the nursing profession can start to be broken down. Care can continue to be provided effectively and the atmosphere can be changed to a more positive one.
Provide a supportive response to my classmate’s post about a challenging situation she experienced.
