Wound Care

As many people know, I have worked at Paramed for the past 3.5 years. Through my many years there, I have learned a lot about myself. Each of my patients left a lasting impression. I learned something from each patient. I spent most of my time in community nursing with palliative patients and on wound care. Through my time there, I was able to access courses and in-services that would further my knowledge and skill. I was very luck; I got the opportunity to attend the Word Union of Wound Societies Meeting in Toronto this past June. This conference lasted 5 days and was focused on concurrent sessions. The purpose of the concurrent sessions was to allow the 5000 delegates the opportunity to sit in on sessions that interests them. This conference also consisted of an amazing keynote speaker. Stephen Lewis spoke at the conference on the importance of the female and nurses in the world and how amazing they are. I enjoyed his speech so much that when I got home, I went to the book store and purchased his book. This conference only happens every 4 years. I am looking forward to the next conference which is in Japan. I would suggest to anyone who is interested in would care to attend this conference in 4 years.

Today's Nurses

Today's nurses are very different then the nurse of many generations ago. Today RPN's take a 2 year college diploma and BScN now take a 4 year degree program. The diploma program focuses on the hands on learning. The program consists of 7 - 7 week clinical placements and one 10 week consolidation program. The BScN program is very different. As I start taking the post RPN to BScN program, I will learn more about the differences between the two.

As times change, nurses are required to learn and practice more knowledge and skills. As the hospitals change policies and the College of Nurses update the compendium of standards, the nurses will start practicing to their full potential. By doing this, hospitals will save money because they will be able to utilize the RPN on the floor more and the RN can be utilized appropriately. I believe that there will be more of a team approach if the education is brought forth for all parties involved. They will know what each level of the health care team is capable of doing.

Communication Barriers

Communication is the basis of any medical professionals’ life. Without proper communication out patients lives can be lost. Recently, I got the opportunity to gain some training on another floor. The patient has a tracheotomy and is a quadriplegic. She was unable to communicate with anyone as she had very limited use of her arms. She was also unable to speak. She was getting very frustrated with herself and me, as I could not understand anything that she tried to mouth to me. At one point that day, I got so frustrated that I asked another nurse to answer the bells for that room, as I was unable to understand her. Later that day, her mom came into visit and noticed the difficulty I was having. She then showed me how she communicates with her daughter. She showed me the tools she used. She used letter board and her daughters’ eyes. For yes, she blinked her yes once and for no, she blinked twice. The day turned around from there. I was now able to communicate with her.
If I were to run into this situation again, I would know what tools are out there to use. I would not get so frustrated with myself but look at other creative ways to communicate.

Nurses Cap

Years ago, nurses worked through school for a very special article. This article is the nursing cap, that every nurse was proud to get. These caps used to symblize the expertise that the nurse exhibits. The nurses worked very hard of this article. When a person walked into the hospital, they could see the differences between the nurses and the students. The nurses would also where the pure white dresses. This picture was the epitamy of a nursing. I remember my grandmother speaking of the professionalism of the nurses years ago and how things have changed. She spoke of the respect the patients had for the nurses, when they looked like the old nurses. Times have changed, as nurses no longer wear or receive the nurses cap on graduation. Nurses in hospital settings, look just like everyone else. Most staff wear scrubs, which causes problems because patients can not tell the difference between their nurse or the housekeepers.

Text Messaging and Nursing

At my last employer, they started to use a system called 'Cell Track'. This new system consisted of specialized cell phones and blackberry's with only certain features. We all received a 2 hour training session. The new phones were supposed to allow us, the following:

• to have access to our up to date schedule of clients for the day


• to text message with the Central East Community Care Access Center (CECCAC) and Paramed


• to have GPS for direction

When we started to use the systems, all of the systems failed. The text messaging did not work mainly because of the rural community that I live in. I live in City of Kawartha Lakes. In this area, there is a lot of valleys and hills, which does not allow accurate or proper signalling. I believe that this system would be most beneficial in a urban community, where there are more towers to bounce the signal off. The benefits of text messaging in a business, like Paramed, is that you can receive up-to-date and accurate information about the patients you are seeing and to also have access to the physicians at a touch of a button. Having this system in place, does allow the nurse to give appropriate care to the patients she sees. From the CECCAC's stand point, they believed having the text messaging option, would cut down on the number of missed visits because of human error.

The Paramed in Oshawa has been using the text messaging for the past two years, with out difficulties. The CECCAC has noticed a decline in the number of missed visits. The nurses in the Durham region use the text messaging multiple times of the day. Everytime a new patient is added to the current schedule for that nurse, she is able to pull up the text message that has that patients information. This is a benefit because then the nurse is not going into the home 'blind'. This way she is able to use her time more effectively, where she would have spent time looking through the patients chart, trying to find out what she is to be accomplishing. Therefore, I believe that text message does benefit certain companies in certain settings.

Nursing

One of my first clinical rotations was on a Palliative floor at the Ross. I met a gentlemen that was diagnosed with bone cancer. He was an old oragnist player at a church in the city. Through my time on the floor; I learned about him and his favourite hymms. As he drifted away on that Wednesday, I sang quietly to him Amazing Grace. This was something that I will cherish all of my life.