Reflective Account Essay

This seemed to keep his mind off worrying about were his wife or daughter was and stopped him from wanting to walk about the ward. After a while the patient asked if he could lie down for a while, and I explained that this was ok. I lowered the bed for the patient as low as it would go, to prevent the patient from falling or injuring himself while climbing into the bed. By doing this I was following the guidelines set out by the health and safety at work act 1972 and carrying out risk assessments to prevent harm to myself or others. Once the patient had got into the bed safely I put the bed side up to prevent him from falling out while he was sleeping, I then gave him his buzzer. Before leaving the room I asked the patient if he would like the room door left open or closed over, by doing this I was promoting the patients right to choice and individuality. I then left the room and closed the door as the patient had requested, and told the staff nurse in charge of him, that he was now sleeping, and that I had emptied his catheter bag and updated the fluid balance chart. I had to tell the staff nurse that I had left the room, so that if anything happened they knew that I was not there, as I would be accountable for it. Being accountable for my actions is one of the NMC code of conduct and is in line with professional accountability. I think that this task was very fulfilling as I was able to help other staff around me, as well as keep a patient calm. I enjoyed talking to the patient and found it very interesting. It also allowed me to practice keeping patient’s charts up to date. References