SIM Lab Critical Reflections

Question: Discuss about the Report for SIM Lab Critical Reflections. Answer: Introduction This paper discusses the patient care given to Adam Knight who was admitted following a car accident. Adam has been in the hospital for five days. At the time of the SIM activity, Adam is to go back for a CT scan in 20 minutes but he needs another set of observations taken before the scan since he looks slightly drowsy. In the subsequent paragraphs, I will discuss teamwork, communication, individual roles, and barriers to teamwork. Further, I will discuss how teamwork can be improved and clinical practices such as patient centred care. SIM Lab Critical Reflections Teamwork Though our team had few members, we managed to work together very well (Mosser Begun 2014, p. 16). When the group discovered that Adams respiratory rate had reduced to 8 per minute, we stopped the PCA machine and made a MER call. During this time, some of us stopped the PCA machine, some checked on the patient, while some made the MER call. The teamwork was great because the patient was rescued from bradypnea. On the other hand, during administration of a Naloxone, I had to read the Injectable Book on my own to search on how to administer the drug and the side effects. Working without the team was difficult as I was nervous and provided the wrong information to the patient. Clear description of procedures enhances patients compliance. Communication Some members of the team properly did the aspect of communication by asking for help from other practitioners when it was needed (Drinka Clark 2000, p. 14). On the other hand, my communication skills to the patient were poor since I gave the wrong information. Individual roles My role in the team was to correctly calculate the medication, administer Naloxone, and to describe clearly the procedure to Adam. I did all the procedures correctly except in describing the procedure to the patient where I need to improve. Barriers to team work One of the barriers to team work identified was lack of enough team members that made each of us do a huge task that would otherwise be done properly by a team (Huber 2010, p. 144). For instance, before administering Naloxone I had to do all the reading alone causing me to make mistakes that would be avoided by a team. Another barrier to team work was lack of sufficient information concerning the patients situation leading to wrong communication to the patient. How to improve teamwork Teamwork can be improved by having enough team members that allow the members to assist each other in the procedures. Secondly, it can be improved by making sure the team members have adequate information concerning a patient to enable them provide the right medication and information to the patient. Clinical Practices Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) is a medical system that aims to relieve pain by using a programmable pulp through self-administration by the patient. Under this system, a pain pump that passes through an IV is connected to the patient to dispense the prescribed medication by pushind a button (Pasero McCaffery 2011, p. 437). The PCA chart standardization encourages best prescription practice and other procedures such as pain management and assessment of the devastating effects in the patients that are being given opiod through PCA (Melnyk Fineout-Overholt 2011). Oxycodone was prescribed to Adam in this scenario. Oxycodone is a semi-synthetic analgesia containing traces of narcotic ingredient. Oxycodone has multiple actions that are qualitatively similar to the ones found in morphine. The most common of these entail the organs comprising of smooth muscle and the central nervous system. Oxycodone is basically utilised in the treatment of mild to severe pain (Pasero McCaffery 2011, p. 600). Respiratory Depression is one of the side effects of the Oxycodone. It is also regarded as the main risk from all opioid agonist formulations. It is experienced commonly among the elderly or asthenic patients. This occurs due to large preliminary doses in patients with no tolerance. It may alsobe experienced when opioids are administered together with other respiratory depressant agents (Sinatra, Jahr Pitchord 2010, p. 102). Naloxone is a drug that alleviates the consequences of taking opioids at the receptor level. The drug itself does not have any effect and cannot prevent the effects of taking opioid. However, it has a self-induction ability that are contrary to the consequences of taking hyperalgesia such as high pain sensitivity (Finkel, Clark Cubeddu 2009, p. 168). Conclusion In conclusion, our SIM group was working well in employing immediate intervention when patient's situation changes. However, I need to improve my communication skills when explaining medication to a patient. Reference List Drinka, T Clark, P 2000, Health care teamwork, Auburn House ,Westport, CT Finkel, R, Clark, M Cubeddu, L 2009, Pharmacology, 4th edn, Lippincott Williams Wilkins, Philadelphia Huber, D 2014, Leadership and nursing care management, 5th edn, Elsevier, St. Louis, Missouri. Melnyk, B Fineout-Overholt, E 2011, Evidence-based practice in nursing healthcare, 2nd edn , Lippincott Williams Wilkins, Philadelphia Mosser, G Begun, J 2014, Understanding teamwork in health care, McGraw-Hill, New York Pasero, C McCaffery, M 2011, Pain assessment and pharmacologic management, Elsevier, St. Louis, Missouri. Sinatra, R, Jahr, J Watkins-Pitchford, J 2011, The essence of analgesia and analgesics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,UK