Reflection on Uncomfortable Experience Bed Bath

Reflection on Uncomfortable Experience Bed Bath People Personal Development. Introduction The development of reflective skills is a key element of personal and professional development for nursing and healthcare staff (Smith, 1998). However, it is important to be able to develop effective skills in reflection, which incorporates much more than simply reviewing incidents, but forms part of a process of ongoing development of self awareness and insight into the actions of self and others (Rolfe et al, 2001). According toJones (1995), reflection is also an important part of developing clinical skills and understanding the relationship between evidence and quality of healthcare practice. This means that reflection is also part of professional development and provision of the best possible standards of care (Gustafsson and Fagerberg, 2004; Higgs and Titchen, 2001). Some authors suggest that reflection is both flawed and biased, and because of this, is not necessarily a useful activity, but this is usuall because if reflection is not focused properly, it does not achieve what i t is supposed to achieve (Burnard, 2002). Any reflection could be poentially biased, as it is an indiviudal and personal action applying critical thinking to essentially subjective experiences (Jones, 1995). However, the value of reflection has been repeatedly demonstrated in the literature as providing elements of personal development through insight and learning, and professional development, through reflecting on own practice in the light of ‘best practice’ (Cottrell, 2003; Gibbs, 1988; Schon, 1987). Reflection often focuses on distinct elements of nursing experience, such as critical incidents or significant occurrences within clincal practice (Minghella and Benson, 1995; Smith, 1998). This kind of reflection is important to allow nurses to understand the experience and their own role within the case, and to consider how to change their behaviours to improve future practice (Gibbs, 1988; John and Freshwater, 1998). It is this capacity to change and improve practice which is the real value and goal of reflection (Rolfe et al, 2001). This essay focuses on an experience caring for a patient with a spinal injury, who was immobile and had suffered incontinence of faeces, which required nursing care to assist with personal hygiene. The chosen model for the reflection is Gibbs(1998) model (see Appendix) which is a cylical model which allows for a review of the incident and an evaluation of the experience, followed by development of a plan for future practice improvement. Discussion Description In this element of the model, Gibbs (1988) encourages the practitioner to describe the incident, to say what happened. In this case, the patient was immobile within an acute hospital facility, had been incontinent of faeces, and was, understandably, upset and embarassed by what had happened. In particular, the patient, who was a young adult male, was very aware of the odour. I assisted the qualified nurse in attending to his hygiene needs, using appropriate manual handling equipment. The patient was upset by the experience. Simply by describing this incident in a few lines, I have been able to highlight key elements of the incident which start to emerge as important for considering future practice. Feelings In this element of the Gibbs (1988) cycle, the practitioner is encouraged to describe how they were feeling. In this case, I was also embarassed, and made even more so by the awareness of the faecal odour and the fact that this was a young male, who was being given a bed bath by two women. I also felt very ‘sorry’ for the young man, who was immobile due to an accident and spinal cord injury. Here, reflecting on my feelings makes me realise that my feelings may have been transmitted to the patient, and that a professional approach is needed because the patient is already embarassed and self-conscious. I was aware that we had a lot of power, because the patient could not help himself, and that how I behaved was important in reducing the effect on the patient. Evaluation In this element of the reflective cycle, the practitioner is required to consider what is good and what is bad about the experience. In this case, it was good that working with an experienced nurse, the whole procedure was managed swiftly and professionally, and that communication with the patient was maintained throughout. The qualified nurse had cared for the patient before, and they seemed to have a good nurse-patient relationship. Her manner was professional but warm, not patronising. The negative parts of the experience included my own feelings getting in the way of my professional relationship with the patient, and the fact that I am sure he was aware of my reaction to the situation. Analysis This is the key section of the Gibbs (1988) cycle, because it encourages the nurse to analyse the situation, and it is here that critical analysis skills come to the fore. In relation to caring for a patient in this kind of situation, the complexity of the emotional/psychological and personal dimensions of the patient’s experience means that professional approaches to their care are very important (Slater, 2003). The use of different hygiene aids and approaches, such as, for example, planning to ‘check’ for hygiene needs very frequently, might assist in preventing this situation occurring. However, as a junior student, I was not really aware of what other options there might be. Further discussion with my mentor revealed that the patient had been considering a stoma bag, because this would give him some control over managing faecal incontinence and would allow the patient some independence. The patient was paraplegic, not quadraplegic, and would, with the stoma ba ck, be able to manage his own hygiene needs in relation to bowel function. The implications of this kind of surgery would be considerable. I didn’t realise until after the incident, whilst discussing it with my mentor, that this was on the patient’s mind, and that much of his response to the situation was due to frustration and that these experiences were contributing to his desire to have surgery to have a stoma formed. Conclusion This section of the reflective cycle asks the nurse what else they could have done. In this situation, I think I could have perhaps discussed more of the patient’s case with the nurse prior to the incident, or could have asked the patient, sensitively, what we could have done to support him better. I could also have spent more time considering the kind of impact that spinal cord injury would have on a young, otherwise fit man, in terms of the social impact, and the lack of independence. Certainly I had never considered major surgery as a means of providing some personal independence. Action Plan Here the nurse writes bullet points of action for future practice. In the future I will: Discuss cases in more detail with the qualified nurse Be aware of my own emotional responses and try to act more professionally. Listen to the patient and encourage them to talk frankly with me. Try to develop better communication skills Spend more time after even seemingly innoccuous incidents talking with my mentor about cases, to become more aware of the complexities of patient experiences. Overall Conclusion This reflective cycle has provided me with a deeper insight into a situation which for me, was at first all about my response and feeling sorry for the patient. Gibbs (1988) provides a good cycle for reflection, because it moves the individual on towards changing their own practice, not just becoming aware of it. References 2 Burnard P (2002) Learning human skills: an experiential and reflective guide for nurses and health care professionals, 4th edition Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Cottrell, S (2003) Skills for Success: The Personal Development Handbook Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing. A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic, Oxford Gustafsson, C. and Fagerberg, I. (2004) Reflection: the way to professional development? Journal of Clinical Nursing 13 271-280. Higgs J, Titchen A (2001) Professional practice in health, education and the creative arts Oxford: Blackwell Science John C and Freshwater D (1998) Transforming nursing through reflective practice Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Jones, P.R. (1995) Hindsight bias in reflective practice: an empirical investigation. Journal of Advanced Nursing 21 (4) 783–788. Minghella E, Benson A (1995) Developing reflective practice in mental health nursing through critical incident analysis, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 21, 205-213. Rolfe G, Freshwater D, Jasper M (2001) Critical Reflection for Nursing and the Helping Professions: A User Guide. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Schà ¶n, D A (1987) Educating the reflective practitioner San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Slater W (2003) Management of faecal incontinence of a patient with spinal cord injury. British Journal of Nursing, 12(28), 727-734. Smith A (1998) Learning about reflection. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 28(4), 891-898 Appendix Gibbs (1988) Cycle of Reflection http://www.nursesnetwork.co.uk/images/reflectivecycle.gif

The Horse Whisperer

The Horse Whisperer Among all of the devices beautifully used in this poem by Frost, personification is the one I want to focus on in this essay. My little horse must think it queer (Stanza 2, Line 1) The idea of the horse thinking about the rider's intentions and the fact that rider pays attention to what his little horse must think, shows the relationship between the rider and his only alive companion he has in this journey. Although we can consider the whole poem as an interior monologue, this relationship between the rider and the horse is the only bond there is between the man and his surroundings.He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. (Stanza 3, Lines 1,2) It is noteworthy that the poet has chosen the pronouns â€Å"He† and â€Å"His† for the horse indicating the role that rider considers for it apart from being only a vehicle. Upon consideration, the horse becomes a means to an end for the speaker. The horse is essentially the riderâ €™s means for attaining his promises which he has miles and miles to get to them. With this in mind, the horse becomes an extension of the speaker’s own thoughts in the anticipation of moving forward.The horse never really asks or wonders about any of the things mentioned; it is only the speaker’s own thoughts projected onto the horse. This personification and projection of thought magnify the separation between the speaker and his surrounding natural environment. He, with his horse, or rather vehicle of progress, appears to be the only living things around. It seems throughout the poem his horse is the only thing, which tries to keep him attached to the environment and his surroundings. The horse like any practical being, wants to get on down the road to food and shelter.The narrator himself, however, continues to get fascinated by the mysteries of the forest, the otherness, sleep and death. At some point, it seems like he has given up the rationality and responsi bility of his actions to the horse as he talks with some kind of neighborly attitude towards the matter by the use of words â€Å"Stopping by† and the line where he says: Whose woods these are I think I know. (1) But when he says † My little horse must think it queer† he admits that the thinking and rationalizing process has been given to the horse while his mind is occupied with matters such as death and the promises he has to keep.The most significant auditory imagery used in the poem is of the horse's bells † He gives his harness bells a shake (11) . Other than that there is only what other sound mentioned in the poem: The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. (Stanza 3) All this creates an odd, somehow scary atmosphere mirroring the inner conflicts of the rider and his only companion through this battle is a horse on which he relies in several occasions. Works Cited: http://studentacademichelp. blogspot. com Steve Pedersen: â€Å"St opping by Woods on a Snowy Evening': A Burkean/Ecocritical Reading†

Contemporary Religious Issues in Christianity Essay

Over time in various religions, there has been conflict. If not within one particular religion then there would be conflicting with each other. Christianity is a religion that most certainly has this issue. With many struggles in religion that people are face with today that would assists in the division of our human population, some religions still share some of the same beliefs. Though all religions are vastly different, the overall belief is geared to praise and worship God. Two religions that will be discussed in this paper that conflict with Christianity are Judaism and Islam. In Judaism, besides cultural division within, most of their conflict is with modern society. In Islam, the Muslim community has a great political outlook that has been coupled with their religious beliefs and stereotyping has been more recently a trigger for conflict. In this paper we will discuss the contemporary issues within Christianity. We will review the historical connections and theological similarities with other religions such as Judaism and Islam. We will also take a look at Christian denominations and how they interact with Buddhism. Contemporary Issues within Christianity Christians have struggles between their own religion, and with other religions beliefs. Christian’s belief in One God, God of Love. We can find a message in the passages of the Bible; in Genesis, a foundation about God’s creation. The concepts: stewardship and creativity, God blessed them; and God gave them this message, â€Å"Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Bible) 2012 â€Å". The Love of God gets lost in our daily living style because the temptation, we sin and man abused God’s stewardship, and we don’t follow what God is teaching us to do. Christianity and other religions in this new way of living, we all are challenge to face an inevitable change. Social and new technology is responsible for new changes. We ask ourselves, what about religion in the future. Influences, crisis, economy are slowly changing the conservative religion to their surrounding of cultures. This changes are giving new choices to each one of us, and some choices are giving us ethical and cultural choices that force us to examine ourselves in our most basic philosophical believes. Christians and other religions are facing some areas that may raise ethical and religion beliefs. How Christian must respond to such conditions? How can we live with this society and culture that surrounds us? â€Å"Christ of Culture† perspective is exactly the opposite of â€Å"Christ against Culture† This way of living brings culture and Christianity together. God is giving us life – Why humans want to decide to take away our own lives or others. Where is our belief and trust, or mainly where is our Faith in God. Why we want to take control. If God give us life; we must belief and have trust that he has a plan in our lives. Ethical termination of adult life. Do individuals have the right to end their own lives or the lives or their loved ones? Even with major circumstances, do we get the control; where is our faith and believe that God does the impossible. Christianity questions about today is questioning about euthanasia. Passive or Active). Passive allowing the person to die by discontinuing their treatments and active is taking some positive step to terminate the person life by toxic substance or the injection of an air bubble into the blood stream. Euthanasia is the act of putting the death of a person which their illness in not curable but is violating the six commandment† Thou shalt not kill (Murder). Such consent does not relieve the killer of guilt for the sin of murder. Euthanasia is an instance of murder, which is a categorically forbidden in scripture.  Exodus 20:13 (Bakers, 1973), pp. 222 F. This society is giving us the opportunity to take control in our own hands; new technology is changing tremendously our beliefs and if we don’t wake up. This society will be out of control. Historical Connections and Theological Similarities with Other Religions The main historical connection between Judaism and Christianity is the fact that Christianity is a product of Judaism. This happened around the first century C. E. when Christianity was spreading rapidly throughout Europe. Besides Christianity forming out of Judaism, it has a connection through Jesus Christ, as we all know Jesus was a Jew. In fact for most of his life Jesus practice the Judaist faith and even celebrated Jewish holidays. Some of these holidays even became the basis for some of Christianity’s holidays, such as Easter which is based on the Jewish holiday â€Å"Passover†. Despite the fact that Christianity was a result of Judaism, Christians tended to have more freedom than Jews, while the latter was often persecuted for practicing their religion. Christianity has a connection to Israel that is almost as strong as Judaism. Nazareth which is based in Israel is considered the birthplace of Jesus, as well the birthplace of the Jewish Christian Church, however after the destruction of the church’s temple in 70C. E it seems that the church gradually faded into existence. While there may be some differences in how each religion worships and celebrates their religions. They both emphasize people being kind towards one another, believing in one God, and just being an overall good human being. The Christian and Islamic faith do share some of the same beliefs though their religions are vastly different. They both believe that there is one God and that God created the planet and mankind. They to both agree that God is the way of morality and the way or path of justice. It is also believed between the two religions that overall judgment of life is decided after life by heaven or hell. The fundamentalists Muslims and Christians also believe in pollutants such as porn and licentious helps destroy a community or society. There is a huge negative emotion in the western civilization in Islamic countries which explains the reasons of influences that evolve from out west. Of course there are obvious differences between both Christianity and Islam that will forever be unsettled. In these religions, pivotal doctrines are the points in which Christianity and Islam disagree. The overall tone of both beliefs are peaceful, caring, and loving human beings. The Muslim religion has points of emphasis on being peaceful, for instance; In Islam, the Muslims look to Sura 22:56 who say when speaking of religion there’s no compulsion. Though many in the world of Islam would believe that no compulsion means inside their religious world there is no competition amongst religion. Sura 29:46 says do not have a quarrel with outside religions but only if there is wrong doing. However, Sura 41:34 say to be make nice with the person doing wrong by doing good things for that person. Almost similar is the bible which has its parts of conflict with violence mostly from the Old Testament. It contests that a Canaanite society is infested with evil doings especially child sacrifice. God sent Israelites to enforce against the particular injustice and further on did the same against the Israelites. Situations like this within the scriptures of the bible are specifically minimal in circumstances during this time all implemented by God. But as the Quran would suggest, their religion puts this type of command in any time, place, and against any people or religion. Christian Denominations In religion, there is a power struggle to keep itself together. The ten commandments were clear on this issue. â€Å" Thou shall not worship false idols†, (â€Å"Ten Commandments†, 2002-2011). But there are seven billion people on this planet. Chances are that at least one of those seven billion people would want to worship another idol. From this idea, they would separate from their original church and form their own church. Worshiping whomever they found fit to be the one who deserved to be worshiped. As a matter of fact, this has happened many times in the history of Christianity and Judaism. Why are there so many Christian denominations? Well first we would have to differentiate between the non-Christian cults, and the false religions. Christian denominations are Lutherans, as well as Presbyterians. Then there are Jehovah’s witnesses and the Mormon religion, are examples of such cults. But islam and buddism are separate religions all together. Trials such as the protestant reformation gave rise within the Christian church to denominations. A movement to reform the roman catholic church that took place during the 16th century. Out of this event, four major division of traditional Protestantism emerged. These four were Lutheran, reformed, Anglican, and Anabaptist. But many more denominations would grow over the coming centuries. The denomination Lutheran was named after Martin Luther. This is based off of his teachings. Methodist was named from its founder, John Wesley. John Wesley was famous for coming up with methods for spiritual growth. Presbyterianism is named from their view on the churches leadership, and finally, Baptists. They got the name from the importants of the baptism ceremony. But not all the other denominations believe in baptism. So each one has a slightly different doctrine. Another is the availability of the lords supper to all. Or at least those who’s testimonies could be verified by the church leaders. Looking at why they have divisions, it seems clear that its not about Christ as the lord and savior. But it seems rather the differences of opinion by godly, flawed evidence, people seeking god. Seeking to retain doctrinal purity of what is their understanding of his word. Looking at today, denominations are many and vary wildly. The denominations have spawned numerous styles such as Nazarenes, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Evangelical Free, Assemblies of God, ect. Some styles of denomination, emphasizes very little doctrinal differences. But more often, they simply offer different styles of worship. Fitting the differences of Christians. This is the cause for so many forms of Christianity. Conclusion In this paper we have gone over the contemporary issues within Christianity. We have reviewed the historical connections and theological similarities with other religions such as Judaism and Islam. We have also taken a look at Christian denominations and how they interact with Buddhism. In our research we have found that Christianity and other religions in this new way of living, we all are challenge to face an inevitable change. Social and new technology is responsible for new changes. In these religions, pivotal doctrines are the points in which Christianity and Islam disagree. Christianity has a connection to Israel that is almost as strong as Judaism. Some styles of denomination, emphasizes very little doctrinal differences. But more often, they simply offer different styles of worship.

The Anaconda Plan of 1861 Early Civil War Strategy

The Anaconda Plan was the initial Civil War strategy devised by General Winfield Scott of the U.S. Army to put down the rebellion by the Confederacy in 1861. Scott came up with the plan in early 1861, intending it as a way to end the rebellion predominantly through economic measures. The goal was to remove the Confederacys ability to wage war by depriving it of foreign trade and the ability to import or manufacture necessary materials including weapons and military supplies. The basic plan was to  blockade the saltwater ports of the South and to stop all commerce on the Mississippi River so no cotton could be exported and no war material (such as rifles or ammunition from Europe) could be imported. The assumption was that the slave states, feeling considerable  economic punishment if they continued the rebellion, would return to the Union before any major battles would be fought. The strategy  was nicknamed the Anaconda Plan in the newspapers because it would strangle the Confederacy the way the anaconda snake constricts its victim. Lincolns Skepticism President Abraham Lincoln had doubts about the plan, and rather than wait for slow strangulation of the Confederacy to occur, he chose to do battle with the Confederacy in ground campaigns. Lincoln was also spurred on supporters in the North who aggressively urged fast action against the states in rebellion. Horace Greeley, the influential editor of the New York Tribune, was advocating a policy summed up as On to Richmond. The idea that federal troops could quickly move on the Confederate capital and end the war was taken seriously, and led to the first real battle of the war, at Bull Run. When Bull Run turned into a disaster, the  slow strangulation of the South became more appealing. Though Lincoln did not totally abandon the idea of land campaigns, elements of the Anaconda Plan, such as the naval blockade, did become part of Union strategy. One aspect of Scotts original plan was for federal troops to secure the Mississippi River. The strategic goal was to isolate Confederate states to the west of the river​ and make the transportation of cotton impossible. That goal was accomplished fairly early in the war, and the Union Armys control of the Mississippi dictated other strategic decisions in the West. A drawback of Scotts plan was that the naval blockade, which was declared essentially at the outset of the war, in April 1861, was very difficult to enforce. There were countless inlets through which blockade runners and Confederate privateers could evade detection and capture by the U.S. Navy. Ultimate, Though Partial, Success However, over time, the blockade of the Confederacy was successful. The South, during the war, was consistently starved for supplies. And that circumstance dictated many decisions that would be made on the battlefield. For instance, one reason for Robert E. Lees two invasions of the North, which ended at Antietam in September 1862 and Gettysburg in July 1863, was to gather food and supplies. In actual practice, Winfield Scotts Anaconda Plan did not bring an early end to the war as he had hoped. But it did seriously weaken the ability of the states in rebellion to fight. And in combination with Lincolns plan to pursue a land war, it led to the defeat of the slave states  rebellion.