How I Made a Difference
I was quite anxious when entering the clinical setting this semester because I had never provided care before. There were so many things that were running through my mind as I was so nervous to mess up or look silly in comparison to others and coworkers. My clinical instructor was amazing and helped me a lot in this setting. I believe I did make a difference when providing care to a few clients, but one of my clients will always stick out to me.
I was in the morning shift, so I often sat with my clients while they ate breakfast before I did my assessment. The client that I will always remember was an elderly woman who was admitted for a stroke. When I entered the room to originally make her bed, she was quite frustrated because she was struggling with her breakfast. I sat down to help her and get her the things she needed to successfully eat her breakfast. I talked to her about where she came from and likewise, she asked me where I am from. When I said, “Pittsburgh, PA,” she asked what brought me to Maine. When I told her ice hockey, her eyes lit up, her smile was enormous, and her frustration had completely diminished. She was ecstatic because her son played ice hockey while he was growing up. Then, we went more in depth in the conversation and it turns out that our organizations played against each other. On top of that we recognized that we had been to the same ice rink, all the way in Wisconsin! She immediately called her son and told him this story as I was present. As this conversation may seem small, it meant a lot to me that I was able to make my client happy and bring her back to something that was a big part in her life.
