Reflective Writing Essay

371 Words2 Pages
Reflective Writing
Using Marks-Maran and Rose (1997)
During my placement on Silver Birch Ward, for patients with dementia presenting with challenging behaviours, I noticed a few patients were visited by the hospital chaplain.
During these visits which I briefly observed I noticed one patient didn’t appear to pay attention to the chaplain or even acknowledge his presence. For the purpose of anonymity and to uphold the nursing and midwifery council (NMC), code of professional conduct (NMC 2008), I have given the service user the pseudonym of Sally. This was normal behaviour for Sally, but the chaplain paid the same attention to her as he did to the others, despite the lack of interaction. I spoke to the patients associate staff nurse, as I felt these visits seemed almost pointless and I wasn’t even sure if Sally was religious, but could not decline the chaplain due to her lack of capacity.
The staff nurse explained that when Sally first came to the ward, before her dementia had rapidly deteriorated, she used to request and enjoy the company of the hospital chaplain. These visits had been present for a few years now, and although Sally’s mental state has declined, the staff nurse said she felt it important that she carried on her wishes as this helped maintain their identity and individuality.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn this, as although Sally did not show much happiness from the visits from the hospital chaplain, knowing she used to, helped me to why they carried it on.
This experience has shown me the importance of the service the hospital chaplain’s provide to some patient’s life, not just for their cultural and spiritual needs but their social needs as well. This provided a good example of how holistic care is put into practice. Holistic care is recognising the physical, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual aspects of care. This also
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