Practicum Experience: Journal Entry on Abdominal Pain
After completing this week’s Practicum Experience:
1).Reflect on a patient who presented with abdominal pain, (Write a description of a patient with
abdominal pain including signs and symptom).
2) Describe the patient’s personal and medical history
3) What are the patient’s drug therapy and treatments?
4) What are the patient’s follow-up care?
Practicum Experience: Journal Entry on Abdominal Pain
Abdominal patient care involves the reflection of a past activity, reflection and evaluation
that leads development of knowledge and understanding of concepts broadly. This involves a
sequence of activities including description of what things that have taken place, feelings that are
developed by the individuals involved, evaluation of the right and wrong things in the
experience, analysis of the situation, conclusion and a decision on what to do in order to handle
the matter.
Bed bathing, as one of the requirement of taking care of a patient suffering from
abdominal pains, is a vital part of a patient’s hygiene as it stimulates circulation and relaxes the
body. A proper bed bath involves gathering of the necessary equipment like disposable gloves,
waste bag, wash cloth, bedpan, towels and soap. A patient is given a bedpan or urinal before
bathing, bed bathing is a private procedure, which may make the patient feel embarrassed, and it
is important to respect privacy by covering them with clean sheets and putting curtains around
their bed (Barker, 2013). Washing of patients begins from the furthest extremity to prevent
dripping water across the already cleaned parts. Placing the hand and legs of patients in water is
a procedure which helps them to feel fresh and it softens their nails.
During bed bathing, the nurse communicates with the patient and performs checking of
the body to get clear information on the client’s progress. The process of communication is one
which helps in evaluation of services’ quality hence improving the relationship between patients
and health assistants (Buttaro, Trybulski, Polgar & Sandberg-Cook, 2013). Patients get their bed
bath under the supervision of a registered bank nurse, after washing the patient the nurse helped
to apply cavillion cream on the patient’s bottom, the patient had a moisture lesion on the skin.
During bed bathing, the nurse needs to make a decision on the kind of cream, spray or oil
to use depending on the type of skin the patient has. Creams are advisable for moisturized intact
skins while sprays are important for dry and broken skin due to their ability to moisturize the
skin (Peate & Peate, 2012).
Nurses need to get updated information on how to treat bedridden patients to avoid
conflicts with the patients and their assistant practitioners. According to researches carried out in
the nursing field, the nurses and medical practitioners require continuous trainings and facilities
that expose them to the updated information to avoid making mistakes with their patients
(Timby, 2009). From research, it is clear that there are many nurses who make mistakes out of
ignorance. Clear and relevant information exist in books and articles on handling of the patient’s
skin depending on the moisture level to avoid infections and creating
In conclusion, from the information provided in the paper that discussing professional issues
within an environment where clients are available is not okay. Looking at the healthcare sector as
explained in the paper, it was not appropriate for the nurse and the other employee to argue on
the patient’s caretaking procedure while the patient overheard. Patients in the first place are
PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE: JOURNAL ENTRY ON ABDOMINAL PAIN 2
individuals who are weak and ought to be taken good care of because they need to recover from
their illness and regain their health and strength (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2011). They are
individuals who should be given full care making sure that their environment is conducive for
them.
References
Barker, J. H. (2013). Evidence-based practice for nurses. London: SAGE.
Buttaro, T. M., Trybulski, J., Polgar Bailey, P., & Sandberg-Cook, J. (2013). Primary care: A
collaborative practice (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2011). Evidence-based practice in nursing & health
care: A guide to best practice. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins.
Peate, I., & Peate, I. (2012). The student’s guide to becoming a nurse. Chichester, U.K: Wiley-
Blackwell.
Timby, B. K. (2009). Fundamental nursing skills