Reflective Journal Older Adult Cedar Hills Langley Student Name Dermot Connolly Stenberg College

Monday Sept 10th 2012 I have noticed this week that I am paying more attention to the smaller details in Retas life. I have begun to notice how organized she is. Just from looking at her bedside table and trolley I can see that everything has a particular place and she is quite particular about having each item in its assigned location. I feel this level of organization is Retas way of having some control in a life where she is completely dependent on others. This in turn gives her a sense of purpose within the residency. I have also noted that Reta still displays a lot of emotion whenever she talks about the death of her son who was killed in a traffic accident just under a year ago. This week Reta talked to me about the day she found out about his death and I was left wondering if she is still in a great deal of torment over her trauma and if some sort of assessment was warranted. She also mentioned to me that she had visited with a psychiatrist at the time of her sons death but she did not go into any details as to how those meetings went. While I felt Monday was a typical shift for me. I also used it to help me ascertain whether or not I wanted to take on Bessie as my second patient. In terms of personal care, Bessie is quiet independent so I typically use this time to engage her in conversation in an attempt to assess her cogitative abilities. I noted on Monday that Bessie gets agitated and frustrated very easily. This week her mood was very good when she talked about her planned lunch with her family. Her mood quickly changed however to anger when another resident left the bathroom door open after she had finished using it. I have noted that this aggression towards the other residents is not uncommon for Bessie.

Tuesday Sept 11th 2012 I started Tuesday being really excited about interacting more with Bessie. It was my first full day to give her all her medications. Bessie takes 12 tablets each morning to control dementia, hypertension and arterial fibrillation. While I had created all of Bessies medication cards the night before, I was a little apprehensive about having to give so many medications to one person at one time, but I felt it went quiet well. I have also noticed this week that I have developed a routine, which allows me to complete my personal care and mediations more efficiently. On Tuesday, I was able to give personal care to both Bessie and Reta while also administering Bessies medications. My next goal before the end of my clinical is to be able to give personal care and medications to both Bessie and Reta. In the afternoon, I met with Bessies daughter; Ester and we had a good conversation about Bessies condition. I felt it was a good opportunity to practice my communication and listening skills with the family members of patients and I encouraged Ester to talk about Bessies condition in greater detail. Ester explained to me that she believed Bessies macular degeneration has let to an undiagnosed condition called Charles Bonnet Syndrome which can cause hallucinations. As there is no record of Charles Bonnet Syndrome in Bessies file I couldnt help but wonder if Ester was somehow in denial as to the severity of her mothers illness.