Devin
Reese
December 2017
Devin
Reese
,
student
Wichita State University
Wichita
,
KS
United States

 

 

 

I had the pleasure of having Devin as a student in my Mental Health clinical group  in the Fall of 2017. One particular clinical day, I was placing students in their assigned units, and Devin happened to be assigned to the adolescent unit. I asked the charge nurse, if she had a recommendation for a patient that would be a good fit for a nursing student. She immediately recommended a 17 year old male patient who was diagnosed with depression and was frequently self-isolating on the unit. The nurse and I agreed it would be a good idea to put a male nursing student with this young man to see if the patient would open up more. So I proceeded to assign Devin and introduced him to the adolescent patient. 
In the short time I've known Devin, I have watched him display a positive attitude and professional bedside manner consistently. However, in this case, he was able to foster a patient-nurse relationship that quickly overcame the patient's barriers to care. Throughout the clinical evening, I observed Devin and the patient talking for an extensive period of time. It was obvious Devin was able to hold the young man's attention while putting him at ease. During post conference, when Devin was asked to share about his patient interaction, he said the patient was first reluctant to speak but eventually felt comfortable sharing some insight as to why he had been admitted. Devin went on to share pertinent history and interventions with the clinical group, which allowed his peers to learn from this patient as well. Devin specifically mentioned that he had encouraged the patient to interact more around the unit and utilize the staff's support during his stay at the hospital.
The next day, the same daytime charge nurse  flagged me down to excitedly tell me "what an awesome difference" my student (Devin) had made for that adolescent patient. She shared with me that the night nurse's charting specifically stated the patient felt the "long talk with the nursing student" was one of the most helpful things during his entire stay. In addition, the charge nurse stated the night nurse's charting noted a huge improvement in the patient's demeanor from the previous shift - the patient was interacting with his peers outside of his room, opening up to staff, and denying suicidal thoughts. The patient ended up being dismissed the next day!
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Devin's therapeutic interaction with this patient had a DIRECT effect on this young man's positive outcome! Devin took the time to listen, encourage, and offer compassionate interventions during a dark time in this patient's life. Clearly, Devin's interactions in this story exemplify the following DAISY-In-Training Award criteria: compassion, empathy, trust-building, admirable attributes, leadership, and selflessness.