Reflective Journal Acute Psychiatric Ward, Ridge Meadows, Maple Ridge.

Student Name Dermot Connolly Stenberg College

Monday Jan 14th 2013 I was working with Chris again this week and I was pleased to see a noticeable improvement in his condition. During our interactions, he maintained much better eye contact than last week, but still remained very isolative with a blunt affect. Chriss mood was much better this week because he had being approved to be discharged by his doctor and was scheduled to have a care conference this morning. I asked Chris if he would mind if I sat in on his care conference and he stated that he did not mind at all. I found the care conference to be an interesting experience. It was great to see the process involved in discharging a patient from the unit. The conference centered on everyones concern over the apparent condition of Chriss apartment. Many felt that the apartment was not a safe place for Chris to be discharged as it is apparently very untidy. Chris was very reluctant to have his apartment inspected, which was put down to the belief that it was being used as a grow op. I found this to be an interesting ethical dilemma. If people truly believe that there is a grow op in a patients apartment, should this not be reported to the RCMP? Or do you weigh such a decision against the potential damage this could have on the mental condition of the patient? In the end, Chriss psychiatrist decided to discharge him to his home with a scheduled home inspection to take place later this week. I found it quiet uplifting to work with such an ill patient, to see him make such progress and to ultimately see him get discharged. I feel I build up a good relationship with Chris over the course of our interactions which was demonstrated after his conference, when we chatted about his excitement and anxiety over being discharged. Unfortunately, I fear that Chris is still ill and will likely suffer a relapse, especially if everyones suspicions of a grow op is true. In the afternoon, we had a great opportunity to present our respective patients to the class which I really

enjoyed as it gave us the opportunity to test our knowledge on our clients condition and answer questions which focused on our critical thinking skills. Tuesday Jan 15th 2013 I was assigned two patients today which I quiet enjoyed as it meant we were a lot busier with a lot more charting. My second patient was Bevan, who was admitted the week before for depression following an anonymous call to the suicide helpline. To date, Bevans only diagnosis is depression, but from my interactions with him I feel there are other complications. I noted some interesting characteristics about Bevan, where he frequently uses thought blocking in his conversations. Although not diagnosed with paranoia, I do feel that he is displaying some of its symptoms. I found his eye contact to be frequently inappropriate as he stared when attempting to answer questions. He also appears very confused and at times disorientated. I found Bevan standing in the corridor shortly after breakfast today confused by the emergency exit sign because he thought it allowed him to leave the unit. Later in the morning during a separate conversation, Bevan asked if his wrist band was a test. He was referring to the fact that I had placed it there after noting it was missing during breakfast. Later in the afternoon, he sat with me on the couch where I asked him about his illness. He was unable to tell me what was wrong with him and was unaware that he was diagnosed with depression. He was also confused about the date and time, not knowing what day it was or where he was. I found working with Bevan fascinating and I am looking forward to meeting him again next week to see if there is any improvement in his condition or perhaps a different diagnosis.