Clinical Journal

1. Describe your clinical experiences this week.
2. What were your personal goals for clinical experience this week? How did you meet these goals?
3. Describe a specific experience with one of your “special” patients that facilitated your learning this week.
4. What do you see as the role and responsibilities of the nurses, doctors, lab assistants, etc in the clinical area?
5. Briefly describe your most significant event this week. How will this event influence your clinical practice?
6. Is there anything you would have done differently this week? Why? What would you do?
7. Identify a personal goal that you would like to meet next week.
8. Discuss the most challenging communication incident you encountered. How would you handle this situation in the future?
9. What do you think people in this community need? What information have you based this on?
10. Describe your “most interesting” patient’s situation: patient’s age, past medical/surgical history, current condition, correlate with past disease processes, risk factors with this condition, correlate all medications, with labs (name, classification, dosage, frequency, route, and if IV infusion, the ml/hr, side effects).
11. Find an evidence based journal article that relates to one of the areas you have addressed in your reflective narrative. Include a discussion of how the information in the article relates to your patient care experience and how the article facilitated your learning.
12. Identify doctor (s) diagnoses in order of priority. Identify a measurable outcome and three interventions for the priority diagnosis that was utilized in the care of this patient. Include an evaluation of the success of the interventions. Be Specific.
13. What medical advice was offered the patient and/or family? What communication principles was utilize?
14. What prevents the patient from being transferred or discharged? Discuss how and with whom was collaborated with in relation to this patient.
15. Discuss cultural, ethical, or value issues you encountered today. Relate how you felt and what you learned from these issues.
16. How is the clinical office organized, managed, supervised, operated?

Observable & Describable Clinical Experience

Filing. Answering Phones. Triage patients on phone/office. Call in prescriptions. Order special studies. Relay results to patients. Run lab tests (UA’s, pregnancy & glucose tests). Develop & read Xrays. Read clinical charts. Read & Learn patient medical histories. Log patient history, diagnosis, & ailments in computer system. Review blood work and apply knowledge (diabetic, anemic, etc). Shadow/ears-drop-medical assistants/nurses. Communicate with patients. Read and interpret patient charts. Learn about drugs and ailments (viral, anti-bacterial, fungal). Learn uses of medical equipment and instruments. Comfort patient (snacks, treats, blankets, water, humor, etc). Gain insight into patient and doctor relationship. Learn safety and health guidelines and rules. Learn about medical supplies, ordering, stocking. Observe procedures (first aid, pap smears). Learn patient intake (vitals, history). Understand the duties, roles, and hierarchy of each staff member. Learn how a medical office is managed and operated. Develop communication, leadership, mentoring, teaching, maturity, and management skills.