What Matters in Time Essay Example for Free

What Matters in Time demonstrateIm never gonna do that again . . . . During my work as a staff nurse, any time I heard one of the patients going with treat make this vow, I would cringe and think Sure, you will. You on the whole do. Its just a matter of time. I dont know why you even bother going finished detoxifyify. Its a waste of time and money. You just need to stop doing whatever youve been doing and just stop drinking. Its domain and simple. Just quit drinking. Those thoughts, however, occured prior to my attending the Therapeutic Interventions (Alcohol) mannequin.While attending this seminar, the much I wise to(p) about detox from alcohol, the more I began to assess my faulty thinking regarding individuals who, for whatever reasons, considermed incapable or unwilling to change their destructive drinking patterns. roughly of the people I worked with, I felt, were not at the ideal point I heard about during this planning, where they wanted to change and/or sto p drinking. (Raistrick, 2004, p. 41) Those I encountered in my work at an acute medical ward had usually been admitted wiith high alcohol intake. Most of the time, my feelings toward them were ambivalent. Duringthe time they were in my c atomic number 18, withdrawing from alcohol on Benzodiazepins-Chordiazepoxide, I treated them without empathy. I felt I knew each(prenominal) of these patients, even before I heard their story or studied their chart. Even though I didnt consider myself to be at the point I was void of any feelings toward these individuals, nevertheless, I make a point to keep a safe emotional distance from them. In a horse sense, my feelings were numbed as I repeatedly watched what I perceived to be a merry-go-round of their self-inflicted madness. In my mind, these individuals needed something more than what they were receivingfrom the detox program. More often than not, I found myself thinking disparaging thoughts, as I watched those struggling through planned de toxifications, alongside others unwillingly commited to the detox program. In planned detoxifications, I learned during training, individuals are more likely to succeed with maintinaing sobriety, if they want to discontinue drinking. During an immenent need to detox, however, when someone is hospitalized or has been arrested and/or locked up to bugger off serving a prison sentence, when alcohol detoxification may or may not be pre-planned, if the individual does not want to change, success is less likely. A second detox scenario occurs when individuals enter a residential treatment program. At this time, alcohol detoxification is considered routine. A third type detoxification tranpires at times, following a close of sobriety, in order for a person to restablaize. (Raistrick, 2004, p. 41) tomcats detox, I felt, represented the third kind. Prior to detox training, my feelings of defeat intensifired whenever I would work with some of the repeat detoxers like Tom*, an old man in h is former(a) forties.I had watched Tom go through the same detox scenario four times during the past devil years. Tom sometimes became so confused he would forget where he was and try to leave the unit. I have to go home now. My wife wants me to cook lunch for her today. Its her birthday. Tom told me one day justly before his evening meal. I knew Toms wife had left him several years ago. Later, I had to stop him when he tried to walk out the door behind one of the orderlies. No, Tom, you cant leave here yet. Youve that been in detos two days, I said. You have to remain here at least some other 5 days. Attending this course helped me under yield that like Toms, a patients confusion during detox is normal. Individuals detoxing, one speaker stressed, may display symptoms from anxiety, panic attacks, depression, insomnia, and with increasing severity, hallucinations . . . to the terrors of delirium tremens in which orientation in time, place and person is lost, and hopeful halluci nations are experienced along with clouding of consciousness (akin to dreaming whilst awake). (Petersen Mcbride, 2002, p. 167) Prior to attending the Therapeutic Interventions (Alcohol) Course, I did not seriouslynote that one of the vital reasons detox needs to take place within care of medical personnel as detoxing from alcohol can be fatal. Alcohol, para. 2) When alcohol is suddenly taken away from a person who has been abusing it for a long period of time, that persons body experiences reactions which could prove to be deadly. Matrisha*, another patient I became frustrated with during her detox, on the other hand, knew exactly where she was, along with the date and time. She also made a point to repeatedly upset the others in the ward. Recently, when another nurses caught Matrisha riffling throughanother patients night stand and helping herself to candy, she confronted her. Matrisha, like other detoxing patients at times, became aggressive and violent. Although I tried to un derstand patients like Tom and Matrisha, however, the merry-go-round these patients seemed to choose to ride didnt make sense. Knowledge I gained while attending the Therapeutic Interventions( Alcohol) Course helped me begin understand concepts contributing to the mirage of difficulties those detoxing regularly experience. The time invested in this learning also helped me begin to see these people as individuals just like me.Even though we may struggle with different scenarios in life, and even though at times, I may not fully understand what those in detox were going through, this training helped me realize I could try to empahatize with them. Instead of building a fence in the midst of myself and patients in detox, I could remember a point promoted by one prominent speaker. The success of these centres (sic) depends upon training staff to feel confident about monitoring withdrawal in order to identify those clients who are in need of medical help, and training that enablesstaff q uickly to form a helping alliancewith clients. (Raistrick, 2004, p. 41- 42) I could also make a point to be one of the staff to take training seriouusly and whenever likely help without cringing. I could also, as AD counselor encourage those going through alcohol detox and treatment, look within myself to see how I could change for the better. Attending the Therapeutic Interventions (Alcohol) Course proved to be more helpful than I anticipated and allowed me to see how I could improve within my self and arm my professional and personal skills. As I reflect on things I learned, I understand that I could havelistened more to what patents were telling me with their words and actions. I remind myself often that my job as as a staff nurse in detox is to help bring those going through the vexatious difficult medical, physical, and emotional aspects is vital. Alcohol detox is the first step in the treatment of alcoholism. The recovery of the wet cannot begin until they have undergone alcohol detox. And since alcoholism is a disease that kills, alcohol detox is the first guide of defense in saving the patients life. ALCOHOl para. 1-5 7) As I work with others to try to help problems drinkers arise to a point they areready to change and realize their life would be better without alcohol, I no longer focus on their past failures. I stive, instead, to be supportive and encourage them to do their best today. (Raistrick, 2004, p. 40) Toady, I no longer cringe when someone tells me, Im never gonna do that again . . .. Nor does something in detox that does not make sense upset me. Some things, I realize, dont have to be all understood. When I try to understand what it feels like to walk in another persons shoes and look at the world through their eyes, however, that matters.Today, I have more respect for the patients entrusted to my care. I have gained a sense of empathy for their plight. What does matter, I now understand, is that time invested in helping another p erson, in or out of detox, does matter. * name of indviduals portrayed in paper have been changed.ReferencesALCOHOL DETOX. retrieved May 5, 2006 from http//www. spencerrecovery. com/alcohol- detox. html. Champney-Smith, J. (2002). Chapter 22 Dual Diagnosis. In functional with shopping mall Misusers A Guide to Theory and Practice, Petersen, T. Mcbride, A. (Eds. ) (pp. 267-273). naked as a jaybird York Routledge. Lewis, J. , Williams, S. (2002). Chapter 15 Home Detoxification. In Working with Substance Misusers A Guide to Theory and Practice, Petersen, T. Mcbride, A. (Eds. ) (pp. 197-204). New York Routledge. Petersen, T. Mcbride, A. (Eds. ). (2002). Working with Substance Misusers A Guide to Theory and Practice. New York Routledge. Raistrick, D. (2004). Chapter 3 Alcohol Withdrawal and Detoxification. In The Essential Handbook of Treatment and Prevention of Alcohol Problems, Heather, N. Stockwell, T. (Eds. ) (pp. 35-48). Hoboken, NJ Wiley.