Mr. Andrew is a 63 years old African American male who has resided in the subway for many years. He is malodorous, has slow psychomotor functioning and wears clothing two sizes larger. He carried a diagnosis of Schizophrenia and admits to ongoing use of opioids in combination with his current treatment of methadone. I met him before at one of the socialization groups provided by the clinic. He was playing chest with another patient and after winning asked if I wanted to play with him. I thought he was …show more content…
I was having a really hard time blocking my sense of smell. In order to be able to complete the task I needed to find within myself something I really like about Mr. Andrew. I needed to see him for the human being that he is. I focused on his sense of humor and his intelligence. As soon as I was able to understand that I was helping Mr. Andrew stay healthy instead of focusing on the smell and other aspect of his wounds the experience became rich. I felt a connection that allowed me to be less anxious and therefore more effective. With the help of my preceptor and the other student we cleaned the wound, apply a new dressing and send Mr. Andrew back to his routine. A week later he came again in need of the same service. This time it was a lot easier for me to do the dressing