Peds SIM Encounter

             Walking into the simulation, I was super nervous and did not know what to expect. I had an agenda on my mind and was set to follow it to make sure that I covered all of the bases. In the moment, I did not think that my encounter was going great by any means. I felt somewhat defeated and shut down. When I watched my video, I realized that I was just too hard on myself after. I know these things take practice and experience, so it's okay not to do perfect the first time around and like my professors said it's good to learn in the SIM lab before we actually go out into the field. If I could do things differently, I would sit next to the patient and gaze the situation more. In some situations, such as when a parent is upset, it is appropriate to sit next to them and look along the same paper. I also have a hard time with fluctuating my tone because I am very monotone. It is sometimes hard for me to relate to others when they are upset, especially if its something that I have not experienced before. I think by practicing more, realistic scenarios of empathetic listening would help me with this as well. An attitude of caring that could be communicated by an occupational therapy student would be asking what the client thinks or asking open ended questions. It shows that you care about what they have to say and that you are not just trying to get in and out quickly. Another attitude of caring would be to be attentive (verbal and non-verbal). Nothing feels worse than when you feel like someone isn't paying attention to you when you are speaking and it puts off a vibe that you do not care. Being attentive means being in the moment with that person and really focusing on what they are saying and how it is affecting them. I would incorporate what I learned from this SIM lab into future encounters by having less of plan and letting the conversation flow as needed. I think when you have a plan and you are thinking of all the things you have to cover, it can often times prevent you from actively listening to that client and building a therapeutic relationship with them. In future encounters I would like to learn more about the client and discuss there concerns even more than I did in this simulation lab. In clinical scenarios, I think it will be easier for me to talk to the parents about concerns and their child, especially if I have seen the child multiple times and have more insight about what is going on. I have learned not to be so hard on myself and will try to reflect on what I did well instead of what I didn't do in future simulation labs.