​Jordan Graham

In winter of 2013, I was given the opportunity to be an intern in the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital. This experience was a ten-week internship in which I shadowed the Pediatric Mental Health Specialists as they coached patients through coping skills that would help them deal with specific issues in the real world. The internship progressed over the ten-week period, as my responsibilities grew into more integral parts of the patient’s treatment plans. I started out just shadowing the staff members, assistant coaching the coping curriculum, and taking notes, and ended up being able to lead the patients group in coaching them through coping skills in crisis situations, observing and charting on different patients, and hypothesizing action and reaction situations. This experience was very important to me, as I got an inside look at the ins and outs of a hospital clinic setting, and was able to work directly with patients who were in an acute, crisis situation.

 

Committed to the equity of all people and quest for social justice

I’ve always wanted to work with children in a hospital setting. My brother has cancer as a baby, and I’ve made it my goal ever since to help kids that had to be in the hospital like him. I am passionate about Seattle Children’s because as an organization, they care about the kids more that anything else. I love being there, and I am able to express my compassion with every person I meet. Working with this demographic of kids (mentally ill) was very eye opening for me because it is often a population that is overlooked. All of these kids come from different backgrounds, and all just needed help. This made me proud of the working that I was doing because I felt that I was able to contribute a part in serving for the equity of all people, and provide a sense of social justice for the patients in the unit.

 

Self-awareness of personal leadership styles, strengths, weaknesses, stessors, and emotional and physiological reaction to stress

As part of our training as interns, we were given a tool called the Trigger Card. This card lists certain triggers that set us off, warning signs for other people to know if we are stressed (physiological responses and actions), coping skills that we use, and a space for new coping skills we learn while in the unit. This tool was given to us to understand triggers of patients, but it really allowed for self reflection on how I reacted to stressful situations not only on the unit, but in the real world as well. By identifying my own strengths and weakness, what caused me to be stressed, and how I reacted to those stressors, I was able to effectivelt manage and regulate my own emotions while working with patients on the unit.

 

Utilize communication/decision-making skills necessary to resolve conflicts

One of the most challenging parts of this internship was when one of the patients was having a crisis situation. Most of the time, this entailed aggressive and/or harmful behaviors either to themselves, or another person or member of the staff. Since Seattle Children’s is a non-restraint facility, we would try to talk through a patient’s problem with them, or let them have a “blow-out” in one of the hallways where they could safely let out some steam. This put me in many situations that pushed me out of my comfort zone, as I was faced with patients who wanted to hurt me, or sometimes even harm/kill themselves. Luckily, I was able to communicate with patients using a skill the staff had developed as a go to option when talking patients through crisis situations. This skill was the Trigger Card, a little green piece of paper everyone on the unit held that listed what triggered them to become upset/mad/angry/etc. and how they tend to cope with those triggers. In these crisis situations, I was able to pull out my card, and ask the patient to do so as well, so we can review coping skills that we had learned in the past, to try to steer away from causing any harm to people on the unit. In this situation, I was put in a place way outside of my comfort zone, and was able to decide what tool to use and communicate effectively with the patient through their crisis situations.

 

Push oneself beyond their comfort zone.

I remember one time in particular where one of my patients had stored Popsicle sticks in her pocket. I asked her what she was storing them for, and she said an art project. Knowing from an earlier instance what her cues were for when she wanted to hurt herself, I asked her to pull out her trigger card so we could go over coping skills to move past this moment of pain. I pulled out my card and told her that sometimes projects like these make me frustrated to, but the staff had worked hard to put together this project, so it was not very respectful to use their supplies for an unintended purpose. It turns out that I was right, and she pulled out broken popsicle sticks from her pocket that she had planned on cutting herself with when she got back into her room.

 

Demonstrate ethical and professional behaviors as a leader

Under that type of pressure, it is very hard to keep calm. However, it is extremely important for the patient for all staff members, including interns, to showcase professional and ethical behavior when leading them through their treatment. It is easy to get lost in the moment and try to react to a patient in crisis as you would a friend, but in this setting, adhering to protocol, and being able to maintain professionalism at any moment is important to establish your role with the patients. As an intern, I was representing the University of Washington at a hospital that we have a very close relationship to. It was very important to be punctual, dressed to code, and always be looking for an opportunity to lead or learn something new.

 

I learned a lot from this experience. This was my first hands on experience working with patients in an inpatient setting where I had a direct influence on their treatment. I learned that being on the floor with kids who are sick is a lot more difficult than it sounds because of how unpredictable every single day is. I gained a lot of insight on the acceptance of other people no matter what their background or current situation. I think that I could apply what I learned in this internship to many things in my life as it was a well-rounded experience that taught me the importance of communication, professionalism, equity, and pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone.