According to Harvey C and Tveit L.

(1994) clinical exemplars are a way to capture the

true nature of nursing and through the sharing of clinical exemplars nurses can celebrate their
own practice and share their uniqueness with others. I had a unique experience with patient X
during my preceptorship. Patient X came through the ER in respiratory failure. The ER
stabilized patient X and admitted him to the ICU. Patient X eventually came to my Med/Surg
unit and got treatment for his/her pneumonia. When I was assigned to patient X, patient Xs
pneumonia had been treated and patient X was awaiting placement into a rehab facility to finish
out patient Xs treatment. Patient X had a long history of obese that had been getting
progressively worse, to the point where patient X could not walk. It took almost a month for the
case managers to find a facility that had the proper resources to take care of patient X, it was
within this time period I was tasked to provide care to patient X. Patient X told me about his/her
life in Central American and how patient Xs family moved to the United States when patient X
was young. I was able to relate to patient X because my father moved from Central America to
United States when he was young and my dad would tell me storys about his life in Central
America. I shared these stories with patient X who was able to relate to them and I found out
that patient X came from a country close to my fathers country. Why my experience with
patient X is so sentimental is because during patient Xs stay at the hospital patient X was able to
lose a great deal of weight. Patient Xs physician noticed the amount of weight patient X lost
and decided to try and see if patient X could walk. During the first day of trying to walk, patient
X along with the assistance of nurses and physical therapy members helped patient X stand up on
his feet take his/her first couple of steps. We were able get patient X to ambulate around the
room for about five minutes and during that time patient X started crying because it was the first
time patient X had walked in over a year. Over a week patient X was able to gain more strength

and was staring to ambulate around the unit. I was overwhelmed with joy with how much
progress patient X was able to make during such a short time span. When patient X was
discharge the whole unit signed a card and gave it to patient X, who started tearing up and
thanking that staff for excellent care. Patient X thanked me for taking time to sit and talk when
patient X was lonely. Patient X also told me that I would become a great nurse after I graduate
from nursing school. I thanked patient X and told patient X that it was my pleasure and that I
was amazed with that progress patient X had made in such as short amount of time. I felt very
moved and honored to have taking care of patient X and will never forget the time we shared.
This clinical exemplar has allowed me to reflect on my past experiences and I cannot wait for
what the rest my career in nurse will entail.

References
Harvey, C., & Tveit, L. (1994). Clinical exemplars to recognize excellence in nursing
practice. Orthopaedic Nursing, 13(4), 45-53. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7831083