When my grandmother was dying of cancer in hospice, I had no intentions of becoming a nurse. Consistently, I repositioned her because she was in pain. Dutifully, I opened her windows because she loved the sunlight. Respectfully, I rubbed lotion on her skin because it made her comfortable. Devotedly, I prayed with her because her faith was strong, and she was ready to be reunited with my grandfather. Wistfully, I held her hand as she took her last breath, and told her it was okay to go. Afterwards, when the hospice nurses had told me that I would make a great nurse and I should consider nursing as a career, I politely said “No, thank you, nursing is not for me.” When I was pregnant with my daughter, my practitioner was a Certified Nurse Midwife. I was blessed with a relatively smooth pregnancy, and a provider who took care of my mind and body. I had a water birth with my daughter, which was a life changing experience for both of us. It allowed for her to have a smooth transition into this world surrounded by our family. It was the spark for me to say that maybe I could be the person to help others have the same amazing experience. When I asked my CNM how to do what she does, she said first things first; I had to become a nurse. Eventually, I did become a nurse, although I did not end up in labor and delivery as I first intended. Nevertheless, I landed in medical/surgical oncology, and it would seem that is where I belonged all along. Those two aforementioned events in my
I sincerely believe that I accomplished my goals this week. I realized that I served 14 patients by combining the ability of knowledge, my attitude for excellence that I have consistently defeat the odds to become the very best Nurse practitioner; I can become. This clinical experience brings forth many opportunities and achievements. The most important experience this week; I had the ability to identify as primary healthcare provider a high risk need for the patient to be transferred to the Hospital for further evaluation without delay; due to complaints of “leg cold from the knee down to the feet”, which my evaluation was based on evidence practice knowledge of compassion and skill with the autonomy to practice, diagnose, and treat patients
My educational background has given me a solid understanding of the medical field, whereas my variety of experience has allowed me to adapt to any nursing environment. I graduated nursing school in 2016 with the hopes of becoming a Hospice nurse. However, I realized I needed to develop my nursing
I realized I wanted to be a nurse in 2010 when I was sitting by my grandfather as he was diagnosed with a stroke. As the physician explained to my family and I that the man we knew and loved would not be able to speak or walk again we were struck with heartache. The compassionate and holistic care that the nurses provided him solidified my determination to become a healer to patients who were not able to care for themselves. Today, I have the joy to work in an Emergency Department caring for acutely ill patients and their families, as they are vulnerable and grieving just as my family was. Nevertheless, I have come to realize that my journey will not end until I become more involved with patient care by earning a degree as a Nurse Practitioner. In this paper, I will discuss my educational and professional goals, short term and long-term goals, and how earning a Nurse
To me, life is a pretty ironic thing; it has a way of introducing you to the things you want, but keeps it just out of your reach. As we grow and go through life experiences, both good and bad, we as humans always seem to take some form of realization or some truth from each experience. The difference amongst all of us is whether or not we take these truths and make something of them. Becoming a nurse isn’t a career choice I was pushed into making. I have desired to be a nurse for as long as I could remember. My perception of nursing and my desire to become a nurse directly comes from my passion to help people. I want to become a nurse because I enjoy being around people in their times of need and I get internal satisfaction by serving
When my grandmother was dying of cancer in hospice, I had no intentions of becoming a nurse. Consistently, I repositioned her because she was in pain. Dutifully, I opened her windows because she loved the sunlight. Respectfully, I rubbed lotion on her skin because it made her comfortable. Devotedly, I prayed with her because her faith was strong, and she was ready to be reunited with my grandfather. Wistfully, I held her hand as she took her last breath, and told her it was okay to go. Afterwards, when the hospice nurses had told me that I would make a great nurse and I should consider nursing as a career, I politely said “No, thank you, nursing is not for me.”
Time spent at my mother’s bedside in the intensive care unit changed my perception of the nursing profession. I realized what unique value was integrated in comprehensive nursing care, which was built on excellence, compassion, and respect. I knew right then and there that nursing was a professional path which I would like to take. Changing my college major to nursing was not a difficult decision – I wanted to repay for all that courteous care my family received in the most vulnerable time of our lives.
My patient Mary Ramussen came to the clinic for dental hygiene services. She is a 66 year old lady taking several medications. All of her vitals were within normal limits at her visit. Vitals are very important to take because a patient may not have any symptoms. Medications can have many contraindications, adverse reactions, or an interaction with other medications. It is important to have knowledge of medications and how to avoid adverse reactions or toxicity. Some medications can interact with local anesthetic with vasoconstrictors and cause effects on the heart. Knowing all medications that a patient is taking is important for knowing what over-the-counter medications to recommend post treatment. Some medications
In my 32 years of practicing nursing, there has always been a nursing shortage. Just one year after I graduated, my hospital started offering sign-on bonuses. While pondering the reasoning behind the nursing shortage, some interesting thoughts came to mind about some of its current causes. I work closely with my manager on the schedule and have done so in many of the healthcare organizations that I have work. One common problems occurs all too often: nursing turnover. Nurses will leave one facility to take a position in another after a year or so of working with us. The manager has mentioned that it cost approximately $20,000 to train a new graduate and about half of that cost to hire an experienced nurse which includes classes and preceptorship.
At 18, I was your average high school student. I participated in marching band, took a few advanced courses and enjoyed the fellowship of friends. A blooming teenager with high hopes of attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham to obtain my degree in nursing. However, the summer following my graduation, I discovered that I was pregnant. Understandably shocked by this unexpected circumstance, I placed my dreams of attending UAB on hold.
I had a clinical experience where I felt unprepared during my clinical placement in the Respiratory ward. I had a female elderly patient with aspiration pneumonia, she also has a history of hypertension, and there were no other cardiac illnesses in the handover. She was stable when care was taken over. I assisted her with mobilising to the bathroom and I noticed that her labour of breathing increased although she was on oxygen. When she went back to bed, she started to present short of breath, also she kept rubbing her chest and she was too unwell to stand so she sat down but she could not sit stably by herself. In this situation, I should have realised that she might be experiencing chest pain and pressed the staff assist button for help.
Although, I’ve been in healthcare for over 20 years, working as a medical assistant, I believe my journey truly began with nursing school. It is one thing to do a job that you have been shown to do, but it becomes different as I now understand why these processes are done as well as the physiological implications. The journey to get to this point had felt like a lifelong one with many disappointments and struggles along the way. However because of the knowledge I now have, I wouldn’t change a thing as I consider it extremely valuable.
Many research studies have shown that nursing students who are placed in the palliative care unit often find difficulty coping with terminally ill patients because they feel a lack of confidence on how to care competently and compassionately towards palliative patients (Mallory, 2003). Nursing students are not ready to cope with issues of death and dying; they feel unprepared to care for this kind of patients (Johnson, Chang, & O'Brien, 2009) and they claim that caring for dying people is one of the hardest and most distressing tasks for a nurse (Allchin, 2006). According to Gibbons, Dempster, Moutray, (2010), caring for the dying is reported as the second most common source of stress for nursing students. These findings indicate that an end
Nursing students face many challenges due to their narrow scope of practice, and lack of experience and knowledge. This changes with the development and learning of values and beliefs, which shape the decision making in the nursing process. During my clinical nursing practice experience as a new nursing student, I have had amazing learning opportunities as well as situations that made me feel uncomfortable, powerless, and dependent on the assigned nurse. In this paper I will talk about one of my clinical experiences where I felt powerless, analyze it, and show how the sociopolitical inquiry and power dynamics come into play in my story.
As a student, I have become more aware of the needs of my community. I have always worked at being active in my community to help those in need. Most of my volunteer work revolved around collecting donations and lending a helping hand at shelters. My volunteer work did not usually involve an academic base. I was not concerned with the ins and outs of why homelessness was a problem or the difficulty women faced finding assistance to escape abusive relationships. I just knew the shelters were always in need of donations and that is where I found myself helping most. In this paper, I will describe a personal experience I have had with service learning. I will also select one service learning idea from the National Student Nurses’ Association planning guideline that interests me and describe how this type of experience will enhance my nursing student experience.
My nursing background is in women and children’s health care. As a clinician, I have practiced in acute and primary care settings. My professional interests include nursing genomics, nursing leadership, and new program development.