Personal Narrative: My First Shift At The Children's Hospital In Costa Rica

By the way of introduction, I am Aleem Punja's cousin and he suggested I reach out to you to explore possible opportunities at the Children's Aid Society of Toronto.

My second clinical day at Mercy Defiance Hospital, progressive care unit, was overwhelming but rewarding and very educational. Through the 8 hours I was there, I learned a lot. I engaged myself in many self-directing learning practices to futher promote my professional growth. My first time interaccting with my patient,I was joined with my clinical instructor. While in the room, I got to listen to to my patients heart, lungs, and bowel sounds. I was able to see and examine the patients ostomy bag, as well as help them to the bathroom. There were ways that I can improve my professional growth, suchas,having the confidence to not second guess my self about things to do in assessments. For example, I know how to assess the lungs, I should not second guess where to listen for the sounds. One of my goals for next week dealing with professional growth would be to have the confidence to know what I have learned and use it. My second one being to go into the room with a confident attitude and believe in myself.

As a Childlife volunteer at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA I felt the warmth and fulfillment of helping others during times of ill-health. Every week I would join a team of volunteers to spend time with the children and give their parents someone to talk to. Jacob, a soft-spoken 6-year-old, stays particularly close to my heart. Living in the hospital for numerous weeks had seemed to extinguish his childish exuberance. Whenever I tried to engage him he would simply turn away with a glum look upon his face. Making sure not to reveal my inner thoughts of pity, I

On January 29, 2001 at around four o’clock in the afternoon, a beautiful little girl named Leslie Arreaga was born. It was the first time I was able to hold and see a baby so up close. When I saw her for the first time I didn’t know what to say. All I told my parents was “ I love her and she is perfect.” My parents laugh at me because I was only four years old when she was born. I just couldn’t believe that I was finally an older sister. I remember that every time a person would come in and try to hold her I would give them a look saying “ If you hurt her, I will hurt you.” Leslie was the most precious little baby I had ever seen in my little four year life. She was so chubby, with big brown eyes and a little heart shaped mouth. The day my

It was just another ordinary Thursday for my mother in the small town of Oratorio de Concepcion in rural El Salvador. Just like any other eight year old in 1980, she got up, brushed her teeth, quickly pulled her knotted hair into a high ponytail, and left for school. The short distance she walked was filled with the sounds of worn out shoes hitting the dirt road as children ran by excited to start a new day at the town’s only elementary school. After hours of sitting in a classroom surrounded by grey concrete bricks, once the last bell rang, she would wait at the entrance gate for her younger brother and cousin. They walked back down the dirt road together while kicking a deflated soccer ball to their home where their grandmother would be waiting for them with a little snack. My mother, her older

Hello class I am Brandon Jackson I’m currently living in beautiful Jacksonville, FL but I’m originally from

A unique experience that I had at Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital was that we also covered labor and delivery and the mother-baby unit. Most of our programming and interventions on these units involved bereavement and grief support, sibling education/support, and memory/legacy making. From my coursework and volunteer experiences at the University of Charleston, South Carolina, I had a solid foundational background with grief and bereavement through our child life courses, our death and dying course, our experiences with Shannon’s Hope, and our experiences with Rainbows. A family is forever changed when there is a loss of a family member, specifically a child (Pearson, 2005). A parents reaction to the death of a child greatly differs

In my travels of the world I have found myself immersed in many cultures and varieties of ethnicity; I have been very fortunate to live in a day and age where such communication and experience is possible in one lifetime. I have seen La Cathedral de Notre Dame, the Statue of Liberty, the home of Da Vinci, and so many more wonderfully spiritual and historic monuments. Yet still I can say with the utmost certainty that no location has left such a lasting impact on my soul as the quaint, simple country of Costa Rica. Although many places have penetrated me with a sense of what the majestic earth and her inhabitants are capable of and have forced me to question whether or not anything is beyond the grasp of human ingenuity, none have brought

Like many sixteen-year-olds, my first job was an exciting rite of passage. I had somehow managed to land the job of my dreams, and entered my first day overdressed, undertrained, and ill-prepared. My task seemed easy enough. As an Aftercare Therapist at an autism center, I was to work with clients across the spectrum ages two through twenty one, helping them build social skills and improve peer relations. I had some experience working with people with disabilities, through volunteer positions, Best Buddies, and aiding in the life skills classroom, and so I had a questionably large amount of confidence entering my first shift.

Sept 10 & Sept 17 Sept 24th: On the 10th, it was orientation day because it was the first day for clinical. Gretta took us around BMC. It was nice to walk around and see each floor. We go our picture taken for our ID. On the 17th and 24th, we were not allowed to be on the floor yet because our ID was not ready.

I was walking down the halls of The Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania after an appointment. Every hall had a different theme, the point being to attract the little kids, but one, in particular, had caught my eye. The waves and fish on the walls lead me to a window that glassed a room full of kids. I saw doctors with them, but they looked as if they were just playing with the kids, doing everyday things. A passing doctor caught my stare and approached me, and being at least 12 at the time, I blurted, “what is this?” The doctor went on to tell me that I was watching Occupational Therapy. He explained that not everyone can do the things I do every day, and it was the therapist’s job to help them. Being 12 at the time, I was naive to the fact

No matter how stressed or upset I feel, every time I step into the Children's Hospital of Orange County those feelings all seem to melt away. Here out of all places I find so much life and energy. Even when things are a little difficult, my "buddies" inspire me to keep going. My time spent learning their likes, dislikes, hopes, fears, and dreams drives me to try to make even the smallest difference in their lives and those of other

Lori and Scotty came to my childhood home to pick up me and my mother up. They were on their way to a doctor’s appointment for Scotty. They were worried because my half-brother was lethargic, weak, and seemed to have the flu or a cold over and over again. At this age I was unclear on what was going on and or how serious it was that he was sick all the time. All I knew was that the adults, mainly his mother, were extremely concerned about him. To me everything was the same he still looked like any other almost four year old child with his puppy dog brown eyes and soft dark curls that had never been cut. Scotty was such a happy little boy and His happiness was infectious. The smile on his face spread from his face to mine like the

As a nurse I have always found myself reluctant to work in the mother/baby unit; yet, in the last few weeks I have had an exceptional experience in the post-partum unit at Rio Grande Regional Hospital leaving me with great interest to pursue a role as a postpartum nurse. This has come with the support of several preceptors and the exceptional mission and values held by Rio Grande Regional Hospital and its staff. I have earned confidence and knowledge as well as comfort in this field of nursing. I have found this experience to be both rewarding and experiential as Rio Grande Regional Hospital and its staff ensured that my experience in their facility was fulfilling. For this paper, an analysis of the designated facility will be outlined.

Marius, a Romanian 8 year old boy, lived a life just as every other kid his age. He attended school, played with his friends and his dog, and helped his family with chores. Once the accident occurred, life changed for Marius although he was always positive during his recovery process. Both of Marius’s parents died during the accident, however, he still had a large support system. This support came from both Marius’s older sister and brother who were not home at the time of the accident. Also, the interns at the hospital provided a large amount of help to Marius as did the interns’ parents and other family members. Shriners Hospital for Children in Los Angeles as well as all of the support from teachers, home tutors, and the translator, Teodora, made the entire recovery process possible. So even though Marius did not have his parents, he still had an abundance of support and assistance.