Personal Narrative: My Work Experience As A Registered Nurse

For my Project Life presentation, I chose to do mine on a registered nurse. The reason I chose to do mine on a registered nurse is because I love to help people. When I help people, it gives me a great feeling. A registered nurse is a nurse who has graduated from a college's nursing program or from a school of nursing and has passed a national licensing exam. In order to be a registered nurse you must have either your associates or bachelors degree. You can get a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), if you want to advance in the profession. You can also get a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), it may lead to advances such as: Clinical Nurse Specialist, Anesthetist Nurse, Mid-wife Nurse, or a Nurse Practitioner.

As a Nurse Educator, one of my duties is to take students to Truman for clinical experiences. During assessments and problem solving, I noticed most of the senior students couldn’t critical think or problem solve. Research was completed on best practices for problem solving in nursing. As an instructor I begin to utilize the Problem-Based Learning Method in regards to enhancing and improving critical thinking and problem solving skills. Evidence shows that more students suffer with clinical decision making due to lack of critical thinking and problem-solving (Hamdan, Li Kwan, Khan, Ghafar, & Sihes, 2014). The process was first experimented on my own group of nursing students during our clinical days. The steps involved consist of the follow:

I’ve never imagined myself actually taking a CNA class as a junior in high school. Since elementary I always said I wanted to become a doctor, and after maturing and researching how long it would take, I changed my mind. So therefore I set my goal to either become a Registered Nurse or Nurse Practitioner. When I found out I met the credentials for this class, I went for it and encouraged my fellow friends to join as well.

A recent nursing graduate seeking for a role to utilise my effective communication and interpersonal skills, medical theoretical knowledge and compassion to develop partnerships with individuals to ultimately help and make positive changes to their lives and to your hospital. In addition, seeking to consolidate and expand my clinical skills as a new graduate nurse in the perioperative program. I believe that I am honest, hard-working, professional, dedicated to learning and strives to provide high-quality best patient care in fast-paced environments.

In five years my life will be completely different than it is now. I'll be around twenty three years old just starting my job as an RN nurse probably in the emergency department, hopefully for the kids. To get here, though I would need my bachelors in science and nursing not an associate since, associate degrees aren't as common in nursing anymore then like they are used to be. The jobs along the way will not be fun for the first couple years is going to be nothing but pushing dead bodies around, probably butt wiping people who can't anymore, and from my dad caring body parts that fell off from whatever. I'll hate most of it, but to get where I want i will endure all of the pain and suck it up because I am going to one day be a pediatrician.

I actually have a similar experience like you. I have a patient during my first semester that she was constantly in nervous/panic mood and always talk about how she wants to go home. I remembered the previous shift nurse and the nurse I followed have the same expressions and saying how the patient was just missing her alcohol (they were thinking she is alcoholic even though her medical record did not indicate she was a drinker). Anyway because we were taught to be non-judgmental on our patient, I decided to talk to the patient about why she was panic and wanted to go home. It ends up the patient is not alcoholic but she just don’t like to be in the hospital and constantly thinking about she may not be about to go home after all. I think many

Initially I was very apprehensive in sharing the truth behind what ultimately made me decide to return to school to become a nurse. This would entail reliving both joyful and painful memories of my life which I believe to have mapped out the path that I was meant to follow. I was a young, stay at home mom for many years. being the full time primary care giver to my three children was the most rewarding experience of my life. reflecting back I have found remarkable similarities in the traits and skills of mothers and nurses. many of these characteristics are utilized by nurses with each and every patient they encounter . These include but are not limited to compassion , empathy, prioritization, dedication, understanding nonverbal communication.

It was very challenging to do much of anything because my body was so weak from the hit and from being on medication. I was not put on a catheter, so anytime I needed to use the restroom I had to wait for a nurse to come to my room and put a bedpan under me. It was a very uncomfortable situation because I don’t even change or use the restroom in front of my dog and now these people, who are complete strangers, are watching me while I use the restroom. My last day at the hospital was very hard. I had to go to physical therapy, where I had to hop up several steps only using my left leg and railing to help me. It may not seem like it was hard but when your body is so weak it is. When the nurses brought in the crutches for me to use I was so weak

head had crowned and the doctor looked down at me and asked me a shocking question. “Kodi,

At 8am the doctor came by to do another check and I was now at 5cm. I wanted to have a natural birth and to experience labor as it is. Before this visit I asked for nitrus oxide to get me through labor. The nurse came in a few minutes later and got me set up with the nitrus and it was such a relief! As long as I kept the mask intact and took long deep breaths the contractions felt mild and were bearable. My nurses name was Diane and she was fantastic. Diane wasn't like the other nurses whom I encountered. She was kind and personable and I can honestly say she made everything a little easier.

Throughout my time as a registered nurse I have experienced many obstacles and heavy workloads.

I’ve been through a lot of changes throughout these years. My hair has changed from curly to straight and it’s color has changed multiple times, I have got braces and teeth have gotten straighter. I have gotten more mature over the years and my body has grown. What I want to do in the future has changed too. When I was younger I wanted to be a doctor. Then I wanted to work with animals, and wanted to go into the army. Now I’m set on becoming a nurse. I am going to be going to college for this. I will learn everything I need to know about being a nurse, get whatever degrees I need to get, and just go from there to become a nurse.

Working as a nursing assistant for over 4 years has provided me with several humbling experiences. My position, for instance, allows me to spend the most time with patients. Yet, the time spent with them does not just entail care, mostly it is filled with conversing.

The nurse gestured for me to come closer. I took a few steps forward and she leaned towards me and whispered, “Try holding her hand. You’ll help her feel more at ease.” I was a little hesitant but I did as I was told and took the patient’s hand. I felt her hand mold into a strong grip around mine without hesitation. While the patient’s grip never lessened on my hand, sometimes it would clench up for a moment before slowly relaxing again. The rest of the staff was busy following the surgeon’s directions, moving quickly around the room. I felt uncomfortable being the only one standing still, doing nothing. So I glanced at the patient. She was breathing hard with her eyes closed, her hand still securely around mine. My hand was starting to hurt, so I tried to ease it out of her grip. But as the patient winced in pain, she grabbed my hand even more strongly.

My decision to be a nurse started unknowingly when I was a child. My earliest memories of my mother involve her poor health and me being her caretaker. She was sick my whole life with mental health issues and Lupus. I was never sure how my mom was going to feel day to day. I loved my mother, but as her health declined, her depression was getting worse and this lead to a pretty miserable childhood. I remember some of the worst moments as a teenager were talking my mom out of killing herself or trying to wake her up after taking too many pills. My mom passes away when I was in LVN school I knew my life experience and pain would be the key to my nursing career. I now work in mental health and can’t wait to get my RN to help more people and families.