The First Clinical Experience
On an early morning in April, my friends and I arrived 45 minutes early to our long term care facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. The three of us anxiously awaited stepping foot into the care facility as we had no idea what was to come. I began to wonder what the patients would be like and how I would care for them. Consequently, I could feel my heart pounding as I was afraid of hurting the residents and not promoting healing from their ailments. I didn’t know what illnesses or diseases would place individuals in the healthcare unit in the facility. That terrified me. I wanted to know everything I could about the residents prior to stepping foot in the building, but that knowledge wasn’t attainable. While trying to process my fears, I was thinking of the quote from Maya Angelou that says, “As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the heart, mind, soul and body of our patients, their families and ourselves. They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” This lack of knowledge scared me; however, I knew that regardless of what placed the residents on the unit, I would care for them with respect and compassion.
Eventually the time rolled around to walk in the front door, and I was shaking with nerves. My learning community of ten students and our instructor walked into the building, through many hallways, and onto the unit—our first nursing unit. We quietly walked through the center room, which intersected the four
In some point in time, during a person’s life they run into the question what do I want to be? They must find a career that they will enjoy or the time that they have spent in class and studying will be in vain. While doing research on the Georgia Career Information Center and from the constant idea throughout my life I have decided that I want to become a registered nurse. The type of work environment, the salary that the job provides and flexibility with work hours are all things that have drawn me to this occupation. I want to specialize in Neonatal. I have always enjoyed caring for people and making a difference to someone. When you become a nurse these are just some of the things that you are able to accomplish. Becoming a registered
A number of emotions were felt during this experience, in regards to transitioning from a student nurse to the registered nurse role. Primarily, the transition in role from student nurse to registered nurse was similar to any clinical experience I have had at Midlands Technical College. I was placed in a medical-surgical rotation. I felt slighted that not only were we required to complete a data tool but we also participated in the teamwork model demonstrated in prior semesters. Personally, I did not feel a transition during this particular clinical experience.
The role of a family nurse practitioner is a fundamental portion of the future of healthcare. The role is clearly not as understood by other healthcare professionals as needed which results in the disagreement if the role of a family nurse practitioner is even required for primary care. As people are getting older, the need for medical professionals that can provide patient care to our ever growing population increases. The need for the role of family nurse practitioners will grow too. The role of the family nurse practitioner, the ability of the FNP to be able to transition into their role.
Transitioning from nursing school to working in a hospital setting can be a challenging time for a new graduate. Due to the nursing shortage, new graduate nurses are being hired with little to no experience. This is overwhelming for new nurses, especially when they are not getting adequate support or training from the hospital. The amount of stress, pressure, and lack of training is leading to a high turnover rate for new graduate nurses. With patient acuity on the rise, new graduate nurses that are filling these vacancies in the hospitals, need to be competent nurses to provide proper and safe care to the patients.
We live in a world where the human race seems to be disconnected. Nowadays it feels that there are not enough people helping each other. I don’t treat life like a competition I look at it and I ask myself how may I help? What may I do to make this world a more suitable place for all to live a comfortable and peaceful life? I yearn to come forward and fulfill my role and contribute to our society in any way possible. Nursing is my calling for helping others. It sounds cliché, this I know, but it’s what I desire and what I decided to do with my body, mind, and soul.
As I prepare for my first classes in nursing school, I recognize my unique position to examine the values that I will bring into my nursing career. Without any experience, my values remain relatively unshaped regarding healthcare. In contrast, the values of nurses who have already accumulated a variety of experiences tend to be more nuanced and informed. For this exercise, I met with one of these experienced nurses—CC, a cardiac-catheterization laboratory nurse who just welcomed her third child. Together, CC and I explored the differences in our upbringings, how we were each sucked into nursing, and how our values have changed throughout different life experiences. Above all, I intended to delve into the story of her fifteen-year career in order to discover how an experienced nurse philosophizes patient care.
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.
As of 2008, there were about 753,600 Licensed Practical Nurses and 2,618,700 Registered Nurses in the United States (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11). In the year 2018, the LPN employment percentage is expected to rise 21% while the RN rate should be approximately 22% (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11). This may not seem that high, but it is, when one considers that the expected employment rate for a Dentist is only expected to be 16% (U.S Department of Labor, 2010-11). Nursing is a highly respected and sought after career because every person that enters this profession is able to make a difference and is needed by the general population for his/her skills and contributions to the medical field. When a person is contemplating entering
The following essay is a reflective account on an event that I, a student nurse encountered whilst on my second clinical placement in my first year of study. The event took place in a Fountain Nursing Home in Granite City. I have chosen to give thought to the event described in this essay as I feel that it highlights the need for nurses to have effective communication skills especially when treating patients that are suffering with a mental illness. Upon arriving to the Nursing home for the second time on Thursday November 14,2013; assigned the same patient as before. On meeting my patient the first thing I noticed myself doing without even thinking about it was giving her a visual inspection. Before nursing school I never really looked at
Do you want to help save a life in the medical field but not do all the dirty work? Well being a nurse anesthetist is the perfect job for you. You get to be involved with the surgery and you don't need to even touch the insides of another person. Betty Horton, a experienced CRNA, says “Beings a nurse anesthetist is the best job you could ever have. It started my life off and made other things in my life accomplishable.” There are 170,400 jobs available to become a nurse anesthetist. That means there is 170,400 opportunities to help save someone's life. I believe that college is important in order to become a successful nurse anesthetist.
In the corner of the small hospital room stood a shy little girl. “You shouldn't be in here, honey”, my mother said as she nudged me out of the room where my grandfather lay dying. At the time, I couldn't understand the enormity of the situation. Ignorant to what was happening around me, my innocent mind fled with curiosity. The beeping of the machines and the soft quick steps of nurses captivated my attention. I was fascinated with this strange new world. This is the moment that sparked my desire to become someone great; a nurse.
During many years the role of school nurse was traditionally viewed as one where the nurse cared for students that were injured, applied bandages and gave out ice bags. Throughout the years the role of the school nurse has evolved into one of leadership and management along with many other duties including traditional roles as mentioned above. The services provided by a school nurse range from assessment and screening to coordinating care for regular students as well as students with special needs. School nursing requires experience and knowledge in school, public, community and emergency health to meet the many needs of school aged children and youth. The school nurse provides many services but the basic services provided include
The standards of practice describe a competent level of nursing care as exhibited by the critical thinking model known as the nursing process. This practice includes the areas of assessment, diagnosis, outcome identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The nursing process includes significant actions taken by registered nurses (RN) and forms the foundation of the nurse’s decision-making (“American Nurses Association,” 2010).
"A RN's day is never typical or predictable. 12 hour shifts, 3 days a work week, and sometimes they would go through the night. Always have to be critically thinking to be prepared for any and all new situations to arise. Never always one on one with someone for the whole shift but a good portion was in direct patient care for about 90% of the time and the rest was paperwork."
It was an unpleasantly early morning in the hospital waiting room. Nurses buzzed around, busy attending to their patients while a faint beeping sound could be heard in the background. I was starting my second shift of the day at the hospital, just finishing working a shift in the dark, grimy morgue. Groggy, I sat down at my desk to begin another four hours of labor. My position was to assure that the paper work was properly completed and that all patients were attended too. While being a supervising nurse was a great responsibility, it left time to day dream.