The Social Mirror Assignment

This paper primarily explores Michael Jackson’s song, "man in the mirror." The song "man in the mirror" is inspirational about making a positive impact and personal redemption in the world. It was released in 1988. This catchy song tries to explain that changing the world is possible (Wallerstein 2). Many sociological concepts are displayed by Michael Jackson in the context of song’s lyrics. The band of the song tries to express their concerns with the actions and views of the world of the present day. Basically, the band reflects upon the world's realism as their question the mentality. This song is surrounded by the

Because of my work ethic and dedication, I am truly passionate about whatever roles and activities that I assume. I always handle the task at hand to the best of my abilities and willing to give it my all. As well as this, I am able to voice my opinions and viewpoints, which I consider to be one of the most important qualities. Along with all of those traits, my experiences have provided me the capacity to cooperate and communicate with a variety of people is also essential.

Workload of the staff nurse can be heavy and in order to decrease stress and avoid burnout, nurses must learn to prioritize. Prioritization is a skill that nurses need to obtain to make the very best use of their time. It is also important because the better nurses can manage and use their time, the less stress they will have because they can do their job when they are supposed to do it. To manage time, nurses “need to create an environment supportive of time management and patient care” (Kelly, 2008, p. 393). To help manage time, nurses must set priorities. Kelly (2008) advices nurses use the “first thing first principle.” When a nurse realizes that certain things are more urgent than others, they can better manage their time to care for their patients in the time necessary. Kelly (2008), explained that

In today’s healthcare system, nursing is a challenging field as a result of rapid technological advances and changes in healthcare policies. As a dedicated nursing professional, with a great passion for learning, I strive to stay on top of these changes. I am determined to increase my knowledge to be an instrumental part of providing quality healthcare. The demands of nursing are high; however the rewards are even higher. Nursing requires both a supreme understanding of the science of health, and a caring bedside manner befitting only those who seek a position of such a personal involvement in the well-being of a patient. Academically, I will put forth all of

According to Chater and Litchfield's study done on new graduate nurses who work in a neonatal unit at an Australian hospital, five themes: "knowing, planning, support, fulfilment, adapting and being flexible" can be utilized to help student nurses and new graduate nurses to better manage their clinical time (Chater & Litchfield, 2007).

Hogston and Simpson (2002) describe this traditional task-orientated method of nursing care as contrary to the nursing process, compromising the concept of individualised patient centred care. Price (2006) supports this view, suggesting that patient-centred care requires the nurse to be flexible and not confined to set care pathways or task-orientated methods. I complied with functional nursing and completed tasks assigned to me which Higginson (2006) states many first year nursing students do as they are preoccupied with worries about their ability to perform nursing duties. However, through this I found that I did not engage completely with the patients which according to Squire (2001) would have built a good, therapeutic and interpersonal relationship with the patients. Reflecting using Benner (1984), in terms of starting to become a proficient and capable staff nurse, I was a novice. Rather (2007) states that novices are taught rules to help them perform, and although I was not taught these rules within my first placement I still adhered to them and reflecting back I would consider my practice as limited and inflexible due to these rules. Consequently I saw managerial skills such as time management, prioritising and delegation beyond my capabilities, Hill and Howlett (2005) state feeling incapable of managing patient care is normal for a first year student nurse.

"Man in the Mirror" was written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett and co-produced by Michael Jackson, and released from the album Bad on August 31,1987 and released as a single January 16,1988 (YouTube). Siedah Garrett had an idea about a man looking in a mirror in her head for quite some time and took her ideas to her writing partner Glen Ballard. Once Garrett shared her lyric ideas, Ballard added some soulful vocals to help make the song become more powerful, which helped make the lyrics even stronger. The straightforward lyrics about making a change to yourself first caught Michael Jackson’s attention for his album Bad he was working on. “His chemistry with Garrett was so strong that he invited her to duet with him on another Bad single” (Yahoo! Music). The uplifting lyrics of making a change to yourself first, with the combination of Michael Jackson’s voice took off on the charts in no time. “Even though it wasn't a song he wrote himself, it was a message that was strongly identified with him and reflective of his own philosophies, as demonstrated through his actions and expressed in some of his own lyrics” (YouTube). “Man in the Mirror” became a world-wide hit in the late 80’s helping to inspire people to make a change within themselves and to help others.

In addition, I am thoroughly dependable with any responsibility accepted and I constantly have a positive attitude. Last but foremost, the characteristics of outstanding service apply to me as an individual because I am available and willing to offer assistance. Also, because I am a dependable and well-organized volunteer. In conclusion, I am a very responsible and dependable person and the characteristics of outstanding scholarship, citizenship, character, leadership,and service definitely apply to me as an individual.

And as future nurses, we hold a promise to being attentive students and must be open to continuous learning. We must be open to learning new skills, properly assessing the patients under our care, use of therapeutic communication skills, application of critical thinking and evaluating our performances with the patient with the guidance of the clinical instructor.

As experienced nurse, I have learned how to effectively time manage, prioritize patient care and work independently, as

“Man in the Mirror” is about a man who believes that only by changing himself will he be able to change the world. The main focus of the song is a man’s struggle to improve himself morally after witnessing his inability to impact the lives of those in need. Michael Jackson reflects on how the world around him is suffering while he lives a life of comfort, and the guilt triggers his decision to change himself so that he can eventually help the world. . The song raises up questions such as,“What purpose does an individual serve in a community? How can we bring about positive changes to the world? How can one person make a major impact in the world? “Man in the Mirror” sends a very universal message, basically telling the world to improve themselves individually so that the whole improves as a result. The discussion will focus more on the symbolical lyrics because there is a lot of straightforward vocabulary in each verse.

Upon reflection of this assignment, I must refer to my personal journey as an RN to BSN student. Currently, there is an influx of nurses returning to school at the same time and none of us have graduated yet. During my journey as an RN to BSN I have learned that changes are not as easy to implement. In addition I have grown to appreciate that I can no longer make a statement, or ask why a change is being implemented. Furthermore I have developed a sense of appreciation to learning new policies and procedures. I have become more flexible. Prior to my RN to BSN program I had no desire to be apart of any nursing committees. Over time I have developed a sense of awareness as to time management and ways to decrease feelings of burnout.

Despite so, this sense of incompetence often brings about a special link that draws me to the pawn, arguably, the weakest, most useless, invaluable and powerless piece on the board. It’s the piece that reflects ordinary people, those that aren’t significantly better than their peers and live their day to day life without a particular goal in mind. It’s also one that utilize the most basic and simplest of the rules, moving one tile at a time, always forward, and never back. Nevertheless, if it manage to reach far down it’s designated column, to the final square of the opposing side, it is raised to any piece the player desires. The pawn, a patient teacher of life, shows how underlying talents in the ordinary's only gets to shine after working

This semester has been filled with informative information when speaking about our own social skill, but also other people’s social psychology as well, thus is why it will be very useful in future. Throughout the semester we studied everything from the introduction of social psychology, social influences, aggression in psychology, and interpersonal attraction and close relationships. A lot of the knowledge that I gained was not only from the “Social Psychology” textbook, but also in the videos and the reactions that we needed to come up with on a weekly basis. I like the idea of being able to watch the video to see if the experiment was successful or unsuccessful and commenting on it by giving my opinion if I agreed or not. For me,

This self-reflective paper focuses on what I’ve learned about myself this semester regarding my strengths, and weaknesses. Concentrating on areas of my professional practice that need improvement and discussing two goals I have created for myself, and how I plan on achieving them. This semester I have discovered I have two key strengths those being a dedication to the Practical Nursing Program, and seeking help in the program when I need it. Both being potential strengths in my nursing career. I have some weaknesses to work on as a student and a future nurse.