Verbatim Reflection

It assisted me in how to look closely at my journey, vocation, devotional and meditational times. As I take on this journey trying my best to stay on path with God, who will lead me in a righteous way I plan to stay close to him. What is my journey consisted of? Paying attention to my call, make sure I am aware that it is a journey that I will not along in, but I will always feel like I am in the presences of God.

for
having
wept
in
my
presence.
Their
apprehensions
caused
the
others
that
came
to
see
us
to
give

During my preparation, I was able to discover more about my true self. It was as if I was looking at myself from above. I deepened my faith and felt closer to God every moment I heard something new.

Throughout my clinical experiences, there have been quite a few circumstances I have been placed in that have remained with me whether good or bad. All of them have been learning experiences for me whether it is how to improve and to do better next time from a mistake, for me to learn that this is or is not how a patient should be treated, how to handle family situations, and many others. One experience that I was able to participate in that will remain with me because I had not experienced this before was during my critical care rotation in the fall of 2015. This patient was dying and we were implementing comfort care for him.

First of all, I recognized that I was dealing with humans, and not just dealing with a disease process and application of the nursing process in the aspect of restoring patient health. I was dealing with emotions, and families, and cultural beliefs that influenced individual’s aspects of care. I started to see that health did not just incorporate healing the disease, but also recognized the importance of making sure patient’s felt that their

In observing James (the paramedic) carry out a first aid attendance to a patient, Sally, who is 28-weeks pregnant, I was able to identify a range of Therapeutic Communication techniques and have gained to appreciate the significance of Self-Awareness and what it means to be patient-centred.

It was another restless Friday afternoon in the small-town nursing home. Overworked nurses buzzed around, itching to start their weekend. “Ann,” a late-stage dementia patient, stared out her bedroom window. Her eyes focused on nothing in particular. As a hospice volunteer, I had been visiting Ann for three months. She spent our time together lost somewhere in her mind where I could never seem to reach her. I reminded Ann who I was and began one of our familiar conversation topics. As usual, she never spoke. As the visit went on, however, something changed. Ann slowly shifted her gaze toward me. I paused. She gently reached for my hand. Her hand felt weak, but her grip was firm. She looked into my eyes, and for a moment her face was clear with recognition. “You’re here,” she said. “…You are here.” She struggled to get out the words as she brought my hand to her face and kissed it. I was so touched I could not speak. For a moment, Ann connected with me. She trusted me. In that moment, I knew I had made the right choice.

spiritual practice, this piece was meant to offer viewers a means of being closer to their

He felt that the facility had excellent teamwork compared to other locations he had previously visited. The patient shared stories of previous hospital visits, which demonstrated that he understood what good teamwork looked like and what bad teamwork looked like. He shared a story about a hospital in Texas that did not listen to him or his mother. During their time at this hospital they frequently told nurses and physicians that he was allergic to a certain type of medicine. However, due to their lack of care and attention, he became deathly sick as a result of their mistake in providing him the wrong medication. Throughout the story he said that that hospital “almost killed him and that they were idiots”. This example shows how important it is to listen to the patients and their caregivers, due to the fact that they provide valuable insight to a care team. In addition, they are the ones who determine the type of care they receive, so they must be well informed on the care team’s plans.

It was powerful and reminded me of the feelings with which I responded to When Breath Becomes Air. Written by Atul Gawande, another surgeon, this book talked about end of life care and the current state of healthcare for the elderly that was wreaking havoc on our society. Coincidentally, I was also working at a nursing home in a dementia unit and was already starting to form my own ideas about this industry that was essentially, in my experience, trying to fill beds to meet a quota regardless of how a resident may impact the daily lives of others. The people managing our facility simply did not seem to care as long as they were making money. Some of the same concerns were voiced by Gawande, as he shared stories of people he knew as they approached the ends of their lives and the injustices they faced. Working at a nursing home softened my heart; it truly made me take a step back and analyze what it means to be truly human. We are human until the end and no amount of memory loss or aging should alter how others treat us. Just as having the real-life experience of working in this context, reading Gawande’s insights (as well as Kalinithi’s) made me take a more honest and determined approach to my writing. Most of the writing I have done in the past year have been self-reflections. I took a class in which I taught Spanish and we had weekly questions to reflect upon. I found myself thinking more deeply about the

January 11, 2017 at 8:30 am, I met with Dr. Montgomery my (preceptor/ Mentor) and the Director Rich, the head of pastoral service to discuss my participation in the practicum and what my goals were for the practicum. Both Dr. Montgomery and Director Rich

People's shared experiences help them to connect and relate to others. This story is told in a semi-casual and personal tone which is crucial to the delivery and take away from said story. The story allows

Our family’s life is completely different than others due to my mom’s disease, but I have known no other way of living. My mother has had M.S. since she was in college, so I was born into a world with motorized scooters and walkers and extra precautions. This is my norm. And while other people may pity my mother and our family, I see no reason to be down. I could spend all my time harping on the drawbacks and my ”missed opportunities,“ but what fun would that be? I will always find the silver lining.

September 15 was a day I won’t forget I was scared for my friend Donavin he was 13 and had to get surgery on his neck, he had a 50% of making it through the surgery. I sat in the waiting room for what seemed like days, I ended up sleeping on the floor of the waiting room to get good or bad news. It was 5:00 pm when the nurse can in I got out of my seat as my sister held my hand tight. “He made it through the surgery would you like to see him” the nurse said. Without saying anything to the nurse, I ran to the room and opened the door with tears, my eyes waiting to see his face. I walked over and saw him sleeping, I layed next to him and hugged him like I have not seen him in forever, I was glad to see him doing well. By wanting to stay with a friend in the hospital, I was showing that I cared for that person. The characters of Sandra from “Geraldo no last name” and Liesel from the book thief showed that they care about people they don’t know.

As I gazed around the church I was able to see love and an abundance of warmth generating from the elder parents to the young within the chapel. The service although I was unable to understand it, promoted an overwhelming feeling of acceptance and respect from those around me as we engaged in the reading of the scriptures, songs being sung and the blessings being given to all those asking. The parishioners beamed with an elation of learning the word of Christ, and did not make me feel as if I were an outcast; those seated around me apologized for their children, and guided me to receive the message from the priest. The emotional response I have for the people of the church was an elated since of hospitality and acceptance, which I thought would not be give; a preconceived idea. From the moment I arrived I was able to feel as if I belonged in the church family, the feelings of inadequacy faded. I found that being engaged within this experience has challenged me as an individual to become more open to those I am the most uncomfortable, have little knowledge, or preconceived images of, in other words judge from the inside not from the outside, take a leap and learn whole heartedly about those I know nothing about. The challenges I faced where to put aside whatever misconceptions and prejudices I have from my personal beliefs, values and experiences and be