As a child, everyday after school, my older brother, Josiah, and I would play outside until it got dark. Our favorite was racing around the neighborhood on our roller skates. Although he let me win each race, I felt invincible on my skates, and with each motion I was overwhelmed with a sense of joy and peace. We had no worries in the world, not even our sore legs stopped us from playing outside. As time went on, Josiah grew weaker and I found myself skating alone. The overwhelming joy that skating once brought seemed to grow apart and distant. Josiah was diagnosed with myotonic dystrophy, which eventually caused more health complications. I had no idea then, but hearing my mother silently cry every night as my father comforted her is what …show more content…
For the first time, I was living outside my comfort zone and apart from my family in one of the largest cities of the world. I was so absorbed into the culture and every new experience around me that it became a distraction to my studies. To my regret, that semester took a toll on my GPA, however, I gained independence, interpersonal skills and friends all around the world. The semester I returned from studying abroad was the toughest semester for me, and it is evident from seeing my grades suffer. I felt the need to catch up with my peers, so I took more classes than I could handle. Eventually it caused me to lose focus and motivation in school. I began to question myself if I was studying in the right field and I spent that semester searching for the right …show more content…
I took care of a patient named Rose, she was a sweet old lady in her early nineties and was admitted into the rehabilitation floor of the facility due to a hip fracture. Rose was a happy person and pleasant to be around. Few weeks later, Rose began to decline after she got an infection of her salivary glands. After refusing to eat or drink all day, I mixed vanilla ice cream and milk remembering milkshake was her favorite. To her family’s surprise, Rose finished it and jokingly asked for more. I remember her youngest daughter thanking me with tears in her eyes, knowing her mother did not have much time left. As a CNA, I am blessed to be the person to give comfort and care to patients during the last days of their lives and provide simply joys in life, like milkshakes. As a PA, I will continue to provide patients the best care possible, but at another level. Surely there are many gratifications in life, but for me none is greater than being a part of one’s health care team. It is in healing and helping patients that I find the peace I once had growing up skating with my big brother,
The nursing discipline embodies a whole range of skills and abilities that are aimed at maximizing one’s wellness by minimizing harm. As one of the most trusted professions, we literally are some’s last hope and last chance to thrive in life; however, in some cases we may be the last person they see on earth. Many individuals dream of slipping away in a peaceful death, but many others leave this world abruptly at unexpected times. I feel that is a crucial part to pay attention to individuals during their most critical and even for some their last moments and that is why I have peaked an interest in the critical care field. It is hard to care for someone who many others have given up on and how critical care nurses go above and beyond the call
A week before Christmas in 2013, my stepfather suddenly lost consciousness. His body stiffened and he began to violently convulse – he was having a seizure. Later in the hospital, the doctors informed us that my stepdad had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. The anguish that I felt that night was eased by a nurse who talked to my family about my stepfather’s condition and assured us that the hospital would do everything that they can to assist him with recovery. The next few weeks were filled with uncertainty as my stepdad laid comatose, no knowledge of when or even if he would wake up. During that time, my interactions with the nurses always made me feel safe and comforted Unfortunately, he passed away in January 2014. Though this was a traumatic and life altering experience, what I remember most are the nurses that provided care to my stepfather. They went above and beyond their outlined job duties to care for my loved one and to make my family feel secure even in such a difficult time.
In staging reality, setting is critical for both Chad and Undine’s performances. In expatriate fiction, Europe is associated with more freedom than Puritanical America and is used as a medium for performers to present and explore both themselves and cultural and social differences between their home in America and abroad. In Going Abroad, William Stowe suggests that Europe is a space in which higher class and non-essential laborers can “prepare for or advance their careers” (Stowe 7). As a continent with a vast collection of cultural goods, Europe conflicts with the barren American landscape. Acquiring a “Europeanized” persona helps Undine and Chad to gain experience that they employ at home, and cultural accumulation provides an advantage
I pray that the busyness of life, the tasks that need to be done, the science of healthcare, sleep deprivation, or monotony will never cloud the love and compassion that I have for people. Personally, I love making connections with people. I love giving people a chance to tell their stories. During my nursing practice, I foresee that I will do my best to be the most caring nurse possible. The responsibility lays within each individual nurse as to the level of caring and compassion that they bring to carrying out their nursing duties. I will continually choose to focus on the needs of my patients above my own. Displaying empathy, I will strive to put myself in each one of their shoes and make self-reflection a priority. I foresee that I will do whatever is within my power to enhance trust, comfort, happiness, and wellness for my patients. This may look like spending extra time with a patient, visiting a patient when I’m off-duty, providing emotional or spiritual resources to a patient, respecting a patient’s beliefs and values, providing for any physical needs or extra comfort measures, or just lending a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. My patients will always know that they are not
Through the traumatic experience of my father’s illness, a positive and optimistic perspective of commitment to nursing career evolved. My journey of becoming a nurse and commitment of shining a bright light on another individual life has been my life long goal. I moved to the United States in early 1980 and with God help and guidance, I followed the nursing career and promised to make a small difference. During my first years as a nursing student, I took a part-time volunteered position as a candy-stripe and a part-time position as a nurse aid in a community hospital to provide relief and support to hospital staffs. I rocked and read poems for babies in the nursery, as a nurse aid I assist nurses with vital signs, blood pressures, fill ice pitchers in patient rooms, runs specimens to labs and sit with patients in the room and feed patients. I still volunteer in my hospital oncology department and the underserved and homeless clinics with several Emory physicians at the Good Samaritan Health Center, Mercy Care and National AIDS Education and Services for Minorities (NAESM) all in Fulton County, Ga, because it gave me fulfillment and appreciative of life
“A test of a people is how it behaves toward the old. It is easy to love children. But the affection and care for the old, the incurable, the helpless, are the true gold mines of a culture.” –Abraham Joshua Heschel. I decided to do my senior project on becoming a certified nursing assistant because I believe CNA’s go beyond their limits for their patients. This is in honor of all CNA’s who work hard to care for the sick and elderly.
After visiting my grandparents several times I began to explore the hospital floor. Although shy at first, I began to talk with the patients and better understand their situations and difficulties. Each patient had his or her unique experiences. This diversity sparked an interest to know each patients individualized story. Some transcended the normal capacity to live by surviving the Holocaust. Others lived through the Second World War and the explosive 1960’s. It was at this time I had begun to service the community. Whenever a patient needed a beverage like a soda from the machine or an extra applesauce from the cafeteria, I would retrieve it. If a patient needed a nurse I would go to the reception desk and ask for one. Sometimes I played checkers or chess with them during lunch break. I also helped by mashing their food to make it easier to swallow. Soon, however, I realized that the one thing they devoured most and had an unquenchable thirst for was attention and the desire to express their thoughts and feelings. Through conversing and evoking profoundly emotional memories, I bel...
I found a job as CNA for the patient who had disabilities. One patient in particular changed the direction of my life and started me thinking about working in medicine. I took care of an older woman who was unable to ambulate due to her diagnosis of stroke. She experienced chronic weakness of bilateral lower extremity so I supported her with my arms to steady her. When I looked into her eyes, I could feel her saying, “you truly care about me, understand me, and thank you for taking the time to sense my expression and desire.” That’s the care all of us have deep inside, where our motives no longer become self-seeking but other-seeking. This care has the power to exponentially change that person’s life and the lives of others. It is true that other patients helped me decide to go into medicine, but Stacy had the biggest impact in my
When I was just 11 years old, I fractured my ankle playing basketball at the local park. The pain was white-hot and excruciating. I was reduced to a sobbing, blubbering, mess and unrecognizable upon my arrival the doctor’s office. After the diagnosis and subsequent surgery, I was placed on crutches and barred from participating in physical activity for at least six weeks. This was paramount to torture for my 11 year-old energetic and hyper-active self. Seeing my friends run around short of breath because of their own intoxicating laughter was bittersweet at best. One evening at the local park, I was just about ready to go insane until I surveyed my immediate surroundings and noticed a couple of kids my age sitting at a wooden table a couple of feet
After completing registered nursing school in 2006, a few years later, I obtained a bachelor’s of Science in Nursing in 2016. Over the last 10 years, I have tried to look for inefficient procedures, finds ways to streamline them, and consistently have striven to boost the productivity of everyone around me. Working as a nursing supervisor an area hospital for the last 3 years, I have tried to promote healthy patient outcomes. I understand the need for procedures but I also try to maximized the time spent educating the patients and family. By allowing time for good explanations to both the patient and family development of an understanding their disease process can occur. This empowers them to make informed decisions and promote health improvements. Throughout my career in nursing, I have tried to successfully communicate and partner with other members in
... out for each patient to make sure they are okay and to do whatever they need to make sure they continue living healthily. I’m very passionate about my future as a nurse and have great intentions towards my education. It won’t be easy and I don’t expect it to be. There’s no looking back for me now. I know I’ve chosen the right profession and I’ll continue to have such enthusiasm about my future. I hope one day, I can fulfill my dreams of becoming a nurse and give back to the community.
Nurses are an equally important part of each client’s life. Nurses provide stable care to each client, answers their questions, gives medications and treatments, and assists with medical procedures. They also have the responsibility to explain to clients and family members what they should and should not do as they go through treatment and recovery. Nurses must quickly respond to patients needs. Every individual nurse has his or her own unique way of caring. There are so many ways to show caring that the possibilities are never ending. Nurse’s support, comfort, and help allow the patients to recover to the best of their ability. Their experiences in dealing with different patients that have unique situations on a daily basis helps the nurses become better caregivers. Therefore, every nurse is capable of demonstrating care in their respective environments.
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 someone at face value and inspected him or her physically. While interacting with my patient I felt as if I was taking to my grandmother, it was very comfortable and easy. Her neurological assessment was good, she had eye contact with me, was able to follow some simple commands such as showing me her hands and squeezing my fingers. Being in the nursing home-made me feel like there was so much medical information to acquire, I viewed it as my own personal practice space for my nursing skills. When taking with my patient she reflected on her life a bit and her stories made me get emotional. The Patient, admitted to the nursing home as a permanent resident after the death of her husband.
Imagine walking onto a plane and travelling 3,000 miles across the ocean to spend the first semester of your college career in a completely different place than you’ve lived your entire life. Well, that was something that I personally experienced about two years ago. I got accepted to Arcadia University, and into their “FYSAE” (First Year Study Abroad Experience) Program. It was probably the most exciting, yet nerve-wracking thing that I had ever done in my life. I got on a plane and went to the UK for a full four months as a new freshman in college. When I was leaving my home, family, friends, and job I was anxious and sad to be leaving, but once I arrived in the UK I could not contain my excitement. I studied at Stirling University in Stirling, Scotland. The semester that I studied abroad was probably the best time of my life. In those four short months, I experienced a different culture, ate new foods, made lifelong friends, travelled to other places, learned to understand an accent that sounds like a whole other language, and learned to be independent. I accomplished all this while learning and taking a full course load (and getting good grades) at the university.
Have you ever thought about studying abroad? No, not just for a few months for your work-experience, but a whole year (or longer) as a transfer-student. Of course, you don’t make such a decision from one minute to the next. It needs to be thought over well. Going to college is a big change in your life because it usually means living on your own for the first time, but as a foreign student it is even a bigger change because you are on your own in another country. This is often the greatest concern for students to go abroad: to leave everything behind. They have trouble leaving their family and the familiar environment. They think this price is just too high. But if they only knew how rich they will be when they come back.