I liked the theme that I had because I am familiar with it and I find it easy to navigate. I changed the writing in my home page and also edited the About Me page by changing my paragraph and adding pictures. I also added my resume to the tool bar and made sure that a person from the outside looking at my portfolio would be able to navigate it.
Author: aboilard (Page 2 of 6)
During this interview I learned so much about my grandma’s time as an oncology nurse. She shared many stories explaining all she has done for the nursing community, which gave me a greater insight into how much of a leader she really is. My grandma said she knew she wanted to be a nurse since she was 5 years old because she always loved to care for people. Once she fulfilled her dream of becoming a nurse and realized she wanted to do oncology, her love for it pushed her to get more involved. At Cooley Dickinson Hospital my grandma started a cancer care support group, cancer care fund, and a celebration of life. The cancer support group was held in the hospital, and she would have patients and families come and surround themselves with people going through the same thing. She wanted to do this to make the patients and their families feel less isolated and alone. In the hospital, patients would have to pay to watch TV and other activities they should not have to pay for. When they are in the hospital for a long-time getting cancer treatment, they are going to want to do anything they can to distract themselves. With that my grandma created the cancer care fund where people or past patients would donate to the fund and it would cover any of those types of expenses in the hospital. The celebration of life was held in her back yard, and she would have patients and families come who have beat cancer and are on the path of recovery. Also, outside of the hospital she would tutor new grad nurses to help them pass the NCLEX. She was also once the women of the year in Northampton MA while all of this was going on. I am very honored and proud to have her as my grandma.
When I asked my grandma to describe what she feels a leader is, she said she felt her views were much different from some of her peers and most of her superiors. She felt that her superiors would say that a “good nurse” would get all their care and paperwork done within a timely manner or before the time that it is due. She feels a “good nurse” and a leader is someone that fights for the patient’s and their families’ rights, advocate for them to collogues, and stay true to your own beliefs as a nurse. With that being said, this has led her to come into conflicts in her work life. During most of her time as a nurse, she would stay late after her shift is over to hold the cancer support group and would spend hours unpaid at the hospital trying to make patient’s lives better. While she was at work, she would make sure to spend free time getting to know the patient and their family and making sure that they were always satisfied and felt heard. She has had to report other nurses for treating patient’s poorly and she would always be on the lookout. Eventually, the hospital hired a new oncologist who would get angry with my grandma for staying past the end of her shift and coming in on her days off. She would also get angry at my grandma for not getting her paperwork done fast enough when she was in with patient’s trying to form relationships with them. Due to this situation and her beliefs, my grandma thought it was best to step away from nursing. She felt that if she could not be in an environment that would allow her to be the nurse that she wanted to be, then she could not be there at all.
My grandma is very strong willed and always stood up for what she believed in. She was always self-aware and socially aware when it came to the hospital and management. I was surprised with some of the stories she was telling me just because I did not know them, however I am not surprised that she did any of that because she has the biggest heart and is the most selfless person. I have always looked up to my grandma and I will continue to look up to her. Her story has motivated me to want to get more involved in whatever unit I end up working on. This has also reminded me that the patient and their families are the priority when you are at work and better care will be given if I take the time to develop a relationship with them. I hope to be half the nurse that she was one day.
Out of all the ATI CAT exams I have taken so far this semester, I feel as though this one went the best for me mentally. It was helpful that I am currently in the class, so it allowed me to think back on what we have learned. I feel most confident with maternity information than the other subjects, however there were still some questions that I had to guess and use my best judgement on. Throughout the ATI exams I have taken, I have been trying to improve on keeping my focus and using my critical thinking skills for questions I am unsure of. My SMART goal from the last exam was to be able to identify when I need to take a step back and regain focus before I continued with the exam. I feel that I am improving on that, however there are times where I should have taken a break even if it was for a few minutes or to get up and stretch. I am getting better at recognizing when I need a break and when I am losing focus, I just felt motivated to get this exam done. I need to improve on figuring out when the best time to take the exam is, so I would be able to take it with no distractions or having to stop. I want to try to take the test as if I were taking the NCLEX with no distractions at all.
Regarding SMART goals for my next assessment, I want to be able to figure out the best time to take the exam, so it can mimic the NCLEX. I will measure this by looking back on my experience taking the test once it is completed. I would figure out if I took it in the right place and at a time where I am able to put 100% of my focus in. This seems like a reasonable goal, and I will implement this in the next exam that I take. I am hoping that acting like I am taking an NCLEX exam will motivate me to do my best.
When this project was announced, I immediately knew who I would want to choose to interview as a nurse leader. Throughout nursing school, and even before I came here to school my maternal grandmother has been supporting my love for nursing. She has been the biggest support system for me as I went through school especially these past two years. She has helped me with assignments, given me confidence, and has been able to calm me down when I was left feeling like I should give up. The stories she has told me regarding her experience as an oncology nurse and how she would help new nurses study for the NCLEX, made me look up to her even more. It is very interesting hearing the stories she shares because of how much health care and hospital settings have changed since she was a nurse. She is an amazing person and was an amazing nurse and I hope that one day I could be half the nurse that she is.
Since I have had the honor of growing up with her in my life, I have been able to observe qualities and characteristics that she has that makes her a leader. She is a mother of 6 children and has many grandchildren. She puts all of us before herself and has so much compassion and empathy for everyone. She is hard working and did everything she could to support her 6 daughters as they grew up. If any of her children or grandchildren have a problem, she is able to critically think and step in to try to help fix it, she is a natural leader. As an experienced nurse, she would tutor new grad nurses to help them pass the NCLEX and get them as prepared as she could. My grandfather would say that she taught them so well that even he could take practice exams and pass them. I find that so inspirational that she went out of her way to help new grad nurses in my position succeed. I feel as though she is a perfect example as a nurse leader.
Although I have talked to my grandmother about some of her experiences as a nurse, I am looking forward to learning more. We have yet to dive in on how culture and structure in a clinical setting has changed over the years, and I am very interested in learning more about that. I am also excited to learn more about how she was a leader in her own workplace. I want to ask her about a time she felt hopeless due to a situation or an accumulation of situations at work and how she got out of it. I would also like to know if she ever helped a colleague who is struggling in the workforce and how she did it. These are all situations I may encounter, and I am so honored to be able to have this conversation with her and learn from it.
She never had a formal leadership position where she had structure, authority, or power over anyone in a clinical setting. She was an informal leader that made a difference in the nursing/ clinical world when she did not have any authority over anyone in her setting. She genuinely loved doing what she did and loved and still loves to help people wanting to get into the field. I have no doubt that she will continue have my back throughout my job search, studying for the NCLEX, and beginning my new job.
I was nervous to take this ATI adaptive exam because there are so many medications and we had taken pharmacology so long ago. I was surprised to see how many medications that I remembered and recognized. Even though I may have recognized some drugs, it did not mean that I knew the correct information needed in order to answer the question. I need to work on looking over medications and the information that goes along with each one. When thinking about the medications I find myself getting overwhelmed due to all the information but based on the questions asked I feel as though I should focus on any big take aways from each medication. For example, some medications have major side effects, and some have major contraindications or react with a certain drug. These are the topics I will try to focus on when studying drugs. I also feel as though my preceptor experience has increased my knowledge on medications, as I found myself recognizing them from knowledge obtained in the hospital setting. I started to lose focus during the end of the exam, so for the next test I take I will make sure to take a break if I am losing focus.
Regarding SMART goals for my next assessment, I want to accomplish taking the full assessment with 100% of my focus, so that I know that my grade is the best I could get. I will measure this by how I did on the assessment along with how I feel afterwards. I can accomplish this goal by recognizing that I am not able to put 100% of my attention into answering these questions in order to realize I need to take a step back and reset. This seems like a simple and achievable goal, and I would like to be able to do this for my next assessment.
It is hard to prepare for when we take adaptive ATI exams because we never know what type of information we will be testing on. Because of that fact, I have tried to focus on using my critical thinking nursing skills when taking these exams. If I am confused or unaware of the content that I am being tested on, I will use other skills to decide which answer I will choose. I get nervous when taking the exam since the remediation is so time consuming. I do not want to get a lot wrong because I spend so much time on remediation. I feel as a course adjustment the remediation could be less tedious, that way I would not feel the need to rush through it. I do feel as though ATI’s will help with the NCLEX, but when we have other classes and exams it is hard for me to spend the amount of time I should on the remediation. I find myself rushing through, and that is also something I want to work on. Using my SMART goals, I will strive to take my time on the exam as well as the remediations to further my knowledge. I will know if I have attained this because of the score on my proctored and practice ATIs. If I do better on those then I will know that taking time on the remediation paid off. With each ATI adaptive assessment, I will figure out ways to make test taking easier and I will try to figure out a routine while doing remediations and find ways to split it up.
Reflecting on the movie NURSES, there was so many different types of nurses that take care of different patient populations. We were able to get an inside look on what it is like to be in their position and what they think while doing their jobs. The nurses exemplified a love for their job that I have yet to see in real life. They are so selfless and care so deeply for their patient population. I would love to continue to develop my love for nursing and have the attitudes that the nurses in the movie have. I understand that attitude will have to grow as I grow in my career, but I would also love to let go of some of the fears I have and think of that movie and the good things that come with nursing. We have learned in class that all care is centered around the patient’s and what they want, and you really realize that in the movie. However, it was nice to see that every nurse loved the people they took care of and wanted to take care of them and their family. I am excited for that part of nursing.
In the movie there was different patient populations and different locations that had specific type of patients. The one that stood out to me the most was the rural population where the nurses had to travel to their houses even though the rides were sometimes challenging. The nurses that do that love their job, but they explained that it could be challenging at times. A barrier to their care is the challenge to get to their house for their home health checkups. The nurses were saying that there is muddy paths and narrow sandy paths, and an ambulance may not be able to get there if they needed to come. The nurses would have to meet them or bring them a certain distance to where the ambulance could get there. It also seemed like they did not have any cars, so if they needed to get medical treatment themselves or were in an emergency then it would not be easy for them to receive it. You could tell by how the nurses spoke that they had cultural humility. One nurse was explaining that even though some of these people may need specific care, if they don’t want it or it goes against their culture then she understands that and will not try to push the care on the patient.
I do not have much knowledge on different types of patient populations, however as my knowledge grows, I would like to find ways to help the homeless population with health care. There is homeless population in almost every area of the world no matter how big it is. It is hard for them to get health care or even feel like they deserve the care. I would like to figure out the best ways of caring for them and making sure they get checkups and not waiting until they are sick to get help, which is usually what happens.
Our nursing class had the honor of having guest speakers from different hospitals along with past and current UNE students share their knowledge when it comes to beginning ones nursing career. The speakers as well as the career service presentation helped prepare us all for our future interviews. I enjoyed how there were speakers in many different positions because it gave an even better insight. They gave advice on good and bad things to do in an interview. The biggest thing is to be prepared and to be ready to answer questions. I will prepare by looking over my resume beforehand, understanding the hospital and unit, and have questions I want to ask. A lot of times things slip your mind during an interview so being prepared is very important. Things that we were told not to do is talk about not liking past jobs and being negative. They gave advice on having a positive attitude throughout the interview, which I agree with. I want to make a good impression on whoever is interviewing me, so I will be thinking about their advice as I prepare.
I would like to have a conversation regarding my experience from coming into the UNE Nursing Program to where I am today. I have grown a tremendous amount knowledge wise and overall, as a person. I would really like to touch upon my UNE clinical experience. Looking back on my first clinical day to now, I have realized that I have grown so much and developed bed side nursing skills. I feel like I have learned the most throughout my preceptorship especially being in the float pool and seeing many different floors and patient’s. The first day I shadowed my preceptor then I gradually worked my way up to being the “primary nurse” and giving report for a whole patient assignment. I felt by the last day that I had built up so much more confidence that I had before, which is a very important part of being a nurse. I learned different forms of teamwork and communication through watching my preceptor work on different units as well as being part of that myself. I was able to see what worked and what did not when it came to communication, and I will take that with me to my job.
A challenge that I face is dealing with my level of confidence. Obviously it would be nice to start a career and already feel comfortable and have knowledge on everything, but that is not how it works. I need to understand that my confidence will grow with experience and that I will hopefully get a job at a hospital with a supportive team. I already am addressing this challenge, and I remind myself that it is okay not to know everything. I will be able to ask questions and receive help when I need it. The hospital unit I end up on will want the same as me for all of the patients and that is optimal patient care and safety.
After being in school for many years with the goal of graduating college with a degree, I am VERY excited to graduate, get my nursing license, and finally start my nursing career. I am most excited about the feeling I will get when I complete my last assignment/ exam for school. Turning in the last assignment or exam will feel like a million pounds lifted off my shoulders. Another thing I am excited about is passing the NCLEX. Passing the NCLEX will be a very big accomplishment and will feel amazing, but it will also make me anxious as well. As of now I am most anxious about finding a job that I love. I understand that there is a nursing shortage and that I will get a job, but whether I like it or like the area I am in is something that I will not know until I start. I am also excited about graduation and the pinning ceremony, and I am glad that I will be ablet to have my family there to see my accomplishment. I will celebrate with my family and my roommates afterwards, and that is something I am looking forward to as well.
When it comes to preparing and planning my weekly study to stay focused and on track, I will use the SMART goals. With all the assignments we have this semester, I will need to be setting goals for each week or writing down what is due each day of that specific week. For the most part my goals will be what needs to be done for that week and I will make that measurable because I will be able to cross off what I have completed. It will be achieved when I submit them and get a grade and it is time based because that is within the week.
The ATI Nurse Logic 2.0 modules will help me gain and improve my nursing knowledge and how I think as a nurse. It helps with what we should be doing to prepare, like creating a schedule and good ways to study. I will use those lessons on how I approach the ATI assessments as well as the NCLEX-RN exam.
We did a lot of research, so disseminating the findings on our project was not as hard as I thought it would be. We wrote everything out and basically just transformed it into a poster. Infection control in a hospital is not a difficult topic considering the things you as a health care worker could do to prevent the spread of infection are tasks everyone should be doing every day. When we realized the simple steps a health care worker needs to take in order to prevent the spread of infection through our research, disseminating our findings and creating an infographic was not all too challenging. We have yet to hear back on how the nurses on MS3 responded to our infographics and survey, but we did receive feedback from our clinical instructor.
Our clinical instructor agrees that infection control is very important in a hospital setting. She made a point to say that it is nice only having to wash your hands for 20 seconds instead of singing the “happy birthday” song to get it right, since that was the old recommendation. Under the “what are we preventing” section of our infographic, we put “C. diff” and she also thinks it would be beneficial if we were to have put C. Difficile. She also suggested that under hospital acquired infections, skin and wound infections could also be hospital acquired. Other than those critiques she really enjoyed our project and seeing what it has turned into. She also said she is teaching a clinical group there in the spring as well so she can see if it has made an impact!
Through this team project I learned how to work in a larger group of people that we had just recently met aside from the importance of infection control! Coming into an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people as a new nurse is bound to happen. Taking these skills we have learned through working with our group into the nursing world, will be very beneficial. As a group we found an issue that needed to be addressed (infection control), we researched it, and created a poster on how to improve it. The final dissemination project will be hung up on MS3 at SMHC and we did all this while being nursing students. Doing all this as a student gave me the confidence of being able to contribute to quality improvement and evidence-based practice initiatives as I enter the workforce as a new nurse. If my clinical group was on a floor for a couple weeks before choosing something to work on, I feel confident that I could make the floor I work on every day better.
As a team member, I faced obstacles at the beginning of this project. I was unable to attend the first 3 clinicals. That is when we were supposed to be figuring out what we were going to do our project on and building connections on the floor. It was difficult at first being on the outside of what was going on, however I realized that I could still do just as much. We discussed doing our project on infection control and I realized that just because I wasn’t at clinical those first 3 days does not mean I can’t do as much as them. Once I realized that I was able to build the confidence to get things moving on our project. Through this process I realized that if a due date was approaching, we have yet to discuss it, I would be one to reach out and take the lead on what we need to get done. I have realized I can be a leader, while also being part of the team.
Disasters could happen at any time whether it be natural or man-made. When something like this happens, we need people to come together and help make things better/ easier. Nurses could be a big help when it comes to caring for victims of a disaster. Nurses are leaders, educators, responders, policymakers, and researchers when it comes to disaster preparedness and the response. Although nurses will be assisting with the aftermath of a disaster in a health care facility, emergency preparedness and disaster planning could also come in handy when not at work. For example, if a registered nurse is driving by and sees an accident that just happened, they should stop and use their skillset to make sure the people in the accident are stay stable enough until they are taken to the hospital. They could use their knowledge on how to feel for pulses and assess the state of the victims so when the first responders come you could give them a small report. We also were told in class that it could come in handy to leave a blood pressure cuff, a stethoscope, and a first aid kit in the trunk of your car since you never know when or where you will need it. You always want to be prepared as a medical professional to help.
Using the accident as an example when also talking about Provision 2 of the ANA Code of Ethics. This states that the nurse’s primary responsibility is to the patient, yet Provision 5 states that a nurse owes the same duty to self. I am thinking about if the accident had a car that was on fire, and the person was still in the car. Obviously as a nurse you want to help and you want to make that person your priority however, it may be dangerous to attempt to get that person out. In a natural disaster such as a tornado, a nurse may help with the victims. There may be people under rubbish or under a building that is not very stable. In these situations, you must think about the chances of you as the nurse getting hurt. Nurses will not be able to save patients if they are the ones getting hurt trying to care and save people in disaster situations. I feel as though emergency preparedness is a very important skill a nurse could have. It would enable them to be ready to help in any given moment at any place. There are crazy incidents that happen all the time that no one is ever prepared for. It would make the lives of the people effected easier if we had experienced nurses trying to help.
Recent Comments