11: Role in Technology

For some individual it's easy to discuss how they feel about certain aspects of their day, as for others (like me) talking about how i feel doesn't come naturally. I'm one of those people that keep everything bundled inside until that bundle can't hold itself anymore and then i pay the consequences for that. the technology we have today to communicate with others, for example this blog connection isn't my favorite tool to use. I'm not saying that blooging is a bad idea; what I amy saying is that for some it works extremely well, whereas for others they have to put a bit more effort into it and it's not a therapeutic tool for them either. I personally like journaling, just not so that everyone could read about it. As for an educational tool, blogging is a good invention for that. Writing about medical experiences or discoveries that we made in clinicals could help us if we come in contact with the same situation. For example, as i would read some of the students blogs I would find that we're all going through similiar situations and if we haven't yet, it's something we could anticipate to come our way soon. Because of this I feel better (knowing I'm not the only one) and I could prepare myself (for what's to come). As I described above, there are both positives and negatives when it comes to blogging.

9: Death

Kulber-Ross identified 5 stages of death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It seems we forget what death is until we face it; either our own death or someone else’s. Death is unfair. It could prey on the weak or strong, on the young or old…death has no limits. I now understand why the Israel nation was so set on finding Eden. They were given life—everlasting life—until that life was taken from them and replaced with death. We know that death exists, but we don’t think about it until it comes time to deal with it. We go through the five stages until we come to terms with acceptance. My question is what happens after acceptance? Do we move on? Do we forget? In truth, we’re changed spiritually…our mind and emotions take a turn and we’re tested from the inside out. We’re often told that time heals; even though time does make it easier, the scar will always be there. We'll always remember our first patient who died and we'll remember our first patient who kicked chemo! It's important to think of the positives and its important to remember the negatives; however, we are not allow to have death control our lives.

8: Goodbye & Hello

No matter how many times we have to say “goodbye,” it never gets easier. As nursing students we get attached to our residents, and our residents get attached to us. The sacrifice, love, and care we put in those 4 months, create emotions that produce tears. We feel as if our work is incomplete; there are still mistakes to correct, tasks to complete, and care to provide. Saying “goodbye” is difficult, saying “hello” is just as horrifying. Our eyes are huge as we take in the glass double doors with a sign that says “Stop,” and a hand sanitizer machine below. I passed my first lesson; I performed hand hygiene to stop the spread of infection. First lesson completed a thousand more to perform. Each day will now be a test—tests that will include our critical thinking, skills, and patient care. Goodbye and hello—both difficult to carry out, yet through both phases will come forth amazing stories, education, and outcomes. With my stethoscope close to me, I am ready to conqueror new problems, and create new wonderful memories=)

7: Mistakes

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12).

We are nursing students: experienced, fresh, and new to the medical field. We are still being molded into great nurses and we are still learning new concepts everyday (seems like every minute). However, we need to believe in ourselves. We need to mature in strength and knowledge, but we also need to grow in confidence. I struggle with believing in myself...and most of the time I find that others have more confidence in me than I do in myself. But that's not how life is always going to work. We won't have our professors standing near, and we won't have the ability to say "Prom (Professor)...what do you think about this?" We are young, and as long as we have this support group of students and professors we should be thankful for them and find support through them; but I also discovered that they won't always be there and slowly I need to mature into the nurse that they're molding me to be. Strong, caring, knowledgeable, and confident!

Thanks for the help on Friday Prom!!!

6: Humbleness & Patience

What I learned these past days at clinicals is that humbleness and patience are two traits that are needed in order to survive the day surrounded by sickness and pain. There are times were it feels like it’s human nature to pull chunks of hair out. It’s usually not because of frustration, because frustration will just make us grumble, or if you’re like me, you’ll hold all the frustration in until a small little detail will cause you to explode. However, we usually become frustrated because we run out of patience. Just a thought, even though you may be running around, moving from one task to the next, and dripping sweat during these tasks (which seem to be my mornings), patience will actually be needed more during these kind of rounds—patience isn’t necessary about time. Where patience is needed, humbleness is required as well. It’s not all about what we do or what we bring to the place. It’s all about the patient. Sometimes stepping down resolves more problems than it would be to take matters into our own hands. Many patients I encounter feel embarrassed, confused, and inferior in their little bedroom. They went from having so much of what we have in our lives, to feeling completely dependent on a stranger. It’s our responsibility to realize that there’s more to patients life then the life we know in our workplace. Where we chose to work will become part of our life, but most of these patients don’t willing chose to be in the situation that they are in. We could learn so much about our patients and how to provide healing, just by expressing the traits of humbleness and patience.

Time...Our Moment

Time could be defined as an instance or single occasion for some event. Yes, time is a period in which we live and follow in, but it’s also a once in a life-time hour, second…moment. And how we decide to act during those few seconds could honestly define our future. We live a life where we are put to the test everyday and where we’re persecuted from the inside, meaning our flesh has to die each day to the darkness around us. Because of time our body’s age, the older we get the more fragile or skin becomes; however, it should be the opposite with our spirit. Yes, our spirit should mature, but it shouldn’t become old and fatigue, instead it was marvelously designed to become stronger and healthier with the years that go by. As hard as times could be with different environments and different people, we made the choice to be the light. Oh, how I wish that every new situation that I encounter would be peachy; but I also need to understand that without challenges I won’t grow and I won’t learn, and time will just keep ticking.

Seeing Beyond The Visible

So often we assume that we’ve got a person figured out. In our minds we tend to have categories that after a first encounter with an individual we label that person and tuck them safely away, feeling as if we have everything in control. But what could a first encounter tell us other than their gender and their style. We forget that a person isn’t defined by their appearance but is defined by their heart. You see we forget to look beyond the visible, only because we’re so used to look at the surface and not beyond.

I was recently reminded how beautiful and ugly a heart could be with visible contrasting styles. I sometimes wish that we could all have the eyes of young toddlers…who see the person for who they are instead of how they look. At a young age we’re taught to love, yet as we age we hold that love back. Why the sudden fear? Why the sudden prejudice towards others? The way I see it is if we all started looking beyond the surface, so much of the pain, hurt, and tears could be eliminated.