05/02 Assignment

From my mentorship, I gained experience in the realm of a hospital and what a Emergency Room environment is like. I gained communication skills by interacting with other students, nurses, patients, and doctors. Through my mentorship, I realized that the Emergency Room is not where I want to spend the rest of my life, meaning that I want to be a different type of nurse: a nurse anesthetist. I took the action of trying my best while interning at the E.R. I put effort into learning the different types of medicines, how to prepare IV bags, and how pull the medicines. I worked hard at my mentorship, and by doing that, I learned a lot about taking care of patients.

My mentorship helped prepare me for the future by (1) increasing my communication skills, (2) being somewhat like a job to me meaning that I now have an internship to add to any job resume, (3) showing me what kind of nurse I want to become. The E.R. let me know what it is like to work as well as what it is like to work in a professional setting. Rather than being employed at a fast food restaurant where the setting is less professional, I gained experience in a more grown-up setting where work was more serious. This prepared me for future jobs more so than a normal teenage job would have.

After mentoring at the E.R. since the end of August, I am still learning new things, like how to find veins using new technology and how to remove IVs. I realize now that I want to become a nurse and then go on to become a nurse anesthetist. I would love to have this job because of the way in which everyday will be an adventure full of new patients to interact with. For students who plan to participate in the Honors Mentorship Program in the near future, I suggest that you take the opportunity seriously and respect it completely. Respect your mentor for his or her success and for allowing you to come forth and observe him or her. Do not expect to be put on a pedestal; work hard to make your mark at your mentorship.

"An Average Day In The Life of Nursing" via Jacksonville University's School of Nursing

The infographic above neatly describes what a nurse typically does and what levels of education they obtain By doing this, the infographic informs people about nurses. This infographic is not mine; I do not own it. Its source is cited below.

An Average Day In The Life of Nursing. Digital image. DailyInfographic.com. Jacksonville University School of Nursing, Web. 08 May 2016.

03/14 Assignment

By watching the WellCast video about public speaking, I learned that the essence of my performance in my presentation all goes back to three main things: The Three P's. By preparing myself for the presentation, I will already know exactly what I want to say to my audience. By controlling my position and posture throughout the presentation, I will not look discouraged or timid; I will look confident in what I'm saying. By pandering my audience, I will keep them interested in my topic and the information I share with them. I plan on following the guidelines of The Three P's. By doing this, my presentation will be well-developed and clean cut for my audience. 

I want to appear confident when presenting to the audience attending my presentation of my final project for the Honors Mentorship Program. WellCast's video will help me do just this. It will also help me improve my overall public speaking techniques with its easy-to-remember tips and tricks which keep me looking spiffy and keep the audience on edge. I plan to fully take advantage of this video regarding public speaking and apply its techniques to myself, particularly in my Honors Mentorship Presentation. I will remember The Three P's and be successful and confident.

Watch Video

02/01 Assignment

This week, I've been working on finding another source contributed directly from nurses regarding what they do on a day to day basis in comparison to what the general public thinks they do. It would be extremely helpful to find a general survey regarding what people think that nurses do regularly, but I have not been able to find one yet. I am also working on creating brochures to hand out to those who come see my final project containing all of the information regarding the differences between what people think nurses do and what they actually do.

01/25 Assignment

To view my annotated bibliography, click HERE.

01/19 Assignment

To view my graphic organizer, click HERE.

01/11 Assignment

Primary Research for project:
You will be interviewing someone who has knowledge regarding the topic you will be researching for your project. This person can be your mentor or someone else in the field who has the knowledge you are seeking for the interview. You will post, on your blog, the following 3 items for each question you ask the person you interview. 
1. The Question. 
2. The Answer given by the person being interviewed. 
3. Your Reflection and Response to the answer given during the interview (to be done after the interview is complete). 
You will need to generate a list of 10 questions minimum before you conduct the interview. 

1. What do you believe the general public fails to understand about a nurse's duties?
- Answer: The general public does not consider that nurses are constantly consulting with doctors. When a patient asks the nurse for something to eat or tells the nurse that his or her stomach hurts, the nurse has to get directions or confirmation from the doctor before he or she can do anything about it.
- Reflection: This is true from what I can tell. While I am shadowing, Mr. Julio continuously has to ask the doctor whether he can or cannot give a patient something to eat or drink, for example.

2. As a nurse, what were the things that you had to do for each patient?
- Answer: Each patient required recording vital signs.
- Reflection: This is true; this is one of the first things we do when we get new patients and one of the last things we do before the patient leaves.

3. Would you say that nursing is a difficult profession to maintain?
- Answer: Yes. It takes a certain breed to be able to be a good nurse.
- Reflection: I agree with this, too, because seeing the things that nurses see and having to deal with and clean up after people for a living is difficult, but it is worth it.

4. What did you have to do as a nurse that you did not expect to have to do?
- Answer: I did not expect to have to lift patients so often. It really took a toll on my back.
- Reflection: Mr. Julio does not have to lift people very often, but he does have to roll some patients on their sides to clean them sometimes. Or, we might have to bend their legs and hold them there when inserting urinary catheters.

5. Do you think that the general public respects nurses as much as it should?
- Answer: No, I think that the general public does not respect nurses to the extent that it respects doctors even though it should. Yes, doctors decide which medicines are put into the body, but the nurse is the one who physically administers the medicine and keeps track of what is going on with each patient while managing to report these things to the doctors.
- Reflection: I fully agree with this statement. Being a nurse if hard work, and they do not get enough credit.

6. What percentage of the general public would you say truly understands what nurses actually do on a day to day on the job basis?
- Answer: Maybe 10% of the general public truly understand a nurse's daily tasks.
- Reflection:I think that this number may be somewhat higher, maybe around 30%, because of the numerous people who work in the healthcare field.

7. Is there a certain experience you remember from when you were a nurse that you were not prepared for?
- Answer: A few things come to mind, but I'll tell you about the time I was the nurse assisting a doctor during surgery for a patient from a car accident. It was traumatic for me because I was so nervous and inexperienced at the time. I didn't feel ready to take on such a large responsibility, but I did and it turned out fine.
- Reflection: People do not realize what a large responsibility nurses uphold.

8. Why did you decide to become a nurse?
- Answer: I became a nurse because my mother was a nurse and I needed a job. I was older than most people in nursing school when I went, but I did it.
- Reflection: Women often become nurses because of the idea that lots of women do it, but it is not that simple.

9. If you could do it all over again, would you still chose to become a nurse?
- Answer: Yes, 100%. I loved my job and I still miss it today.
- Reflection: Wow, I hope that I love my job that much one day.

10. Is there anything else you would like to share about nursing for the purpose of this interview?
- Answer: Sure, remember this: There will always be jobs available in the healthcare field. Get a job that you can count on for the rest of your life.
- Reflection: That's the plan!

01/05 Assignment

For this week's blog assignment, draft a written proposal in paragraph form answering the following: 

• I need and want to know this: (what is driving your research?) 

I need and want to know what people think that nurses do when they are at work. I want to know if people understand how significant nurses are and how hard they work.

• What is your current essential question (has it changed from when you wrote it earlier in the school year? If it is the same, use that question for this portion of your proposal). 

My question, which has not changed, is: How do the actual duties of a nurse compare and contrast with my and the general public's expectations of what nurses do?

• Other than the required website, what other tools do you envision to best showcase your project (Components of Final Project handout below - in #3)? 

Aside from the required website, I will create a brochure/pamphlet to showcase my project and the research I will conduct.

• What will you do for your "real inquiry" (Components of Final Project handout below - in #5)?

I will interview random people at school in order to determine what they think nurses do. 

This will not be set in stone. As you conduct research and put together a plan, the direction you take may differ slightly than what you envision right now.