The Role of Technology in Nursing and Education (Post #7)

In my opinion, technology has had an enormous impact on Nursing as a profession and on education. Working at Valley Medical Center, technology literally "litters" the floor. Computers can be found in every room as Nurses, Doctors, CNA's, etc. use them to electronically chart vital signs, medications, or simply view patient information. Just the other day I witnessed a doctor pull up a patient's X-RAY right on the computer to diagnose a bone fracture. Before, X-RAY's took minutes to process. Now, X-RAY's can be processed within seconds and loaded to computers where doctors are able to access them from anywhere in the hospital. This is excellent news especially if a patient is in a hospital room. A doctor can visit a patient, pull up their X-RAY, and explain the patient's condition. They can even magnify certain areas using the on screen toolbar! I feel that technology has greatly impacted the health care system in a very positive way. However, "with great power comes great responsibility". With this said, I believe it is the job for each and every health care worker to be responsible with the information that is contained in the systems.

In my opinion, technology in education has made learning fun and interactive. I believe technology has improved the learning process for many, creating diverse opportunities for learning. An excellent example would be the Virtual Clinical Excursions that we as students are able to use. They allow us to study real case scenarios without stepping foot in the hospital. Technology has created a new world of advantages and as students; I think it is important for us to take advantage of the technological opportunities that we have been blessed with.

Nursing Class of 2010 (Post #6)

As this semester nears the end, I thought I would take the time to reflect on the class as a whole. "Twenty-two plus" is the saying that I will remember when I think about my journey through nursing school. Twenty-two is the number of caring, compassionate individuals that I am taking this journey with and the "plus" is for the faculty and staff of the nursing program who have been there every step of the way to guide me down the right path. Even through my personal struggles, each and every one of you have been there in more ways than one, whether it was direct or indirect, to help pick me up and nudge me forward. I thank all of you for being who you are and for contributing to this important time in my life. I am truly glad to be part of this class and will cherish all the times we have and look forward to the future, which includes more school work. =( HA! If there are two things for me to remember its:

1. "Work hard, make good choices, and have hope"
2. "It's not if I make it, it’s when we make it"

I'm very thankful of the friendships I have made and look forward to the journey ahead!

...Struggles... (Post #5)

This year has been quite the journey for being my first semester of nursing school. I have learned a lot through school, work, and life in general. Of course school has taught me a lot, but it's the life lessons that I have picked along the way. One is "no judgment". I have always been taught never to "judge a book by its cover", but sometimes I can forget. I re-learned this lesson during my long term care rotation. Another important lesson I learned is time management. School is tough and working while in school is even tougher. I applaud those that do it because it is quite the task in itself.

First Acute Care Experience (Post #4)

So I know that I am a little late with these blogs, but better late than never. Coming into acute care, I was anxious and excited to get started. Acute care is something that I would love to do in the future and is where I see myself fitting in the most. I love the fact that I can provide care for many different people. As we all have learned, everyone has a story. My first patient ended up being like my long term care patient except he was unresponsive given his condition. Making the best of the situation, I gave him excellent care and treated him with dignity and respect. I also got to meet his wife, who was a joy. Through her, I was able to see true love. Here is this woman who is perfectly healthy, sitting by her husband's bedside, who was very sick. You could tell their love was something special. She was always by his side during each of my shifts, caring for him, feeding him, showing compassion and love. Seeing them truly opened my eyes. It was a pleasure meeting her and taking care of her husband.

AMAZED and BLESSED (POST #3)

I thought that I would take this time to give an update on how my clinical experience was going. I was given the wonderful opportunity at my clinical site to work on the "South Wing", which is reserved for those patients dealing with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, dementia, etc. When I first met my patient, I thought that it would be a rough month as my first impression was that my patient was going to be difficult to handle. However, as week two has gone by and week three is in full swing, I have been AMAZED at the progress and improvement that my patient has shown. I was able to walk with him from his room to the dinning room which is about 150 ft. round trip. I was AMAZED to see that he is now able to feed himself from time to time, with a little push here and there, and that he is able to talk to me, although he does not make sense from time to time. Today was a bright day for me because he expressed an interest to walk. I thought that was wonderful to hear and AMAZED at how well he did. I am truly BLESSED to have been paired up with such an interesting and delightful patient. Even though he can not communicate as well, it is still a joy to work and care for such a patient. At the start of this week, I found myself eager to see him and to see his progression and how had been doing. BLESSED.

P.S. "no judgement" - this little life lesson was reinforced in me this week. =)

The First Week of Clinicals (POST #2)

If you are reading this right now, then yes, you know that I survived my first week of clinicals. I have so many mixed emotions about how clinicals went, more good then bad, actually not really even any bad. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with patients in the "special unit". I was able to meet my patient for the first time and I must admit, I was a little anxious. I didn't really know what to expect. I was actually preparing for the worst, a hard patient that would be difficult to handle. The experience was totally the opposite. I have one of the most amazing patients. Even though it is hard to communicate with him, it is a joy to see a bright smile amongst his face ever time I come to greet him. Throughout days one and two of clinicals, I was able to learn a lot!!! I was given the chance to follow some great CNA's and was able to brush up on the skills that I had practiced in skills lab. Performing those tasks was not as bad as I thought it would be. The overall experience of days one and two was a great insight into what nursing holds ahead of me. I am thankful and blessed to be working with a great group of patients and look forward to the rest of this clinical rotation.

Then and Now... (POST #1)

When I reflect on where I was two years ago and where I am today, I feel very grateful and blessed. I feel like I was given a second chance to achieve my goal at becoming a nurse. Coming to Northwest was the best thing that happened to me. The environment is very different then that of the University of Washington where I had previously gone. Here I feel like my study habits have improved and that I actually enjoy school. Nursing has always been a passion of mine ever since I was a little child. I grew up around nursing as both my parents are nurses as well as many of my aunts and uncles. Although only three weeks of school have gone by, I have enjoyed every bit of it. I have learned so much and look forward to my journey becoming a nurse.