Nursing Philosophy
At the center of nursing exists 4 core aspects: compassion, trust, teamwork, and education. At the heart of all these lies the underlying focus to care for the individual (person, family, community). While health is in the eye of the beholder, each individual has standards. The goal of nursing is to maintain that standard or promote it if it has been lost. The patient should be on a road towards self-care and maintenance, giving them the control. To facilitate this view of health, the nurse must provide competent care and knowledge through client education.
Clinical Experience
During my time in PLU's school of nursing, I will have the unmatchable opportunity to obtain clinical experience in diverse situations. Experience will range from Long-term care facilities, to Medical/Surgical floors, to Labor and Delivery departments.
As of currently, I have only had the opportunity to clinically experience a long-term care facility and an adult day center.
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» Coat of Arms  This image describes what I believe to be the most important components of nursing practice. The center images symbolizes compassion that I feel is essential for those in the practice. Surrounding this are four other necessary attributes nurses must possess to live up to their title.
Clockwise from top left:
This image also resembles compassion but also resembles the belief that nurses must have: that all are equal and worth of care. The next image resembled teamwork which is vital to the functioning of the facility and also to the care of the patient. The third image resembles a core aspect of nursing: getting the patient back to their optimal level and to regain the highest level of independence. The last image depicts a second core of nursing, which is education. The nurse must be able to provide the knowledge in a way that the patient can comprehend to promote the desired independence.
Past Experience
» While attending Franklin Pierce High School, I took part in
a magnet program called Medical Rotation (Syllabus link soon to come!). This program was
two semesters long. The first half of the year we learned about the
history of medicine, basic health care knowledge and many pressing
issues in the field. During the second half, we actually got the
opportunity as high school students to go out into the community and,
effectively, job shadow many different people in the field of medicine.
In some cases we were also allowed to assist. The clinical sites ranged
from various departments in local hospitals (including Madigan Army
Hospital) to specialty clinics, to special care facilities like The
Ashley House. The variety of locations allowed us to see many different
kinds of people in many different health conditions. |
