Through the UNE online resources, our class was able to access to the film entitled “Nurses – If Florence Could See Us Now”. This film looked at nursing from all angles and was essentially a compilation of first-hand accounts from nurses discussing their role within the nursing community and what this career path has meant to them. The aspect of nursing that lured me into starting my nursing program was that the field of nursing is so versatile. I am the type of person that likes to be constantly challenged and keep busy and the fact that you can do hundreds of different jobs with a nursing degree is very appealing. Getting to hear different nurses talk about their specialty, their day-to-day responsibilities, and also the challenges they face during their shifts helped me realize that there are certain aspects of a nurse that I already have, and other traits that I will need to work on and hopefully obtain throughout my future nursing career. I specifically remember when a nurse was discussing her love for her career in long term care. I personally want to work in an acute healthcare setting such as an emergency room, so the thought of working with patients for months on end is not entirely appealing to me. However, I need to learn how forming bonds with patients long term can help with their overall health and wellbeing, as well as learn how to care for older populations in all settings. The nurse stated that it is “important to care for people you don’t like” and it is not that I dislike older populations, I just often feel a disconnect with generations older than myself and find it difficult to provide care when they have extremely strong personalities. My first clinical rotation for this program was at New England Rehabilitation and I personally did not find much excitement in the slow paced environment. I think that this is something that will just come with exposure and practice in the future, as long as I remain open minded about all populations I care for.

Similar to my lack of exposure of working with clients of advanced age, I have not had exposure working in a community health setting or a remote location as a home health nurse. In the film, there were nurses that would travel into extremely rural locations that were almost inaccessible to vehicles and they were trying to provide westernized care to a culture of people that did not practice western medicine. Not only is the physical location of this group of individuals a huge barrier to their access to care, but their belief system and culture is another barrier placed between them and the nurses. These nurses spoke mostly about education and the importance of helping the people understand what the western medicine could do for them, but also while maintaining a sense of cultural humility and not forcing their belief system on their patients. If a patient would rather herbal remedies of remedy of prayer to be their treatment, the nurses would respect that and express that they were happy they found a form of treatment that works for them and makes them happy. Hearing that the nurses were supportive of the cultural beliefs of their patients made me proud to be in this community of nurses. I have worked in a clinic that provides OBGYN care to diverse populations for the past 3 years, so I have seen firsthand how acknowledging and accepting the beliefs of others can have a more positive impact on the health of the patient than forcing medications and surgeries on a patient ever could. Although I feel like I have a firm grasp on caring for diverse populations, I hope that I can continue to grow and learn more about providing care for clients outside of the hospital setting as well.

Our class had a guest speaker from career services that came to help up expand upon our knowledge of job searching to more than just resume building but what to do when it comes to actually applying and performing in an interview. I have been working for the past 10 years in numerous jobs, so I feel like I already have a good understanding of how to act professional and carry myself in a job interview. However, it was nice to hear from someone how today’s job search and interview process is because I have worked in the same location since before the pandemic and the introduction of telecommunications being incorporated into the job interview process. My preparation for an interview is always to do as much research about the company as possible and ensure that their company values align and match to my own. Another thing that I do is practice interviews with someone else and try to come up with as many questions that I think I would be asked as well as questions I would like to know as well. It is very important to have a list of questions written down while in the interview because it shows your interviewer that you came prepared and truly care to learn more about their company. I believe that the strengths I have gained over the last few years is confidence in my ability to perform tasks and make decisions, understanding and respecting cultural differences, and promoting a sense of team collaboration with colleagues in any work setting. The “challenges” that I currently face as I approach the end of my learning career is lack of physical practice of skills, such as IV insertion. However, in an interview I would explain that my lack of knowledge is not from lack of trying, it is from lack of exposure and after proper training, my willingness/eagerness to learn would help me perfect the task and continue to work towards other goals I set for myself to become a stronger employee and a more well-rounded nurse!