My Nursing Career Research Paper
My nursing career began at an early age and I didn’t even know it. When I was young I was the “go-to” for all my cousins when they got hurt. When I was twelve I remember giving my grandmother injections in her stomach after a surgery because she was too afraid to. Although I began my nursing journey in my late twenties, many of my life experiences lead me to the decision to start the process of becoming a nurse. After I graduated high school I was at a loss of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. What a huge decision to make right after high school! So I began working Cardinal Hayes Home for Children, this was an agency for disabled children and young adults. I basically perfomred tasks a CNA would and a little more. I provided total
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care of the clients, helped with their ADL’s, became certified to pass medications, and carried out their individual plans of care. I did that for about a year before I was promoted to an Assistant Supervisor of one of the units. At this point I thought maybe I would have a career in health management so I began a program for Healthcare Administartion with University of Phoenix. I finished with an Associated Degree and gave birth to my first child within the same week. I continued working as an Assistant Supervisor and realzied that the demand for a position for someone with a degree in Healthcare Administration wasn’t to impressive. There was no positions, people wanted someone with a bachelors and more experience. So while I worked with many different nurses in the agency I grew fonder of the nursing profession. I remembered back to my childhood and how I loved taking care of people. I decided I would look into a local Nursing program. At this time my daughter was one and I felt I could do this, I found out I was pregnant with my second child around this time. This delayed the start of going back to school full-time, I started taking one class a semester of pre-requisete courses I needed to apply to the program. I continued working, caring for my family, and taking one class at a time. Finally I was done with all needed classes, my daughter was in pre-school and my son was 2, I applied for the nursing program. I was overwhelmed with excitement when I got in my first time applying, since many first applicants did not get in the first time. I got my schedule and gave notice to a job I had grown to love the past 7 years because I could not do both. I began my nursing journey a few weeks later.
Columbia-Greene Community College offered a two year program for nursing, it was local which was convienent and it was one of the best nursing program around. The first semster was the most challenging, the fear of the unknown and can I actully do this began to invade my thoughts. By the end of the semester I was excited about the growth I had demonstarted and loved clinical and all the new knowledge I was absorbing. Each semester their were points I would become overwhelemed and think I wouldn’t be a good nurse. I am not someone who gives up so I pushed through those thoughts and worked harder. I wanted to learn as much as I could, because I knew early on knowledge was power, evidence based practice was real. I graduated the program with the belief I would demonstarte safe, knowledgable care as a nurse. As I began preparing for the nclex and had a position in the ICU waiting I could not wait to start my new professional journey.
Strengths and Opportunities My professional journey began only a few short months ago.
I believe within this short time I have demonstarted strengths in communication, team work, integrity, and balance. Comminication is a vital skill in nursing, a slight miscommunication can be a matter of life or death. Everday when I go to work on the ICU, I get my assignement do my research and organize and prioritze my time as best possible. When doctors arrive I clearly provide them with information they need and ask questions I need answered to provide the best care for my patients. It is crucial to always be clear with your commincation as well as receive communication clearly. I will ask a doctor three times if I have to, to make sure I am understading accuratley. Communication is needed everyday with your patients and other professionals. Being able to communicate cleary and effeciently with patients is ideal to keep them informed and comfortable at a time of their lives they may be vulnerable. Communication along with team work with your co-workers is a vital area to be successful in, it promotes a safer more organized environment. Even though your assigned to two patients out of six or eight, we always try letting eachother know about the other patients on the unit so we can all make sure they are safe and getting the care they need. Integrity has always been a strength of mine in my personal life and now in my professional one. I have always been a punctual person, and in a profession like nursing its imperative, people are counting on you. Being honest and following policies and practicies with the best intentions is what I strive to do and will continue to demonstrate in my profession. Finally, Balance, without mastering balance in my personal and professional life I would be lost. It is hard to be able to juggle family, friends, school, and work. I am lucky to have the support and organization I need to be successful in this area. Some days are harder; things come up, your back up plan for
your sick kids fall through and your car wont start, but at the end of the day I use my problem solving skills to take control of the situation, take a deep breath and restore the balance in my life. There is always room for professional and personal growth. No one is ever satisfied with anything in life being at a stand still. Some people choose to make the first steps in bettering themselves and grow and some people do not. Im the type of person that at times is an overachiever, I don’t like not knowing things and I always aim to know more. Personally I always try finding ways to de-stress, exercising , accupuncture, I will basically try anything once. Having a lot of stress bring you down and in a professional aspect I feel that stress radiates and other people feel it. I know when im stressed at home my children can feel it, so taking a few minutes in fresh air or listening to music, I try hard to eleviate stressful times. I will always have room for improvement in this area because some days are more stressful than other. Along with stress, self awareness is an ongoing development for me. I am a new nurse I am confident in the knowledge I have been able to master in this short time, but I am also re-evaluating the things that continue to be difficult for me. As I began my profession my self awareness was a little different than it is now, six month later. I continue to develop as a nurse, learn new skills, and gain more knowledge of processes. This is important in my personal life as well, really taking control and knowing yourself as a person, the emotions your feeling or what continues to motivate me. People change as they grow, knowing yourself and being aware of your individualism is always in development.
Goals There are three short-term goals I will strive to complete as I continue to become more comfortable as a new nurse. The first most important short-term goal I had for myself was to begin a BSN program within my first year in my nursing profession. This short-term goal has become a reality since I started this program a few short weeks ago, but continuing and exceling in this program is now the priority. Another short-term goal is to gain more knowledge in skills im not the strongest in. One of the skills I have been struggling with is placing a periperhal line. Although I know that this is a skill that comes with time and practice, I have verbalized the need to be able to have more opportunities to place them to my director and my co-workers. I am confident that with more opportunities I can be successful in completing this goal within the year. I would also like to get a better undserstaning of my nursing style, there are so many things that have many different methods of doing it with the same outcome at the end. I want to find my idependent style, I believe by observing and continuing to learn from other nurses it will provide me with the knowledge and confidence to find my own pace and way of doing things. In the future, I have established a few long-term goals. First I would like to successfully complete and graduate with my BSN. Secondly, I would like to search for a Masters program and enroll soon after I have completed my bachelors. Overall my long-term goals go hand in hand. I am not certain of what area of nursing I belong to yet, I intend to find out, but having the education and knowledge will provide me with better opportunies when I finally find the area of nursing I belong. So that in itself is my third long-term goal, finding the environment where I feel im making the most difference in my patients lives and exceling at it.
care of the clients, helped with their ADL’s, became certified to pass medications, and carried out their individual plans of care. I did that for about a year before I was promoted to an Assistant Supervisor of one of the units. At this point I thought maybe I would have a career in health management so I began a program for Healthcare Administartion with University of Phoenix. I finished with an Associated Degree and gave birth to my first child within the same week. I continued working as an Assistant Supervisor and realzied that the demand for a position for someone with a degree in Healthcare Administration wasn’t to impressive. There was no positions, people wanted someone with a bachelors and more experience. So while I worked with many different nurses in the agency I grew fonder of the nursing profession. I remembered back to my childhood and how I loved taking care of people. I decided I would look into a local Nursing program. At this time my daughter was one and I felt I could do this, I found out I was pregnant with my second child around this time. This delayed the start of going back to school full-time, I started taking one class a semester of pre-requisete courses I needed to apply to the program. I continued working, caring for my family, and taking one class at a time. Finally I was done with all needed classes, my daughter was in pre-school and my son was 2, I applied for the nursing program. I was overwhelmed with excitement when I got in my first time applying, since many first applicants did not get in the first time. I got my schedule and gave notice to a job I had grown to love the past 7 years because I could not do both. I began my nursing journey a few weeks later.
Columbia-Greene Community College offered a two year program for nursing, it was local which was convienent and it was one of the best nursing program around. The first semster was the most challenging, the fear of the unknown and can I actully do this began to invade my thoughts. By the end of the semester I was excited about the growth I had demonstarted and loved clinical and all the new knowledge I was absorbing. Each semester their were points I would become overwhelemed and think I wouldn’t be a good nurse. I am not someone who gives up so I pushed through those thoughts and worked harder. I wanted to learn as much as I could, because I knew early on knowledge was power, evidence based practice was real. I graduated the program with the belief I would demonstarte safe, knowledgable care as a nurse. As I began preparing for the nclex and had a position in the ICU waiting I could not wait to start my new professional journey.
Strengths and Opportunities My professional journey began only a few short months ago.
I believe within this short time I have demonstarted strengths in communication, team work, integrity, and balance. Comminication is a vital skill in nursing, a slight miscommunication can be a matter of life or death. Everday when I go to work on the ICU, I get my assignement do my research and organize and prioritze my time as best possible. When doctors arrive I clearly provide them with information they need and ask questions I need answered to provide the best care for my patients. It is crucial to always be clear with your commincation as well as receive communication clearly. I will ask a doctor three times if I have to, to make sure I am understading accuratley. Communication is needed everyday with your patients and other professionals. Being able to communicate cleary and effeciently with patients is ideal to keep them informed and comfortable at a time of their lives they may be vulnerable. Communication along with team work with your co-workers is a vital area to be successful in, it promotes a safer more organized environment. Even though your assigned to two patients out of six or eight, we always try letting eachother know about the other patients on the unit so we can all make sure they are safe and getting the care they need. Integrity has always been a strength of mine in my personal life and now in my professional one. I have always been a punctual person, and in a profession like nursing its imperative, people are counting on you. Being honest and following policies and practicies with the best intentions is what I strive to do and will continue to demonstrate in my profession. Finally, Balance, without mastering balance in my personal and professional life I would be lost. It is hard to be able to juggle family, friends, school, and work. I am lucky to have the support and organization I need to be successful in this area. Some days are harder; things come up, your back up plan for
your sick kids fall through and your car wont start, but at the end of the day I use my problem solving skills to take control of the situation, take a deep breath and restore the balance in my life. There is always room for professional and personal growth. No one is ever satisfied with anything in life being at a stand still. Some people choose to make the first steps in bettering themselves and grow and some people do not. Im the type of person that at times is an overachiever, I don’t like not knowing things and I always aim to know more. Personally I always try finding ways to de-stress, exercising , accupuncture, I will basically try anything once. Having a lot of stress bring you down and in a professional aspect I feel that stress radiates and other people feel it. I know when im stressed at home my children can feel it, so taking a few minutes in fresh air or listening to music, I try hard to eleviate stressful times. I will always have room for improvement in this area because some days are more stressful than other. Along with stress, self awareness is an ongoing development for me. I am a new nurse I am confident in the knowledge I have been able to master in this short time, but I am also re-evaluating the things that continue to be difficult for me. As I began my profession my self awareness was a little different than it is now, six month later. I continue to develop as a nurse, learn new skills, and gain more knowledge of processes. This is important in my personal life as well, really taking control and knowing yourself as a person, the emotions your feeling or what continues to motivate me. People change as they grow, knowing yourself and being aware of your individualism is always in development.
Goals There are three short-term goals I will strive to complete as I continue to become more comfortable as a new nurse. The first most important short-term goal I had for myself was to begin a BSN program within my first year in my nursing profession. This short-term goal has become a reality since I started this program a few short weeks ago, but continuing and exceling in this program is now the priority. Another short-term goal is to gain more knowledge in skills im not the strongest in. One of the skills I have been struggling with is placing a periperhal line. Although I know that this is a skill that comes with time and practice, I have verbalized the need to be able to have more opportunities to place them to my director and my co-workers. I am confident that with more opportunities I can be successful in completing this goal within the year. I would also like to get a better undserstaning of my nursing style, there are so many things that have many different methods of doing it with the same outcome at the end. I want to find my idependent style, I believe by observing and continuing to learn from other nurses it will provide me with the knowledge and confidence to find my own pace and way of doing things. In the future, I have established a few long-term goals. First I would like to successfully complete and graduate with my BSN. Secondly, I would like to search for a Masters program and enroll soon after I have completed my bachelors. Overall my long-term goals go hand in hand. I am not certain of what area of nursing I belong to yet, I intend to find out, but having the education and knowledge will provide me with better opportunies when I finally find the area of nursing I belong. So that in itself is my third long-term goal, finding the environment where I feel im making the most difference in my patients lives and exceling at it.