Occupational Wellness: A Career As A Nurse

Ana Rodriguez
PED 112
Professor Mason
5/4/11
Health Project

Health isn’t just about being healthy physically. There are a whole bunch of aspects to being healthy 6 in general that sometimes we overlook five of them. There’s physical, emotional, social, intellectual, spiritual, and occupational. In my opinion once you are ok in all the aspects of health then you considered a healthy person. I have decided to make both short and long term goals for each aspect to feel better about myself. I hope to one day accomplish these goals, and give advice to someone who isn’t completely “healthy”.
Emotional wellness is described as being attentive to your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, whether positive or negative. Emotionally I think I am
pretty stable, but there are days that I don’t feel confident in myself and I feel like giving up. I first began my journey in school in 1996 and I must say I can’t stand it. School isn’t for me and I always try to find the easy way out. I want to become a successful Registered Nurse one day, but sometimes I feel I won’t ever be able to accomplish that. I started college in august 2009, and I am way behind in my studies. This semester I officially vowed to start over and do better in school. My long term goal is to have more confidence in myself and strive to do better in school. I want to be done with college by 2013 and hopefully be accomplished as a RN. I will keep doing better in school and focus on my studies especially now that I am not working. My short term goal is to balance my time with family and friends. I spend more time with my friends than I do my family. Whenever my parents ask me to go somewhere with them I give them attitude and spend the day with my friends. I would like to spend more time with my parents and sister and let them know that I do care and appreciate everything that they have done for me. Whenever my friends ask me to go out with them, I should not be afraid to tell them no and that I would like to spend time with my family instead.
Intellectual wellness is engaging the individual in creative and stimulating mental activities to expand their knowledge and skills and help them discover the potential for sharing their gifts with others. I am not really intellectually well. Sometimes I feel I am closed minded to certain things and feel that I am always right. I also don’t challenge myself enough as a person. My long term goal is to be more open minded about certain things that I don’t agree or understand. For example, I feel that euthanasia is wrong. After hearing some of the thought of my peers it made me realize that some aspects of it are not all bad. My short term goal is to challenge myself and try to learn something new every day. I will try to read different books and lengthen my vocabulary.
Spiritual wellness refers to integrating our beliefs and values with our actions. A sense of purpose, direction, and awareness are important. Realizing what values, rights, and responsibilities take some thought and discussion. My family was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and came to New York in the early 1970’s. I have only been to Puerto Rico twice in my life but that was really to vacation. I don’t know much about my roots and can only trace my family tree up until my grandparents. I don’t know much about my great grandparents or even how my grandmother grew up. I also don’t know anything about my biological grandfather whom I’ve only met once in my life, and he has passed away since. My long term goal is to travel to Puerto Rico and learn about my family history. Spiritual wellness can also be viewed as religious. I am personally not a church person. I believe in God and Jesus Christ, but I cannot last in church. My grandmother used to make me go with her, and I used to be bored to the point where flies were coming out of my mouth. My friends’ parents have begun going through a midlife crisis and are not forcing her to go to church. I feel personally that she has been brain washed. She has asked me to go with her and I have laughed in her face. My short term goal is to go to church with my friend one day and kind of be at peace with God, hopefully I don’t burst into flames whilst stepping into a church.
Occupational wellness is the ability to achieve a balance between work and leisure time.
I personally view it as just being successful and having a good career that you enjoy. As I mentioned before I want to be a Registered Nurse. I want to have a job that I enjoy and not dread going to work either. My Long term goal is to get my bachelors in nursing and be a “happy” RN. I am currently a Certified Nursing Assistant and used to work in a nursing home in Campbell Hall, or as I referred to it as Campbell Hell. That was the worst experience of my life. I enjoy helping people, but it seems like all the patients there were a little over the edge. I felt as though everyday was like a Vietnam movie where I was dodging bullets. My short term goal is to find a better job, one where I don’t feel like my life is in
danger.
Social Wellness refers to one's ability to interact with people around them. It involves using good communications skills, having meaningful relationships, respecting yourself and others, and creating a support system that includes family members and friends. About ninety-five percent of the time I am moody. I have a protective barrier around me because I have been hurt so many times in my life. I keep a tight circle of friends, and I don’t try to make new ones. My long term goal is to stop being crabby all the time and lighten up. I know that I can still have better relationships with people and still protect myself. My short term goal is to enlarge my circle of friends and tune down that barrier I have around me. I need to learn to trust people to a certain degree.
Physical wellness is the one that everyone knows best. It involves understanding and appreciating the relationship between sound nutrition and how the body performs. It is probably the most important. If our body is not healthy, we cannot enjoy our lives to the fullest. I used to go to the gym every day for one hour. At first I used to have a lot of fun going, but after a while it got really boring so I just stopped. However I did accomplish one goal and that is to eat healthier. I don’t eat a lot of junk food, and I have switched to some organic and fat free foods. My short term goal is to try and find a physical activity that I enjoy. I might even join a sport if it interests me, or go back to the gym as the handsome sports trainer can be my motivation. I need to find a plan and stick to it because I am plagued with diabetes and heart disease in my family history and my life really depends on it. My long term goal isn’t for myself but for my sister. I would like to teach her better eating habits. She is a healthy and physically active four year old but I want to be able to teach her healthy habits for life. Childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic and I don’t want my sister to go through some of the weight issues that I am going through. So far I have gotten her to drink water instead of juice like she always does. I am currently teaching her about all the different fruits and vegetables and we are both taking our first steps into healthy living.
Some of these goals will take years, while others I am completing as we speak.
I want to be the best person I can be and live a long time. The one person that really inspires me to do better is my late grandmother. She died in 2006 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 51. Had she eaten better and quit smoking she would still be here today. She was my best friend and I loved her dearly. I am afraid that I will one day have this type of cancer and I want to do everything to prevent it from happening. I’ve seen what happens to someone when they do not take care of themselves. That is my main reason why I want to be healthy in all six aspects of the
word.