• What types of legislation may or may not be affected by the aging population?

Doing a complete health assessment or “viewing” the patient as a whole is a vital technique that every nurse should use on a daily basis, however I have not practiced this kind of assessment in my working environment. As a nurse in a long term care facility, I only do a partial assessment for example when a patient is getting admitted a full body inspection is done: vital signs taken, the abdomen is palpitated, bowel and breath sounds are auscultated but the cultural and spiritual aspect of the patient is often ignored. According to the textbook Health Assessment in Nursing “The nurse collects physiologic, psychological, sociocultural, developmental, and spiritual data about the client” (Webster & Kelly, 2010) therefore, based on the readings from the textbook the assessment tool that is used on my job would be considered as an incomplete assessment. According to the Journal of Holistic Nursing, “Holistic nursing focuses on health promotion, viewing the individual as a whole, body, mind and spirit” (McElligott, Leask Capitulo, Lynn Morris & Click, 2010)) so this knowledge that I have obtain will not only change the way that I do a nursing assessment but will benefit both my patients and co-workers as well.

As a nurse I see this image of myself as an agent practicing excellent health care. As I am currently employed in a long term care facility I am a caring compassionate yet authoritative in the day to day care of my patients. I show empathy to the patients as well as their family members. I also see myself as a mentor for my colleagues I am always willing to teach my co-workers and ‘lend a helping hand’ to all those that need my help.

I current have an associated degree in nursing and working on my bachelor’s degree. After achieving this mile stone I will be switching from geriatric to pediatric as pediatric has always been my passion. My ultimate goal is to continue studying until I attain a PHD in nursing. Learning new thing is