Personal Narrative: My First Week At First Valley Hospital

My second clinical day took place on September 24th, 2015 at Saint Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, New Jersey. My preceptor Maria Brilhante, MSN, RN, allowed me to observe the morning huddle that took place with all the nurse managers that are in the hospital. The purpose of this huddle was to keep the director of nursing informed about the census on each unit. I found this processed to be very uniformed and professional because the DON was engaged. The day went on with me attending meetings on how managers could implement plans to contain cost for the hospital. Maria did her daily rounds on her patients and her nursing staff. She has a folder that contains papers on how each nurse is progressing from the time they get off orientation. Her motto to the nurses is, “You are good at what you do, so when I coach don’t take offense. I am only trying to get you to be great”. This boost their confidence which I thought to be important.

During my shadowing experiences at UAB Hospital, one particular event was prominent in my decision to pursue a career in nursing. While in the emergency department, a suicidal patient, a quadriplegic who lost her limbs due to a spinal cord injury, was brought in for her second visit. This experience caused me to tap into my ability to stay calm and reassuring during an emergent situation, and it reminded me of my father, who lost two of his limbs in a train accident. My father’s accident in itself taught me strength and courage because he, like the patient, occasionally feels forlorn, which leads to suicidal thoughts. Watching the nurses care for my father made me realize that a nurse must be perceptive and knowledgeable about their patient’s

A music box like sound twinkled with a bright tune throughout the hospital. Its tune was heard from the quiet and calm patient rooms, through the long white hallways, and to the comfortable hospital lobby where I stood waiting. I wonder what that sound was? Well, who cares? I’ve got other things to worry about. It was my first day of volunteering at the Fountain Valley Regional Hospital. The first tasks I was assigned were to greet, to help, and to escort visitors to their destination. My shaky hands were clasped together in an attempt to stay calm. Jeez I hope I don’t get lost while escorting a visitor.

My second clinic rotation is internal medicine and I’ve had many encounters, both with patients and colleagues, which have made me pause and reflect. One of those encounters, in particular, will still be on my mind long after I finish typing this reflective journal. The patient at the center of it all is a lady I’ll refer to from here on as “Mrs. Flowers.” Mrs. Flowers is an 81 year old female with dementia and diabetes. She arrived on our unit with a diabetic foot infection that had progressed from a simple toe ulcer to wet gangrene. Over the last 2-3 months, gangrenous changes encompassed the distal half of her left foot. During pre-rounds, our medical team unanimously agreed that we would contact surgery for a consult. At time, it was obvious

A unique experience that I had at Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital was that we also covered labor and delivery and the mother-baby unit. Most of our programming and interventions on these units involved bereavement and grief support, sibling education/support, and memory/legacy making. From my coursework and volunteer experiences at the University of Charleston, South Carolina, I had a solid foundational background with grief and bereavement through our child life courses, our death and dying course, our experiences with Shannon’s Hope, and our experiences with Rainbows. A family is forever changed when there is a loss of a family member, specifically a child (Pearson, 2005). A parents reaction to the death of a child greatly differs

Since March 2015, I volunteer weekly at Memorial Hospital West, where I assist in both patient and nursing staff needs. As a volunteer, I serve as a reception area greeter while giving out general information to visitors and answering phones. I also assist in patient discharge, answering patient call buttons, distribution of meals and water, as well as running errands for the nursing staff which include the pharmacy, lab, and cafeteria. I have also sporadically volunteered at Feeding South Florida, a hunger relief food bank. I assisted in the inspecting, sorting, and organizing of donated can goods which are then distributed to food pantries and shelters. The last two years with the assistance of my mother I have raised money towards the Leukemia

I was at Beloit Memorial Hospital on September 17th 2012 giving birth. I was in a lot of pain and the nurses had the anesthesiologist paged to relieve my pain. The staff from anesthesiologist office never showed up. I suffered through many hours of hard labor with no relief from my pain. I feel very frustrated with the Beloit Memorial Hospital on the way I was treated.

I did my job shadow at St. John's Hospital. When I first got there, I was directed to a lab and in my mind that was the only lab they had there. As I found out later, that was only one of all the lab departments they have, certainly much bigger than I was expecting. Another thing that impressed me was how well organized is everything. Furthermore, the people in all the departments were very polite and welcoming. We were received by one medical technologist in each department and they showed us around, explained us how to do several tests and how to run samples in different machines. All the techs were very knowledgeable; they answered every question that I had. In general, people seemed

“The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it.” This is a great quote that can be used to describe the reflection of life. As I sit back and reflect upon my own life, a wide variety of memories come to mind. Life comes along with high levels of success along with many mistakes and learning experiences. Ups and downs are a major part of life and it is important to have people that help you get through those times. My life story has been one that has incorporated all of these different factors and I am very grateful to that fact. With all of that being said, it is only appropriate to start from the very beginning.

I had just turned seven, pay parents had freshly moved into Maryland and were getting familiar to this new state. One day my parents went to go visit an old friend of theres. When we went over i played outside with my dads friends daughter's and my siblings. We were playing a game of soccer in there back yard, when suddenly I got an attack that had no warning i stopped breathing and I started to see flickering lights around my eyes. My new friends and siblings went to alert my parents of what has just occured. My parents left the humble family home and rushed me outside without asking where the nearest hospital was. They believed the nearest hospital was the Children's Hospital in Washington DC. My parents were in Laurel which is a 40min drive

When I was thirteen years old, my grandmother got diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember my mom would pick me up from school and take her to the hospital for her chemo therapies. At that time in Pakistan, there was only one hospital in the entire province where cancer treatment was available. Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, a charitable institute funded predominantly by donations that provided free cancer treatment for those who could not afford it. Although I don’t remember much about her treatment, but the thing that deeply affected me during the visits to the hospital was seeing a multitude of patients from all over the country waiting to be seen. Some had travelled from different cities, some were local, some rich, and some poor all

I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was one o'clock around my lunch period, but I needed to go the nurse’s office because I discover something and I wanted to know what was it. Sitting in the medical office while she examines me, she begins to tell me what was going on with me. I felt my chest tighten like I couldn’t breathe and I wanted to cry in front of her, but I didn’t want to show her. I waited for her to leave the room, I cried myself. Heading to my math class feeling ashamed and embarrassed, I wanted to crawl under a rock so nobody can see me or ask me a question, but all my thoughts stopped when I walked inside the classroom sitting at my desk. Being in class with a bunch of boys was hard, you had to be strong and not show

It was once again a sunny May day at Voyageurs National Park. I had been there for almost a week already, but there was still no sign of people around. I thought that I had come a bit early for the tour and yet it didn’t seem as though anyone was coming. Maybe the park was closed, however, that seemed unlikely since I was booked for the week at the Kettle Falls Hotel. I still don’t understand why they put the only hotel available inside the park on the one tiny island with water surrounding all sides! I find this idea that ‘rowing’ everywhere to be adventurous, is highly moronic. I want to be able to awaken and go on with my day. Not to mention it is strenuous to row by yourself.

About two years ago all my uncles, aunts, and cousins from my country came to visit my grandma. I have a pretty big family so when they all get together it’s like a concert, very crowded with a lot of noise but always exciting. My grandma had never been so happy to see all of us together. Although, she did complain a little about a little chest pain she was feeling that evening. We just thought it was a type of pain that goes away in a couple hours or the morning she wakes up. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The next morning it got worse. It started to cause her shortness of breath. The best idea was to take her to her primary care doctor. After her normal checkup, her doctor told my dad she had to be rushed to the emergency room as soon

It was my first week at the clinic. I did not know what I had signed up for in taking a position at the free clinic but I knew that I wanted to help society as much as I could. This was the place where I could make a difference. When Dwight walked into the clinic, I was not sure of what to expect. It is one thing to read something in a textbook but to experience it in its actuality is a completely different story. He comes in with cracked and blistered feet and three infected toenails. He somehow acquired sores on his wrists and under his arms and, claims that he has felt crazy and scared at times. After examining the patient, the doctor and I speak in the hallway about his neural symptoms being caused by a sexually transmitted disease. The doctor asks me what my thoughts are and I quickly scan my mental list of sexually transmitted diseases that I remember. One disease immediately comes to mind and that is syphilis.