Choosing a major is like choosing something that you're willing to sign your life over to, from higher education to working in a field for the rest of your life. I have only had one true thing in life that I’m passion about which is helping others. As soon as we step foot into college we are presented with a choice, a choice that would probably shape the rest of our lives. This choice consists of deciding on a major. For myself I chose Nursing as a major. I already knew that choosing nursing as a career wasn’t going to be easy, but I always knew my passion for helping others and I knew that nursing would be the perfect way to share my passion. Choosing Nursing as a major to me was a win or lose situation, so before this project I was still unsure if majoring in nursing was something that I actually wanted to do. For my research project I decided to research the nursing community to gain personal knowledge. My main focus of this project is to introduce what nursing is and to focus on the different concepts used within the community. Within the nursing community I have found many things used to keep the community at float. The nursing community consists of different types of nurses that are required to do different types of work. From research I gained knowledge about the different paths I could take to become a pediatric nurse practitioner and what it’s like during schooling and actually working in the nursing field. I have found many sources explaining the need for the nursing community and how it functions. Being that I am from around the Tallahassee area I was able to speak with actual nurses that works alongside my mother. One main thing that helped with finding topics to mention within my paper was being able to sit inside a doctor’s office and visualize in person how things are ran within this community. Not only did I research ways a doctor’s office is ran, but also the process nurses take to get themselves into the nursing community.
A Nurse could be described as someone that works to save or improve the life of someone. The roles of a Nurse are to educate, empower, and advocate for their patients. “21st Century nursing is the glue that holds a patient’s health care journey together.”(ANA) Nurses work every day to protect and supply the needs of their patients. The Nursing profession is evolving every day to improve the health within societies. Not every Nurse is the same, as each possess their own passions and strength.“Nurses are in every community – large and small – providing expert care from birth to the end of life.” (ANA)
In the Nursing fields the jobs of a Nurse varies because there is more than just one type of Nurse. One thing all nurses share is that they all complete a program of education pertaining to their job and work with different patients using the skills they have learned. “In the United States today, nursing roles can be divided into three categories by the specific responsibilities they undertake.”(ANA) These categories consist of Registered Nurses, Advanced Practice Nurses, and Licensed Practical Nurses. The roles of each nurse varies due to the amount schooling and experience each have. The role of a registered nurse consists of, performing Physical exams, providing health counseling and education, providing medications, and conducting care. Advanced Practice Nurse are responsible for prescribing medication diagnosing and treating minor illness and injuries, and handling mental and physical health problems. Advanced Practice Nurses and Registered Nurses share some responsibilities, except an APN could do just a little more work than a RN legally. License Practical Nurse are required to, check vital signs/look for signs of improving health, change bandages and wound dressings and responsible for making sure patients are fed, hydrated and comfortable. These nurses work in different settings. The roles of nurses can be broken down into smaller concepts. Concepts such as age and gender play a role in the type of work nurses do. There are pediatric nurses that work with children from birth to the age of 18, Geriatric nurse work with those of older age, and even women nurse practitioners that work with only women. There are so many different levels and types of nursing for many different areas of health.
“The average age for Nurses in the U.S is 45 years old, while those under 30 represent only about 15 percent of the Nursing jobs.”
The Nursing community consists of more Whites than any other race. For years Nursing has been predominantly women, but as Nursing is evolving the number of men getting involved in this community is increasing. According to Minority Nurse statistics, 9.9% of RNs are black, 8.3% Asian, 4.3%, 0.4 that classify as more than one race and white making up the rest of the Nursing community.
Throughout my research I had the privilege to interview a registered nurse that work in a doctors with my mom. Her name is Melanie, she’s 40 years old and is originally from Chicago. Melanie moved here to Tallahassee to purse her career as a Nurse. She graduated from Florida A&M University in 1999 with her Associate Degree in Nursing. Melanie has worked as a registered nurse for 10 years and five of those years were at Westminister Oaks retirement home where she currently works. From this interview I gained inside knowledge on the nursing field. Melanie talked to me about the path she took to get to where she is now. Dedication, she stressed this terms so much throughout our entire interview. I was able to learn about the challenges nurses face and the way they balance their lives as a nurse. Being able to shadow Melanie for a day, one main thing that stood out to me were the different way each nurse communicated with each other. After being able to witness the way the nurses in the office communicated with each other I did personal research on this idea and why it’s important to the Nursing community.
“Communication for nurses is important in the present situation, and communication is an important part of the nursing practice, which has a special meaning. Nurses use good communication skills in order to obtain the trust of patients, to gain more fully understand of patients.” From different research and personal observation I began to realize the important role that communication plays within the nursing community. There are three different categories of communication which nurses uses them all. Each category has its own importance in the nursing community. Verbal, non-verbal, and visualization are the three categories of communication. Having good communication skills is beneficial for a nurse when dealing with both coworkers and patients. Communication with patients is important because it allows patients to feel comfortable. From personal experience when a nurse gives me their full attention and show me that they actual care about my health I feel more comfortable talking to them about my problem. It allows the proper care, with good communication nurses are able to gather the proper information. Communication is important within coworkers because it allow the facility to operate effectively. In a workplace, employees feed off each other, so with proper communication things are able to flow.
In the doctors office my mom works in everyone has their own specific roles in which they communicate with each other to properly run the office. My mom works as the administrative assistant in which her role is to schedule appointments, check patients in and out of the office, and also keep track of the patient’s files that contains personal information. The medical assistant there direct the patients to the back once they’re checked in, the she’s responsible for figuring out the patient’s issue and checking vitals, and to inform the nurses of the information she gathered. The nurses there are responsible for caring for the patients based off the information the medical assistant provided them with and making sure they leave in proper care. Being able speak with people that work in the nursing community one main question I wanted answers on was, how is it dealing with patients or different people every day? My mom explained to me that when working in the nursing community it is always important to grow relationships and to get to know people. From working with the same patients for a while you begin to learn these people. For example, Ms.Cathy come into the office and every time she comes she gives the employees a hard time, she’s rude, she kicks and fight the nurses off of her. Ms. Cathy acts this way with every nurse except one named Lynn so every time Ms.Cathy has an appointment my mom notify the nurses about her appointment and the nurses make arrangements for Lynn to be on shift when she comes in.
“In today's healthcare system, information technology is the foundation of the future.” (Cristina Cassano) The use of technology within the workplace for nurses has evolved. Before the 21stcentury those within this community found no reason for the use of technology. One call for the use of technology was to for nurses to speed up the process for better outcomes of care for patients. Due to the rise of technology within this community there was a call for more jobs. Informatic specialist positions opened to have someone work the technology to create proper communication for nurses. Technology is used within this community to store information, run test, and to properly diagnose patients. The use of technology has become an important use because it allows quick communication and it reduces losing important files.
Computer technology is one the most popular applications used in the nursing community. Computer use consists of scheduling staffs, time keeping, ordering medications, and emailing. Monitors are devices used to store patient information. These devices can be used to shows heart rates and to check the blood pressure of patients. Monitors can be used for many different reasons to gather the proper information about the functioning of the body of a patient. There are other devices used to alarm nurses of emergencies. For example, at hospitals there are telephones and buttons for patients to use to notify workers that they need help or if something is wrong. Even television is used within this community for entertainment purposes. At hospitals and doctors offices there are TVs in the waiting area and even in the rooms for patients to watch while on their visit.
Being that I schedule doctor appointments for any little thing I find wrong, I am able to demonstrate my own experience on the use of technology within the nursing community. I am first responsible for checking in at the front desk. Once I am called to the back my weight is checked and height by using a scale and ruler. Once I’m placed in a room my blood pressure and heart rate is checked by using a sphygmomanometer. Once the important part of the visit approaches my nurse usually already have in the system the reason for my visit, so she uses to computer in the room to properly gain knowledge about my visit. If the issue I am having requires the use of medication to treat me she uses that same computer to send over a prescription to a pharmacy where I’ll pick it up once I receive a call that’s it is ready for pick up.
It is impossible to imagine this world without nurses. Nursing has been around since the 1800s and we as people have learned for years to become so depended on them. The nursing community has had such a huge impact on everyone’s life that has allowed itself to expand as time passes. I have prepared myself in many ways to successfully be a part of this community. I have researched the different paths here at Florida State University to become part of the nursing community that exists here. To get accepted into the nursing program here is very competitive and even though over hundreds of people apply only about 50 students are accepted at a time. After meeting with the nursing advisor at Florida State I learned that not only academics matter when applying to get into the nursing program. One important factor that can help get yourself into the program is growing relationships and connections. Getting involved within the community in ways such as internships and volunteering in different areas of this community gives you more experience and more of an opportunity to become accepted into the program. After meeting with the nursing adviser Ms.Turner I have applied for internships at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and Capital Regional hospital to get myself involved early. Before students could apply for a nursing program at any college, they are required to take prerequisites, classes such as biology and chemistry. These classes are looked at to prepare students for higher levels of education that’s taught in the programs. I researched the academic maps for nursing majors at other schools such as Florida A&M University and even University of Central Florida and they’re both similar to the map here at Florida State University.
The importance of getting involved and growing relationships within the nursing community before actually being involved in this community is because it prepares you. Thinking broader than the nursing community, getting involved can help you in the long run. “One mentor I worked with ... in a clinical setting then later reconnected at a school of nursing. She was the administrator of the program at the time.”(Margaret) I read an article written by a women named Margaret, in this article she explained how developing early connections impacted her. She volunteered at a clinical office assisting nurses. Later when she applied to the nursing program at her school she found out that the women that she shadowed in the past was the administrator of the program. She was able to get accepted because when she earlier shadowed this woman she was able to show her the skills she possessed without knowing it would later have a huge impact on her life. From this I was able to learn the importance of relationships and its importance within the nursing the community.
The nursing community is broader than just nurses and patients. Different communities tie into this one. Throughout research I was able to gather information on the different struggles faced within this community. From this information I came across the issue of discrimination which is widely affecting this community and others. Discrimination takes place based on race, age, gender, and even where you reside. Because this community is predominately white those of other races are affected by discrimination being that they are seen to be unfit for the nursing career. The LGBT community was another that ties into this community. There has become a large focus on this community involved in the nursing community due the focus on the LGBT community as a whole.
Work within this community such as posters have been used to fight against the acts of discrimination within this community. Posters are used in many settings of this community for many purposes. Whenever I go for a doctor of hospital visits I always find myself reading posters that surround the entire place. Posters are used to promote different shots and explaining why patients should consider getting them. Also posters are used to explain different illnesses and ways that patients can work to prevents themselves from being affected by these illnesses.
Though I had the idea to go into my research aiming to only gain knowledge about the nursing community as a whole I was able slim down this entire community into different using smaller concepts. I found the background information on what nursing is and the importance of this community on the society we live. Within research I was able to gather information on the world before nursing became a thing and after it became an importance within the world. Though the nursing community is this complex area, there are many smaller concepts that are important. The different paths taken to get involved in this community and the importance of things such as communications, relationships and technology are things I were able to research within this community. Whether individuals realize it or not we are all a part of keeping this community in our society. The different levels of work within this community is even broken down into smaller concepts.
The nursing community is one that has a wide range of impacts within the world. I decided to focus my research project on this community to gain personal knowledge about this community. I chose nursing as major to share my passion for helping others and within this research I learned more and more everyday why I chose this specific major. The nursing community connects with so many other communities through different races, gender, and cultures. Important factors that we use every day plays a major role in allowing this community to function. Communication and relationships are the biggest factors the nursing community rely heavily upon. Through research I was able to learn important details about the nursing community, not only did this research help with writing this research paper for project two, but also helped me gain personal knowledge about the nursing community. From research I was able to decide on making nursing my career and my why’s, why I found interest in this career. I hope to join this community and one day have an impact on the world within this community. Though the purpose of nursing is to care for others, I learned that it’s more than just that. Once you become involved in this community you not only care for others, but grow relationships and learn many things that can benefit you in the outside world. After the different levels of research on this community, I was able to decide that the nursing community is one that I want to get involved in.