Nursing to me means helping and caring and putting others before yourself. I believe that nurses are a crucial part to our society. They do so much for our communities that go unnoticed. These are things such as little acts of kindness that make a patients day better, going that extra mile, thinking about others and what their needs and wants. Nurses are hard working, devoted individuals who have a passion and dedication to help people when they are the most vulnerable. They support their patients in their decisions and are there with them through their hardest times.
I chose nursing as a career because I really want to help people. I wanted a career that was fast paced and always changing. I wanted a job that I could interact with new people everyday and work as a team with my co-workers. Nursing provides you with many opportunities to take your career in any direction that you choose. I feel as though nursing as a career can fulfill all of these characteristics that I am looking for in a career. I believe that you need to have the desire to help or benefit other people to be fully successful in nursing.I truly believe that nurses have the responsibility to have good communication and connections with their patients to ensure that they feel comfortable and safe. I believe that nurses should treat every patient with respect and kindness, regardless of their race, cultural beliefs or life choices.
Re-Evaluation of Beliefs - 2015
My beliefs about nursing have stayed the same since earlier this year. After experiencing clinical I see just how valuable communication, respect and kindness are in a workplace setting. I have realized it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to getting all tasks done and done right. I believe that if you do not have the desire to help or care for other then nursing is not the career path for you.
I used my communications skills and demonstrated respect and kindness to all different residents, regardless of their mood, race or beliefs. I enjoyed working with all of the different residents.
Re-Evaluation Of Beliefs - 2016
Through experiencing clinical settings within my longterm care, maternity and community placement, and also through course work and labs, my beliefs about nursing have changed from my first year. Throughout my different placements I have realized just how much work and time nursing requires. I thought that I had a good understanding of this coming into the nursing program, but once I began my clinical placements and throughout my courses and labs I began to realize it was a lot more than I had originally thought.
I mostly envisioned nursing within a hospital setting before coming into this program. After completing my longterm care and community placement I found out that there are many different areas of nursing care, some which also interested me more than I thought, such as my placement at the Youth Emergency Shelter in Peterborough, ON. At this placement I realized that there is a lot more to nursing than inpatient care. Health promotion, advocacy, policy changes and research are all huge components of nursing. My beliefs surrounding the type of care that nurses give, such as their kindness, going the extra mile for a patient, advocating for your patient, passion and dedication are still the same throughout my nursing journey as I have seen these skills throughout all of my placements. Throughout this program so far, I have also learned a lot more about myself and what type of nurse that I would like to be as well as how I can effectively provide care. Through interacting with different patients, I have also been able to experience valuable lessons and learn from them to better improve myself.
Re-Evaluation of Beliefs - 2017
Over the past 3 years in the Nursing program at Trent University, I have changed and grown as a nurse and as a person. I've have learned a lot about myself and others throughout all of the experiences I have had thus far in my career. Looking back at my evaluation of beliefs from first year it is clear to see how different nursing is once you experience it yourself. In my first year I valued good communication, desire to help others, treat others with respect and kindness - regardless of race or culture and also to ensure comfort and safety to patients. I still value all of these which I believe is good for myself after three years, as being in practice you don't always see that and it is something I want to always strive to be like, no matter what.
After experiencing my chronic and acute placements, I now value many more aspects in nursing than I did before. After being on the Palliative Unit I really value the support of teamwork from others nurses and the bond that there is between other nurses. It was very relieving and comforting for myself to be able to talk with others who felt the same things in a non-judgemental area and who understood what it was you were talking about. As we dealt with a lot of passings on this unit, this came in very handy within our group which I valued very much. This also transferred over into my acute placement as it was a lot more faced paced and required much more skill than chronic. Having people to support you and to rely on when you needed help in situations was beneficial and helped me to be more confident in the care I provided. It also allows for myself to see how other nurses practice and can potentially add these skills into my own. I expect my values and beliefs to continue to change throughout the years, as nursing is forever changing as well.