Month: October 2020

Art is a visual way of transmitting a message of meaning and emotion to another. Throughout the pandemic, art has been used to acknowledge and appreciate the work of the nurses working on the front lines. This graffiti mural is a piece of art the really spoke to me. It encompasses the reason why I have chosen to pursue a career in nursing. Nurses always have been, but are just finally being recognized, as the “superheroes” of our health care system. They are the ones who work tirelessly in protecting the well-being and health of the patients by putting themselves and those around them at risk to help those suffering. That is what a superhero does; they put others before themselves. The selflessness and determination of nurses, especially during COVID-19 times, is something that is truly amazing. Something that really stuck out to me in this mural is the eyes of the nurse. There is a combination of emotions that I can read from these eyes. I see sadness, will power, pride, exhaustion and so much more. During the pandemic, the role of nurses has been greatly impacted. They are giving the patients the adequate care that they need while also implementing the infectious disease prevention needed to control spread of COVID-19. An important part of the nursing role during this time is spending time with patients, listening to them, and getting to know them. This has been a terrifying time for both patients and their families due the restrictions in visitors entering the hospital. Nurses were put into the family role for the patients by advocating for each individual and providing the support that they need. With this role being emphasized during the pandemic, it put a lot more emotional stress and exhaustion on these nurses. Despite the sadness and exhaustion associated with being a nurse during this life-changing time in health care, nurses are more determined than ever to provide the best care possible for their patients. This mural has so much underlying meaning emphasizing that times during coronavirus is an unknown for everyone and nurses are the front-line workers that are there to provide support and strength for everyone. It is something that I truly admire and I hope that one day I can have even half courage of the health care superheroes.

Reflection on Modules 3 and 4

Priority Setting Frameworks:

The “Priority Setting Frameworks” module taught me about aspects that help in prioritizing certain actions and focusing on the patient’s needs. There are 7 frameworks that set priorities for nurses. They include Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the nursing process, ABC’s, safety and risk reductions, least restrictive-least invasive, survival potential, and acute versus chronic, urgent versus non-urgent, and unstable versus stable findings. A certain framework will be used for each clinical client situation. The nurse will choose the framework that is most applicable to the situation at hand.

This module taught me some pertinent information that I will need to incorporate into my future nursing culture. It will help me to characterize information that I have about each client into certain categories. These categories will help me determine what should be assessed first for each client. Doing this will provide the most adequate care for my patients by assessing the most important aspects. For me, the Hierarchy of Needs is extremely important. Of course, as nurses we must help to maintain our client’s health, however, in order to restore health, an individual must obtain all the five human needs. This goes beyond just providing care to patients which I think is extremely important.

Knowledge and Clinical Judgement:

This module talks about different learning styles that individuals could have. There are three types of learners that are discussed: visual, auditory, and tactile. Visual learners learn best from strategies that involve sight. These types of patients would prefer pictures, diagrams, graphs, Powerpoints, and charts as part of their patient education. Auditory learners learn best by hearing. Patient education would include reciting notes, engaging in group discussions, listening to recorded information or instructions out loud. Tactile learners learn through physically touching and doing. This would be done with the patient physically doing it. Understanding what type learner your patient is is extremely important.

Learning that there are different learning styles that are unique to each patient was very helpful. Understanding which learning style your patient learns best with is essential as a nurse. Nurses are the ones of the health care team that does majority of the patient education. Patient education is one of the priorities in patient care. Incorporating the patient into their own care will improve likelihood for the involvement of patient in interventions that may increase their chances for positive outcomes. Deciding how to teach your patient based on their learning style will help in increasing effectiveness of patient education. Nurses are extremely busy so incorporating different types of learning into my nursing culture will help in saving time while still being efficient.