My first artifact is my acceptance letter into the collaborative nursing program at Trent, this represented the hard work and the commitment to both myself and my studies have finally paid off. I was so proud of what I was able to accomplish and that I was able to get offers for two scholarships. This connects to the profession nursing because it taught me to continue to work toward what I want and that I can accomplish my goals, which will translate into a helpful skill for when I need to prepare for the courses I am taking now and the ones I will be taking later this year. Furthermore becoming useful for when I need to prepare for the NCLEX.
My second artifact is my family. Throughout my entire life I have been caring for people whether that be my siblings, parents or grandparents, in early childhood I was always the role model and felt the pressure of maintaining a good image in the attempt to encourage my siblings to do the same. I was consistently reminded of the example I needed to set and often my actions would mirror this. As I am the eldest sibling to 5 other children I still feel the pressure to do my best as a means of motivating my younger siblings. Later in life my role for caring for my parents and grandparents began, typically this would consist of de-escalating emotionally elevated situations, or trying to come to solutions within each of their lives. With my grandparents I have learned how to maintain patience and take a step back when I become frustrated. Overall this has taught me leadership skills and other skills that will be useful while I am in nursing school and eventually working as a nurse.
This is my third artifact which is my N95 mask fitting. This made the idea of being in nursing school and moving into the profession of nursing feel more realistic, it also made me realize that I have actually come this far, and can reach my goals. It gave an idea of what I will be doing and what needs to be done for nursing school. This connects to nursing because it gives me some knowledge of nursing and ignites the passion I have for learning which is critical to nursing because its a field where you must continue to improve and learn to ensure your patients will receive the best care.
My final artifact is my scrubs uniform, much like the N95 mask fitting, it made me feel like this is what I was meant to do, that the puzzle piece finally fell into place. Not only do these scrubs represent professionalism but they give me a sense of belonging and heighten my desire to care for people. Like I mentioned this uniform also helps me to connect to the professional aspect of nursing as this field requires immense responsibility. This artifact correlates to nursing because when wearing the uniform I have a responsibility to act as a registered nurse would, and uphold the same standards by acting with professionalism.