My Reflection
When reflecting on how I got to where I am today there are many things that shaped me to be who I am today. One thing that plays a very important role are my values, although I have many, some that stand out to me are compassion, dedication, integrity, and balance. I believe I am mostly made up of a mosaic of my values; all things that I stand for to make me who I am. Whether some of these were learned in the ways I watched those around me act growing up or they were developed internally through learning what kind of person I wish to be. These values not only shape who I am as an individual but shape what kind of a future I want for myself. This future being, of course, going into nursing as a profession (Poorchangizi, 2019). Because of my values, learning who I am, and who I want to one day be allows me to feel secure in choosing to one day become a nurse.
What engaged me to go into the nursing profession was my desire and passion to make a difference in someone’s life even when they may be experiencing the worst moments. I wish to do this by being there for patients in their most vulnerable moments by offering holistic care. Holistic care means to provide care for the whole person which includes meeting their physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and cultural needs (Frisch, 2019). By being able to meet these needs for a patient I will be able to one day provide the best care possible for patients.
I feel that my stance on holistic care in nursing has been positively and greatly shaped due to the concepts that have been discussed thus far in my courses. Being able to learn about how to provide holistic care and different scenarios regarding care and values has helped open my eyes to the importance of personalizing care plans. Not only that, but I also have learned about effective communication and active listening in patient care which allowed me to see how I can play a meaningful role in patient care. While what I have learned so far has been incredibly valuable, it also makes me aware of the challenges and uncertainties I may face as I continue on this journey.
Reflecting on my worries I feel that there are many ‘what ifs’ I could come up with at this moment, in fact all moments. There can be many uncertainties for my future in nursing. What if I make a mistake as a nurse one day and it puts a patient’s life at risk? What if I lose a patient and I have a very hard time coping with the loss? Although these ‘what ifs’ are all very serious concerns of mine, I feel it is important to come to the realization that I may have struggles, especially when I just begin to be a nurse, however these worries I have at this moment are why I am in nursing school. To help me learn and grow and understand day by day how to become the nurse I want to be.
I feel that it is important to take things one step at a time to achieve my goals and recognize that I have done my research on the challenges and benefits to becoming a nurse. Even though I had done this prior to entering the program there are some things I had not realized before. A challenge I have now come to realize that may be weighing on me more and more each day is the course load nursing students need to take. I knew it was heavy but it can be quite difficult to manage at times considering I have never had a longer to-do list in my life.
On a positive note, there are also benefits I had not realized as much as before. This being just how rewarding it could be to be the thing that makes even a small difference in someone’s life. My journey thus far has already taught me a lot and while I know there will be challenges ahead, I’m committed to growing as a student nurse and embracing the opportunities to one day make a meaningful impact on the lives of others.
References
Frisch, N., & Rabinowitsch, D. (2019, September). Http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0887302×07303626 |
request PDF. What’s in a Definition? Holistic Nursing, Integrative Health Care, and Integrative Nursing.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328039672_httpjournalssagepubcodoiab
.s1011770887302X07303626
Poorchangizi, B., Borhani, F., Abbaszadeh, A., Mirzaee, M., & Farokhzadian, J. (2019, July 5). The importance of profes
sional values from nursing students’ perspective. BMC nursing.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6610983/