Nursing and Caring

The act of caring, according to caring theorist Jean Watson is found at the core of nursing. Looking back, I can see that I never quite saw how important caring is within the nursing profession. I used to think that science and the understanding of the human anatomy was the most important. But after going through my first semester in the nursing program, I can now truly say that caring comes first. The act of caring is not something that everyone can do, some people are better at it than others. Also caring is not a skill, but a way of relating and building a relationship with the person being cared for. As I had said before, caring is not something that everyone can do, so the act of caring can often be hard for some nurses to show. The lack of care or disconnection between nurses and their patients can sometimes have an effect on the health of the patient. This observation is what I plan to put into practice next semester when I go to clinical. I plan on making sure that I see my patients as people as opposed to objects and to treat them with utmost respect.

Department of Health and Social Security. (n.d.). A nurse attending to a patient [Cartoon]. Isle of Man Government: London. Retrieved December 3, 2008, from http://www.gov.im/dhss/health/nobles/patient/Aboutstaff.xml

Watson, J. (2006). Jean Watson’s theory of human caring. In M. Parker (Ed.), Nursing theories and nursing practice (2nd ed). Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.

The Ethical Dilemma

During my first semester in the nursing program at UOIT, I have become more aware of my personal beliefs and how they affect my judgment. However, I wonder if this self awareness will continue to persist or if my personal beliefs will ever over shadow my critical thinking skills. Lately, the choice between following religious beliefs and life has become more evident within the health care profession. Some patients are choosing death over saving their lives because of what their religion says. I know that I have to respect my patient’s wishes, but dealing with life and death situations is not one of my strongest traits. I begin to wonder what I would do if one of my patients ever tells me that they choose to follow their religious beliefs over saving their life. I know that the first question that would come to my mind would be “why?”. Although I try to separate work from my personal beliefs, sometimes it can be hard when dealing with a life and death situation. So my question to anyone who reads this post is, “what would you do if one of your patients chose to follow their religion over saving their life?”.

Elfstrom, J. (2006). A woman holding a candle [Picture]. Sweden. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/Article____15193.aspx

Communication Barriers in Health Care

Technological advancement has the power to change the health care field. I think that the introduction of technology into the health care field has improved communication barriers. Nurses can now communicate in a more efficient manner through the introduction of computer based documentation as opposed to paper based documentation. This introduction has led to less human error and improvements in the care of client’s. The computer based documentation allows nurses to appear more organized, which then provides their client’s with a piece of mind. Also, the introduction of computer based documentation leads to less repetition of questions to client’s, which can sometimes cause the client to become frustrated or annoyed.

Nursing Burnout

Second semester is fast approaching and with it comes clinical. I know that even with all the practice in the world, I cannot really prepare myself for that day. Within me there is excitement and nervousness at the same time. I am excited because I can finally begin practicing as a student nurse, but nervous because of the stress and increasing demand that may be coming my way. The increasing demand for nurses keeps going up each year. I think that the nursing shortage is something that must be handled very carefully in order for the future results to have a positive effect on society. Also, I think that in order for the nursing shortage to be tackled properly, there needs to be special attention paid to nursing students. The attention that is paid to nursing students would allow for the reasons why nurses leave the nursing profession to be tackled. Most of the reasons why nurses leave the profession have been attributed to nursing burnout. The burnout is caused by the nursing shortage, which keeps the cycle going. I believe that if nursing students don’t experience burnout during their academic years while attending clinical then it will reduce the amount of students dropping out of the program. Not only would this help the students in the long run but also the hospitals and communities that are in dire need of more nurses.

Beech, P. (2007). The nurse is not for burning. Nursing Standard, 21 (20), 62-64. Retrieved November 29, 2008, from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source database.

Nursing at UOIT

Hello, my name is Augusta and I am a first year nursing student at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). The first month in the nursing program has been wonderful. I have finally come to the understanding that nursing takes a lot of work and dedication. Although my schedule is not that packed, the workload is certainly heavy.

Before setting up my blog, I browsed through a couple of blogs and came to the conclusion that blogging is just another mean of communication. Blogs can also be a creative way of sharing information with others about a certain topic. This is my first blog; I hope it gives you a little bit of insight into nursing at UOIT.