Prior to our previous class, we were assigned a movie based on real life experiences that nurses have had that make proud of the profession that they went into. After observing this video, I have made many connections and self-reflections that I feel will become important as I step into the role of a nurse following graduation. The nurses in the movie all provided presence and compassion for their patients. Although I feel compassion as a nursing student, I feel that there is a lot for me to learn in terms of presence while in the nursing field. Having been a student during the times of a pandemic, my clinical experience has been shortened and altered. Therefore, I have not gotten as much hands on experience with patients as I would like. Therefore, I fear that I will not know what to do or how to react in serious times when the patient or families depend on me for emotional support. I feel that I can build on that skill base by getting the hands on experience, and developing more interpersonal skills with people as I experience the hard emotions along with my patients.

There was one population in the movie that has faced lots of disparities in terms of health and wellness throughout the United States. The Native American population faces the highest risk for health disparities within our country and are the least likely to obtain help for their medical needs. Due to location, I have not yet cared for this population within my care. There are some Native American populations within New England, but they are located farther north than our schools current location. A major barrier to healthcare for this population is the accessibility to health care. In western parts of the country, towns are more spread out and dispersed, so there are typically not many sources of public transportation that will regularly run as a system would within a city. This population also runs high in poverty, so they may not be able to afford healthcare insurances and costs. The practice of cultural humility allowed the nurses in the video to explore their own cultural beliefs, values, and stigmas, so that they can have self-realization and open up to appreciate the cultural beliefs of others. It prepares them to accept others regardless of their differences, and will help those nurses want to learn more about various cultural beliefs of their clients. This helped with their care of patients in the movie, as they were able to put aside their own beliefs to provide the optimal care for the quality of the patient’s wants and needs. I personally feel that I am very open to learning about the cultural beliefs of other people, and look forward to using cultural humility throughout my career. I want my patients to also be open to me as well. There are some times that patients do not want to teach me about their cultural values and beliefs because they feel that I am not going to accept that information with an open acceptance. I would love to improve on providing a more accepting environment for people of all cultures to allow them to feel that they are cared for and valued within my realm of care despite any differences that we may face in our beliefs. My job is to make the patient feel safe and cared for.

I have recently been prepping for interviews in my own time and have developed a couple strengths and weaknesses that I would like to work on when moving into the nursing field. For my strengths, I feel that I can easily adapt to work environments, and I am extremely dependable to all of my employers. In my previous career, I started out with absolutely no experience in certified nursing assistant care or skills. What I have found within my training process was that I only had needed to be shown skills a couple times for me to grasp the materials of what was expected of me. I was able to provide care on my own within just a couple of weeks and became leader on the unit within just a couple months on the job. My employers were able to depend on me for picking up shifts or making changes in my schedule if needed, and I had always received positive feedback for the effort that I put in towards my work. For my weaknesses, I feel that I could build more upon my confidence in terms of providing nursing specific skills. I do not have the most confidence in my skills, as I have had little availability to practice them in my clinical experiences. As mentioned earlier, the pandemic has changed many rules and regulations that healthcare settings normally wouldn’t have had prior, and I have not gotten much practice because of that. My skills also aren’t going to be the most proficient, as I am new to the nursing field. Therefore, I am not going to know how to do everything on my own right away. My plan to address these weaknesses is by getting as much experience and practice as I can once I am a nurse. I plan to not practice in a specialty right away, as I feel gaining more of a skill set will be more helpful for me in the long run so that I can build confidence in my nursing career.