Reflections

Reflection One – NURS 1020

Entering university is like entering a new world, it is a bubble of time that is separate

from everything before and after (McFarlene, 2012). Coming to university was a huge change for

me, it was my first time living away from my family and being completely independent. I needed

to learn how to manage my own time to ensure I was able to do all of my work and cook my

meals. After the first few weeks it came to my attention that I was not very good at time

management. I was not using my spare time productively. In university courses you only have a

few opportunities to improve your grades. You have to be certain that you are completing the

assignments and studying for tests with the best of your abilities. At the time I assumed I was

doing my school work to my full potential, until I got my mark back from the first paper I

submitted.

When I received my mark from my NURS-1001 scholarly paper I was not overly

enthused at how low it was. At first I thought I had read it backwards, an 84% sounded normal

compared to a 48%. In high school I was a straight A student. I excelled in all of my classes

without any troubles. I had heard that people’s marks drop when they go to univesity but I

assumed I would be one of the few that were not affected. After seeing my mark I took a moment

to look back and examine what I could have done wrong while working on the paper: I finished

the project before it was due so it was not a rushed finish. However, as it was Thanksgiving

weekend I did not proof read as much as I should have. As I wanted to spend time with my

family instead of being behind a computer screen I did not make school my first priority, and

when major assignments are due that is not a good decision.

There are a variety of contributing factors that can affect one’s success upon entering the

next level of education. It is believed that the reduction of parental supervision and support,

accompanied by the increase in peer influence can result in decreased academic performance

(Neild, 2009). As I am now living on my own when I get back from classes no one is there to

tell me to do my homework before going out with friends. I am more self-reliant than I have ever

been, however I am not quite competent enough for that responsibility. Aside from the lack of

supervision and abundance of peer influence there are countless other reasons why one’s marks

may drop. There is the assumption that students whose marks have dropped upon entering

university might have been because they were inadequately challenged in high school. Their lack

of knowledge and skills begins to catch up with them as they enter the next level of education

(Nield, 2009). The student’s marks may also drop because they may not have predicted the

professor’s expectations to be so much higher than their previous teachers. University is one big

learning process and once you realize what you have done wrong you can find a way to fix it.

When I saw my mark I realized that it was time to make some changes. In order to ensure

that I get myself back on track I need to acquire a variety of skills that will help me become more

successful on assignments and projects. Time management is a crucial concept in organization

and overall success. To better organize my time and my school work I can make ‘to do lists’ on a

daily basis to ensure that I am completing the necessary tasks. It is suggested that dividing your

‘to do list’ into 3 categories can be more efficient. One category in the ‘to do list’ is critical tasks

that need to be completed that day. The second category is important tasks that should be

completed that day and the third category is optional tasks which are activities that should be

done but can be postponed if necessary (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). By organizing my tasks

into these grouping I can ensure that I am getting assignments done on time and I can work on

assignments before they are due to get a head start. Having all these tasks to complete can

become rather stressful, no matter how organized my lists are. As stress relief allows one to

regain control of their own lives it is important that I learn how to properly relive stress to avoid

becoming overwhelmed (Gottesman, 2014). Relaxation is the ultimate stress management

technique as it has a calming psychological benefits. A temple massage is one the most

recommended stress relief techniques. During a temple massage the tension melts away and

autonomic and psychological stability increases (Gottesman, 2014). From now on when my

school work becomes overwhelming or I need to regain my focus I can give myself a temple

massage to get my mind balanced and get back down to work. Once I begin managing my time

and reliving my stress I can only hope that my marks begin to ascend.

Receiving unexpectedly low marks on assignments can be a traumatic event. The mark I

received on my scholarly paper opened up my eyes to a variety of conditions that I was living

within that needed to be changed. To avoid this happening in the future I need to learn to

prioritize my work and avoid the social temptations. I need to better manage my time and

organize my day and when I become overwhelmed I need to use stress relieving techniques. As I

am now more aware of what influences may have affected my grade on my paper I know what to

stay away from when assignments and school work needs to be completed. The newly found

techniques to better organize and control my life will assist me in my future success on

assignments. I am now more inclined to focus on the wellbeing of my health and school work

rather than my social status.

References

Gottesman, C. (2014). Stress relief at your fingertips for labor, delivery and afterword.

International Journal of Childbirth Education, 19(4), 28. Retrieved from:

http://go.galegroup.com.cat1.lib.trentu.ca:8080/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType

=None&sort=DASORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=ocul_thomas

&tabID=T002&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=

&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=2&contentSet=GALE

%7CA386746614&&docId=GALE|A386746614&docType=GALE&role=

Griffin, R., & Moorhead, G. (2011). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Behaviors.

Mason: Cengage Learning

McFarlene, M. (2012). You Had Me At Hello. New York City: Avon Publications

Neild, R. (2009). Falling off track during the transition to high school: what we know and what

can be done. Future of Children, 19(1), 53-76. Retrieved from:

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.cat1.lib.trentu.ca:8080/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid

=2eba6aa9-5f67-4e5f-a95c-38b7a514724e%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=106

Reflection Two – NURS 2020

For the purpose of this reflection I will be focusing on the rural school we went to on

Tuesday, October 27th. This was our second day presenting to our target population. The first

rural school we went to on Monday was amazing, there was over 60 students and they were all

very eager to learn. The students at the first school had a greater knowledge of the English

language than we expected, as when we arrived a group of older girls sang a few verses of a

Michael Bolton song to us. The second rural school had an opposite environment, there were

only seven students, grades three to six and they had little to no English background. As this

school was not what Holly and I expected we were not overly prepared. We altered the lesson we

had used the day before and removed the difficult aspects, leaving us with 30 minutes of simple

content. However, the lesson plan was not implemented with ease as the students were not

interested in learning English, nor were any of the students on equal learning levels. Overall our

second presentation was not successful and Holly and I were left feeling stressed and pressured

to fix our lesson with a lack of resources. I believe that the other people who accompanied us

were just as unsure as of why this rural school seemed to be so difficult. Rita and Churri gave us

a suggestion of adding more basic content to our lesson, such as the alphabet. The other students

who were with us admitted that this was a hard group to present to, however if you had the right

content you could intrigue the student body.

The key issue with this situation was that Holly and I were not knowledgeable on the

learning abilities of younger students, as well as the basic curriculum for teaching younger

students English as a second language (ESL). The research about Honduras’s education

curriculum that we gathered before the trip stated that English was a required subject throughout

the country (Fishman & Gracia, 2011). However as we discovered upon arrival, with limited

supplies, most often the students were only taught what the teacher knows. In rural schools

teaching staff is very limited and in some cases the teachers would not know any English.

Therefore, even though English is supposed to be a mandatory subject, if one is lacking the

teaching tools and knowledge they are not able to transfer their knowledge to their students, so

quite often no English was being covered during lessons. Wade, Tarvis, Saucier and Elias (2013)

state, one’s cognitive development depends on what the adults around them are teaching, what

their culture consists of and the environment they live in. As Honduras is a developing country in

Central America, it has a very different culture, and environment, and as stated before, with

limited teachers available Honduran children would cognitively develop at a different rate than

Canadians. This makes it extremely difficult to interpret what students of a developing country,

specifically a rural school with little resources, would be knowledgeable on.

As nursing students we are expected to self-regulate ourselves, and constantly self-reflect

on our performances. After the presentation at the second rural school Holly and I first revised

our entire lesson plan, we added in simpler contexts such as colours, numbers, the alphabet,

common greeting and to end: an interactive activity of head, shoulders, knees and toes. In order

to ensure our lesson plan was applicable no matter what the next rural school entailed, we

divided up topics into grades depending on comprehensive abilities. Our original lesson plan of

vegetables, emotions and Canadian facts was preserved until we had a highly cognitive

functioning group of students. To be more successful with our project implementation Holly and

I then reflected on our presentation skills in comparison to other students. Through this analysis

we were able to see cues from the audience that portrayed their level of interest, and from there

we brainstormed successful facilitation techniques. A specific technique, which we ended up

using in a later presentation, was taking a break by having the students take part in an interactive

game, and then continuing with our content to ensure they were paying full attention through the

entire presentation.

From the experience and troubles we faced the main recommendation for someone in a

similar situation is to have more prepared than you believe necessary and be ready for any “what

if” situations that may occur. Preparation is key, so make sure that you have analyzed every

possible aspect that could affect the implementation of your project. For our project specifically

Holly and I should have looked at the Canadian curriculum for ESL, cognitive development

stages of our target population, rural schools vs urban schools in Honduras and of course

presentation and teaching techniques. For future projects, similar to our ESL presentation, I will

ensure that I have done adequate background research in order to succeed. We learn from our

mistakes and this experience was a major opportunity to learn how to persevere through the

tough times.

References

Fishman, J., & Gracia, O. (Eds.).(2011). Planning for failure: English and language policy and

planning in Bangladesh. Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: The Success-failure

Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts, 2. 200. Retrieved October 13, 2015.

Wade, C., Tavris, C., Saucier, D., & Elias, L. (2013). Psychology (4th Canadian ed.). Toronto:

Pearson

Reflection Three – NURS 2021

For the purpose of this reflection I will be looking back to the day when one of my good

friends attempted to commit suicide. A group of ten of my girlfriends and I went on a trip to

Montreal over March break. For the duration of this trip we had created a group message so we

could all keep in touch when we got separated. The day after we had returned from our trip my

friend Jane messaged the group in a manner that was a bit concerning. She had been saying

things along the lines of ‘this past week has been great’, ‘I’m so thankful for all of you’ and ‘I’m

really sorry, but I don’t know if I can stay here any longer’. While Jane was sending our group

all these messages we were replying trying to figure out what was wrong and what she was

talking about. When Jane sent the next message everything changed: ‘I just took 25 extra

strength Tylenol’. As soon as we read this message everyone was on their feet trying to figure

out where Jane was and how we could get her to help as soon as possible. Three of the girls who

lived in the same town as Jane had drove to her house, and all over town and were unable to

locate her; until they finally found her sitting in her car parked on main street. By the time the

ambulance arrived Jane had started convulsing and was rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival

Jane’s family were the only visitors allowed so my friends and I sat in the waiting room

anxiously discussing what could have led Jane to do such a thing and why we had not seen it

coming. Eventually we got to visit Jane, and from that moment on everything changed. When we

arrived back at school people would ask us questions if the rumours were true, whether we saw it

happening and if we saw it coming. Everyone at school was treating Jane differently as well,

they were either showing sympathy towards her, accusing her that she only did it for attention, or

they were being overly friendly. Over the course of the next few months Jane was put on

medications to help with her depression and eventually her 15 minutes of fame had ended and

the past became the past. To this day I still message Jane to make sure everything is okay, that

she is liking school and her roommates; and anytime that we are both home I ensure that we

arrange some kind of get together just to catch up.

The key issue to this situation would be the fact that mental illness can affect anyone, and

they may not see it coming just as much as my friends and I did not. There is a lot of stigma

around mental illness, society believes that if someone is mentally ill they would look like the

Hollywood version of psychos, however that is rarely the case. In my first year at Trent, I took a

course called safeTalk in which we discussed the signs that someone was thinking about

committing suicide and how to talk them out of it. They discussed some of the obvious signs

such as someone saying ‘it would all be easier if I was not here anymore’, ‘sometimes I just want

to die’ and ‘I think I want to finally put myself out of this misery’. They also talked about signs

that the majority of us would never clue into such as: not wanting to go out in public, not trying

in school and not enjoying things as much as they used to. As they started mentioning these signs

I began making the connection to what I should have noticed with Jane: she hated going out but

we all thought that was because she didn’t drink or particularly like a lot of people; she never

tried in school, but we thought it was just because she was not smart enough and did not want to

admit that she did not understand; and that she no longer got enjoyment out of the things she

used to, we had all assumed she quit hockey because she was tired of dealing with all the girl

drama she always complained about and just wanted her last year off. By the end of this course I

felt very guilty, I could only question how I could not have seen it coming because now it

seemed so obvious.

After these realizations I became more aware of how to prevent events like this from

happening again. I realized that I do not need to change how I treat people. I am a strong believer

of ‘treat people the way you wish to be treated’, and no matter how kind and nice I am to

someone, when it comes down to it, my kindness will not be what prevents them from taking

their life. Therefore I need to be able to pick up on the slightest of hints that were mentioned

during safeTALK, and if I have even a tiny feeling they might be thinking about suicide I need to

confront and talk to them. Today if any of my friends would say or do something that does not

seem normal for them I am going to talk to them and get to the bottom of things to prevent any

close calls like this again.

Through this experience I have learned that mental illness can affect anyone, and that we

often only think of the extremes of diseases and not the other end of the spectrum. I am now

more aware of the little things I should be looking out for to realize if someone is thinking about

committing suicide. From my experience with Jane, and through safeTALK I believe that if

someone were thinking about committing suicide I would be able to realize, and through past

experiences I would emotionally be able to handle the burden as well.

Reflection Four – NURS 2021

For the purpose of this reflection I will be looking back to the evening when our clinical

group volunteered at Brock Mission at the Open Table. On a Thursday evening we helped

prepare, serve and clean up a meal that was designated for the males who lived in the building as

well as anyone from the community who wished to come. When I was first told about this

opportunity I was very excited as I have helped at a variety of large meals similar to that of the

Open Table. When we first arrived we met Jane who had been working at the Open Table for

four years and had her heart set in it, and she put us right to work. During the few hours we were

there we came across two partners who had a child together. At the beginning, given their

circumstances of low income and having to rely on the Open Table for meal I felt bad for their

kid. I could only think about how sad it is that this child will have to grow up in the environment

of welfare and unstable incomes. However as the evening went on and I got to see the dynamic

of the family and how their lack of income does not determine their ability to parent. The mother

and father were both very friendly to us and before supper was served we even played a bit of

catch with their son and them. The more time we spent with them the more I realized that they

truly were good parents and even with their circumstances they had raised a nice and cute little

kid.

The key issue to this situation would be that you should not judge someone based on their

appearance, or where you meet them because it is what is on the inside that matters the most.

There is a lot of stigma around people who are in the welfare system or are homeless. The most

popular beliefs are that they want to be there, that they are lazy and do not care to try and get a

job. However, this is anything but true: these people end up living in these situations for a

number of reasons such as a sudden job loss, mountains of debt, or that they grew up in these

circumstances and do not know how to get out of it. The family that was at the Open Table truly

opened my eyes to the fact that your income and living situation does not determine your

parenting abilities. However, parenting in these circumstances may even prove that they are

better parents because even though they have so little they give so much to their child.

After these realizations I became more aware of the stereotypes that I unconsciously

believe in. I personally try to respect everyone and treat them how I would want to be treated, so

no matter one’s appearance of living circumstances I believe they need to be treated like an

equal. I have friends who are in the welfare system so I am already aware that it is not something

they wished upon and that it is not very easy to get out of it and live in the ideal situation. Now if

I were to interact with anyone who was homeless I believe that I would be respectful of them and

in no way look down on them or treat them as if I am better than them.

Through this experience I have learned that within the blink of an eye anyone can be

caught and fall into homelessness or the welfare system. I am now more aware of the stereotypes

society portrays of individuals who live below the poverty line and how they unconsciously

influence my opinions. From my experience with this family I believe that I now understand that

this living situation can happen to anyone and that even though they are living in undesirable

circumstances they know how to make the best of it. Instead of exhibiting sympathy for these

individuals I will now show nothing but respect and happiness because they are humans too.

Reflection Five – NURS 3021

Every week at clinical we are given a patient to take care of. One week I was given a patient who

had cerebral palsy which lead her to be non-verbal and deaf. This was the first time I interacted

with someone who was both non-verbal and deaf and I found myself constantly forgetting that

she was deaf. I would be talking to her across the room and facing the other way and not

realizing that I was not having a productive conversation as there was no real communication

occurring.

Nurses work with a variety of different patients all with their own individual needs and

disabilities, therefore they need to be familiar with proper communication techniques. When one

is working with an individual with a communication deficit they have to be extra aware of

everything they are doing. A few key techniques to keep in mind include: maintaining eye

contact, leveling up, active listening, using flash cards with common ADLs and items that the

individual may need on them, as well as taking advantage of the technological resources that are

now available (friendshipcircle.org). Communication techniques play a pivotal role in a

conversation with someone who has a disability, they aid both parties of the conversation so they

can fully understand each other.

We have learned about communication techniques since first year and some of the

techniques have become routine for me. However, when I experienced a new barrier to

communication I had to change my methods. The first day I worked with the patient I found

myself being very forgetful of her disabilities and I felt foolish. By the second day and every

shift that followed I was much more aware of where I was and what I was doing during

conversations, I would use her flash cards and as many hand gestures as I could.

As every patient is different, I may come across someone who is more complicated to

converse with than my patient was that week. Therefore, I must make sure I am readily aware of

my communication habits so that every conversation I have can be as successful as possible. If I

have a patient for a long period of time with a disability that affects communication I believe that

I would go the extra distance to ensure that I formed a healthy patient-nurse relationship. An

example would be learning more sign language, I am familiar with a few signs, however

knowing signs for general ADLs and items could make communication run very smoothly. Good

communication is the basis for any healthy relationship with any individual and thus knowing

communication techniques is a huge factor in ensuring that there is no misinterpretation or

misunderstandings.

http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2013/04/16/23-ways-to-communicate-with-a-non-verbal-

child/

Reflection Six – NURS 3021

With each week of clinical that passes we become more skilled and are given more opportunities

to practice different aspects of a nurse’s job. One of those tasks includes giving medications, and

so far I have been able to give medications to three different patients, multiple times, over three

different days.

In each pharmacology and theory class we have had, both the textbook and the professors

emphasize how important giving medications is and how easily one can make a medication error

if they do not follow proper protocol. I was not truly aware of how critical medications really are

as the most experience I have had with prescribed and over the counter medications has been at

my own discretion, and not vital to my health.

When I administered medications for the first time I began to realize that what we had

learned in classes was actually becoming applicable; we were told to memorize the rights: right

patient, drug, route, dose, time, and to refuse. When looking at the patient’s MAR there is the

medication name, both generic and trade, time and route to be administered, as well as the

patient’s name and birthday. Next, when dispensing the medication, you have to ensure you have

the right patient, time, medication and amount once again before finally scanning the barcode on

the individual medication packages. The final check occurred when you were with the patient,

you would check their wristband, ask them their date of birth and once verified you would

administer the medications. At first the repetition seemed unnecessary however, repetition

prevents errors, and all these check are to ensure that everything is right.

Medication errors are considered any preventable mistake, preventable being the key

word, that can lead to harm or inappropriate use for the patient. The article I found states that

medication errors were a significant cause of both morbidity and mortality, accounting for more

than 7000 deaths annually. If medication errors are preventable when the nurse follows proper

protocol, there is no reason why anyone should be dying. In our four years of schooling we are

constantly reminded of how important it is to double, even triple check your work as nurses are

the last line of defence for the patient. If individuals are not taking the time to ensure their work

in being completed accurately and properly than they are not meeting the expectations and

responsibilities of their job.

In my future nursing practice, I will ensure that I am constantly checking my work so that

there are no mistakes being made. The simplest medication error can dramatically effect a patient

and thus one must remember and follow the rights (dose, route, patient, time, and medication) in

hopes for the best results.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2656/

Reflection Seven - NURS 3021H

Every semester we have a new placement that is specified to a different type or role of a nurse. This

semester, I am in chronic and I was placed in complex continuing care unit. When I first started this

placement I was a little discouraged as it reminded me of long-term care, which I already had a lot of

experience in. As the weeks went on I was beginning to enjoy the experience a lot more. There was a lot

of patients who had interesting stories as of to why they came into the hospital. We were able to see a

variety of wounds from simple pressure ulcers to vac dressings and an individual whose legs were de-

gloved. Each of us had the opportunity to give medications and injections, this both expanded our

knowledge on medications as well as aided in strengthening skills we learned in lab. The patients on our

unit were generally there for long periods of time allowing us to get to know them and form a

relationship. The other groups in palliative and rehab would not have had such experiences as their

patients were constantly changing. Overall I believe this placement was everything I needed it to be to

further my knowledge, experience and boost my confidence for future placements. Going into our acute

placement next semester will feel like a step up from this placement as there are a few more skills and

more intensive patients, while if I had my acute placement first I believe that I would have been stressed

and overwhelmed. This placement has been a great experience and I am very pleased with everything that

I learned, experienced and the people that I got to meet.

Reflection Eight – NURS 3020H

In the first few weeks of having my acute placement on A5 I have noticed a huge change from my

previous chronic placement on C2. The floor was larger, the patients were more specific and the care was

more medically complex. In chronic we barely had IVs, catheters or surgical dressings; we did not have to

keep track of ins and outs as persistently and the care was not as detrimental. Last semester was an

amazing learning experience, however this placement seems to be teaching me nursing skills I hope to

perform regularly in my future, such as IVs, catheters etc. Being in a more acute setting has made me

realize how “on top of things” a nurse has to be, especially when certain aspects of your job are life

threatening. For example, one is expected to educate their patients on the signs and symptoms of a

DVT/PE and infection so that they can let you know of something is going wrong. My current fear is

being too scatter-brained that I will forget to do something as simple as teaching and that one time will be

when something happens. I am sure with practice and more experience an RNs tasks begin to become

natural and there is not as much thought put into their completion. I have also realized how

knowledgeable we are expected to be, there are a variety of side effects and illnesses that can occur post-

operatively, and we are to be able to realize what may be going on and make critical judgements on what

the next steps should be. As well as the amount of medication individuals are on, we are to know common

adverse or side effects that may occur and how to treat them. Over the past few weeks on the acute floor I

have realized that orthopaedics is a lot more than I expected with patients receiving more active care.

The CNO states professional standards for nursing, one of which is knowledge. It states that

“each nurse possesses, through basic education and continuing learning, knowledge relevant to her/his

professional practice” (CNO, 2002). Thus continuing education is not just something that one should do

for the benefit of themselves, and their patients but as it is required by the college. To prepare myself, and

increase my confidence in this clinical setting I will need to ensure I am keeping up with the acute theory

class and my labs as the majority of the information we are learning in these two classes is applicable to

practice. Repetition is the best way to learn anything new, so with my diligence regarding my readings,

and with more clinical experience I believe that by the end of the semester I will be much more

comfortable in an acute setting.

http://www.cno.org/globalassets/docs/prac/41006_profstds.pdf

Reflection Nine – NURS 3020H

Last week at clinical I was leaving the floor to go on break with two of my fellow peers, when we arrived

to the Tim Horton’s in the hospital we were faced with a situation none of us were expecting. We saw a

lady order a coffee and muffin and then go sit off to the side while the worker brought her order to her.

The three of us just joked that we wished we could get service like that. After a few minutes we heard

someone who was sitting near this lady ask if she could get some help as this person was not feeling well.

As the three of us were dressed in scrubs we looked like we would know what to do, so we walked over

to see what was wrong. This woman appeared flushed, was sweating profusely and said she was feeling

nauseas and was warm to the touch. Immediately the three of us started to help to make her more

comfortable: we took off her sweater, got her ice water and talked to her to see if there was anything else

we could do. We began asking where she had come from, assuming she may just be experiencing a light

spell. When she stated that she had just come from dialysis we immediately knew this was not good. We

asked her how long she has been receiving dialysis and if she had previously experienced this reaction.

When she stated that she has been on dialysis for months but never felt this horrible after we became

increasingly worried. I went and got a wheel chair, we then transferred her and with the three of us

carrying her belongings we headed up to the dialysis floor. We were a few hallways away when the

woman began burping, in a panic one of my peers went a grabbed a garbage pail in which the woman

immediately started spitting up into. At this point my other peer ran ahead into the dialysis unit to report

that we had patient X who had just come from dialysis and was not feeling well. A few nurses then came

out, and after a jumbled conversation it was determined that this woman should go down to the

emergency department. My peers and I volunteered to take her down – we had come this far we figured

we may as well get this woman to where she needed to go. We then continued down to the emergency

room and brought the woman to the nurse to admit her. At this point she was feeling a lot better, and

when we handed her off to the nurse she thanked all of us so greatly for taking the time to help her.

This experience has showed me that even when you are off duty, as a health care provider, you

are always on duty. The CNO professional standards of practice states that “the goal of professional

practice is to obtain the best possible outcome for the client” (p. 3). This standard outlines the fact that the

patient is always our first priority. When we put our uniform on we gain immediate respect from the

public as they know that if they need it, we can help them. From this experience I have become more

interested in dialysis, as when the woman said she had just had treatment I immediately panicked as I was

not familiar with the common side effects to dialysis treatment. This experience has also made me realize

that it is a good thing I enjoy the nursing practice as I may never get a true day off.

http://www.cno.org/globalassets/docs/prac/41006_profstds.pdf