Rhonda Nearhoof Analysis

It was June 9, 1997. I was one month and five days away from my sweet 16. Instead of feeling excitement, I was drenched with sadness. My dad lay in a hospital bed in the living room of our home, dying of cancer. He was diagnosed on May 8th and died one month and one day later on June 9th. I had experienced pure evil up close and personal and I vowed at this time to fight cancer and take care of its victims. Now, fast-forward 20 years later and I am working toward a nursing degree so I can fulfill my promise. I’m still unsure if I want to be an LPN or an RN. While it’s true that both are nurses, their duties, education and salary are quite different.

Although I can understand why the oncologist may consider the nurse was acting unprofessionally by Kuhse’s standards, I do not agree with the oncologist’s decision or actions. According to Kuhse, nurses should only have a position of “advocacy for patients” and should accept their apparently subservient role in the medical world. Her ideas state that truly caring

I enjoyed reading your discussion post this week. It is hard to choose just one or two points from the ten that particularly resonated with me. I have worked with some nurses who have entered this profession strictly for the pay, and it is demonstrated in their work ethic, treatment of patients, and overall performance on the job. I respect your decision to dedicate your life to serving others. I feel that every nurse should have the kindness, compassion, dedication, and devotion attributed to Nightingale. Nightingale acknowledged nurses need principles, ethics, skills, discretion, and compassion (McDonald, 2013). When the patient felt secure in the nurses’ care, healing could begin (McDonald,

If you see someone needing assistance, it is your duty and obligation to go help, not only because you can but on the grounds that you are a nurse, you are compassionate and caring, you wish to help people. That is why you smile when you see a patient return to your unit after discharge to say, “Thank you for caring for me, you saved my life,” or when a family thanks you for caring for their family member who passed away. You may not get thanked everyday but the time you do it is rewarding. Reminiscing, is how you can look at your life and be satisfied that you made a difference in people’s lives, maybe everything did not go as planned, you lost some patients, but more made it through, you did your best and

While working full- time as a technician, I attended college and quickly took all the needed courses to apply into a nursing program. I was attending college and had a full time job. Having both challenged and excited me, since I was one step closer to having my career; just as I promised my grandmother. I finally got accepted into nursing school, graduated, and became a Registered Nurse. Every single patient I cared for, I used my past experience with my family, and used that as my foundation for my bedside manner. I not only cared for the patients, but I also cared for the families. The family members of sick patients were also my patients, and they too require care; warm blankets, water, food, compassion, and empathy. I had been in their

How would you feel if your wishes as a patient were not respected? As nurses, we are trusted individuals in the public’s view due to many factors; however, when there is a lack of accountability within team members, there can be many risks involved. In the scenario with Jacob, a 32-year-old patient, his wishes as a DNR advanced directive were not respected. A registered nurse named Lashanda usually works on another unit, however, was sent to Jacob’s unit to cover the staff who are out for lunch. Everything seems to be going well with Lashanda; however, when she finds Jacob unresponsive, she calls a code and begins CPR without being familiar with Jacob’s DNR order. It is every nurse’s responsibility to be aware of their assigned patients’ orders as part of holistic care, while respecting the patient’s wishes. By

As a nurse, we have to be caring and compassionate. It has to come from within. We have to use the knowledge and skills we have developed to be able to show support for our patients and their families. There will be difficult days that we may have to give uncomfortable news to our patients or even share joy with them. With each day it brings about new and different encounters. We have to embrace each day and know that with a caring compassionate spirit, we can overcome anything. We can be a comforter to patients and their family in difficult times. We can be there for a family when they have to make a difficult decision, such as a loved one who may be dying. Sometimes, just sitting with the patients and them knowing you are there is a tremendous help to them. When I go through a difficult time, I know God is beside me and will not leave. God gives me strength when I feel like I can’t go on because He knows that me being there for that one patient will make a difference. I also have to show a caring compassionate attitude with the people I work with. At times we are with them more than our own family. Co-workers may be going through trials that affect their day. Just one comforting or encouraging word can mean a lot to them. Just like with patients, we have to realize our co-workers may have different beliefs also. We cannot be judgmental with anyone; also we cannot force our beliefs on them either. All we can do is treat

I consider myself among the lucky minority. My mother worked as a registered nurse in the Intensive Care Unit at the VA Hospital in Albany, NY. I saw her come home some mornings looking defeated because she could not be the one to save a man’s life. I also saw her come home most mornings, her face glowing, because of how many people she was able to help. Nurses see people during all aspects of life. Whether it is one of the best moments such as child birth, or one of the less fortunate times such as a family realizing their eldest member is nearing the end of their life, a nurse is there through it all. It was my mother’s fascinating stories such as these that made me realize that I could not imagine myself working in any other

This includes active listening, maturity, attention to detail, respecting and supporting patient wishes, not shying away from difficult situations, responding fairly and promptly, and maintaining a positive manner about you. As a volunteer with hospice, I have had the privilege of working with a number of patients nearing their end of life. Through this experience, I have grown a greater level of maturity, and learned to deal with loss and emotional setback as I gain insight into the difficult situations that my patients deal with. It has shown me the power that words can have, and made me a more receptive listener and communicator in general. As I continue to grow and develop, I hope to find more ways to get myself into situations where I can participate in challenging conversations. Here, I will be tasked to think more critically about the words I choose, and will work to ensure that the idea I intend to convey lines up with what I actually

The world of pediatric nursing is something that is not fully appreciated until you get a first-hand look inside what it is really like to care for sick children who sometimes, unfortunately, do not always make it. Take oncology pediatric nurses for example. Their job is to care for and treat children with various forms of cancer, and besides the obvious, they also play a pivotal role in “optimizing the end of their patients’ life.” (Hildebrandt, p602) These individuals witness death on a day to day basis and they are trained to help a patients’ family deal with these losses, but they are on their own when it comes to how it affects them and how they are supposed to properly handle the situation. Many hospitals tell their nurses and doctors to simply not gain attachments to their patients, but that is something that is easier said than done. When someone is around a child every day, trying to help make them as comfortable in a hospital setting as possible, making sure they are happy despite what their health may be, it is difficult to not form some sort of bond. Surprisingly,

In the short story, “Accountable but Powerless”, the significant ethical issue presented is doing harm to others. The first thing I do not understand is how nurses are held responsible even though they have to get the “OK” from some supervisor. However, I understand that the hospital was under staffed but the hospital should have made some patients go to another hospital and stop accepting new patients. I work at a restaurant and we are understaffed the worse things that happens is the food is not right or there dining time in long. On the other hand, when a hospital is understaffed it can seriously affect the patient and even possibly kill them. I am extremely proud of the nurse for not backing down nor giving up. She believed what was

The aspects of the grieving process have been explored comprehensively in families losing loved ones or in a patient’s grieving over a terminal illness. The patients and families live through this experience at least once in their lifetime. What about the nurse who lives through it by caring for these patients and families? How does a nurse grieve? There been limited research that has been done about the grieving process for nurses. The purpose of this paper is to explain on the subject of the grieving process of nurses when they experience loss and suffering that they share with patients and their families. This grieving concept can help further development of nursing research and education, and beneficially help future nursing practice and

Nurses dispense comfort, compassion, and caring without even a prescription ~ Val Saintsbury (Nursing and Compassion, 2015, expression 2).

What is the best recommended course of action for the client at this time, and why?

We've all been behind a difficult customer in the store. You wait in line behind them as you wonder what could possibly be wrong with them. Why would someone deliberately choose to be mean or angry? How could that person have any sense of humanity, kindness or decency?