Sophomore Year In Review
Part I:
This year I started clinicals as a part of the College of Nursing curriculum during the Spring semester and I have to say that the experience was very memorable. The opportunity to take my learning from the classroom and apply it to a real-world work environment allowed me to better understand how nurses use their knowledge in combination with critical thinking skills as a base to continue to grow from. Not only did I get to don the nursing student uniform, but I felt like I took on a grander sense of responsibility. I learned the significance of all the long hours studying and practice because I understood how much nurses are relied on. The future of a patient can lie in the hands of a nurse and I know I want to provide the best care to a patient because that is what they deserve. I really enjoyed the routine and structure that goes into preparing for the weekly 6 hour long clinicals because although tiring, I know its best to feel prepared and knowledgeable about the conditions a patient might have and being able to plan ahead can avoid complications, ease discomfort, and facilitate recovery.
My enthusiasm for clinicals led me to apply for a new clinical experience as a part of a Dedicated Education Unit. The new clinical experience pairs select students with a nurse, that will also serve as an instructor, for a semester. Students work one-on-one with the nurse on their clinical day at UCMC. Because the instructor is a working nurse, the clinical day and time may vary week to week and can even include weekends or night-shifts. I think that participating in the DEU will be a way for me to contribute to the College of Nursing because they trust me to represent UC through the new program. Because the program is only a year old, I will also be a source of feedback for improvements or suggestions to be considered for the continued success of the program. Most importantly, I think my decision to participate in the DEU will allow me more opportunities to challenge myself and contribute to my future success as a nursing student.
A passion I have identified and continued to pursue this year, is my interest in research. Last year during the summer I had my first experience with research and this summer I am pursuing another research experience. As one of the volunteer student researcher for Dr. Martsolf, from the College of Nursing, I have been assisting in a project involving positive outcomes. My responsibilities involve reading transcripts and highlighting key parts relating to positive outcomes and I enjoy having the opportunity to contribute my skills. As a result of my involvement in nursing research, I have been accepted into the College of Nursing Undergraduate Research Scholars Program for the incoming school year. Through the research program I will assist a researcher with his or her project for 60 hours, attend meetings with fellow peers interested in research and also have the opportunity to learn about ongoing research projects that I might like to work on. I can't wait to see where this activity will take me.
Part II:
For the coming year, I hope to continue to find ways to challenge myself academically and explore interests. I would like to remind myself to keep my options open because there might be opportunities I fail to take if I limit myself only to what I feel comfortable with. Sometimes its worth it to take a leap and see how far you can get because regardless of the outcome at least I can be sure that I learned something on the way. I think that I continue to think the same about myself, in fact I think I've come to feel more sure about what I want for my career and goals. I know I want to be a nurse, I know I want to explore research, and I know I want to learn as much as I can about the world before I become a working nurse. I plan on taking a trip to Florence in the Spring with the Honors Program to learn about music and architecture which would be a great way of increasing my worldliness. Another way I plan on furthering my understanding of the world is through service. I intend to participate in Bearcat Buddies next year to help kids in Cincinnati Public Schools feel more comfortable with English and Math concepts and provide my companionship as a mentor to encourage the pursuit of higher education. Hopefully the upcoming year with be filled with new experiences and new people to learn from.
This year I started clinicals as a part of the College of Nursing curriculum during the Spring semester and I have to say that the experience was very memorable. The opportunity to take my learning from the classroom and apply it to a real-world work environment allowed me to better understand how nurses use their knowledge in combination with critical thinking skills as a base to continue to grow from. Not only did I get to don the nursing student uniform, but I felt like I took on a grander sense of responsibility. I learned the significance of all the long hours studying and practice because I understood how much nurses are relied on. The future of a patient can lie in the hands of a nurse and I know I want to provide the best care to a patient because that is what they deserve. I really enjoyed the routine and structure that goes into preparing for the weekly 6 hour long clinicals because although tiring, I know its best to feel prepared and knowledgeable about the conditions a patient might have and being able to plan ahead can avoid complications, ease discomfort, and facilitate recovery.
My enthusiasm for clinicals led me to apply for a new clinical experience as a part of a Dedicated Education Unit. The new clinical experience pairs select students with a nurse, that will also serve as an instructor, for a semester. Students work one-on-one with the nurse on their clinical day at UCMC. Because the instructor is a working nurse, the clinical day and time may vary week to week and can even include weekends or night-shifts. I think that participating in the DEU will be a way for me to contribute to the College of Nursing because they trust me to represent UC through the new program. Because the program is only a year old, I will also be a source of feedback for improvements or suggestions to be considered for the continued success of the program. Most importantly, I think my decision to participate in the DEU will allow me more opportunities to challenge myself and contribute to my future success as a nursing student.
A passion I have identified and continued to pursue this year, is my interest in research. Last year during the summer I had my first experience with research and this summer I am pursuing another research experience. As one of the volunteer student researcher for Dr. Martsolf, from the College of Nursing, I have been assisting in a project involving positive outcomes. My responsibilities involve reading transcripts and highlighting key parts relating to positive outcomes and I enjoy having the opportunity to contribute my skills. As a result of my involvement in nursing research, I have been accepted into the College of Nursing Undergraduate Research Scholars Program for the incoming school year. Through the research program I will assist a researcher with his or her project for 60 hours, attend meetings with fellow peers interested in research and also have the opportunity to learn about ongoing research projects that I might like to work on. I can't wait to see where this activity will take me.
Part II:
For the coming year, I hope to continue to find ways to challenge myself academically and explore interests. I would like to remind myself to keep my options open because there might be opportunities I fail to take if I limit myself only to what I feel comfortable with. Sometimes its worth it to take a leap and see how far you can get because regardless of the outcome at least I can be sure that I learned something on the way. I think that I continue to think the same about myself, in fact I think I've come to feel more sure about what I want for my career and goals. I know I want to be a nurse, I know I want to explore research, and I know I want to learn as much as I can about the world before I become a working nurse. I plan on taking a trip to Florence in the Spring with the Honors Program to learn about music and architecture which would be a great way of increasing my worldliness. Another way I plan on furthering my understanding of the world is through service. I intend to participate in Bearcat Buddies next year to help kids in Cincinnati Public Schools feel more comfortable with English and Math concepts and provide my companionship as a mentor to encourage the pursuit of higher education. Hopefully the upcoming year with be filled with new experiences and new people to learn from.