I am a first year nursing major, and discussing nursing in IHS class has sparked my interest for nursing even more. I’ve grown up around healthcare workers like nurses, respiratory therapists, and physical therapists, so I’ve always had an interest in becoming a healthcare worker myself. Even as a child I always wanted to be a nurse, so as I got older I started to look more into what a nurse does. I work in an assisted living senior community home as a caregiver, and I get so much joy from taking care of the residents where I work, and it makes me more excited to take care of my patients as a nurse someday. I believe nursing is a good fit for me because I enjoy helping others, and I aspire to be someone’s voice when they feel like they’re not being heard. Nurses listen to their patients, care for them like no other, and are extremely patient even in difficult work conditions for them. Nurses go above and beyond to be the best nurse they can be for everyone around them, and I can’t wait to be able to do the same and give back to others when they need me most. Not only does science and medicine interest me, but so does helping other people, and nursing is the perfect career to learn about science and medicine, and get to help others in need, and be their hand to hold when they have no one else. 

When we did the simulation lab in class it made me excited for my future in nursing school and as a nurse. Everything we did was directly related to nursing and was taught by someone who teaches nursing students. Being around the nursing instructor who taught us, and in an environment practicing some skills was super helpful in the moment and we learned skills that I will forever need to keep with me. 

I chose to upload this as my sample for IHS because this was the reflection we all had to write for the end of the semester, showing what we learned about our chosen profession, and at least one other chosen reflection. I learned a lot about my major in IHS and learned a lot about what a social worker does as well. We did a little mini simulation lab with dummies, where we learned to do skills like blood pressure and pluses, a skill I will forever need as a nurse. We learned what the average body temperature is, the normal blood pressure, pulse, etc. and I will always need to know those. This is meaningful for the course because we discussed pretty much every health profession, and that class is specifically for future healthcare workers. As a nurse, I’m going to have to work with a lot of doctors, pharmacists, social workers, and all the other healthcare workers who work in hospitals. We discussed all of these, so I have a better understanding of how we can all work together as a team and help each other out. This course taught me a lot about nursing and all the other healthcare professions as well, and also a lot of skills I will take with me to the Portland campus. This reflection was a good place for me to practice my writing by reflecting on what we did in class, and also made me think about my future in nursing.