In the movie Nurses: if Florence Could See Us Now, the nurses depicted demonstrated perseverance, compassion, emotional intelligence, and understanding of their patient population. One prominent population depicted in this film was the Navajo nation. According to The University of Arizona, approximately 260,000 enrolled members are a part of the Navajo Nation, increasing in size by three and a half times since 1940. Thus, making this a growing population with the high importance of understanding the belief systems which this population holds. The nurses in this film who worked with individuals from this population were Public Health nurses requiring these nurses to travel to their patient’s homes. These commutes could take hours to arrive at remote locations, requiring these nurses to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in regard to geography and car problems as well. Traveling to remote locations one can not rely on technology to bring one to their destination. Thus, these nurses depict perseverance in the sense of ensuring to arrive to a patient and provide quality care. However, with different cultural backgrounds comes different belief systems. The nurses in this film discussed the belief in herbal medicine amongst this population. Rather than challenging their belief rather recognizing that if their belief works for them that is great however, also acknowledging the need to educate upon the importance of these medications offer for them ie antibiotics for infections.
Due to the remote location of many individuals in this population access to healthcare is a barrier for this community. With very little reception in this area, there is difficulty with contacting EMS in emergencies, as well as the inability of some of these vehicles to climb various terrains. Thus, requiring in some instances the Public Health nurse to transport the patient to an EMS provider. Other barriers could include socioeconomic status and language barriers. Not only could transportation, and lack of access be a barrier to care, but the cost of care and language barriers as well. For instance, there may be no translators available at a facility in order to provide quality care to a patient from this population. Drawing upon that, travel is a common occurrence of many individuals. Accidents occur, and the need for a translator available via online services (tele-translator) is essential at the very least for individuals of this population.
From this movie, I have learned the importance of cultural competence, and understanding the barriers which may impact a population. That there is high importance on acknowledging various belief systems meanwhile, providing the education necessary for their care while leaving the decision to the patient. I hope to learn more about various cultures while entering my career, to have an open mind, and help guide a patient along the way of making potentially difficult decisions in order to help preserve or increase their wellness. To advocate for my patients, and be a support system for them during their time of need.
Although I have not collaborated with patients of this population, I have provided care for patients who did not speak English or were of different cultural backgrounds in my current career. I am currently a nursing assistant in the pre-operative and post-operative setting, and at times we have difficulty identifying an interpreter however, with the collaboration of the nurse, provider, and myself we are able to identify a language in which the patient speaks in order to obtain consent, and answer any questions they may have. I believe this is an example of how I am able to resolve conflict and collaborate with others. At this job, at times I am the only nursing assistant responsible for up to 30 patients at a time, depicting that I am able to prioritize my care to these patients, and time management. In this setting agitation can arise within these patients, as well as boredom thus, being able to de-escalate situations is essential. There have been many instances where a patient has threatened to leave either in a clinical rotation or at work, that I have successfully de-escalated. In many instances, the patient wants to feel as though they are being listened to.
Some challenges I have experienced at work or in clinical include over assigning myself a workload, patients requiring extra attention due to loneliness or boredom, and communication with nonverbal patients. Overassigning myself a workload was a challenge I faced initially starting as a nursing assistant, I soon learned to communicate with my nurses in what time frame I would be able to accomplish that task to better prevent myself from being overwhelmed. I knew I could accomplish everything I had been delegated however, in the pre-operative setting everything is expected to be accomplished efficiently and at a fast pace. Thus, some tasks would be a lower priority to others and I had to be confident enough to express that. At various times I had patients whom I would feel as though I was confined to their room at times, I did not want to neglect their care however, at times I would have a family member come and find me in order to answer a question. I soon learned to express I would be able to assist them shortly however, I have to care for another patient at the moment. I would always ensure to make myself available to these patients however, I learned that some patients require set boundaries including family members. In my preceptorship, I had a fair amount of nonverbal patients, from this I slowly began to learn how to communicate with this population. Some patients ask for various things over and over, for instance, contacting family members via telephone, etc. I learned from one patient in particular that in some instances patients of this population simply require the presence of another person. These are all areas in which I am working on strengthening setting boundaries with patients, with coworkers’ delegation, and communicating effectively with patients who cannot communicate verbally. I work with compassion, with empathy, and strive to provide excellent care, but without boundaries established that is a recipe for burnout. I am thankful I have had this opportunity as a nursing assistant as I have now been able to begin strengthening these areas now rather than during the transition of being a new graduate.
As a new graduate, I hope to find a position of great interest to me, to help address the needs of various populations. I hope to find a facility that values their employees, that encourages their employees to grow within the company to better themselves, and encourages furthering their education. A question in particular that I will ask is in regard to the orientation of their unit. Due to the fact that as a nursing assistant the ongoing joke was, “Hallie was on orientation for all of 5 minutes”. Although a strength of mine is being a fast and efficient learner, I want to feel as though I will have a support system during this transition. In regard to interviewing, I hope through anecdotal stories I can leave a good impression upon the interviewer and give a glimpse of my ability to perform as well as my personality. That I can answer all the questions asked from me and depict a person whom they are looking for to be a part of their team. That being said, I am looking for an environment where not only am I reliable and accountable, but my coworkers will be as well to provide exceptional and quality care for the patients for which we care. I am not sure where I will end up however, I hope the organization’s mission and priorities lie within the overall development and growth of bettering the community in which it serves.
