When I initially had plans of joining a bachelors program for nursing I thought it was going to be a lot different than what it actually is. I wasn’t too sure what I was expecting but it turned out to be an excellent experience up through this point in time. What you learn in the associates portion of the nursing program is the knowledge and hands on know how to function in a plethora of units.  What you learn in the bachelors portion is the other remaining pieces to become a well balanced nurse.

I was very one track minded in the beginning of this program. I had my eyes set on clinical settings and direct patient care only. What I’ve learned, especially over the last two semesters, is that there a lot more ways to look at things. These ways range from leadership positions to public health specialists to advocating for certain demographics of people on a larger scale. I’ve always been culturally competent at some level but I’ve learned it’s importance in every aspect of nursing care. Cultural competence has been one of the keys from the start and I’ve most definitely used it in practice.

A lot of what is taught to us in this program helps us grow as people and as nurses. Everything we learn is translatable to real life situations that are ever ongoing. This is how I’ve grown, I’ve been able to properly translate skills in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to a while ago. Every time you learn something new, you grow a little each time. This is why it’s good to teach yourself something new every day. I’ve done this with topics that range from nursing to other disciplines. I’ve done this because this program has taught me how diverse you have to be and I got this from multiple nursing classes as well as the general education classes.