NUR 4010 FA 2013 Toggle navigation

Narrative Self Reflection

This semester I attended my community clinical rotation at Sunset community center on 45^th and 4^th in Sunset Park. I was able to meet the clinical objectives of demonstrating individual professionalism as I attended clinical ever Wednesday and made sure to be attired appropriately as I am representing NY City tech simultaneously. One of my first tasks upon arriving at my clinical site was to familiarize myself with the staff and the community center leader whom was Ms. Reynoso; therefore, if I needed clarification or assistance I would be able to seek assistance. My personal behaviors were professional as we attend clinical every Wednesday and let the center leader know that we would be doing blood pressures for anyone whom came in the community room/cafeteria. As nurse I made sure to remain in the guidelines by educating the seniors on their pressure readings and giving them valuable information as lowering sodium in their diets which can increase cardiovascular risk. Due to cardiovascular health being a major concern in this particular community, we respected Ms. Reynoso’s topics and used them to guide us in our presentations which were Stroke and Obesity & Nutrition. By addressing these topis, we not only educate the seniors at the site, but we promote cardiovascular health and decrease these seniors’ risks if the information is utilized. The clinical was very informative as we not only refreshed our training as we did a minimum of 15 blood pressures per clinical, but it enabled us to educate the seniors that we dealt with so they can make wiser decisions based upon their blood pressure readings. This is very important of educating the seniors so that will they know if they need to go to the doctor or if they need to modify their diet based on their blood pressure readings. We taught them during the Stroke presentation signs and symptoms of a pending stroke and the importance/need for further medical evaluation if someone is experiencing elevated blood pressures. Another objective I had to meet for the clinical was simply applying analytical reasoning and critical thinking skills when providing kids individuals and families in our community. Since we were doing blood pressures this was analytical thinking because if a systolic number was over 120 we explained to the seniors what these numbers mean and diastolic over 90 leave and the need to tell their doctors their concerns. If a patient's blood pressure was over 180, as we had in one circumstance, we made sure to let the community center lead aware of this person's blood pressure so that this person could get to an emergency center and find out what was the cause of such an elevated blood. Often during our clinical, prior to doing a resident’s pressure screening, we asked if they took medication for hypertension because if the patient did not take their blood pressure medication for the day we would take it and then reevaluate once the medicine has been taken to make sure it was working effectively for the resident. Objective three was to be effectively communicating with diverse groups which I did at our site since Sunset residential the majority of the community was Hispanic, the residents speak Spanish. Although I have minimal knowledge regarding Spanish-speaking I made sure to know for clinical greeting words, numbers, and utilized my translator if needed to communicate with the residents. The community center leader, Ms. Reynoso, was also an immense help. I printed for the presentations outlines that she could use and she translated appropriately. Objective number four was to establish an environment conducive to learning and I accomplished this by greeting all the residents every time we encountered them and speaking in their language to my best ability. When I was educating our seniors during their blood pressures reading I made sure to sit face-to-face so that they can see I was on the same level as them. I also made sure that their native language was used for the presentations so that the majority of the information could be obtained appropriately by the members. Objective number five was to utilize technology and although we did not have a PowerPoint access at this facility we did make sure to utilize Internet and the library to obtain informational resources for the presentations. When we presented Stroke, we used Stoke, org which has the stroke signs in a small printable handout card and I made sure to have it not only in Spanish, but Chinese because when we presented at Harbor Hill they had a different population than what I usually encountered at Sunset and I would not like the residents to feel left out. The two presentations were based around the fact that we as a group wished to educate them on cardiovascular health since blood pressure is a major concern in the Sunset Park community; with a vast majority of people dying in this community from strokes and myocardial infraction. Our two presentations were Stroke and Obesity & Nutrition which was our group’s way to promote cardiovascular health. The presentations demonstrated my commitment because as a professional in a career it is always a nursing obligation to always educate those we encounter, even if there is a language barrier. Objective seven was incorporating standards and accountability into practice which I did as we had been advised by Ms. Scarlett if any blood pressures that we took or any symptoms expressed to us by the seniors were alarming or concerning that we were to report them to Ms. Reynoso. The day we encountered the man with a blood pressure of 180/70, which we felt needed an intervention, I went for Ms. Reynoso so he can get the appropriate medical service as needed. Objective eight was to collaborate with clients and the people and at the facility and we did so as we collaborated every Wednesday  with Ms. Reynoso as we informed her of our teaching plans and made sure that it did not conflict with other informational sessions that might be provided to the seniors. The clinical was a different experience as I work with Maternity mothers so having an older population was a change for me and it made me realize how everyone learns different. I made sure to be aware of the demographics which is that the community is highly populated with a majority of Hispanic speaking and cardiovascular issues which is why I made sure information was presented in their native language and focused upon the issue at hand…the heart and hoping to leave the residents at Sunset Community with some newfound knowledge.