Appalachia… Part 1/2: December 2009

More than a year before I started this program, I was placed in contact with a past Regis Accelerated BSN student. We sat down to talk about the program and the university, and at the time, I had no idea that this conversation would lead me to choosing Regis over other programs. The student and I shared a similar background. We had both attended the large, research oriented University of California, San Diego for our undergraduate education. We both majored in degrees of hard science, yet we felt we had not acquired a skill that could improve our ability to provide help for communities in need.

The term “service learning” was entirely new to me, but the concept was not. The student shared with me the details of her intercultural service trip to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. She also shared with me her efforts to advocate for additional cultural immersion experiences to be offered to the Regis Accelerated BSN students. My desire to choose a nursing career was fueled by this passion for service, and my decision to attend Regis University was supported by the program’s emphasis on service learning.

Only upon starting the program and listening to a presentation of the Wind River experience did I learn that no such opportunity was offered to the May cohort. From that moment, our cohort had aggressively advocated for an intercultural service trip to be offered to the May cohort. I am so thrilled to say that our voices were heard and a group of us will actually be going on such a trip in one week!

For nine days, eleven students and two faculty will be participating in an intercultural service immersion to rural West Virginia in the Appalachian region. Some of the counties in this region are of the most impoverished in the United States. We have been spending several weeks in preparation with seminars and research exposing us to Appalachian culture, health disparities, and other issues affecting the region. Among the many objectives for our trip, our group will work with several local service organizations, including A.B.L.E. Families (http://www.ablefamilies.org/). Through this organization, we will provide training to health outreach workers on topics regarding maternal and infant health in order to offer this health education in a community-based format. In preparation, our group has been developing content for these topics to present during training sessions. Additionally, we have been receiving a number of donations to assemble personal hygiene kits to include items of basic needs that many individuals in this region cannot afford.

Our group is anxiously awaiting this trip. Part 2/2 will be written in a couple of weeks after I return!

Students of the Appalachian Intercultural Service Experience (May Accelerated BSN Cohert)

Pediatrics: November 2009

I am currently doing my pediatrics clinical for NR442: Nursing Care of Children and Their Families. I have been looking forward to this clinical because of my interest in child-care and was lucky enough to get placed at The Children’s Hospital (TCH). I say “lucky” because the bidding process for clinical placements is essentially a lottery to ensure fairness. My specific TCH clinical requires me to work on Saturday and Sunday, forcing me to better plan my week. However, when your clinical training is located where you one day hope to be employed, this isn’t really an inconvenience.

My placement is on a general medical/surgical unit. Honestly, when I first learned of my placement I was mildly disappointed because of my passion for newborn intensive care. However, this quickly turned into excitement because I realized I would be exposed to a wide range of conditions and diagnoses. This clinical has expanded my knowledge base tremendously and in two weeks I have been exposed to an array of pathophysiologies from failure-to-thrive to pyelonephritis to multiple sclerosis, to name a few. Furthermore, we get patients from 6 months of age all the way up to 17 years old. This really has challenged my understanding of developmental assessments and stages, as all nursing care must be tailored accordingly.

I only have one more week left in this clinical, making it feel like this experience has been too short. In this brief period of time, though, I have realized that there is a lot to learn in fields I didn’t previously consider. I am confident that the collective experiences I am receiving will contribute to my ultimate goal of newborn intensive care nursing.

Another Class Down! : November 2009

Another Class Down!

Community Health is officially over and as our professor would state many times, it was clearly “messy.” My clinical took place with the Schools in Urban Neighborhoods (S.U.N.) of Denver County. The S.U.N Schools are a group of private Catholic facilities that serve a variety of children from kindergarten through eighth grade. Many of the children attending the schools are from low-income, minority families and their tuition is paid for through a local charity, Seeds of Hope.

Our role as student nurses was to provide education to the children to promote good health. We taught topics such as smoking and tobacco prevention, hand-washing technique, nutrition and healthy eating habits, and dental hygiene. Also, these topics and more were addressed at a health fair for the eighth graders. I enjoyed this clinical for the immense amount of interaction it offered with the kids. However, it was incredibly time consuming because lesson plans had to be developed from scratch and catered to the wide range of developmental stages. Often times it was difficult to coordinate lesson plans with the teachers and planning and scheduling was pointless.

There were definite moments of frustration and therefore, I am relieved for this clinical to be over. However, I cannot deny the wonderful feedback we got from the kids. They absolutely loved us and were so eager to learn. After spending four weeks with them, they definitely got to know us and walking away with smiles, hugs, and high-fives has offered some consolation for the “messiness.”

Project Homeless Connect : October 2009

Operating through Denver’s Road Home and Mile High United Way for eight years, Project Homeless Connect is an event servicing the homeless and uninsured individuals of the Denver community. The one-day event offers services such as employment assistance, housing, haircuts, massages, legal services, and more! On October 9th at the Pepsi Center, Regis and the Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions participated in the event by providing health care to hundreds of individuals.

For the first time, on October 9th, the event focused on families to address the increasing numbers of homeless families and children in the community. Students and faculty alike offered their time for this one-day to create health care access for these individuals. Several stations were set up to screen for vision, BMI, diabetes, blood pressure, and child development. Other stations were geared towards education regarding child safety, the flu, nutrition, and tobacco use. To complete the picture, nurse practitioners, dentists, and physical therapists were also on hand.

This was a wonderful experience for everyone. Events like this demonstrate alternative ways to provide health care access to underserved populations. Health care professionals have a tremendous ability to work with communities to address health needs by breaking down the barriers such as cost and access through a centralized event such as Project Homeless Connect.

October 2009

Time for fall…

I’ve spent all of my life in Southern California so I am very excited about being in a place with seasons. Last week my fiancé and I drove up into the mountains because we had heard the leaves were changing. It was so beautiful and we had such great weather. It really is feeling like we are in a new season and hopefully, it’ll last for a bit because I’m definitely nervous about winter!

Fall also means it’s time for Community Health! As of now, we’ve completed several courses including Care of the Adult and Care of the Childbearing Family. Up until now we have been highly focused on the individual or the family. Now, we have to shift gears and take upon a nursing role focusing on the community. Of course, we are still concerned about the individuals but they will now be considered in the context of the larger population or community in which they live. There’s a lot of learning ahead!

September 2009

We are currently in our NR441, Nursing Care of the Childbearing Family, clinical. In the years prepping for nursing school, I established quite the passion for newborns through a plethora of volunteer experiences and research projects. However, I quickly learned this to be only the foundation for what I would experience as a nursing student. It is one thing to gain an appreciation via observation and to watch on the sidelines, but it is a whole new world to actually provide care for these little ones.

Sounds obvious, I know, but this didn’t actually sink in until the recent days on the hospital floor. For the first time I’m able to apply the knowledge that has intrigued me over the years. Everything about it, from researching practice to educating families to changing diapers to sorting through the ethics, is absolutely humbling. It’s an experience that makes all the hard work during the program worth it.

September 2009

Well, the one week break was much deserved but way too short! It was great being back in Southern California for the week but the time flew by way too fast. I got to spend some good quality time with my parents just relaxing at home and cooking some excellent Indian food.

The timing couldn’t have been better for this break because I was also able to attend a really good friend’s wedding in which my fiancé was a groomsman. And the best part of the break? Spending a day in San Diego. I absolutely love Korean food but haven’t had too much time to find authentic places in Denver. So the first stop was stuffing our faces at my favorite all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurant in San Diego. Mmmmmm… delicious! Then, to handle the subsequent food coma… we lounged at the beach by Scripps pier with just the right amount of overcast skies to balance the August heat. And to top off the day, dinner at a local pizza joint with good friends from San Diego.

I couldn’t have asked for a better break (… only longer!) to become recharged and reenergized for a new semester!

August 2009

One semester down!

Well… we did it! Six courses done in 15 weeks and two clinical rotations under our belt. How exciting to be a third of the way through! It has been quite the test but we made it through. And the best part has been getting out there in our clinicals to do some work with patients and families alike.

I can’t tell you what a great feeling it was to hear a charge nurse tell a patient or a family, “Urvi is going to be your nurse tomorrow.” Nurse? Me? I can’t believe I can actually get out there and offer total care to patients; of course, under the guidance of an instructor. I am no longer a volunteer. I actually have more responsibilities and am taking a bigger part in the healing process.

Now, as we all depart for a lovely week off from school… I leave you with a few snapshots of happy nursing students.

August 2009

Don’t forget the rewards!

I would say getting through the first ten weeks was deserving of a reward. The program is going to continue along and I really don’t know if it will get less intense (rumor has it that it will) but regardless, I will take the necessary breaks to move me along.

So what did I do for myself? Well, maybe I am a glutton for punishment, but I decided to go on a ten mile hike, which, due to some detours, turned into twelve miles. I felt a little ambitious taking this on considering it was my first real hike in a couple of months. However, the opportunity arose to go with a group of friends, including my fiancée, and I could not refuse.

You may hear rumors that the accelerated program doesn’t allow time for fun. Don’t believe it. In fact, I think incorporating some time for yourself will help you be successful in this program. Work hard and then you will have the time to play as well. Just a few more weeks until break!

July 2009

Improvise!

This first semester of accelerated nursing school is quite intense…resulting in the slight delay in updating this journal. It has taken me several weeks to get adjusted to the pace and I am happy to tell you, “It is possible to manage!” Let me fill you in…

In ten weeks, we are managing to get through four courses and our first clinical experience. What’s the best way to describe these past several weeks? Think of finals week in terms of the movie, Groundhog Day; finals week was essentially set to repeat mode.

In this accelerated program, sometimes you just cannot escape work. But you can improvise! Coffee shops, libraries, and home can become routine in terms of studying environments. So, a few of us girls decided we needed to mix things up. We decided to pack our bags (textbooks and all), hop in a car, and drive out to Granby, Colorado. It was beautiful; we really lucked out with the weather and were fortunate to be right on the river.

It is really important to get some balance in this program and take care of yourself. I had to remind myself that a big reason for me moving out to Colorado was to be closer to the outdoors and the mountains. The possibility of this program consuming you is very real and is certainly not healthy, not for me or my relationships. And so, at least for this particular weekend, compromise and improvisation was the solution: study in the mountains. And yes, it was quite successful and therapeutic!