Reflection: Bourque.Session1.Journal
On January 5th of last year, I was sent home early from work by my manager. I had been miserably nauseated for days, and on this particular day the feeling had grown to the point where
I could no longer function. I made the short drive to my parents’ house and asked my mom to drive me to Urgent Care.Once we arrived, I explained the situation to the woman sitting behind the front desk and she handed me paperwork to fill out while I waited. As I was filling out the sheets with my personal and medical information, there was one question that caused me to pause briefly: “Are you pregnant?”I shook my head and checked the box next to “no”.There was no way that pregnancy was the cause. I had no plans to be a mother. That wouldn’t happen
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My mother and I were then taken back into one of the examination rooms by a nurse.
She performed the routine health checks on me– blood pressure, temperature, ear exam. The nurse handed me a cup for a urine sample and directed me to the restroom. Moments later, I made my way back to the examination room with the full cup and returned it to the nurse.She explained to me that she would run several tests on the sample and that the doctor would see me once the results were in.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that one little question: “Are you pregnant?”I had never imagined myself as a mother. At this point in my life, I was struggling financially to support myself and was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I was lost.
There was no way that someone like me could become a mother. How could I be responsible for someone else’s life when I couldn’t even figure out my own? No. This was not happening. It was something else. It had to be
BOURQUE.SESSION1.JOURNAL
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My train of thought was interrupted when the doctor entered the exam room, test results in hand. He sat down across from me and my mom.
“Well, we performed several tests on the sample you provided, Courtney,” the
Pregnancy and the birth of a child throughout many cultures is viewed as a gift, either from God or from any other supernatural figure that they worship. If the pregnancy is terminated for any reason or there are complications it is also viewed in a large group of cultures as a punishment, or because you did not closely follow the rules or regulations of your culture. The process, emotional, and physical stress of bearing a child places mothers and family in a position of opportunity along with placing within them great responsibility. Mothers planning to bear children ideally need to be within the healthy weight range along with being well nourished, but this is not always the case. Many mothers to be are surprised when they realize or are
reviewed the informed consent document. She made sure to ask me if I had any questions or
The machines to my right gave a loud hum as they continued to monitor my mother’s heartbeat, pulse,...
At some point in a woman's life, she may think of the idea of having a child. Some young girls are taught at a young age that when she grows up, someday she can have a family of her own if she chooses. When I was a child, I remember my mother and other womanly influences telling me that when I'm older, I might have a family of my own; and in result of this, ever since I was little, I have planned out how many children I want to have, and my expectations of my family life. However, while many women see themselves having children someday, and understand the process of carrying a child, some women might be in the dark about the complications that can come along with pregnancy. Life can throw curve balls, and everything that may have been planned, and thought out clearly might not go as smoothly as expected. There are many complications that can occur from pregnancy for mom and baby. In fact, one of the most common complications to occur is Down syndrome. And while Down syndrome may be very common, many women are making the decision to abort their fetuses once they are aware of the disability.
The doctor might also conduct a physical examination to confirm the diagnosis. This is carried out by listening...
I was shaking when we went inside--- I absolutely hate the doctors office! There was only one people waiting to be seen; with a face mask on hoping not to spread the possible air borne disease, and the others who were just sitting there waiting for perhaps friends or family members to come out. They checked me in and gave me a madatory blue bracelet to wear. In no time I was rushed in a wheel chair to the CAT scan machine. I was alone in the room which was over fifteen minutes sitting inside a large machine with flourescent lights and heat directly over my head. Slowly the lady wheeled me back to my checked in room. The doctor waiting with instant news, he announced I had no internal bleeding in my head which was the only good news I would be getting that day. The nurses and doctors came to the conclusion that I had a concussion. It sure felt like
Present day I aspire to become a nurse. Before my illness was the prevailing thing in my life I had little idea of what I wanted to do for
At that doctor’s office, he asked me similar questions. But after the visit with my regular doctor,
Although students were not allowed in the recovery unit, I was able to talk to one of the recovery nurses. I learned that a nurse’s duty of care includes monitoring the patient’s vital signs and level of consciousness, and maintaining airway patency. Assessing pain and the effectiveness of pain management is also necessary. Once patients are transferred to the surgical ward, the goal is to assist in the recovery process, as well as providing referral details and education on care required when the patient returns home (Hamlin, 2010).
...th the patient I kept thinking that if this were my mother how would I want the nurse to treat her. I tried to behave in the way I would expect a nurse to treat me. I had preconceived notions before meeting the patient and they were all laid to rest almost immediately, honestly I was nervous. But once I started it began to feel comfortable and the interview just flowed naturally.
This was the first day of entering a med tech lab. My supervisor was Jeser Leon, a graduate of the University of Belize. We were told we are not sent to work, but to learn. However, the lab tech said, as soon as I walked in, “I will have work for you in a moment.” I found that alarming, but, nonetheless I was eager. The first things I had to do to prepare for “work” was to wear my lab coat and put on gloves. I wasn’t even instructed to wash my hand first. I was told to focus a microscope on a urine sample. I had no idea how to do that since I had very little chance to practice and I had no idea what to look for. I eventually I was shown how to focus a microscope and had practice with the many urine sample that entered the lab that day. Since
I had seen my blood before, but not this much at once. I could see the thick liquid flow and ooze within the bag. Without another word, the lady removed the needle wiped off my arm, and bandaged it up. I was heavily relieved. It still worried me that something may have gone wrong, and I was required to have the needle again. She unclipped the bag from the tube and took it away for examination. The results weren’t going to be in for a week, so we were free to leave afterwards. I quickly took my mind off the incident by playing a game on my phone. Flash forward to a week later: the results were in. Instead of a detailed description of my circulatory system, I got one simple answer: nothing was found. This was extremely confusing. Soon enough, this confusion became frustration. My parents paid an unqualified nurse to root around in my arm with a needle and stab me twice and all I got in return is: “nothing found”. There was supposed to be information about how I can work to grow up healthily, or at least something useful. I was left with two red marks and a nasty bruise on my arm for the next few weeks. I also had to deal with explaining what the marks on my arm were to everyone that saw
It was the happiest feeling that I have ever felt in my life, and as time came near for me to have my son the feeling became greater and greater. When I heard one of the nurses saying “Were ready, she’s now nine centimeters”, I began to get very anxious and excited at the same time. Although I was beginning to get happy I was still in disbelief as all of it was happening. I see the nurses preparing themselves. I just said to myself, “oh yeah its happening alright”. I was about to become a mother which was so unreal to me and nerve racking because I had no idea how to love or be mother. My heart became full of so many emotions, however the thought that dominated my mind was that I had to be the best mother I can be so my son could grow up and be the man he was destined to