Discussion on the film Nurses: If Florence Could See Us Now and career services presentation

NURSES:

After watching the NURSES movie, I was deeply inspired by all their stories, and I was even more motivated and confident that I am choosing the right profession for me! A quote that resonated with me was when they said, “How much do we know about these people who become a vital part of some of the most difficult and intimate moments in the human experience.” This film really gave a look into how complex and challenging being a nurse can be, but also how rewarding it is at the same time. I love how they represented so many different aspects and roles that nurses are present in, showing how broad and influential the nursing career can be. I saw that these nurses embodied so many admirable characteristics, such as bravery, compassion, and resilience, all of which I wish to develop throughout my career. They have mastered so many nursing skills, some of which cannot be taught in nursing school I found.  One specific skill that I feel can only be learned while in the field with patients, is therapeutic communication. As this film emphasizes, nurses are the ones who are there during the most raw and vulnerable times of someone’s life, and it is essential that these nurses practice therapeutic and empathetic communication skills to make sure their patients feel comfortable and truly cared for. As a nurse student, we are taught the importance of this, but I believe this is something we improve upon while interacting with our patients in the present moment. I believe nurses embody empathy and are some of the most compassionate and therapeutic individuals, and this is evident by listening to their stories and seeing the emotional connection they shared with some of their patients. This is simply not a skill that can be learned in the classroom, but through the everyday challenges and triumphs of being a nurse. 

In this movie, the diverse population that these nurses cared for, and I have not had the opportunity to throughout my UNE experience is pediatric oncology. I wanted to discuss this specific population of patients because working in pediatric oncology has been my dream ever since I decided I wanted to be a nurse when I was twelve years old. When working with these children, you are not only caring for them but their family as well, as you are working alongside them during the most challenging, vulnerable, and devastating times of their lives. It takes such a compassionate soul and one who practices cultural humility to be able to provide this kind of care, which can also be a barrier to this type of practice. The nurse in the film describes working in pediatric oncology as a type of job that you cannot go home and discuss, as it affects too many people in a negative way. I think a lot of the time these nurses will feel as if they must bottle up their emotions when it comes to work life, which can be detrimental to a nurse’s mental and emotional health, and these nurses often need to reflect on their self-awareness and be able to think about the impact of diagnoses from another viewpoint to provide empathetic and therapeutic care. But this is the same when it comes to the families of these children – which is why this type of nursing is so raw and vulnerable, yet beautiful and amazing in its own way because these nurses develop some of the most meaningful relationships with these children and their families that stay in their hearts forever. A nurse states in the film, “When you say I’m a nurse, it means something. And that’s a privilege. It’s a wonderful, incredible privilege” (Nurses, 2012). When it comes to this aspect of nursing, this is what I want to improve upon and learn so much more about to become an amazing nurse in the future.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT/SERVICES:

After watching the recorded Career Services presentation, I took down a lot of important notes and key points that I am going to integrate into my own interviews in the future and throughout the whole job search process. When it comes to the interview, I am going to take a few measures to ensure that I am set apart from other applicants and really stand out and present my best self to my future employer. I am going to research the organization’s values, what they promise to not only their employees but also to the patients, because I want to work for an organization who puts patient care as their top priority. And during my interview, I want to ask what they do specifically that shows patient care is their top priority, as it is mine as well and I want to work for an organization who shares the same values. The second measure is I will inquire about career development, further education, and career goals. It is a goal of mine to further my education in the future and I would value an organization that supports education and professional development. Asking these types of questions, I hope will help me stand out from other applicants and show that I am engaged, determined, and team-player with goals that can help the organization as well.

            When describing my strengths, I will incorporate how I plan to implement them in the workplace to meet my own personal goals as well as the organization’s values and missions. I will discuss how I accomplished those strengths and maybe even some challenges I met on the way, and how I overcame them, which will show adversity. I want my future employer to know that I am an individual who not only knows my own strengths, but my weaknesses and/or challenges I have met and how I have addressed and tried to improve upon. No one is perfect and no one makes mistakes. I am aware I have made plenty of mistakes, but I have learned from those mistakes and personally I believe that learning from your mistakes and overcoming challenges are much more valuable than someone who just discusses all their strengths. I think a strength of mine is that I am not afraid to make a mistake, in the sense that I want as many opportunities to learn to better myself as a nurse. I would tell my future employer that not only am I confident in my skills and strengths, but also, I am the type of individual that will work hard to improve upon the things that I am not so strong in to make myself a well-rounded nurse.