Now that nursing school is almost at its conclusion I have some time to reflect on the past three years in my final blog. I see how much I have grown as a student, person and friend. As a student, I believe that I have proven to myself how far I can get. I do admit to times where I wish I could re do things because I tend to get complacent at times. Sometimes I do struggle to stay motivated and achieve my true potential. As I continue to search for that motivation, I will do my best to put my best foot forward in this profession. I have high aspirations for myself but for everyone in our class. I am extremely proud to say that I was among a class represented by many accomplished individuals. As a person I can definitely see many differences. I was proud of my ability to gain so much confidence in regards to nursing. I definitely feel confident as a new grad entering the nursing profession. Physically I think I am in the best shape of my life. I am proud to have been part of the championship team in my three years playing basketball at CSUCI. I continue to develop my lifting mechanics because they play a critical role in my ability to stay healthy and be a nurse for a long time to come. Lastly, I feel like I am a more compassionate individual because of the things that nursing has taught me. I recently became Big in the Big Brother Big Sister program of Ventura County. I have been a mentor before and received great satisfaction in bringing success to the life of my friend. I want to continue to make an impact on other individuals on a more personal basis. Right now I am paired up with a 9 year old boy and hope to change his life for the better. In doing so I think I will continue to find satisfaction in life and be even happier than I am today.

Before nursing school I never considered the death of my parents, a loved one, or even myself. Three years removed from that, I am now a lot more knowledgeable on the subject and have a new perspective on the issue. My wishes regarding end of life are as follows: I wish to donate all viable organs, if I have an extremely poor prognosis I don’t want to remain on a ventilator or any other life prolonging measures, and lastly, I would name my sister my durable power of attorney. Although I personally have not had these discussions with my family or peers, I do want to eventually have them. I believe that the best time to hold these talks would be this summer since my entire family will be together.

My parents rarely bring up the topic of end of life because I believe Hispanics rarely have these discussions. I am not sure if it is a cultural issue but I don’t know of any family member that has ever had a living will or appointed a durable power of attorney. When my parents have brought the issue up it is because a coworker or family friend has suffered the death of the family member. Their discussions are usually very brief and they talk about how they don’t want to be in a vegetative state. I plan to have a more formal talk with both of my parents at a more appropriate time. My hope is to have a definite pulse on what my parents’ wishes are regarding end of life issues.

So I actually found some humor in doing this assignment because I knew how clueless my family is regarding the medications they take. I think this sums it all up: “Isn’t tylenol and Advil the same thing!?” The first person I decided to question was my mom because she was my nurse growing up and continues to be my nurse to this day. I did a simple assessment and asked her regarding tylenol, Advil and Alendronate (which she takes for osteoporosis). She knew that both tylenol and Advil can be taken to reduce fever and pain. She did not know what was the maximum daily dose or frequency at which it should be given. Unfortunately she could not identify one side effect of either medication! I asked her if she knows the signs of an allergic reaction and she replied that you sneeze a lot (good thing I was not really allergic to these medications!). I was actually proud that she knew to take her Alendronate on an empty stomach and that it is only taken once a week. She could not identify any side effect. I also decided to interview my dad as I live in a household with only 3 people. My dad is currently only taking one medication because he chooses not to visit his doctor on a regular basis. When I asked him regarding common OTC medications he was as clueless as my mom, perhaps even a little more. He believed that tylenol was another name for Advil and that the only difference was the dosage strength! I think I just found another great reason why I chose to be a nurse.

So in my search for this week’s assignment, I found myself reading an article about how mobile technology is being used in patient’s with cardiovascular disease. This immediately caught my eye because of the fact that the research a couple of classmates and myself are doing with our instructor focuses on mobile technology. The study focuses on enlisting as many people as possible and collecting information regarding their heart rate, pulse rate and blood pressure through the use of smartphones. The study wants to better understand the incidence of heart disease as well as geographically map trends. One of the patients highlighted was diagnosed with heart arrhythmias at the age of 19. She is now 49 and proudly joined the survey because of the positive impact the study promises. She wants to help out young athletes with heart arrhythmias continue to do what they love. Her athletic career was cut short because of her diagnosis but she hopes that by partaking in the study, doctors will be able to better understand the diagnosis and its implications regarding rigorous physical activity.

Leland, K. (2013). Study uses mobile technology to help predict and prevent heart disease. UCSF News. Retrieved from: http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2013/03/13695/study-uses-mobile-technology-help-predict-and-prevent-heart-disease

Breakfast:

• 1 Banana (medium sized)

0.4g Fat (0.1g Saturated), 27g Carbs (14g Sugar), 1.3g Protein

• 1 Cup of Oatmeal

3g Fat (0.5g saturated fat), 0mg cholesterol, 0mg sodium, 27g Carbs, protein 5g

• 1 cup of 2% low fat milk

4.8g Fat (3.1g saturated), 20mg cholesterol, 100mg sodium, 12.3g Carbs, 8.1g Protein

• 2 Tbsp of Peanut Butter

16g Fat (3g Saturated), 150mg Sodium, 6g Carbs, 7g Protein

• 1 Serving of 100% Gold Standard Protein Supplement

1 g Fat, (0.5 saturated fat), 30mg cholesterol, 130mg sodium (5%), 1g sugar, 24g protein

After Gym:

• 1 Serving of 100% Gold Standard Protein Supplement

1g Fat, (0.5 saturated fat), 30mg cholesterol, 130mg sodium (5%), 1g sugar, 24g protein

• 20g of dextrose

20g Carbs (20g sugar)

• 8 egg whites

0.1g Fat, 55mg Sodium, 0.2g Carbs, 3.6g Protein

• 1 cup of oatmeal

3g Fat (0.5g saturated fat), 0mg cholesterol, 0mg sodium, 27g Carbs, protein 5g

• 3 strawberries

3g Carbs (3g sugar)

• 1 oz of almonds

14g Fat (1g saturated), 0mg cholesterol, 0mg sodium, 6g Carbs (1g sugar), 6g Protein

Snack:

• 1 Serving of 100% Gold Standard Protein Supplement

1g Fat, (0.5 saturated fat), 30mg cholesterol, 130mg sodium (5%), 1g sugar, 24g protein

• 1 Apple

0.3g Fat (0.1g saturated), 2mg sodium, 25g Carbs (14.4g sugar), 1g protein

• 1 oz of almonds

14g Fat (1g saturated), 0mg cholesterol, 0mg sodium, 6g Carbs (1g sugar), 6g Protein

Lunch:

• 8 oz Chicken Breast

11.12g Fat (3.12 saturated), 120mg cholesterol, 42g Protein

• 2 cups of rice

3.6g Fat (0.8g Saturated), 20mg of sodium, 90g Carbs, 10g Protein

• 1 oz almonds

14g Fat (1g saturated), 0mg cholesterol, 0mg sodium, 6g Carbs (1g sugar), 6g Protein

Dinner:

• 8 oz Chicken Breast

11.12g Fat (3.12 saturated), 120mg cholesterol, 42g Protein

• 1 cup of Rice

1.8g Fat (0.4 Saturated), 10mg of sodium, 45mg Carbs, 5g Protein

• 1 Spring roll

Unknown but it contained vegetables and steamed shrimp

Bedtime Snack:

• 1 Serving of Casein Protein Supplement

1g Fat (0.5 saturated), 30mg cholesterol, 150mg sodium, 24g protein

Overall, I believe I would not have trouble meeting a cardiac diet simply because I can consume meals that are low in sodium, fat, and cholesterol if need be. I am not sure I would be able to comply with a diet if protein was limited! As you can tell by the information above I consume about 200g of protein a day and some diets restrict it to less than 30g/day

AND YES I DO EAT A LOT!!!!!!!

Likes: it is kind of hard not to like the fact that I have my own blog where I can personalize a page to my liking. I love the NRS 420 web page because of how convenient and organized everything is. I don’t have to wait for the course syllabus to download, or look for it through my files because it is always one click away. I am not the most tech savvy person but thus far I have found everything pretty simple to access.

Dislikes: if there is one thing I dislike is the fact that it is going to take me a whole lot of time to get creative enough to make my page appealing to people’s eyes. I have seen some of the posts by my classmates and I can already tell they are going to have amazing colorful web pages. Therefore I think I will continue to post pictures that my sister takes because I find them really interesting and beautiful. Another dislike that I have is that this was not developed until our last semester. I believe we would all have embraced it if it was introduced in our first semester. In addition, it would have allowed us to build a digital portfolio from day one.

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