Going into nursing school, I had been working in healthcare for a few years.

I had been
an Emergency Medical Technician, and transported people to the emergency rooms in various
hospitals. Seeing the nurses when I arrived in the emergency room made me want to continue in
my healthcare journey. I have been working in the emergency department as a tech for more
than two years and have learned a lot from talking with the doctors and nurses.

Throughout the semesters I have sat in various lectures and clinicals. In the lectures
some of the material I have heard has been a repeat and some has been new. I have enjoyed
listening to my instructors throughout the course of the different semesters. I enjoy learning and
studying new material to expand upon my knowledge of how the human body works and it’s
interactions with different drugs and treatments. To me learning about the science and
physiology of the human body is the most interesting thing.

The different classes were broken up by physiological components of the body and organ
systems. One class contained cardiac, respiratory, and the renal systems. Another class was
specific to more critical care and surgical needs. There were even classes about global health,
alternative therapies, and psychiatric nursing. These classes were interesting however, as stated
above the science of the human body is the thing that intrigues me the most of all. Of all the
classes I took in nursing school, I will say that pharmacology was my favorite. This class
included science into the equation. We had to understand the drugs, how they interacted with the
body, and want were the outcomes. The professor for this class was a pharmacist, she was
extremely intelligent and vastly knowledgeable about medications and drug therapies.

Throughout clinical I have seen a different side of nursing from what I am used to. After
being an Emergency Medical Technician, and working in the emergency department, floor
nursing is a completing different animal. I was outside of my element, I was no longer driven by
protocols and standing orders. I was no longer allowed to make decisions based on own my
assessment of the patient. I now had to follow a set of orders and listen to the direction of
somebody else, who was not present with the patient. However floor nursing really was not that
bad. It can be very repetitive, but so can the emergency department. I was able to learn a totally
new thing, inpatient nursing. I am glad I did it. I now have experienced that side of it, and can
better help them from the emergency room when we are about to send patients upstairs.

In my third year of nursing school, I had what many consider the hardest semester. I took
pediatrics and obstetrics in the same semester. I thought these classes would be extremely
challenging, mainly because I had little no experience with children or pregnant individuals. The
first day I was extremely nervous about working with kids. However, during my time in my
pediatric rotation everything felt normal. I was able to work effectively with the children and
parents. I learned a lot about children, both how to interact with them and how to care for them
in a medical capacity.
 During my rotation in obstetrics I was completely outside of my comfort zone. I had
pregnant patients before, but everything was a little different. I did enjoy my time in the NICU
and in the OR for the cesarean sections. I was able to observe the doctor perform the surgery and
I spoke with anesthesia. Being able to speak with both of them was such an interesting
experience as I one day aspire to attend medical school and become a physician.

I think nursing school has been a good decision for my growth. I started out as an
Emergency Medical Technician, I have worked in a pharmacy dispensing prescription drugs to
patients, and even been a Spanish translator in a healthcare free clinic. Now adding nursing to
my list, I think is a great way to prove to anybody that I am passionate about healthcare. The
physiology of the body is completely fascinating to me. I will never stop learning and plan to
continue my career path to advance myself in the medical setting. Yes, the end goal is a
physician, specifically an anesthesiologist. Each day I am a little closer to living my dream. It is
still a long road ahead, however as long as I am working on my dream I am still living my
dream.