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Archive for month: April, 2015
2010 Earthquake in Haiti
Haiti Earthquake
On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti and resulting in the loss of over 230,000 lives, and the country is still working to recover from these horrible natural disaster five years later (CNN, 2015; Laurent, 2015). The effects of the large earthquake were much greater due to the poor infrastructure of buildings – a great majority of them were not built to handle earthquakes (BBC, 2014). Since the country is extremely poor, with families living on as little as $2 per day, the money to redevelop after the earthquake was simply not there and, despite the billions of dollars received in aid, the country is still struggling to redevelop and return to its previous state before the earthquake (BBC, 2014; Laurent, 2015). As a result, more than 1.3 of the country’s population was left homeless and at least 300,000 people were injured while many of the hospitals collapsed in the quake (BBC, 2014). Today, individuals can walk into the country and still see damage waiting to be fixed – buildings which are still broken, and families (at least 85,000 people) are still displaced and living in “shacks” (CNN, 2015; Laurent, 2015).
In regards to healthcare, initially, as stated, many of the hospitals collapsed, leaving the primary source for medical care inaccessible (BBC, 2014). However, shortly after the earthquake, the worldwide community brought in resources: the Dominican Republic provided medical supplies and emergency water, many countries (e.g. United States, Iceland) sent in emergency rescue teams, the Red Cross arrived and set up field hospitals, the United Nations came to provide help, and individuals from all of the world donated money to help with the care of these individuals (BBC, 2014). Additionally, as a result of the earthquake and the difficulty in accessing safe water, there was a massive cholera outbreak in October of 2010 with over 700,000 people contacting this deadly bacteria (CNN, 2015). Since the outbreak, over 8,500 people have died from cholera (CNN, 2015). While aid was able to come and act as a primary intervention, the country is still struggling at rebuilding and providing healthcare for population (Laurent, 2015).
I feel that being a nurse in this country during a huge natural disaster such as this one would be extremely challenging. While I do feel that we receive training on how to handle disasters, the accessibility to healthcare resources makes a big difference. During a crisis like this, the ability to obtain clean water is definitely at risk (especially as seen by the cholera outbreak). So, the big challenge to nursing wouldn’t necessarily be handling all the patients (although that definitely is a big concern), but it would be nursing using the resources that are available.
“I don’t have any more bandages and this person is bleeding. What can I use?”
“There is no more clean drinking water. How should I proceed?”
“This person has a compound fracture. What is my best course of action?”
These are questions and issues that we don’t normally have to deal with in a developed country, even during a natural disaster. And yet, these are big issues during a natural disaster in an undeveloped country and are definitely an issue in providing care. As a result, we need to have a combination of training and intuition in how to handle these situations.
While I believe that developed countries are prepared to handle these situations, I do not believe Haiti is yet better prepared to handle another large-scale earthquake because they have not yet managed to recover from the first one. A big portion of their recovery has come from outside aid, and, while outside aid will come again in the event of another earthquake, families are still displaced and buildings are still not all repaired. The resources are simply not there to handle another disaster.
References:
BBC. (2014). Case study: earthquake. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/geography/ physical_processes/plate_tectonics/revision/7/
CNN. (2015). Haiti earthquake fast facts. Retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/12/world/haiti-earthquake-fast-facts/
Laurent, O. (2015). Haiti earthquake: Five years after. Retrieved from: http://time.com/3662225/haiti-earthquake-five-year-after/
LAST Blog: The Art of Being a Nurse
As the semester comes to an end and graduation nears, the realization that we will all be BSN graduates begins to kick in. This journey, we call nursing school, has been one in which I will remember for the rest of my life. I have learned so many new aspects of not only the nursing profession, but also of myself. I have met the most special of people who I know I can call friends forever. I have learned a new definition to the words hard work and dedication. I have cried and I have laughed and I have become stronger than I ever thought I could be. Nursing has always been a dream of mine, and nursing school has taught me that this profession is something beyond what I had ever imagined. Thanks to the knowledge we have received and the care we have given, I can honestly say that I have fallen even more in love with this career choice. Although nursing can be tough on some days, the satisfaction of helping others makes it completely worth it. This realization has especially resonated in me since the start of critical care.
Throughout my time within the intensive care unit, I have learned a whole new aspect within the meaning of being a nurse. I have learned that being a nurse means being a teacher, a caregiver, a listener, an advocate and most importantly a supporter. This rotation has been extremely precious to me in that I have been able to be a presence in not only a patient’s life but also their death. I have spent time with the most influential of nurses and on the opposite side of the spectrum I have struggled through days with those who are completely burned out. One thing that I have learned is that no matter how hard a day can be I maintain the ability to touch someone’s life and ultimately create a lasting impression and that in itself is enough to make me smile daily.
So, what is my plan for the future you might ask??? Following graduation and the completion of NCLEX I will be working as a labor and delivery nurse in Laguna Niguel. I will be a “baby catcher” one might say. I will welcome new life into this world everyday and I couldn’t be more willing and more excited to take on the challenge. What else the future might hold….who knows….the sky is the limit.
With that I will leave you with this…
Cheers to us CSUCI class of 2015!
Finished my Capstone poster
The semester is coming to an end and there are only a few deadlines left but they are the most crucial. The poster being turned in this morning and next we present them at the SAGE Conference! After that the final Capstone paper is due and then it’s basically graduation day. I feel scared and excited at the same time, it’s almost over!
Internalizing, Not Memorizing
As I reflect on the past couple of weeks of content, I definitely see how everything connects. As students, I believe we have been taught to take in information and then reproduce it. After reading chapter 8 and hearing about learning theories, I would argue that we aren’t necessarily taught how to properly learn. That creates a lot of difficulty when you get to college because you really do have to internalize and understand concepts, not just be able to regurgitate information. Learning is about the want and need for knowledge, it’s about skills development and time management.
I really believe that the most important and effective information from the past two weeks is motivation. Motivation is the root of learning, and it is important to be aware of your own motivation so that you understand your performance. As we have learned, external motivation leads to someone performing as a passive learner, as opposed to internal motivation leading to active learning. If we start by adjusting our motivation, we start to adjust how we learn, and eventually how we feel fulfilled.
Helping Others Learn & Succeed
In chapter eight of the book Students Helping Students, we read about the learning process and what contributes to students achieving academic success.
We see the importance of understanding how individuals approach the learning process and how each person does this act in different ways. By having peer leaders become informed about items such as active learning and learning theories, they become better suited in assisting these individuals during their learning process and help them achieve success academically.
For example, let say that I am a peer leader working with an individual who is struggling with their biology class and is starting to lose hope in actually passing the class. I must look at this student and ask myself the following questions?
- Does he/she have internal motivation?
- Does he/she have a confident attitude about his/her learning skills?
- How well does he/she manage time?
- What are these individual’s strengths?
Based upon the answers I obtain, I will be able to make a game plan on how to motivate this individual to want to succeed.
The Complete Picture of Academic Success
Education is one of the great equalizers in the world. It can bring a family out of poverty. It can raise villages, and it can bring out the potential of problem solvers all over the globe. Yet what does it take to make your education the best it can be?
Active learning and constructivism are theories of educational interaction. Interaction of the students with both the teacher/professor and the material. Much of the material covered in chapter 8 of Students Helping Students is information that can help combat the internal struggles that many students face that can hinder academic success. Problems of motivation, mentality managing stress, and not knowing your strengths can all hinder academic success. Learning theories are what go on inside the classroom that can determine some student’s academic successes and if they develop skills students will need later in life. Chapter 8 was many parts of succeeding in academics that take place outside the classroom.
They are connected. Both subjects can have dramatic impact on the success of students. It is when you combine these aspects of internal struggles and the learning theories that you create a complete picture of how to encourage student academic success.
If I get an opportunity where I am in a position to encourage peers or anyone else academically I will try and share this complete picture. However two things I know that I would definitely stress are the learning theory of constructivism and learning demanding a confident attitude. Constructivism because I am a kinesthetic learner and enjoy when teachers employ methods to really engage with material. The confidence aspect is because it is something that greatly effected me. I have two sisters that I love, who both excel academically. (Both in the top 10% in high school and Jamie had a 4.6 gpa). So confidence in academics was something I did have because I thought I could never compete, so I hovered in the middle academically. It wasn’t until I got to college that I found my academic confidence and I have grown so much because of it that I am hopefully graduation with honors.
Learning is the Key
Understanding active learning and learning theories relate to the contents of chapter 8 in many different ways. Let me being by explaining why learning engagement is important to understanding active learning. To learn you have to be engaged thats where active learning comes into play. Being engaged is a great way to learn something in and out of class, by participating in class discussions or just being generally interested in what is going on will help you learn better. Cognitivism is one of the learning theories that goes well with learning engagement because we need to receive the information in organized manner to better understand it. Next is self-regulation is important for learning because you wont have people telling you your whole life what to do so by self-regulation you will have a better way to learn because you can make decisions on your own. The learning theory that goes well this is constructivism because you have to create your own set of rules wether it be being on your own or being with others. Learning demands and knowing yourself learning theory is both cognitivism and constructivism because they both have things that apply to this such as creating meaning from experience and how information is received by the mind. Active learning applies to learning demands and knowing yourself because you have to be able to learn so not every time you do something is confusing. Learning improves by managing stress and maintaining a sense of well-being is very to know active learning because doing hand on projects is a way to reduce stress and maintain your well being. Cognitivism is the learning theory that goes with this because it helps your mind receive information in a organized manner which help reduce stress. Something I have learned in the past two weeks that will help me coach others to be academically successful is the learning theories because it will not only help them but they can teach others that way they are becoming a leader in there own way. Another thing I have learni
