Final Reflection

Sometimes I get overwhelmed and feel like I haven’t learned much, but I know that those moments are when I am overwhelmed by the present and the things that I don’t know and have lost sight of the big picture. When I think about how things were in the first weeks of our first semester, I realize how far we have come. I feel ready to take the next step in my nursing career and have more responsibility with patients. I guess a concern of the final semester is getting out of practice regarding clinical skills, but I think those will come back to me fine once I get on a floor.

I had an interesting experience over the weekend that helped me see where I am today in my education and greatly appreciate it. I was speaking with a friend about their family member with a heart condition, and she asked me to explain the pathophysiology to her. As I started with the basics and got deeper and deeper into the description, I realized that I felt like I was walking through a cave with a flashlight. I could never have described everything in that cave from the outside, and I would have told you that I didn’t know much about what was in there, but as I began to talk each piece of information I shared brought up several more, just as more of the cave is illuminated with every step forward. It was a powerful feeling to realize that even though I can’t call forward everything I’ve learned at once, it is all right beneath the surface, just waiting to be called upon.