Nursing 101

                                      Why I Want To Be a Nurse

What is nursing

“Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations.”

Nursing includes a range of specialties and definitions that vary from country to country. According to the International Council of Nurses, "Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles."

Why am interested in nursing

During my sophomore year in high school I had no plans on going to college. All of that changed during my junior year when I took biology class and chemistry and biology that is when I first became self-confident and I started believing in myself. I saw a lot of improvement in my grades and I became interested in these sciences. In fall of 2011 I became the first person from my family to go to college.

My grandfather always used to say to me “nothing in life is easy if it’s worth having,” and I am just so sad that he can’t see me now, turning away from the easy  path towards one I know will bring a lifetime of challenges and fulfillment. I always respected him and have tried to make my entire family proud of me. I am the first person from my working class family to go to college, and while I am proud of accomplishing this goal, which was by no means easy financially or emotionally, my career path after high school graduation has not been as fulfilling as I was hoping it would be. But I never lose hope. And now I am out for life long education.

I originally became interested in the health care field at a very early age because my mother was an assistant nurse and I spent considerable time in my childhood observing her at work. I was attracted to the idea of helping people with physical problems, although I had no thought about any specific specialty. However, in time physical therapy became the logical focus of my attention for a number of reasons. For one, I have memories from a very young age of my grandfather in Kenya, disabled by a stroke, his problems unmitigated by any attempts at physical therapy. I will never forget the devastating consequences of this.

Now I have decided to be a nurse. I will be a healthcare professional who is focused on caring for individuals, families, and communities, ensuring that they attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and functioning. As nurses, I will be capable of assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating care independently of physicians, and I will help provide support from basic triage to emergency surgery. I may practice in hospitals, clinics, physician offices, private homes, schools, pharmaceutical companies, private industry, schools, cruise ships, retirement homes, hospice facilities, long-term care facilities, military facilities, and even camps. Or I may also advice and work as a consultant in healthcare. I can work full- or part-time, and may work as a traveling nurse for various organizations like the United Nations.

My duty as a nurse is to assist individuals in performing activities that contribute to health, recovery, or peaceful death, activities which the patients would perform if they had the strength, will, or knowledge required. I want to prevent cases like my grandfather’s death, because he didn’t have good nursing care. I will also strive to achieve the best possible quality of life for the patients, regardless of disease or disability. I will use proper clinical judgment to protect, promote, and optimize health, prevent illness and injury, alleviate suffering, and advocate in health care for individuals, families, communities, and populations.

Nursing is more than a profession of integrity and compassion, it is a privilege that carries out my values as a human being and the responsibilities granted to me.

Research question

What is a role of a Kenyan nurse?

What is the role of a Kenyan nurse? The role of a Kenyan nurse is to provide care for the patient, work with doctors, protect the patient, teach the patient and family and advocate for the patient and family.

Kenyan nurses care for patients continuously, 24 hours a day. They help the patient to do what they could do for themselves if they could. They care for the patients, making sure that they can breathe properly, helping patients sleep, and making sure that they are comfortable. They take care of their elimination of waste. Nurses know each patient’s diseases.

Kenyan nurses play a big role not only giving medical care to patients but also by giving comfort and support to the patient and his or her family. When the patient cannot recover, the nurse helps to make sure that the death is peaceful. When a person becomes ill or is injured, he goes through the nurse to see the doctor and then the doctor only deals with the main problem after the nurse has admitted the patient and managed their care.

            Nurses carry out many of the treatments prescribed to the patient. For example, the nurse helps the doctor during surgery in the operation room. The nurse might inject the patient with the drugs prescribed to the patient. The nurse changes the patient’s dressing and monitors the healing of the wound. The nurse also administers medication for the pain.

                Nurses also monitor the patient’s progress to make sure that the recovery has no complications. Nurses mostly find problems in patients because they usually have more frequent contact with them than anyone else. The nurse also plans and supervises the care given by nursing assistants, checks on the work of housekeeping staff assigned to clean the patient's room, and ensures that the patient gets enough healthy food.

            The information that I still want to know about nursing in Kenya is how people get qualified to become nurses in Kenya. What is the main procedure to be admitted in Kenya nursing schools? What are the minimum entry requirements? Are there good job opportunities for qualified nurses?

            There are so many ways to collect information for my project. First is communication. Communication is the most important way to collect information within my project. I will make phone calls to communicate with friends whom I know are nurses in Kenya. I will send them emails seeking more information because emails are the probably the easiest and cheapest communication tool that is available for me. I will text, ask for recorded audio and videos and I will use instant massaging to reach people for help. I will also use internet boards. I will also try to reach the Kenyan nurses living in USA and meet face to face to collect the information from them.