Nursing
Introduction
Considering all the knowledge that I have picked up from the course, medication adherence became a significant factor that assisted me in my internship. Medication adherence is a cluster of behavior that is simultaneously influenced by several factors. It is an extent to which an individual’s behaviors affects the manner of taking medication, following a prescribed diet, and following a lifestyle that has a direct effects towards healthy lifestyle. My journal encompasses the accounts of experiences that I gained from my internship and putting emphasis on areas of student life, and community service. Above all, the experiences that I gained from the Grand Canyon experience enabled me to reflect both on my future professional and student life. Furthermore, reflecting on the understanding of medication adherence demonstrates a behavior that can be applied towards professional practices.
Reflecting on Medication Adherence
As mentioned earlier, medication adherence refers to an individual’s behavior concerning compliance in following a regular regime in order to achieve optimum recovery. The concept of medication adherence does not only reflect one’s strict compliance to the rules set forth to encourage a positive outcome (Ho et al., 2009). The concept was also instrumental to the future of my career as a nurse, which was realized during my internship. In medication adherence as observed during my internship, ensuring the patient’s conformance with dosage, timing, and frequency in taking medication improve service efficiency (Sokol et al., 2005). Through conformance to the prescribed medication, it enabled me to encourage patient to have a positive outlook towards their recovery. As such, by adhering to medication, my efforts in delivering care becomes easy and the patient to achieve full recovery, which is an important goal in my future career.
In terms of student life, the underlying principles of medication adherence encompass an important notion of following the prescribed rules of my future profession. As a student, I am expected to achieve knowledge and apply that knowledge in my future profession. Being a student is not very different from undergoing medication. The primary reason for taking up the course is I am not well in terms of mastering the knowledge of nursing. On the other hand, the knowledge that I gained from my teachers, peers, experience, and self-help materials can be considered as medication that will help me achieve the ultimate goal, and that is to learn the every corners of professional care. Similarly, medication adherence drives a behavior amongst patients to look forward into their healthy future that is free from diseases. Not being able to adhere to the prescribed timing, frequency, and dosage is the same being late on my school assignments, projects, not being able to get good grades, and not attending classes on a regular basis. As a student and intern, the principles of medication adherence reminds me to become more aware of the circumstances that lies ahead if I fail to meet the prescribed learning practices that were put forth to become a future care provider.
The Grand Canyon Experience
Visiting the Grand Canyon changed my perspective of the beauty of the world around. One of the thins that I consider as a valuable aspect that would have made my visit even better is to get to know more about the people that exerts efforts in preserving the natural state of the place. During the trip the Grand Canyon, I was able to meet volunteers that are engaged in community health campaigns, and I could say that I was moved by their dedication towards their health advocacy even if the volunteers are not nurses by profession, they emphasized that care is not limited to titles or profession, but social responsibility to look after the welfare of the people in general. The Grand Canyon experience left me with a lot to think about, one of which is to reflect back on the reason why I took the course and its value to the people that expect care from future nurses like me. The whole experience had an impact on my future perspectives as a professional care provider because I get to realize further that the profession is not only to administer medication or look after the sick, but it means saving people’s lives. One way or another, the experience helped be prepare for my future career as a nurse because it gave me something to look forward to. It strengthened my perspectives towards the value of the profession in terms of setting the right goals and objectives to becoming a better future professional nurse.
Conclusion
The Grand Canyon experience along with the opportunity to apply what I have learned in my course one is particular is the concept of medication adherence. The importance of religiously following the prescribed dosage, timing, and frequency in administering medication to the patient drastically improves care efficiency of care provided by nurses. Furthermore, the internship experience and the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon leaves a mark on my thoughts about my future profession.
References
Ho, P. M., Bryson, C. L., & Rumsfeld, J. S. (2009). Medication Adherence: Its Importance in Cardiovascular Outcomes. Circulation, 119, 3028-3035. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.108.768986
Sokol, M. C., McGuigan, K. A., Verbrugge, R. R., & Epstein, R. S. (2005). Impact of Medication Adherence on Hospitalization Risk and Healthcare Cost. Medical Care, 43(6), 521-530. doi:10.1097/01.mlr.0000163641.86870.af
