I recently decided to switch careers into nursing. I have always
been in the forensic or death industry. I had always wanted a be a nurse so I
decided to make the change. My acculturation experience was rather drastic
coming from the line of work that I was in before. I do not necessarily have to
be as gentle in the morgue.
For my first and current nursing job, I was hired as a per diem
employee through an agency. I started in January of 2020. My assignments
are mostly one on one with a child at their school. I really love working with
children, it is a field of nursing that most interest me. The biggest adjustment
for me was a language barrier. Most of the schools that I was sent to had
patients that spoke in Spanish as their primary language. Communication is a
fundamental component of cross-cultural care encounters. (Maria
Jirwe, Kate Gerrish, and Azita Emami (2010)) This was a major adjustment
for me because I had to use my judgement based off of facial expressions or
translation from a teacher. I often had to wait for a teacher or staff member
to become available to help me speak with my patient. In the end it became a
routine for me. I learned who to ask and when to ask them.
I also had schools where the children were non verbal or faced with
learning disabilities. I had never worked with a disabled population before
and I did not know what to expect. Children with intellectual and
developmental disabilities (I,DD) may belong to a minority culture, the
additional culture of disability, and a culture of poverty. (Nehring (2007)) I once had a patient who was autistic,
non verbal, and diabetic. I was with this particular patient several times. He
took some getting use to, but I found a way to communicate with him.
Although he was non-verbal her was very comprehensive and helped me in
his own way.
When I got sent out on these assignments I went alone. I was not
trained with a nurse by my side. I had the phone number of the supervising
nurse if I had any questions. That was very new for me. I was use to a formal
training time period in which I had to be comfortable with a skill before I was
able to do it alone. I was very nervous when I got my first assignment. The
agency assured me that it would not be a difficult case for my first time. They
were right, my first cases was a very simple laid back case. I believe it is what
gave me the confidence that I needed to continue doing the job. I can not tell
the experience of a new nurse that has joined our staff because we all worked
alone.