In the movie “Nurses If Florence Could See Us Now”, it offers many stories from all different kinds of nurses. These nurses share their specialties, and their experiences that resonate with me  which can help me learn from for my future as a nurse.  One skill that I noticed in the movie that I can develop in myself is being independent and having confidence in myself and my skills. These are very important characteristics to have  as a nurse and something I need to build upon as years go by. Confidence is something I can  acquire through experience and school is slowly helping me do that with more practice and clinicals. One clinical population that I haven’t worked with at UNE yet  is pediatrics. Barriers to care for this population is that they cannot advocate for themselves compared to other populations. Since these patients can not make decisions for themselves, it makes it hard as a nurse to truly do the best we can for them. Some areas of my own knowledge that I want to improve on is how to communicate with this population effectively and how to create a bond with them as they are vulnerable. 

When I apply for jobs once I graduate, it is important that I am well prepared for the interview process. Interviewing is an important part of applying for a job, as it shows the employers if I am a great fit for the position, it shows them my personality, and it gives me a chance to show them my “brand” such as skills, experiences and my character. Interviewing is also a great way for me to see if I am truly interested in the position or not. I can scope out the management, the work flow of the floor and the overall culture. To prepare for the interview it’s important to plan for questions they may ask. By doing research on common questions asked in interviews for nursing, I will have a good idea of what to expect and won’t be flustered. I also want to make sure to research the facility and actively participate by putting thought into questions I would like to ask them. I would describe my strengths by saying I learned how to adapt and be flexible through the UNE nursing program. Our schedules were constantly changing through the years, and week by week. Whether it was adapting to new clinical sites/rotations, having dates of clinical experiences being changed or having new material to learn that week, it was a constant rotating door of surprises. Although it was challenging, being flexible and learning to be resilient through the changes has become one of my biggest strengths. Weaknesses or challenges that I have faced are organizational hurdles. In the past I get preoccupied with things I am currently doing and often forget about tasks that are coming up. Although I am diligent in completing all of my tasks, it is something I plan on working on. Things I can do to help me is write down all of my tasks and times/deadlines. I can work on self-management and knowing when to step away from something.