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By: Vienette Martinez

Professor Cason
Nov. 27, 2016

Do you want to be a Nurse?

If nursing is what you want, then charting should be easy, said no nurse ever. A Nursing
job requires collaboration from the main provider and other health team members. A nurse also
must be able to teach and assist an individual with their care needs will impact them for a long
time. My interest in helping people become healthier and choosing a healthier path in their lives
is the main reason why becoming a nurse is very important to me. I believe people grow up
without the full version of the importance of maintaining a healthy life style to improve body and
spirt. I am especially interested in becoming a Nurse Midwife. Nurse midwives specifically
influence new parents in the way they approach the health of their new baby. Teaching them how
to strengthen their health habits and how to raise and care for a healthy baby long term.

When trying to do research for a nursing career, there seems to be multiple statements
about the importance of charting and detailed observations. One can say that if you dont like to
do anything with taking notes and paying great attention to the people you are caring for, then
maybe this is not the right job for you. Nurse also seem to have a stethoscope around their necks
and scrubs when looking at nurses images on the web. Having a couple of nurses as friend I
often hear them talk about always being on their feet and some of the time, not being able to take
breaks. On some of my visit to a health facility, I have noticed nurses just sitting at a nurses
station on the computers. So which one is it, are they always busy or is their job more relaxing
then they say? This is something I would like to look into as I continue to pursue my desire to be
a nurse.

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I had the great privilege to interview Sandra Cornejo, a registered nurse who works at the
University Neuropsychiatric Institute of Utah. She has been working at this establishment for
over three years. Mrs. Cornejo graduated from Ameri Tech College and received her Associates
Degree in Nursing, which is an entry level degree for nursing. She completed most of her
prerequisites at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) but due to personal circumstances she
need to finish school fast, which is why she ended up at Ameri Tech College. Ameri Tech
College is a private college that cost a fortune to attend but you can get done with school in less
than 2 years. She described school as being a difficult but exciting experience. She is currently
going to SLCC to complete prerequisites for her Bachelors Degree in Nursing. With obtaining
this degree she hopes to move up into management.

To become a Nurse Midwife, you need to first obtain an associates degree in science
then a bachelor degree in nursing to be able to enter into a Midwife program. Courses like
biology, microbiology, chemistry, human anatomy and physiology are typical prerequisites to
most midwifery programs. Some other courses they will be taking are nutrition, algebra and
statistics, lifespan development, English composition, sociology, and psychology. There are
different ways to obtain your midwife license but they are not accepted by all of the states here in
the United States if you are interested in becoming a RN first (For). Some recommendations
from America College of Nurse-Midwife are to Participate in extra-curricular activities that are
related to health care, such as volunteering at local health clinics or women's health centers and
talk with practicing midwives, women's health nurse practitioners, doulas, and childbirth
educators in your local community.

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Mrs. Sandra recommends staying organized and prioritize tasks that are center around
patient care. Also knowing your limitations so that asking for help can prevent burn out and
accepting help when needed. The best part of her job is always being able to attend to her
patients which make the outcome more positive. She mentioned that she is constantly busy
writing reports and charting. She spends most of her time supervising techs. She collaborates
with staff to help maintain a stress free environment for the patiences and co-workers. When I
asked her how she used writing day to day she said Writing is a big part of what I do day to day.
I have to report everything by writing emails, reports, and yes charting. So thats when I asked
if the pay was worth all the writing and she said yes.

Looking into how much a nurse makes, I was surprised how much they make and how
much they are capable of making with addition education. When I talk about additional
education, it means getting your bachelor degree or higher, and/or getting specialized in a certain
field of nursing in your current jot. A registered nurse makes at least $21.62 per hour or about
$44,970 annually. If a registered nurse decided to continue her education they are able to make
an average of $41.32 per hour or about $85,940 annually. Industries with the highest level of
employment in this occupation are General Medical and Surgical Hospitals. Top paying
industries for this occupation are personal care services (29-1141). But since I want to be a
Nurse Midwife I looked up how much they make, range between $92,992 to $114,633 annually
in the United States. In hourly wages thats about $49 to $61 per hour (Certified).

When I think of the amount of school needed, it becomes evident that I am just starting
this journey to become a nurse midwife. I would need to complete pre-nursing classes. Then

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applying for a nursing program and after passing a licensure exam. After this I need to become a
nurse and get clinical hours in this field before I can apply to a midwifery program. This is my
long term goal. Once I am done, I can specifically focus on providing exceptional care for new
expecting parents and their infant. Some of the things that stood out were the different paths that
come with nursing. I am grateful for the information available today to help make informed
decisions like this one much easier from websites like the University of Utah College and
American College of Nurse-Midwife. Mrs. Sandra Cornejo helped by sharing her experiences
when she was in nursing school and the struggles she has day to day working as a RN. I hope by
sharing this information it will make your decision in nursing stronger or help you get more
information before you make your decision.

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Work Cited
"29-1141 Registered Nurses." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
25 Mar. 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
"Certified Midwife Salary." Certified Midwife Salaries by Education, Experience, Location and
More - Salary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
Cornejo, Sandra. Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2016
"For College Students - ACNM." ACNM. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.

School:

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What courses did you take to obtain your degree? Open.

She took many pre requisites classes at Salt Lake Community College. Many of those pre
requisites courses consists of many biology classes, math classes, communication classes
and health science classes. After these courses were done, she started nursing
fundamental courses. She went to nursing school and completed 5 semesters of nursing
essential classes.

Which courses did you consider the most difficult ones? Closed.
Definitely my nursing essential classes.

Which course was the hardest? Why? Open.

The hardest course was Anatomy and physiology. They combined two hard classes into
one 3-hour class. They crammed a lot of information into one course and it was an
accelerated program as well.

Work:
What type of nursing tasks do you find most objectionable? Closed.
Charting

How many years do you see yourself staying with this hospital? Why? Open.
She sees herself staying with the University of Utah hospital for at least 6 years because
of their amazing retirement benefits they provide their employees.

What type of colleague do you least like to work with? Closed.

Psychiatric technicians who are un-coachable. She works with people that have a hard
time putting their own beliefs and opinions to the side and follow doctors order because
of personal reasons. When she tries to remind them of the treatment plan they struggle to
follow them and are closed to feedback.

Can you describe a situation connected with nursing that mad you angry? Open.
She mentions that she gets angry when there is inconsistency in patient care. The faculty
implement treatment plans that are patient specific and there are times when nursing staff,
are selective in following the treatment plan. Which creates inconsistency and makes it
harder to care for the patient.

Describe a challenging problem you faced on one of your clinical rotations. How did you
solve the problem? Open.

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A challenging problem that she mentions was a patient who struggled with a severe case
of a conversion disorder. There was not clinical explanation as to why he was unable to
utilize his lower extremities. Many test were done in this particular case. It was hard
working with a patient that still didnt have a complete diagnose.
Personal:

What led to your interest in nursing? Open

Initially, she did not know she wanted to be a Nurse. The idea was planted in her head by
one of her sisters. She started working as a CNA because of her sister as well. Once she
started working as a CNA she realized she could do this type of work long term while she
worked on her nursing degree. She started taking courses gearing towards nursing but
was open to the idea of changing her career path if something else came along. Well
here we are 4 years later she said.

Do you think you will be a career nurse or eventually look for another profession? Why?
Open.
She mentions that in nursing there are so many opportunities. Her plan is to stay a nurse
until at least 65 years old. In what area will she got next is still unknown since there are
so many routes she can take. She wants her focus to be centered around direct patient
care as a clinical nurse.

Vienette Martinez|SLCC