Chunsheng Li Li1

Dr. Karen Carlisi

ESL 33B

5 April 2018

Section 1: This is All for the Money

When I was young, I wanted to have a career that could be use guns and missiles,

just like the game “Call of Duty”. When I was growing up, and educated, I changed my

mind because my body really cannot fit into the U.S Army. Also, my family strongly

disagrees with me because they worried about I may get killed at the battlefield.

However, my mother strongly recommended that I should became a nurse. I agreed with

my mother because my family need money.

Money is the external motivation that has driven me in my decision-making process

about my future career. For example, my cousin was a nurse. My cousin told me that if I

can become a nurse I can easily find a job. Also, my cousin always boasts that he can

earn over $30 per hour. According to the United Stated Department of Labor, the median

pay for nursing was about $68,450 in 2016(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Jan.

2018). For example, my cousin was only about 26 years old, but he could buy his own car

and earn over 60,000 dollars per year. Also, I wanted to learn some knowledge from

school that I could take care of my family. To become a nurse is very hard, event thought

become a nurse has many benefits. Sine my academic level was not high enough,

especially English, I realized that nursing was not an easy career for me.

Once I decided to be nurse, I realized that nursing requires a lot of things. Initially, I
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chose nursing because nursing in China was an easy career. And only needs to spend

some money on some so-called college. However nursing in the United Stated was

completely different from what I thought. According to Hart Research Associate,

effective communication was the most important skills for employees (Hart Research 7).

But I did not have these skills yet. Also, my cousin spent over $100,000 for his nursing

program at private school. Because nursing was very popular in the United Stated, my

cousin told me that it was almost impossible to get into the nursing program that at public

schools. After that, I tried to give up because I believed that I could not do it. Fortunately,

my family would support me. And they need me to become a nurse no matter what. Also,

my cousin told me that I still young, I should try to do it. After that, I finally decided

nursing as my major.

After all the experience, I realized that nursing was not an easy profession for me. I

mean, all the good careers are not easy. For example, if I want to join the army I must

work very hard on workout. Also, external motivation made my career life harder

because I am not the person that very love money and things. Even though I am not very

like this career, but I must do it because in my family tradition, if I obey my family’s

decision, I will always get support from them. If I do not obey their decision, they will be

upset. To become a nurse, I have work very hard. Sine I decided my major without a very

deeper thinking, I might give up in the future. And I only took a few days to decide my

major, I think that is all I can talk about. After this experience, I realized that I need to

understand what real nurse is.

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Section 2: What is Nursing?

According to the Longman Dictionary, nurse is someone whose job is to take care of

people who are sick or injured. According to Cambridge University Press, John Swales

shows that a discourse community has a broadly agree set of common public goals and

has mechanisms of anticommutation among its member. (Swales 25). In the other words,

discourse community means that a group share the same value and achieve their goals.

The field of nursing is a specific discourse community that has a broadly agree set of

common public goals, which is focused on caring and helping people, especially the

people who were sick. Doctors also share this discourse community. And, this discourse

community mostly at hospitals and clinic.

To know more about nursing, I have to interview someone who was already at

nursing field. My interviewee was Nancy Ramirez, a registered nurse, who work at

Pasadena City College Heath Central as a registered nurse. I found her by her email that

posted at Pasadena City College website. And I emailed to her for an appointment at

March, 25 2018. After that, I did an interview with her at March, 25 2018, 3:45PM to

4PM. I did the interview at PCC Heath Central, Nurse Ramirez’s office. I did the

interview by myself. And I just asked her questions about my Project 2 topic. After the

interview, I said “Thank you very much” and showed appreciation to her by sending her a

Thank-You email.

During the interview, Ramirez told me that compassion is the most important internal

resources for a nurse (Ramirez). According to Ramirez, she told me that to be a nurse is
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needed to think about caring people more than caring money (Ramirez). Also, nurses

need to be willing to listen to people event thought they are not very sick. For example,

Ramirez told me that she once had a patient, who was a girl, came to her office and

started crying with an unknown reason. Even though Nancy must to take care other

patients, she also need to take care of that girl anyway (Ramirez). She told me that she

take care of the girl by try to know that why the girl was crying. (Ramirez).

Communicating effectively is the most important skills for nurses. Ramirez told me

that nurses need to know how write a report for every patients’ situation to the doctor

(Ramirez). For example, nurses need to put patients’ body temperature, blood pressure,

and symptom into the report (Ramirez). My interviewee also told me that it is very

important to know how to read and write in English (Ramirez). For example, she told me

that nurses need to use English all the time when they are working at the hospital

(Ramirez). Also, Ramirez told me that nurses also need to understand how to

communicate with the doctor. For example, nurses need to understand all the words from

the prescription in English that the doctors give (Ramirez).

Also, understanding cultural differences are very important critical thinking in the

nurse filed. Ramirez explains that there are many different ethnic groups in the United

Stated, and different culture had different health standard, nurses need to understand

those health standards for each ethnic groups (Ramirez). Also, Ramirez told me that some

cultures were very different from the U.S (Ramirez). For example, some Muslim women

cannot expose any part of their body at public area, nurses must treat them specially
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(Ramirez). All in all, compassion, effective communication, and understanding cultural

differences are the very important skills for the nurses.

Section3: Nursing Is Not Easy

My future discourse community is focused on caring and helping the people who are

sick or injured. I think I will be ok with it because if only take care of people I will be

find. However, I think my discourse community is more likely in the military discourse

community because I want to protect people not to take care of people. Or maybe I will

get a nurse license and work in the military in the future.

I can say that I am not prepared for this career because I am luck of skills for this

career. Also, sine I decided this career without deeper thinking, I only knew a little about

this career, till I did the interview.

During the interview, my interviewee told me that care about people more than care

about the money (Ramirez). After the interview, I changed my view with nursing. At first,

I choose this career because I think this career has very well pay. However, Ramirez told

me that I should not try to think about that way. Also, I may success in nursing field

because of the information that my interviewee told me. Also, I must say that I learn a lot

from this interview. Without this interview, I may still don’t know what I should do, and I

may still don’t know what nursing is.

Back to my decision-making history, I was very naïve during this time. During this

time, I did things without any thinking. Or, maybe I should not give up my dream job

which is to become a solider. Now, my short-term goals are to gain some experience from
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the real world by try to do some part-time job, and improve my English skills by put

effort on my ESL classes.

Works Cited

Ramirez, N. (2018 March 25). Personal Interview by myself

Swales, M. John. “Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings.”

Cambridge University Press. Print.

Hart Research Associates, “Falling Short? College Learning and Career Success,”

Jan. 20, 2015

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“Registered Nurses.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, 30 Jan. 2018, www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm.