Students in English 1301: Writing and Nursing are required to contribute to a Weekly Online Discussion from the reading found in D2L. Sometimes the student just posts his/her response, and other times the student posts their response and also their response to a classmate’s response. Information about what to post each week, how to post and the deadline for posting is announced each week in the weekly D2L Announcement that is typically posted on Sundays. There is a handout in the D2L folder on How to Post.
Below you can click on the boxes for an example of the Weekly Online Discussion post thread:
I love the reflection you chose. In my book, it is on page 11 so I'm not sure if you just accidentally typed the wrong page number. To get into the story, I loved the relationship Arlene had with her patient and feel like that's probably common for a lot of nurses where you get patients that you just have a great connection and special relationship with. I saw you mentioned Arlene working an additional four hours after her already 12-hour shift and I did want to mention that she actually didn't just choose to stay due to her patient dying, but she was asked to stay because they were short-staffed which I think makes the story even better. If all these things hadn't lined up perfectly, she wouldn't have been there for Ray at the very end. I am a big believer in 'things happen for a reason' so I agree with you when you said that Arlene would have definitely had some regrets if she had gone home and not been able to be there when Ray died.
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Initially I picked this reflection because it was titled "No Regrets". Growing up my mother always encouraged me to live a life with no regrets and to strive to do what makes me happy and what feels right. A lot of people associate a life with no regret as a rebellious thing. They think it means to live a wild life and not have a care in the world but that is mostly incorrect. When you look up "What is good about having no regrets" on Google the first answer to appear is an article that states that “People who live without regrets are often very personable and friendly. This is because they realize that they only have so much time on this earth to meet people and engage with others. Try to talk to people, even if it's just for a moment, and you'll be happy you did.". This piece of article relates back to the reflection of Koch perfectly. This essay talks about an 87-year-old man, Ray Troyan that comes to the ER for a severe perforated bowel that was causing him major discomfort. He has a choice to make to either get surgery which puts his life at risk or let life take its course and eventually die from it. Ray and his only family member, his daughter make the choice to not operate. Although it was not an easy choice for him, he "was at peace with God. He'd lived a great life surrounded by people he loved, and he had no regrets. If it was his time, it was his time."(25). She was surprised that his daughter Kathryn was as calm as she was and accepting of this decision. She knew she had to give him valuable care and comfort to make his last few hours bearable but as time went on, he got worse. Arlene ended her 12-hour shift but asked to stay for a few more hours to monitor Mr. Troyan. Ray and Kathryn had been alone for a few years now after the passing of his wife due to cancer. Koch grew closer to them and felt as if they were family now. Shortly after 11 pm, 30 minutes before her shift ended Mr. Troyan passed away peacefully not fighting his death. That is when Kathryn finally let her tears fall and took a few moments to say goodbye to her father. She thanked Arlene for her part in everything and even though she had a small part in his last days she went home at peace after a long day with no regrets on what she did. The most compelling point in this reflection is the way Arlene handles the situation she is in. Death is never an easy thing to deal with let alone witness and not being able to do anything about it. She creates this wonderful relationship with her patient that is slowly dying and his daughter that will become an orphan at any time now. I think the way Koch sacrifices her rest and puts her life on hold to stay a couple more hours past her 12-hour shift shows a lot of compassion from her part. She knows no one will be able to fill in for her and she wants to make sure Ray is taken care of, so she makes that extra step to stay for him. That in general is already a big and extra step that she did not have to take but did anyway. For all we known she could've had a family to attend to or had her own dilemmas but she put that to a side and did what she felt was right because if anything terrible were to happen while she was not present she would have regretted it. She also knew that Kathryn was going to struggle and made sure not to only check up on her father but to her as well. I think that Is why she grew a connection to them even though she had never even met them before. It takes a lot of courage to put your own life to the side and help a stranger in need, but she never hesitated to. And in the end, it all paid off because unfortunately, Mr. Troyan did pass away, but he did so peacefully and satisfied with his choice and Arlene went home feeling good knowing what she did, she would never regret.
Hi Maddie, I love the reflection you chose. In my book, it is on page 11 so I'm not sure if you just accidentally typed the wrong page number. To get into the story, I loved the relationship Arlene had with her patient and feel like that's probably common for a lot of nurses where you get patients that you just have a great connection and special relationship with. I saw you mentioned Arlene working an additional four hours after her already 12-hour shift and I did want to mention that she actually didn't just choose to stay due to her patient dying, but she was asked to stay because they were short-staffed which I think makes the story even better. If all these things hadn't lined up perfectly, she wouldn't have been there for Ray at the very end. I am a big believer in 'things happen for a reason' so I agree with you when you said that Arlene would have definitely had some regrets if she had gone home and not been able to be there when Ray died.
