Vital Signs

Vital Signs : The pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and rate of respiration of a person. The vital signs are usually measured to obtain a quick evaluation of the person's general physical condition. The 5th Vital Sign is pain. (The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition)

I am so buried in my school work I forgot what day it was on Saturday and Sunday, missed church, missed my college gathering on Sunday evenings for doing workbook chapters for my Funky ("Fundamentals of") Nursing class. That is not a normal pulse rate for me, and yet it is becoming so common it might just be tachyarrhythmia: common side affects are dizziness and lightheadedness. So in other words I hope the work load lightens up a bit. I remember enjoying a social life once... although Holly would disagree with me and tell me I never had a social life. 

I am learning a lot!! We learned Vital Signs in class today, using our newly sponged knowledge at the Nursing Home this afternoon. The N.Home is slower in the afternoons so my rate of respiration was down but believe me, my blood pressure was UP! Trying to learn and retain everything at once is a super power I wish I had. My patient was kind and polite but never initiated a conversation + very quiet + no family around + doesn't socialize = depressed. I confirmed my suspicions in her clinical chart. If anyone has any information on how to cheer up/help out/talk to clinically depressed older adults I would appreciate it.

Luckily there was no real pain today. Except the daily pain of not having any really close friends around...the lack of TCKs in my area is tough. There is just something about growing up in a different culture, it creates a barrier between you and homeocultural individuals and an unbreakable connection between you and anyone else that doesn't really belong to any one culture.

I'm going to talk about TCK's for a paragraph or two....

"A Third Culture Kid is a person who has spend a sgnificant part of their developmental yeras outside their parents' culture. The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full owndership of any. Alhough elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK's life experience,  the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background."

'The TCK Profile' seminar material, Interaction,Inc. 1989,1

TCK's can be kids whose parents are missionaries, diplomatic corps, international business men/women, and especially army brats etc. The number of TCK's being raised around the world is growing, their public voice is becoming louder and their individualized multi-cultural backgrounds are influencing the cultures of static people groups. Unfortunately, during our stay in our parents culture we are hidden immigrants, people who don't really feel like we belong and yet everyone looks at us and thinks we are just like them with the same shared values, shared belief system, shared assumptions, shared humor, shared patterns of behavior... but we don't share all, or even sometimes any, of these things with our parent's culture. 

Now that you understand me more and where I am coming from. Let me tell you where I am going and what I wish to accomplish.

I haven’t always wanted to be a nurse but I have always wanted to be in the health care field with hands-on work. As I matured that conviction only strengthened. By the time I was ready for college I knew that a BSN degree would give me the knowledge I needed to be an active aid in the international community. For the last decade I have been in Western Africa with my immediate family. The opportunity of growing up in another country, of seeing how the locals survived in their difficult conditions, built in me a compassion for helping others and a drive to see a better standard of living for those who have relatively nothing. I have witnessed two civil wars, three military evacuations, breathed tear gas and seen lethal riots but nothing dismayed me as much as seeing individuals with serious illnesses that could have been avoided by simply drinking cleaner water, living in better conditions, abstinence or eating a balanced diet. Individuals in the Northern American regions and parts of Europe have the opportunity to get help if they need it, even if they don’t choose to use it. People in developing nations sometimes do not have the doctors or nurses available to help them and when they can get help they have difficulty paying for their care.
I firmly believe that education is a privilege, one that I am embracing with all my strength. I wish to encourage other nurses in developing nations, and help them create programs for nursing education that will see the standard of living greatly augmented in their areas. I want to teach nursing teachers to install a passion and desire for premium care and creative critical thinking in their nursing students. I want to be a pivotal asset to the emerging global nursing community.
That is what I want to be doing when I graduate.
Got to hit the books!