A community health nursing course is essential in equipping the nurses with the skills to advocate for healthy lifestyles. The three crucial objectives of this course are: analyzing the impact of lifestyle and environment on the public’s health and applying culturally competent health strategies to the care of communities, families, or individuals. Lastly, building relations with the community members, local leaders, community groups, and private organizations to achieve mutually set health goals. Meeting the first objective was to research the causes of health disparities within the population. The significant causes of health issues included exposure to toxic substances and lifestyle behaviors. The cultural competent health strategies objective empowered me to want to be culturally competent. I ensured I learned about other cultures, attended diversity-focused conferences, and interacted with diverse groups within and outside my department to ensure I met this objective. I participated in community volunteer works, both related and non-related to medicine. The interaction enhanced my relationship with the community and helped me achieve the third objective. I understood the population’s health issues as I interacted with them.
The biggest challenge in this course was the grueling lectures. Lectures involving this course consisted of complicated theories and concepts that required forcible background knowledge on subjects such as Biology and Anatomy. Engaging in further research and reading on materials covered in class helped build strengths rather than letting challenges overcome me. I was involved in study groups with my peers and shared study tips, thus improving my performance and overcoming challenges. Since nursing requires much reading apart from having long lectures, I engaged in skim reading first. I looked at the headings, subheadings, highlighted terms, and summaries through this reading technique to help identify the most critical information. The materials I accessed that helped support my success included instructor notes, course textbooks, and websites such as WebMD, World Health Organization, and Mayo Clinic. The problem-solving process in my student life applies to my post-education life as it will significantly contribute to effective nursing performance. Having the ability to solve problems will promote healthy relationships and boost confidence and motivation. With the problem-solving skills, I will be able to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired now to solve real-world patient problems.
Given the opportunity to work in a hospital as a professional nurse, a healthcare team member, or a global citizen, my first step will be to practice what I learned in the form of theory from this course. The learning theories learned are helpful in healthcare practice in several ways, shown below. Dealing with children and teenagers becomes easier with cognitive development, which focuses on thinking, reasoning, and perceiving changes. Theoretical knowledge ensures one understands certain diseases, symptoms, and treatments. Understanding the academic work is essential in applying my treatment skills to the public and making it more effective. Treatment gets enhanced by using theoretical knowledge to prevent practical health disparities. In times of critical thinking, problems related to health need to be solved, and one simple mistake can lead to severe consequences; a reference needs to be made on the theoretical knowledge where steps are outlined to prevent or taste specific issues. Information about all health issues is typically learned theoretically. The adeptness can be retained for a long time by applying spaced repetition. With the retention, the information will be helpful during treatment, where critical thinking skills need to be used to prevent issues from worsening.