Blog 24: Last Presentation Reflection

                      

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?

• The thing im most proud of is the fact that I went over the talking time which I was most worried about. So it resulted in being able to make the one hour mark as well. 
• the reason why im proud of that is because it means that i don't get an NC on my presentation

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation?  Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

• P

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment..

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

• P

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

• I think the thing that worked the most for my senior project was the fact that I was actually able to find a mentor that was a nurse since the beginning of the year & that our schedules worked out too.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?

• I would probably just request more time to work in the pediatric floor so I could focused on Pediatric Oncology 

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples

• I really liked how my senior project helped me understand so much about nursing on what a nurse goes through on a daily basis. Also I think being able to work with nurses was a big achievement for me because i was able to have self experience

Exit Interview

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

• How can cancer treatment team best support a patient throughout their treatment process?
• Being supportive
• Understanding the patient
• Being able to communicate with patients/families
• My best answer is being supportive to the family but most importantly to the patient itself

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

• The process i took to arrive to this answer is mentoring with an oncology nurse and seeing how she handled things with her patients. she told me herself that being very supportive to a patient is the number one key so they know that there is someone there that is helping them through everything

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

• to be honest, I didn't encounter any problems because my schedule and the nurses schedule worked out very well. 

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

• Jennifer Ochoa (nurse) was one very significant and great source
• The City of Hope hospital website was another great source too
• They helped because they both gave me a lot of great information about being an oncologist and being supportive to a patient.

Blog 22- Independent Component #2

LITERAL
(a) Include this statement: “I, student name, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents ___ hours of work.”

• I, Alondra Gutierrez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 45 hours of work

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

• The 2 main sources that helped me with completing my independent component 2 was Elizabeth Davidson and Jennifer Ochoa 

(d) Explain what you completed.

• During spring break, I went to mentorship from Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm which is the time that my mentor, Elizabeth Davidson goes into work and the time she gets out. But I only worked with my mentor one day out of the whole week and we did a lot of patient paper work and logging in stuff into the computer. The rest of the days that I wasnt with my mentor, I was with my other great source, Jennifer Ochoa. We worked with the patients a week and had to do alot of medication giving and rounds and all that good stuff.

(e) Defend your work and explain the component's significance and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.   

• I am not allowed to take pictures or videos because its against the hospital regulations. I asked before and they said I couldn't because it can make people feel uncomfortable. 

(f)How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

• The component helped me a lot because I was able to actually live one of my answers for my EQ which is being supportive to the patients. During this time, I was there giving my full support to any patient and it makes them feel 1000x better.

Blog 20- Interview 4 Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

• I plan to interview a nurse named Jennifer Ochoa. She is a registered nurse at City of Hope

2.  Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.

1. How do you help a patient throughout their time at the hospital?
2. How difficult is it for them to cope with what they're suffering from?
3. How bad does the family take it?
4. Has there ever been a case where a patient rejects any type of treatment for cancer?
5. Whats the best way to help a patient through their treatment process?
6. What are the many different ways a nurse helps a patient depending on the type of cancer they have?
7. What has been your biggest accomplishment as a nurse?
8. What has been your toughest experience?
9.  What are the most common treatments for cancer?
10. What are the side effects of the treatments?
11. Does chemotherapy cause different effects on different people?
12. How do you deal with the side effects that patients get?
13. Has treatment ever gone bad on any patient?
14. Can you explain why some patients get chemo and some just get medication?
15. How bad have patients gotten because of the treatments given to them?
16. On a scale of 1-10, how difficult is it for you as a nurse to deal with their side effects?
17. Has there ever been a case where family members get extremely upset with you as a nurse?
18. If so, what has the family done that has affected you?
19. Do you love what you do?
20. Do you think you would be able to handle doing chemo?

Blog 19: Third Answer

• EQ 
• How can cancer treatment team best support a patient throughout the treatment process?
• Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*
• Talking to patients about how the feel.
• Patients tend to like talking to the staff of the hospital because it makes them feel better and makes them feel as if someone besides their family members care about them.
• 3 details to support the answer
• I went to a meeting at City of Hope and this was stated so i found it interesting
• My mentor also mentioned it to me 
• The hospital staff actually has experiences where the patients tell them their whole life story and thank the staff afterwords for listening because it made them feel better
• The research source(s) to support your details and answer
• My mentor
• Some of the hospital staffs experiences that Ive interacted with 
• Concluding Sentence
• I feel like this answer could be reasonable but im still kind of working on one with my mentor.

Answer 2

1.  What is your EQ?

• How can cancer treatment team best support a patient through their treatment process?

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

• My first answer to my EQ is providing support to the family but most importantly to the patient

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

• I still am not very sure about my second answer because I have not yet discussed it with my mentor, but as of now my second answer would be being understanding with the patients.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• If you don't provide support, the patient feels hopeless
• If you're not understanding of the patient and what they're going through, they tend to get frustrated and mad because "no one understands them" 
• Support to the family also needs to be given because they are are the ones that are seeing this happen to a loved one of theirs.

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

• The books I'm reading really support my answer. 

6.  What other source supports your answer?

• Articles that ive read and i have on my working bibliography

7.  Tie this together with a  concluding thought.

• I think these answer really do go with my EQ because my mentor herself has told me that this is what needs to be done to support a patient through their treatment process.

Blog 17 - Interview 3 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  

• I did not only learn a lot of new things about nursing but also about case managers who play a big role in a cancer patients life. 

2.  How has your approach to interviewing changed over the course of your senior project?

• I've been able to ask more questions while I'm interviewing and be more engaged in the conversations. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1KglgBgkgWYbkI5ZUtoeE15RkE0OVJQX2o5Zlc3YWU3cHlZ/view?usp=sharing 

Blog #16- Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• I plan to go to events that City of Hope has, and if that doesn't work out then ill have to do an extra 30 hours again.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• Well if there is events t City of Hope from here to April, i will be volunteering at them. If not, i will be doing extra hours, but with someone else that is not my mentor so i can get a different experience. 

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

• I feel like this will help me more, because ill get to spend a lot of more time with patients and hear their experiences and what they're feelings

Independent Component #1

• LITERAL
• (a) Write: “I, Alondra Gutierrez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 35 hours of work.”
  (b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
• My mentor helped me complete my independent component because I did extra hours with her.
• (d) Explain what you completed.  
• While i was completing my independent component, i did what i usually do at mentor-ship which was shadow around with my mentor and help a little with the patients. Also some paper work and calling home health care companies to find out information about patients.  
• INTERPRETIVE 
  Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
  
• I asked my mentor if i was able to take pictures or videos for evidence but she said it wasn't possible because it can make patients uncomfortable or also their family members.
• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 
• It helped me understand it better because i started learning new stuff about my project. So since i was spending more time with my mentor, she was able to tell me more great information. 

Lesson 2 Reflection

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

• I feel really proud of my activity, i feel like it went really good. Also, i was able to say all the information i needed to say.

2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

• I feel like i would give myself a P because I did a decent job, and an AP because I didn't make research time 

     b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

• I did everything in the P consideration except the 10 minute research time.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

• The thing that worked for me in lesson 2 is that we were able to have a power point. 

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

• I would have rehearsed more so that i could be more confident and expand on my information instead of saying things quickly.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

• I honestly dont know yet, i will have to talk to my mentor about that so she can help me out and put input.

Third Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

• I plan to interview my mentors colleague. She is in fact also a case manager and registered nurse. 

2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 

• I don't know yet but tomorrow I'm going to mentor-ship and i will see her there so i plan to ask her. 

3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.

• What do you do to help a patient through their treatment process? How do you help their family?

4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).

• I will most likely talk to more nurses and doctors or even ask if i can speak to their counselors if its possible. 

5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ. 

• Whats the most difficult part to see while your patient is going through treament?
• What do you tell a patient when their cancer cant be treated any further? 

Blog 13- 10 hour Mentorship Check-In

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

• City of Hope in Duarte 

2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

• Elizabeth Davidson. Shes a Registered Nurse and Case Manager Supervisor, she supervises all the nurses that are under her care. 

3.   How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).

• I have done 35 hours with my mentor since the school year started. 

4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.

• my mentor and I work really well together, she shows me a lot of thing that are done to patients and why they do them. Anytime i have questions, she answers with a lot of detail. I plan to complete the remaining hours by mentoring with her or any of her nurse colleagues. 

Blog-12 Holiday Project Update

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

• During the break, I did 8 hours for independent component and went to mentor-ship as well.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  

• The most important thing I learned was to not procrastinate on anything that includes the senior project. Every time i procrastinate, it comes back to bite me in the butt because I'm panicking to get my stuff done at the last minute. 

3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

• I plan to talk to my mentors colleagues, she told me that they were willing to help me out. 
• i plan to interview them because they also are nurses and they have experience too. 

Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?

• I'm honestly really proud that I made time, I actually went over but its better then not making time. I'm also proud that i made eye contact and didn't constantly stare down at my paper to see what i needed to say next. (I hope I didn't, I don't think I did)

2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

• I would give myself a P because according to says, I did a good amount of the things that is said to be a P consideration. 

3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?

• I would totally have a shorter hook and not go a lot into depth about little things. This will help me out with lesson 2 so that I don't go over my time. I need to get to the point.

Blog 10- Interview 2 Reflection

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

• I am mentoring at the City of Hope hospital, I have not yet been able to work with patients because i needed to first be cleared by the Employee Health Services, but since i did already I will start working with patients as soon as possible. For the few times I've went I've followed my mentor around the entire hospital for her to d her job. Every now and then she lets me do some things to help her out. 

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?

• I found my mentor because my friend told her dad if one of his friends can help me out with interviewing her because she was a nurse. During the interview i told her i needed a mentor and so she asked me if I wanted her to be my mentor and I said yes. I didn't have to convince her to help me out.   

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person

• I am really comfortable with my mentor. I can say that I am at at high level of comfort with her. She even gives me free stuff. 

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

• I was able to ask more and more questions as i was interviewing her. I think because as I was going I wanted to know a lot more and so I just kept asking. I need to make my interviews longer maybe. I will ask her to give me more of her time next time to interview her. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1KglgBgkgWYYlVpTXItNHJoaFdPOHBreExXWElDaWE0WTRV/view?usp=sharing

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).

• I do currently have a mentor, i have not yet scheduled my interview with her but i know that it would be easy to get an interview with her. 

2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.  

• I am more focused on caring for adult cancer patients and how to deal with them when they have no more treatment available. 

3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?

• In my opinion, I think that the best sources I can get are oncology nursing books/magazines. I will go get them either at the library or also ask my mentor to lend me hers. 

4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.

• What is the best way to deal with a patient that has no more hope or treatment? 

Blog-8 Independent Component 1 Proposal

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• For my 30 hours of my independent component i will be working extra with my mentor. Aside from only going on Thursdays, i will extend that and go another day of the week as well. The down side of my mentors schedule is that she does not work weekends so i wont be able to work with her on weekends.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• Well to prove that i have gone an extra day a week that includes only my 30 hours and not my mentor-ship is by taking a volunteer sheet and making my mentor fill it out.  

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

• By doing extra hours with my mentor, it will help me go into more depth about my topic because i will be able to learn a lot more and spend more hours with my mentor. That will be convenient for her and i because doing only one day a week isn't enough to learn all the aspects of nursing.

Blog 6- Advisory Prep

                                

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?  

• The thing that has worked really well for me in my project as of now is me being able to find a mentor in nursing. This made it a positive experience for me because i wanted to do my senior project in nursing since the beginning but it was hard for me to find a mentor until my friend introduced me to someone she knows.

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

• I think the thing that I'm having difficulty with is the fact that the mentor I got is an oncologist nurse which is not the type of nurse I wanted. Even though I didn't get the nurse in the field I wanted, I'm still happy because I got a mentor in nursing and she can refer me to other nurses in different specialties and then maybe I can get a nurse in the field I would like. As of now, there is nothing I can do really but maybe ask her if she can introduce me to a neonatal nurse at her hospital. This isn't really something the senior team can help me with, it's something I would have to figure out myself. 

Blog 7- Second Interview Preperation

1. Who is your mentor and where do they work?

• My mentor is Elizabeth Davidson and she works at the City of Hope hospital in Duarte. 

2. What are five questions you will ask them about their background? 

• What was one of your best experiences? 
• How long did it take you to find a job in your specialty after getting your degree? 
• How many years did it take for you to reach the point to where you're at right now? 
• I know that there are a lot of downfalls but what do you like most about your job? 
• What has been your biggest challenge throughout your job?  

Blog 5- Interview 1 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

• I learned many things about this interview, i learned what i need to do to be able to go into any nursing are I'm interested in. I also know what books/articles/magazines/journals to read if i want to get more of an idea on nursing.
• I would record from the beginning because my mentor and i had a conversation in the beginning that i didnt record. I would also not be as nervous and ask more and more questions and expand them.

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

• I have not at the moment but once I start mentoring with her i plan to ask other nurses at City of Hope. 

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me? 

• My interviewee makes herself qualified in helping me because she is a nurse so she can help through the process and other things. I will also ask her for help to see if i can contact other nurses as well.

Interview Link: https://soundcloud.com/alondiee/interview