Luong

Cody Luong
Dr. Hanvey
English Stacc 1A
27 February 2015
Life Changing Decision
The definition of a discourse community is a group of people that share a
common set of goals and that are willing to work together to accomplish them. In the
article, The Concept of Discourse Community, John Swales believes that a discourse
community should have six characteristics. The first characteristic is that the community
should all agree on a set of common goal. Secondly, they should have a way to
communicate to each other. This can vary from social media through emails, depending
on the specific job. A third characteristic is that people in the community must have
more than one way to disperse news and obtain feedback. The fourth concept suggests
that a discourse community should have more than one genre to further its aim. Having
a specific jargon is the fifth thing a community should have. A jargon is a language that
only people in that group can understand. For instant, engineering wouldnt be using a
medical terminology. The last characteristic is that the community should have a
threshold number of new and returning members.
The community I choose for my major is registered nurse. Nurses fit into a
discourse community because it has all six characteristics that Swales pointed out in his
article. All Nurses have a common set of goal, which is to help their patients get back in
good health. Secondly, they have many ways to communicate to one another. They
communicate through writing, speaking, and sometimes, through gestures to each

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other. The fourth concept is fulfilled because they are capable of dispersing news such
as through nurse notes and charting. Another characteristic is that they have a specific
jargon only people in their group can understand. For example, nurses always clarify
doctors details about the condition of the patients because many people have problem
understanding medical terminology. Lastly, they have a threshold of new and returning
members because nowadays nurses are in very high demand.
My first intended major was engineering. At that time I didnt know what I wanted
to be so I just picked whatever that was expected of me. I came from a family full of
engineers. Math is my strongest subject, but I would usually make careless mistake
when solving problems. For example, I would minus instead of add. This is one reason
that made me reconsider what I wanted to be. Being an engineer is all about being
precise and one little math error can cost tons of money to fix. My senior year in high
school was a turning point because that was when I found that being an engineer was
not right for me. My physics class gave me a wake-up call on what it is like to be an
engineer. In that class, I learned that engineering deals with a lot of word problems
because the book tries to connect it to real life scenarios. Just like many regular
teenage students, I dont want anything to do with word problems. Another big factor
why I didnt want to be an engineer is probably because I dont like the idea of spending
the rest of my life behind a desk. Ideally, I want to spend my life running free and
making as much impact in the world I could possibly do before I grow old.
When I was little I loved watching Chinese drama that involved doctors and
nurses, such as a show called On Call. Basically, this show is about how the doctors
and nurses go running around and trying to save lives. This really inspired me in joining

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the medical field. The thought of me becoming a doctor would be insane, so that is why
I choose on becoming a nurse. In my senior year, I took a physiology class. Physiology
is a study of the cells, tissues, and major organs and systems of the human body. This
class was difficult, but since I found learning about the human body interesting, I felt
motivated to study hard and do well. My physiology teacher, Mr. Tellez, was the one
who encouraged me to enter the medical field, which led me in considering about being
a nurse. The more I found out about a nurse life, the more I was inspired in becoming
one. For example, I like the idea how you are always moving around, while having
flexible work hours and the ability to make an impact in other peoples lives.
Right now, I am still deciding on whether I should join a nursing program here at
Pasadena City College or transfer into a four-year university. I want to join a nursing
program in order to see if this lifestyle really suits me and it will give me time to change
majors if it didnt. Also, if I really do like becoming a nurse, then transferring to a fouryear university to get my bachelors would be a lot easier since I would already be a
certified registered nurse. It is very competitive to get into the program here at
Pasadena City College. There are about 120 applications and only half of them will get
accepted. They will take the G.P.A of your English 1A, Human Anatomy, Math and
Microbiology to compare it with other applications. This semester I am taking Human
Anatomy. I have spent many hours in this class because you are required to know more
than 150 parts just for each particle exam. Basically, the two subjects that I am on top of
are Human Anatomy and math. I am going to give it my all towards the other two.
Overall, my plans are to get my RN, then get my bachelor and possibly get my Masters
of Science in nursing.

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The nursing community exists because without nurses hospitals wouldnt be able
to function efficiently. For example a doctors job is to diagnose and treat diseases,
while on the other hand nurses are actually the one who really takes care of you by
monitoring how you are doing hourly and giving your pills on time. There is no real
answer to how long the nursing community existed. I believe that it begins millions of
years ago, when people started becoming more civilized. The community structure
starts in the order of nurse practitioner, nurse director, registered nurse, licensed
vocational nurse, and then certified nursing assisting.
Nursing community has many types of different fields. The most common are
registered nurse, nurse recruiter, chief nurse anesthetist and certified midwife nurse.
Despite of the different types, they all still share a common goal, which is to serve the
civilians by helping them get better. Nurses and doctor must work together to create a
synergy to accomplish this goal. In order to form a perfect synergy, they must cooperate
and communicate efficiently. My dream is to become a registered nurse because I like
the idea of running around and helping people. Being a registered nurse isnt easy
because you have many duties and responsibility. Some important duties are
performing physical exams, administering medications, and making critical decisions for
your patients.
There are many types of reading and writing nurses have to do. The four most
common ones are nurse note, baseline nursing assessment, charting and reading a
medical monitor screen. Nurse note is one type of writing that nurses do. It is basically a
summary of the patient overall state of well-being. For an example, the summary should
include the patient alertness, vital signs or skin issues, and changes in behavior (see

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figure one). A baseline nursing assessment involves reading and checking off boxes.
Nurses fill this out by observing and interviewing their patients. This is essential
because it will help them determine what kind of symptoms and sign of the condition
their patients might have. This form includes boxes such as neuro, skin, cardiac,
respiratory, glycemic index, genitourinary, activity, safety, and lines (see figure two).
Understanding how to read charts are very important because nurses have to do
charting. Nurse charting contains charts and graphs. This form consists of the patients
body temperature, radial pulse-apical, blood pressure, fluids intake, and fluids outtake
(see figure three). Being able to read a medical monitor is also critical in being a nurse.
Medical monitory constantly updates the patients electrocardiogram, blood pressure
curves, and oxygen saturation curve. This machine contains graphs and numbers (see
figure four).
One person that I interview was Kloe Valtran. She is currently a registered nurse
at San Gabriel Hospital. Kloe has been a registered nurse for a long time, and she was
nice enough to give me an idea of what it is like in the field. According to Kloe, decisionmaking is very complex. Every week nurses would select a charge nurse. A charge
nurse is the one who makes sure that everything is running smoothly and according to
plan. They also have to stay on top of the other nurses to make sure they are doing
their job properly. Whenever nurses run into a problem, they would immediately ask the
charge nurse for help. If the charge nurse struggles on making a decision, they report it
to their supervisor but the chance of reaching to this point rarely happens (interview
Valtran). Nurses use a sophisticated jargon that people outside the medical field will not
understand. For example, instead of using words like front, back, and sides, they will

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say anterior, posterior and medial or lateral. Another example would be rather than
saying arm, they will say humerus and radius/ulnar while femur and tibia/fibula for the
leg. Doing this will help them to become accurate, and it will also prevent confusion.
Kloe also mentions that newcomers will always run into conflicts. She said, Ive been in
the field for many years, and yet, theres not a day that I dont learn something new
(interview Kloe). This is why she stressed that I should always ask questions if there are
things that I am unsure about. In another word school will not prepare you for everything
out because there will be many different kind of problems that you will run into.
Currently, I am trying to enroll in a certified nursing assistant here at Pasadena
City College for the summer. This six-week course is meant to prepare me for the
workplace. After taking the class, I will be able to work in hospitals; therefore I can gain
knowledge and experience in the working environment. I was told that this course is
usually impacted, and that is why I am taking further steps by applying to other schools
such as Citrus College, East Los Angles College, and Rio Hondo.
So far there are many things on my plate right now. My first step is to get my
certified nursing assistant so I can start working as a nurse assistant in hospitals. Then I
am planning to do well in school so I can get enroll into the nursing program here at
Pasadena City College. I am also going to try to maintain a solid G.P.A because I want
to eventually transfer out to a four-year university, so I can get a bachelor in nursing.
Finally, I am still debating whether I should stay in school a few extra years for my
Master of Science in Nursing. I want a master because I am still unsure whether I want
to become a certified midwife nurse.
Another person who I interviewed and introduced me into the certified nursing

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program is Irwin Suriano. He is like me also planning to enter the nursing field. He told
me that working in the hospital with his certified nursing assistant really helped him
tremendously because it gave him more knowledge and experience of what a nurse life
is like (interview Suriano). I believed that this is true because getting some working
experience now would make my life a lot easier when starting off as a registered nurse
for the first time. This is a huge advice because learning something now will definitely
help me lower the amount of conflicts I might run into in the future. Irwin also mentioned
the same thing as what Kloe had told me, which was to never be afraid of asking
questions whenever I am unsure about things.
Overall, after doing my research for this paper I have learned the most important
type of reading and writing nurse will have to do in the field which are nurse note,
baseline nursing assessment, charting, and reading a medical monitor screen. Not just
being able to read and write, but also to have the ability to understand graphs. There
are a lot of things I need to improve right now. For example I need to learn how to be
more specific on elaborating things because being accurate is a nurses most important
role. Communication is also another thing I need to work on. This is crucial because
having great communication will help me become more efficient in working as a team
with my future colleagues. Also I should really get off my comfort zone and start asking
question when Im in need for help.
In the end I am so looking forward in becoming a nurse. After all this researching
I am even more encouraged in trying hard in school because being fluent in English is
the main part in commutating. My interviews with Kloe and Irwin played an important
role on helping me prepare for this job. If I didnt know anything about the workplace

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and what nurses do then I would still probably be lost about whether becoming a nurse.
I believed that nurse plays a big role in today society. Without them there would be no
one to take care of the ones that are hurt and sick. I am certain that becoming a nurse I
can change the world by saving one person at a time.

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(Figure one)

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(Figure two)

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(Figure three)

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Work Citied
Examples of Documentation: Forms and Formats (Nursing).Whatwhenhow
RSS/ N.P.,n.d. Web, 27 Feb. 2015.
Suriano, Irwin Personal interview 17 February 2015
Swales,John.Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice. Canvas.
Valtran, Kloe Personal interview 20 February 2015