Silva

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Ashley Silva

Professor Hemstrom

UWP1

15 February 2017

The Nursing Community

When I was a child, I enjoyed playing dress-up; my favorite character was a nurse. Every

time I visited my pediatrician, I would run up to the nurses and talk to them for as long as I

could; all the nurses knew my name. Nursing has always caught my attention, and as I grew

older, I knew it was exactly what I wanted to pursue.

This is a discourse community because as Swales states, it has all the six characteristics

of a discourse community. Nursing has a wideset of goals, the principle being treating the patient

with the best possible care available. Intercommunication is common where meetings are held to

discuss possible scenarios, patients, or procedures in hopes to benefit all members of the

community. This utilizes medical textbooks that explain all procedures and is commonly referred

to when a nurse needs a reminder on certain procedures. Members of this community need a

degree in nursing and all the required classes needed to be admitted to nursing school.

This is a significant community to study because it is a part of the medical field where the

nurse is surrounded by patients who seek medical attention, in which the nurse can provide their

services. I am social and work well with others, so dealing with people comes naturally to me. In

learning about the communitys values and methods of communication, I am preparing myself

for the future in terms of what to expect. Other students can also prepare themselves by knowing

common scenarios along with the basics of the nursing community.

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As part of the nursing community, the nurse will be placed in difficult positions where it

is essential that they take immediate and appropriate action towards helping the patient in the

best way possible. Knowing how to react and communicate with your co-workers is very

important; in case the nurse is ever confused or simply unsure of how to approach a dilemma,

they must know how to communicate to explain the situation and ask for help. For instance, if a

patient just had surgery and is experiencing symptoms that can relate to a couple of different

diseases, the nurse must be able to determine which disease it is. If, at any point, the nurse is

unsure, they must ask a peer, research, or ask someone in a higher division to help out with the

diagnosis. The nurse has to be able to ask for help in a manner where people want to help them

all while knowing how critical it is for them to. The nurse must also limit themselves with who

they share their concerns with. If the nurse is unsure of what the patients diagnosis may be, they

cannot share their concerns with the patient, for they may seem unprepared or might frighten the

patient.

Being a nurse has always been a goal of mine and is what I intend to pursue as my career.

Becoming familiar with the nursing community will help me prepare for scenarios of the

common registered nurses routine and determining how to deal with dilemmas. In knowing how

the communication works between the nurses, I can help others adjust quickly when they begin

their first few weeks as a nurse.

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Works Cited

Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Approaching the Concept of Discourse

Community. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.

"You Need to Have JavaScript Enabled in Order to Access This Site." What Is a Discourse

Community?: ENC1102-13Fall 0027. UCF, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.