Miami Children's Museum -- Third Visit

Today I spent over 4 hours at the museum today. I did more of the usual stuff- showing children the anatomy of the human body by using a doll; playing with medical equipment toys (they like to use the fake stethoscopes on each other); and teaching them the importance of exercise, choosing nutritious foods at Publix, and dental care. As usual the kids love playing "pretend", dressing up as doctors and nurses, and showing their parents how much they know of the human body. Parents are often eager to express their conviction that their children will be in the medical field someday.

Today I learned that being involved in the community includes being comfortable in the community you're serving. If you don't feel confident in or have the desire to serve the community, you can't put 100% effort in community health activities. There were times where I felt winded, tired, and unmotivated to do community service hours. The hardest part of completing community service hours, at least to me, is initiating, or gathering the energy to attend the meetings, and health fairs to complete our hours.

Today's vocabulary word: community-based nursing. Community-based nursing includes the setting and the practice of the community health nursing. Community health nursing, according to our ATI book (pg. 1), refers to "nursing activities specific to the health promotion and prevention of disease that affect a community's general health status". To expand the definition of community health nursing, community health nurses (CHNs) are accountable to the public. CHNs also possess a greater sense of intimacy with their patients than in others areas of nursing. Since we are experiencing some of the responsibilities of CHNs, it's natural to feel a closeness, even awkwardness, with serving the community. It's a very involved, personal experience that we commit ourselves to, and I'm much more appreciative to the CHNs that serve the community on a full-time basis.