Final Reflection
Throughout my internship I had ups and downs through the way, but I survived and accomplished what I wanted to see. At first I was so happy that we were going to start, because we were going to finally work and be with our friends, but unfortunately there was miscommunication with AIME and Kaiser Permanente, so we had to go through TB testing and so much paperwork to get started. We had to go through that for like 3 weeks, because we had to get cleared, so all the students located at Kaiser started all late and everyone else had already began. This made me upset and mad, because we were so lost when we would go the AIME classes, because we didn’t know what they were doing. I did face challenges throughout my internship, but I have come to realize that communication is really, really important, because we always need to communicate about what is going on or what is going to happen.
This internship gave me the opportunity to observe what I would do in the future, because their were so many nurses and doctors that were basically doing the career job that I’m looking into. This internship as changed my view for my future, because I have came to the end of deciding that I will be doing something in the Medical field and helping the people out with anything they may need. During those few weeks that I had of my internship I had so much fun, because I got to meet so many wonderful people that had really cool careers. They showed me so much in the 3 weeks I was there, I got to see the job of a Registered Nurse, the doctors, and I got to wear the PPE’s. Wearing the PPE’s was a reminder of what I did my junior year, because since I took Medical Careers I knew what I had to do and the order of putting them on. This internship as influenced me greatly, because it has given me an intro of the healthcare facilities and careers at Kaiser Permanente. There were many nurses and doctors that influenced what I want to do in the future, because they have talked to me and showed me the things that I would have to take to be in their shoes. I got to wear scrubs, I felt so cool when I wore them, because I felt like a nurse going around helping the patients, offering them water or magazines. I felt like I was an actual nurse, because I got to see the live experience of wearing the scrubs and shadowing a nurse.
From this internship I gained knowledge, collaboration and communication skills, because I got to see the nurses, their jobs and the environment. I gained knowledge, because I didn’t really know that much about a Registered Nurse and their job until I got their. I gained collaboration skills, because I came to see how the nurses got together and shared their experiences and have buddies to help them out in anything. I gained that, because I got to be in that location of Medical/Surgical & Telemetry Stroke, because it was like a teamwork job that we all helped each other with anything that we needed. They answered all my questions and concerns, and whenever I would need help they helped me. I gained communication skills, because I communicated with my supervisor about any concerns I had and I got to ask other nurses for help. I loved doing this internship, because it gave me an insight of the career I am interested in doing and it gave me the work experience of being in that work environment. I would recommend this internship to the incoming juniors, because they will learn a lot about a job experience and get that observation of whatever they may be interested in doing.
Kimberly Rodriguez
Week 6
This week was good, because I got to work 32 hours that will go towards my internship hours. The week went by pretty fast, it was exhausting sometimes to get up so early, but I had to because I needed my hours. One more week and we are finally done with the internship, I enjoyed it so much when I actually started, because I got to experience a new environment and a career that I am interested in doing. I was really mad and upset at the beginning, because we started late while everyone else had already started. I am happy that I got to be in this internship, because I got to learn many different things that I didn’t think I would be interested in.
On Monday I went in from 9 to 5 and mostly what I did was filing papers and answering calls from the patients. I went around the rooms again giving water to the patients and I talked to them for a while. It was kind of boring though, because their wasn’t really many patients to attend or talk to. My supervisor didn’t work that day so I stayed with the receptionist and with other registered nurses to help them in anything they needed help with. I filled up the carts with the PPEs, all the supplies and I also went up to 6th east with my friends to print out papers. I mostly stayed in the front office answering phone calls from doctors and nurses. There really wasn’t has much to do, because I had already done everything from last week.
On Tuesday, fourth of July I went to work, because luckily my location is open the 24 hours, so I got to go in and work. It was so empty when I got there, there was barely any people there, but just are floor and some others were busy. I had fun though, because I went to 5th and 6th east floors to help the nurses there in anything they needed. I went to the 5th floor of Medical Surgery and the nurse leader made me fax confidential papers to her email, it took forever, because the printer kept failing and saying that the email has failed to send. I was so frustrated, because it wouldn’t send, so I stayed doing that for almost 2 hours. It was fourth of July and in the 5th floor and my floor some of the nurses brought food to celebrate, they brought Chinese food, ice cream, cookies, chips and more. It was exciting, because we had to work so we celebrated their at least with something small.
On Wednesday, my supervisor was there so she made me go around the rooms giving water to the patients and stacking up the gloves. I stacked up all the carts, so she ended up giving some fall agreement papers to put in these hello yellow folders we use, but their was a problem, because since I don’t really use a printer machine I had to double side it, but the machine kept jamming, so I would get irritated and frustrated, because it wouldn’t work. I went up to the 6th floor to laminate something, because I needed the slips for the patient’s rooms. I basically stayed the whole day helping the receptionist, because their was absolutely nothing for me to do. I would go around asking the nurses and leaders if they needed anything, but they would say no.
On Thursday, I went around and gave water to the patients, I did some of the hello yellow folders. Everyone had me going up and down, because everyone needed me, 4th, 5th and 6th east all needed me to do some papers and printing. I had fun, because at least I was doing something, instead of just sitting all day doing nothing.
Kimberly Rodriguez
Week 5
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Week 4
This week has been going good so far. On Monday I had an hour to talk to my coordinator about my situation and placement. He helped me a lot, because since I am missing hours, he told me to calm down, because there are different ways that I can make up those missing hours. I am glad that I went to that meeting with him, because he helped me clear things up about my schedule and how I would be able to contact my supervisor about the internship. I am still bummed out that we didn’t start this week, because their are already many students that have started and we have not. I don’t understand why did Kaiser have to do this to us all last minute. We are already in halfway through the internship and all we have been worrying about is the TB testing, clearance and what is going to happen. I don’t like that they have said that since we are going to start late, we will have to stay longer, because we won’t get the full on experience, so we won’t end up finishing July 14th, instead we will end up staying longer.
I contacted my supervisor and she would not answer. For two days I left her many phone calls and voicemails and nothing. Finally on Tuesday she called me back to let me know that we can start Monday. I was really excited that she answered, because I have been calling her for those two days and there has been no response. I am happy to see what I will be doing and if I am going to wear scrubs. Honestly throughout this whole struggle of TB testing and misunderstanding I have seen that communication is a really big key factor, because if it weren’t for cellphones or computers I wouldn’t be able to contact my supervisor about when I will start my internship. I am upset and worried about how I am going to make up my hours, because since I do not have all of them, I am scared.
I am mad that we didn’t start the same day as the other students, because we would have experience already and share with others what we have learned. Every Friday when we go to are Professional Development Day and the rest of the students ask us about are experience and what we are doing, the only thing I can answer is well we haven’t started. I hate that I have to do that, because I can’t share anything. The only thing that I am looking forward for this week is that I will begin on Monday, hopefully. I am excited, because I will be learning different things that my supervisor will be teaching me. I am just looking forward to that day, because I want to start already. For making up some of my hours, I had to go to a senior citizen activity that they did to get at least 4 hours. I am happy that I did that because I saw the seniors playing tennis and having fun. Throughout this adventure me and my friend got lost in the bus, because we did not know which one to take. She called her parents to help her out, but it just confused us more than what we were already. I searched it up on Google maps and it gave me a route, so I told my friend that we should follow that, but she was waiting on her parents response. So we did listen to them, but we got more lost throughout the streets, so we walked so much for nothing. Finally, we ended up just taking my route and we got home safely. It was such a mess, because she didn’t have her bus ticket so I bought her one, but we had to look for an ATM.
Kimberly Rodriguez
Week 3
Some ways that my experience is challenging me to grow in communication skills is by learning that communication is a big key point in life, because when you don’t ask everything goes wrong. Throughout my experience of my internship, well since it has not started I have seen that the people have not had communication and this is teaching many of us to understand that when our internship does actually start that we should have communication with everyone around us, because if we don’t everything will just be a huge problem and we will have misunderstandings.
My experience is teaching me to always have communication with my supervisor and coordinator, because they need to be aware if I will be able to attend the meetings or if something goes wrong. I think that communication is something that many people should consider really important, because communication is a skill that many use around the world. Without communication we wouldn’t know what would be happening in our hometowns, family members, parents, home, and more. My experience is also challenging me to be a problem solver, because all this of the TB testing and papers is such a mess. They should of told us ahead of time so we could of had it done and we would of started the same day like the other students. This is challenging me to be a problem solver, because their are solutions that could be done for everything, we may start late, but we will, hopefully get our full hours.
An interaction that I was a part of at my internship that required communication skills was when my coordinator communicated with me to know what I would do if I missed a day and what was going to happen. I noticed that my coordinator knew exactly what to do, because he directed me in the right way and he helped me out by being attentive in my text messages and emails. This has helped me to see that I should be attentive like my coordinator, because he is communicating with so many students at a time, so in my placement I should be communicating and talking with the people that I will help.
Something that has surprised me the most in my placement is that I was placed in medical surgery/ telemetry stroke, because I never thought that I would do something like that. It’s something that I never thought I would do and something that I am not interested in doing, but this internship is giving me the chance to experience something new. My internship has been different than what I was expecting it to be, because I thought I was going to start the first day, but Kaiser ended up telling us that we had to get our TB test done and paperwork filled out. Honestly this has been a mess, because they sent me to Irvine to do the test and transportation has been really hard and complicated to deal with. On Monday I went to the Anaheim Kraemer to check my TB test results on my arm and it was only like 10-20 seconds they looked and that was it. So much time to go all the way over their to just get it checked for only 10 seconds.
Some questions that I have, well since I haven’t started is that I’m curious to see what I’m going to do and what is going to happen. Well I got an overview of what my position was and a basic intro to what I was going to do, but I want to know like am I going to be in surgery or no, or what is Medical Surgery exactly. Or like what is my position exactly going to be, am I going to monitor the patient’s? I’m just curious and excited to know what I’m going to do. Right now it’s something that I don’t like, but it might be something that I can do in the future as a career. Honestly I’m just excited to learn and see what is going to happen. I also want to know exactly when are we going to start the internship, I hope that it’s soon, because I want to start already.
This week I have experienced stress, because I was going to miss a couple days, so I didn’t know what was going to happen, like how was I going to make up my hours. I was also stressed, because I didn’t receive the essay prompt or anything so it was hard for me. Also, because since I don’t have Internet access at home it’s complicated to find time and type the essay out without a computer. I was anxious, because no one would respond to my emails or messages, so I was stressed, because I didn’t know what to do.
Kimberly Rodriguez
Week 2
The work environment in my internship has been all over the place, because I have not yet began my internship. I was located at Kaiser Permanente off of La Palma and I am excited to be located there because I am with most of my friends. So far what I have seen of the environment, it’s pretty friendly and the people care about the interns that are going to be working there. I think when my internship actually starts the work environment is going to be a good experience with a good community around me, because Kaiser is a friendly institution that helps many people. So far right now we are going through the TB testing that has to be done to us, because we need to have them to be in the building around the people. So my internship hasn’t really started, because I need to go through that process, so I might begin like in the third week. The work environment is all over the place jumping from one place to another, because everything is told to us all late and stuff and it isn’t stable. I like that I know where I’m located, because I have seen the environment their and how the doctors and more help the patients.
My position is Medical/Surgical & Telemetry Stroke and my responsibilities involve to help those who carefully monitor and treat patients who are often in critical condition and need constant monitoring and specialized cardiac care. My position is to help and monitor those who are in an unstable condition. I am thinking that once my internship experience begins I will be placed with someone who is experienced in this and shadow them while they are doing their work. My responsibilities will involve many things, because I need to be careful, be attentive, responsible, kind and more while I am on the job, because this internship is basically a job that I am doing. This position is something I wasn’t expecting to get, because since I really don’t like to see blood and surgery I don’t like it, but I think that since I might get hands on experience with this internship, it has given me the opportunity to explore something that I didn’t think I might do. My responsibilities vary, because I have to pay attention to everything that is told to me and actually do the things correctly.
During my internship what I like is that I will experience a job that might be something that I am interested in. I will be hands on and actually watch my supervisor while she is doing the work. I like that I know where I am placed and that I am with my friends, because I have been to that place before for a field trip and I like that I will experience this internship not only by myself, but with my friends. Something else I like is that the position I got is something different and something that I didn’t think I would get, because it is something that I can experience and actually see if I will like it or not. I like that I applied for this internship, because it will give me many opportunities to explore and see the different things that they might have to offer us as incoming seniors. I know that I might make mistakes, but I like that the people who are their will support us to make the right decisions and they will actually demonstrate it to us.
Something that I dislike about my internship is that Kaiser wasn’t responsible to let us know ahead of time that they need the TB testing. I didn’t like that they did that, because that means that I will start my internship late and won’t begin like the others will. Something else is that everything is so confusing about this, they have us going from one place to another and it just isn’t stable. Like are meetings on Fridays, we started of good and now it’s like I am so confused on where I am supposed to be. Something else that I dislike is that I will be separated from my friends, but I mean that was already going to happen, but still. Something that I really disliked is that of the disorder with Kaiser, because shouldn’t they have had the proper things before the internship, so like that everyone could have began on time.
My strengths include supportive, reliable and patient, imaginative and observant, enthusiastic, loyal and hard-working and good practical skills. Supportive is a strength I have, because I like to help others, share my experiences and help those that may be having problems. Another strength is reliable and patient, because I like to take things at a calm pace and actually acknowledge it. I like to do things at a fast pace, but I am flexible enough to be reliant and wait for the things to happen. I like to do my assignments at the right time, but I also strive to do better. Another strength is imaginative and observant, because when we have projects, I like to extend my ideas and imagine different things at once. I am observant, because I like to do things right and be consistent on everything that I have to do. Another strength I have is enthusiastic, because I am a very energized person that likes to go above and beyond the expectations that are required, I enjoy to learn different things. Another strength is loyal and hard-working, because I am a really dedicated person that is committed to complete her tasks and I am a person that is honest and trustworthy. My final strength is having good practical skills, because I see everything as a task that as to be completed, so I tend to do the things on time.
My weaknesses include Shy, Taking things to Personally, Overloading myself, and too altruistic. Shyness tends to be one of my biggest weaknesses, because when public speaking or presenting something I get so red like a tomato, I stutter so much and I lose what I was going to say. Another weakness is taking things to personally, because whenever someone may share something, I can relate it to myself and I get really emotional. Another weakness includes that of overloading myself, because I tend to overload myself a lot everyday. In school I challenge myself to take harder classes, get involved in multiple things and help others, because it will help me in my future and make me a better person, but I have seen that overloading myself can bring problems and downfalls. My final weakness that I think I have is to be too altruistic, because I tend to let easy things to slide, thinking that later it will be better, but in reality it’s not.
These weaknesses and strengths help me to succeed in my internship, because I can use the strengths I have to help myself and others. They will help me to have a better experience throughout my internship, because I know that my strengths will always be their present with me. My weaknesses will help me to succeed in my internship, because I can use the weaknesses to help me become a better and stronger person. I can overcome shyness, overload and more, because I can practice presentations in front of my patients and try to take less things so I won’t stress myself so much.
Kimberly Rodriguez
Week 1: Blog Introduction Questions
My name is Kimberly Rodriguez and a career that may interest me is to be a Registered Nurse or something related to Medical Assistance. My favorite movie is Me Before You, because it’s a movie about a guy who has a disorder, but the woman is there with him every step of the way to help him. The knowledge that I expect to get from this internship is to actually know what I want to study and do, I want to learn about the different things that it may offer me. The skills that I would like to get out from the internship would be to trust myself and have confidence to public speak with others. Also, learn to care for others and help those who have problems. I want to learn and challenge myself in this internship so I can take the opportunities that they may have to offer me. How did I get to the place I’m now is because of my history teacher, she mentioned this internship to us. The steps I took was that I had to go through a lot of paperwork and then an interview and now I was chosen to be a part of this internship. The things that I have learned is that we should take advantages right now that we are young, because later in our future we will regret that we didn’t take advantage of those opportunities. I am interested in something Medical related because I took Medical Careers at school and I want to do something to help others. This internship relates to my long-term educational goals because it has given me the opportunity to explore the different careers offered with Medical Assistance.
Kimberly Rodriguez
Class of 2018
Allied Health Academy 