Unit 9 - Project

Introduction

             As a clinic nurse and mother of small children, it is vital that I am at my top health game at all times. I have people depending on me for their health and wellness, having myself be lacking in health and wellness is not acceptable. As a nurse, my job is emotionally, mentally and physically draining; it is important that my psychological and physical health is in excellent condition.

 However, working in healthcare, I have found that spiritual health is equally important; diagnosing children with terminal diseases is difficult emotionally, but having a healthy spirituality is important to me as I need another outlet to explain why bad things happen to innocent people. Having the realization that God is there for support and guidance helps me on a daily basis as at times there are no easy explanations for many occurrences.

Areas that I need to continue to focus on is the psychological aspect of wellness. While I am an extrovert and love helping people, I keep a lot of my emotions buried and not addressed which eventually will cause problems. However, being an optimist, I feel that helps control the negative emotions as I am continually removing negative aspects and having the positive replace the pessimistic aspects.

Assessment

            Earlier in the term I had assessed my health in the domains and felt that I scored fairly well in all areas. To assess again at this point, I would lower my scores physically and psychologically due to the fact I have had a difficult pregnancy. In my pre-pregnancy state, I was extremely healthy physically, spiritually and psychologically. Due to having a difficult pregnancy, my physical wellness is lower due to pre-eclampsia, pregnancy-induced-hypertension and borderline gestational diabetes. While I have worked very hard to control these diagnoses, unfortunately they are out of my control at this time.

However, because I have minimal control over the physical aspect other than following bed rest and a strict diet that I have always followed, my spiritual health has increased as I needed an outlet to focus my time on. During these past few weeks, I have been unable to attend masses due to my hypertension, yet having moments throughout the day to focus on my religion and spiritual well-being. Psychologically, I also would decrease my score to around a six or seven on a scale of ten due to frustrations of not being able to control my health in manners that I am typically able to. However, after the pregnancy is completed next week, I feel that my scores will improve physically and psychologically due to the removal of the stress of the pregnancy on my body.

Goal Development

            Physically, my goal is to get back to at least my pre-pregnancy weight; this weight is proper for my height and had me in an appropriate location on a body mass index scale. Another goal that affects me physically is continuing to not consume fast food. During my pregnancy, I minimally consumed fast food, with the exception of a trip through Subway, but continuing to not eat the fast food grease will help me physically stay healthy as well.

            A psychological goal for me is to continue to reduce negativity and replace with positive reinforcements. This is one is a bit more difficult at times; my sister and I are very close, yet complete opposite personalities. While I have an optimistic mind-set, she is consumed with a pessimistic mind-set; this is difficult to be around frequently as I firmly believe that it only takes one negative person to ruin anything. Another negative aspect to remove is minimizing how much of the media I am exposed to; as of late, a majority of the news reports are tragic, while it is important to know and understand what is going on in the world, minimal exposure is best for myself. There will always be tragedy and negativity on the news, minimizing negative exposure and focusing on the positives in my life will benefit my psychological health.

            Spiritually, I feel I am in a great place; I have excellent understanding of my spirituality and find it to be in great health. However, after the pregnancy is complete, starting to attend the regular masses again with my family will be beneficial for me and my family as this is an activity we do together to give thanks and say prayers for those in need.

Practices for Personal Health 

            To foster growth in my physical domain, I plan on reducing my diet to a normal intake since I had increased consumption to provide sustenance for my child, but continuing the current diet regimen as it controlled my blood sugars excellently. Another implementation that will begin will be a walking regimen with my spouse; during the nice weather, we can have family time and take walks in the evening to promote health and wellness, but have interaction together away from technology.

            Growth in the psychological domain will include minimizing exposure to the negative news reports, while I continue to pray for those in need and suffering on a daily basis, I am recognizing there is a problem and there are people in the world who need help, I do not need the negative mind-set clouding what is currently going on around me. Another practice will be continued time to clear my mind and have mini-meditation times. By taking a few minutes daily to clear my mind and regain focus, I can stay on track and keep a healthy, clear mind.

            Spiritually, I have many practices to continue the health. By continuing attending regular masses and praying for those who are suffering and need love, yet giving appreciation for the wonders in my own life, I can maintain a healthy spiritual relationship with God. Religion is very important in my family, and I contribute this to why I have such a healthy spiritual domain.

Commitment

            Over the next few months, I have put time in my calendar to take ten to fifteen minutes on a nearly daily basis to reflect on where I have progressed or regressed. Continuing the meditation practices, and focusing on the importance of family I feel will help continue the progress as I have positive reinforcements in my life striving me to do better not only for myself, but for my family.