This past year has been challenging for many people and in many different aspects. On March 13^th the nation had declared a nation emergency. We were no longer able to go back to school from what we thought would be a week-long break, we weren’t able to go outside as we had now been put into quarantine which who knew how long this would last. As the pandemic progressed and more people got sick, the treat was moving closer to home. We were now afraid that if we went outside and interacted with people, we could possibly catch this virus and not know what would happen. For anyone it is a scary thing to go into a national emergency it is even more nerve wracking for those trying to help people but not know anything about the thing we are fighting against. As we have gone through this pandemic I have much more respect and love for the job that I hope to one day have and for those who are one the front line of all this. It takes so much courage to be able to face something and help people when we know nothing about what it is we’re fighting and keep showing up to work even though you’ll most likely loose many of your patients to this deadly virus. It makes me happy to be able to work towards being a nurse and living up to what these men and women have done for so many people. 

            My personal experience with the COVID-19 pandemic was nothing compared to what other people have been through. I was able to be with my family and see friends in a safe way, but I know there were people working through this that weren’t able to see their family because they were afraid of transmitting this virus. There were even some people that are immunocompromised that couldn’t go out in fear of getting a cold and then catching the virus. I was fortunate enough not to lose anyone or being fearful for myself or my immediate family. Going through this has opened my eyes though to simple nursing concepts and simple rules that’ll help others. Some of these concepts include safety, stress and coping, infections, prevention of transmission. These simple things that we have learned in our classes were being put to use in our everyday lives now, we had to make sure that we were safe and helping keep others safe as well by trying to stop this transmission of this virus that we know nothing about. During this pandemic I learned a lot about self-care and wellness and even about accountability, there were things that I learned about myself and others that have opened my eyes to what kind of place we live in and how some people act. During this pandemic I struggled with being home and not being able to see friends face to face or even be at school, but I realized quickly that there were others that didn’t get to see their families or even go home because they were helping others fight for their lives. Knowing this and coming to that realization I was able to put myself aside and do the small things that were asked of me like to wear a mask and not go places that were non-essential. Being able to play a small part of helping fight this unknown thing was a big help for me in the long run. 

            When we got to go back to in person classes I was relieved, I was going to be able to see people and start learning the way that we should be, hands on and face to face, but there were some guidelines that we needed to follow when going back like the social distancing or even having some classes online. This has impacted nursing students greatly, as a nursing student we are supposed to be able to get those hands-on experiences with patients and have fun going to clinical, but because of COVID there have been some changes. Those changes include not being able to go to some hospitals and having to do virtual simulations with fake patients, this has impacted students because we don’t get the same experience with an online person or mannequin as we would with a real person who doesn’t just give generated answers. These students who have to go through this will definitely never take for granted being able to go in person to clinicals and it will teach us to take the necessary precautions to that we can go and have that hands on experience. The current public health debates have opened my eyes to what a nurses role in this situation would be, they are there on the front line teaching people about what to do and what not to do, when and where to wear a mask and how many people they can be around. I think that over the course of the pandemic my view of nurses has just strengthened why I want to become a nurse. Seeing these men and women put their lives on the line for others and not ask for really anything in return expect for the public to do their part as well makes happy to become a nurse. 

            This pandemic has impacted everyone in some sort of way, it has even impacted how we view health and what needs to be done in the future to prevent something like this from happening again. The pandemic has impacted the community in many ways and will impact future health care and wellness as well. I believe that the pandemic has impacted how we will respond to such a big virus, communities have come together and will continue to come together and support one another in times of need and I also believe that there will be new things to happen as well like more clinics or housing for those who can’t afford either so that they can protect themselves from getting whatever comes next. With these new programs I think there will be plenty of opportunities for nurses to help the communities and be part of the bigger picture of coming together and helping one another even if that means education to schools on what to wear or not, it may also mean free vaccines to those who are homeless or even just helping the homeless, I think there are always opportunities for nursing to be a part of the community and now there may be more. 

            This past year has had its up and downs with the pandemic, but throughout this there have been many things that not long I have learned but also the world has learned. I have learned and solidified why I want to become a nurse, I have also learned more about myself and what I can endure especially after what we all have gone through during the pandemic, with having to change everything about our everyday lives and not knowing when and if we will be able to go back to normal. The world has also changed and learned new things as well, communities have come together to help one another in times of need, people have stepped up not knowing what the outcome will be. Nurses and other health care workers have put their lives on the line to help random people, but they help them because they love what they do, and they want to be able to help those that need it. Going through this pandemic whether individually or with other everyone has learned something new, whether it be about themselves or something that they want to change about the world. That is one of the great things to come out of this pandemic, that people are seeing problems with today’s society and the world we live in or something in their lives and are changing it, and they’re changing it for the better.