Blogging Reflection

Blogging was definitely not my favorite thing to do. I never had time to sit and write the blog post everyday, so I know that it will impact my grade severely. I liked reading the blogs, but not posting blogs. It was interesting to read what some people had to say. It was like I could get to know them through their writing. I think the thing I hated most about blogging was doing it. I don't like to blog or do things like that. I am just not into that sort of stuff. Plus I hate computers. I know we live in a technological era, but I really dislike technology. I do believe this assignment did make me a more open writer. It made it easier for me to write what I thought or what was on my mind. I hated having to do it. I could not sit and write everyday. I wanted to to get my points but I lacked the time for a journal entry a day. It was a very cool assignment, but it is not one I would have thought to pick as the journal assignment for the class. It is very neat that our instructor picked something that was more involved in what most people do now. Most people do blog, but I am not one of them. The blogging journal did help me to grow a little bit as a writer and I am thankful for that. It was definitely a unique experience.

Tuesday 19 July 2011

This journal entry is going to be about the heat. It will be about how the heat and how to replenish your body from becoming too hot. It is becoming terribly hot outside. The heat can dehydrate a body a lot faster than you think. Water isn't enough to replenish your body. If you consume water, you may actually dehydrate a lot faster. I know this all too well. I run everyday, and I have not been paying attention to the weather. This caused great difficulty to me. I became dehydrated the other day due to the intense heat. I did drink water, but the water made me dehydrate faster. The water I was consuming depleted my electrolytes to the bare minimum. The electrolytes help your body maintain metabolic functions, and if you become dehydrated due to the heat it can lead to heat stroke. Heat stroke is very deadly. It doesn't seem like it would be, but it is. What happens with heat stroke is this, the body's core temperature reaches extremely high temperatures causing you to sweat to cool off. When the temperature is elevated to the extreme outside it causes you get hot a lot faster. The body will begin to sweat profusely to cool off, and this causes you to want more water. The sweat will contain many of your electrolytes and drinking more water will make you loose more of your electrolytes. If you are outside doing physical activities when the temperatures are high, you should drink Gatorade, propel, or powerade, or something that shows electrolytes. If you become severely dehydrated it can lead to heat stroke and a whole lot of other problems.

Thursday 14 July 11

Obesity seems to be one of the biggest epidemics in America. Why is it only affecting our country and not others. Americans are consumed with the idea of quick and easy. We are more apt to stop at a fast-food restraunt to grab a bite to eat, than to grab some fruit or veggies, or to even make a home cooked meal. Almost all Americans are guilty of the quick and easy. If you do have to stop and get fast food, at least make smart meal choices. Instead of getting a Big Mac, super-sized fries and drink, get a salad, fruit and walnut salad and a super-sized water. Making smart decision while eating out will help to prevent obesity. I myself do not believe that obesity is a disease. I think it is caused by poor decisions, laziness, and physiological and psychological issues. Some believe that it is heredity, but I have to disagree. Yes, all body shapes are different, I do agree with that, and some people have large heredity genes, but obesity is not a gene. If your parents are obese, obviously,they are going to eat unhealthy foods, these foods will be the only ones available to the child. If this is the only nutrition available of course they are going to eat it. Usually, when the parents are physically inactive, so will the child be. They will want to follow the parents' footseps and will be inactive. Obesity is reversable without the use of surgery. Obese people actually see results, from exercising and eating healthy, a lot faster than smaller individuals. If those that are obese stuck to healthy diet and exercise program they would see weight reduction and smaller inches in different places. How much you weigh should not matter, but how you carry it should. Since this whole world is so obsessed with looks, maybe this could be the driving force of motivation for them to loose weight. I understand, it is definitely hard to loose weight when you are obese, but it is possible. I understand that there are many different factors that can weigh in on an obese individual, but with the proper help and motivation anything is possible. Obesity could even be solved if health foods were sold at a cheaper price. Health foods prices have increased by 120% from the year 1985 to 2000, as opposed to soda and junk foods' 40% increase. Health foods are more expensive, but two apples will fill your belly and two boxes of debbie cakes will not. Everything is preventable with motivation and drive. You can achieve a healthy lifestyle with healthy choices.

Wednesday 13 July 11

I find that it gets more and more difficult to do these journal entries. This days topic will be exercising! Everything that you do while you are young affects your body whenever you get older. Being very active, I have a feeling my body will be very healthy when I age. My family has no known medical issues so other than exercise and eating healthy I have nothing to worry about. The average person should exercise for at least thirty minutes a day, seven days a week. Obviously, not everyone is capable of thirty minutes a day, but if it is balanced with an extra few minutes one day you will be fine. Each person should do weight lifting and cardio workouts. Doing cardio, will reduce your risk for cardiovascular disorders, and also helped to build strength in your lungs and heart. Cardio helps the body to get more oxygen and release toxins through sweating. If you run you will burn more calories than a slow walk. Jogging or power walking are also effective at burning calories. Weight lifting or resistance training help to improve muscle strength, bone strength, and also muscle tone. When you do resistance training, you are lifting a weight and taring your musclese to increase strength. The stronger your muscles are the stronger you bones can become. Excersing can help your body become healthier and also boost your selfesteem. Excersising while you are young or even when you are older, has been proven to reduce many diseases such as; diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and many more. I hope that the excersising that I do now will help me to be fit and healthy whenever I get older. Besides, I have to stay in shape to be able to walk around Disney World. I will have to be able to keep up with my grandchildren, well whenever I have grandchildren.

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Today I have come to the realization that nursing is my career of choice! Being a nurse, means that everyday I get to make a difference, no matter how big or small, in someone's life. I am a CNA right now at the hospital in the town I live in, and everyday it amazes me just how big of an impact one person of the medical staff can have on some of the patients. CNAs have always been labled as "professional butt wipers", but we are so much more than that. Everyday I get to go into a patients room and talk to them about everything. I must become a personal friend of theirs and gain their trust, because I will be constantly invading their personal space and I want them to trust me and become comfortable. This English Composition class has actually helped me in my work place. It has helped me to understand and listen to my patients more, and this helps me to become better aquainted with them. I work on the Acute Care floor of my hospital. Most of our patients are there recovering from surgery, illness, or sadly, it is  where they spend their final moments of life. As a CNA, I have more of a personal relationship with the patient than the nurse. The patients spend most of there time in the hospital with me or other CNAs. Yes, we may be in there wiping their rears, but the whole time we are doing that we are establishing a bond with the patient, and ninety-nine percent of the time I am wiping their rears, they are spilling their guts to me. CNAs go by Maslows theory. We meet the patients basic needs to make them comfortable and to help them to become well again. The medical staff of my hospital are some of the patients only family members. They are with us so much that they begin to love us as if we were their relative. This achieves the level of love on the Maslow pyramid. As a CNA, we are constantly making the patient fill loved, because we are always with them, talking to them and helping them. They trust us enough to let us be in their personal space. CNAs help the nuse to know what is wrong with the patient, so that they will be able to give them the proper medical attention they need. The best reward I have ever gotten out of being a CNA is knowing that I made that patient fill loved and wanted for the small amount of time I got with them. So next time, before you label a CNA as a "professional butt wiper", remember this, that CNA cares enough about that patient's health and well being that they will wipe their rear to see them get well and get home. Just remember that if you ever become ill and are admitted to the hospital, and you can't move and need all the help you can get, there will be a caring "professional butt wiper" there to take care of you and show you that you can get better. I am very proud of my job and I admire all the CNAs out there that care  about people enough to wipe their butts.

Saturday July 09, 2011

This is my first journal blog in a few days. It is all due to the spontaneous Missouri weather. I do not understand how the forcast can predict a zero percent chance of rain, and then magically it begins to storm. Thanks to the ridiculous weather, my grade will surely be dropping tremedously. It is horrible to be without internet for three days. I do not even understand how my internet service provider cannot fix it as quickly and they say they can. This one bad summer storm, it knocked down power lines all over my town, and completely demolished my internet service for three days. Needless to say, I am really stressing knowing how many points these journal entries are worth in this class. I officially hate summer storms. They have caused all of my assignments for both classes to be late, and have ruined my grade. Oh the woes of having an online proctored class. The ridiculous Missouri weather is going to cause me to have a stress enduced coma and quite possibly some sort of sickness. I hope it doesn't, but you never know. I never knew that I would have to deal with such madness whenever I moved to this state. I can say that it is rather enjoyable to watch the snow, though. It is so relaxing and peaceful when it is falling. It is like little feathers, from a feather pillow, are falling out of the sky from a loose seam. All I seem to be able to do is complain in this journal entry so I do believe it is time to wrap it up.

Tuesday July 05. 2011

Once again it is time to write another journal entry. This one shall definitely be over something educational. Nutrition is the perfect topic for today's entry, because that is my other class I am taking right now. Nutrition is a basic need of all living beings. We must have an adequate intake of all substances needed to survive.  When we do not, we start to develop illnesses and unhealthy lifestyles. There are six groups of nutrients we need as humans to survive. They are: carbohydrates, fats and oils, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. These nutrients can be classified as organic or inorganic. The organic nutrients contain hydrogen. Nutrients can be classified into two categories, macronutrients or micronutrients. The macronutrients are, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. All of these macronutrients provide energy for the body. Vitamins and minerals are considered micronutrients, because they are not considered sources of energy. There are recommended daily values for each of these nutrients. It is essential that the values are met for a healthy lifestyle. However, most people do not meet these nutritional requirements. A deficiency in any nutrients can lead to many health problems, as can too much of any nutrient. Some of the leading health problems the US faces are, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and cancer. There is so much to learn in nutrition. I recomend anyone to take this class if you want to know exactly what you are eating.

CREDO

I believe that money is the root of all evil. Money makes people do things, say things, and act ways they never would. Money is the driving force for all business. Money makes even the most respectable man or woman an absolute scoundrel. Money can make the Christian back slide and fall. Money is such an important thing in society today, but to me it is not. It is nothing but a thing you can't take with you when you are gone. It is a dead tree made into a piece of paper. It is melted down metals made into change. MONEY is not everything but only something. I am amazed at how one thing can change and do so much. I do not let money effect my life. I grew up without it and I try to stay that way. It does not define my life and my values. It is only a gas getter, house getter, and car fixer. I enjoy the more simple things in life. I just don't understand how some paper can influence so much evil upon a people, communities, and society. That is of course the difference in how everyone is raised and taught. I follow THE GOOD BOOK and it tells me how truly evil greed is and I BELIEVE IT!!

July 02, 2011

Once again it seems I am forced to write on this infernal BLOG!! I dislike doing this so much. I regret ever taking this class now. I am not a blogger and I choose not to because it is not me. I don't like to sit on the computer and spill my guts for everyone to read. I believe it is a waste of my time. Time is precious and I don't like to waste it unless it is on something important. As you can see this is my first entry for our "JOURNAL", that is because I work two jobs and have two online classes. I quite simply don't have time to write 300 word long journals. Work is more important to me. It pays for my college and so, alas, I cannot skip out on it. I know that this is part of the class and I have to do it to earn credit, but it is so hard to sit and focus on doing it. It is a strange way for us to earn credit. I think I would rather write a ten page paper, but this could be because I am old school. Well doesn't look like I've quite met the 300 word limit, but my lunch break is up and my attention is required else where.

AUDIENCE WHO?

Wow! The discussion of getting to know your audience is really something. It tremendously shows you just exactly how different we all are. We all have different ways of life, dreams to live, views of change and religion, and so much more. Doing this discussion made me realize just how impossible it is to make everyone happy. You just cannot do it. Everyone strives so hard to be an individual and they believe so many different things, and you go off of your own beliefs when you talk or write to them. So how do we not offend them? You don't offend them. They offend themselves. You cannot make someone feel a certain way or answer a certain way. This is why the Know Your Audience assignment is so interesting. It shows you just how different everyone is in the class. Some are reserved and follow the beaten path and others want to spice it up and live on the edge. I myself prefer to do both. That way I get all experience I can. Doing this assignment has made me realize that I like to push peoples buttons. I like to break them out of their comfort zone and get their true opinion. I noticed this from some of the responses to my question I asked and also the responses to my answers. This assignment, I think, even helped us to know ourselves. I catch myself re-reading what I wrote before I submit my response. I giggle everytime always thinking, is that really how I feel? This assignment was enjoyable. I learned a lot about my other classmates. I saw just how different we all are and how some of us want the same or similar careers. I took an online class so that I would not have to interact with my classmates, and now I am being forced to. I hate having to do assignments like this, but I did like getting to read the answers posted from each individual. It was quite entertaining. I wonder to myself if anyone else felt the same way I did? Did they like reading the responses or not?