Tag: Humanities

What I Wish I Would Have Known Before College

There is no step by step guide to survive school while pursuing a higher education degree. Many people describe college as some of the best years of their lives. However, higher education is a dramatic lifestyle change that can be hard to adapt to for many students. As a recent graduate reflecting on my college years, there are a few things I wish I had realized before I entered college. Here are a few things I wish I would’ve known, including stress, studying and money management.

In high school I was a three sport athlete, a member of the National Honor Society, the secretary for the student council and part of many other committees. I balanced these activities very well and loved every minute of it. However, the set schedule I was used to changed when I came to college. You are in charge of managing your schedule. No one is there to guide you along. This can be a major change of pace for many people. So my tip to you is to set a schedule. Sit down and plan out your week. Designate times to do assignments, tests and to study. Stick to your routine. Your grades will thank you.

If you had poor study habits in high school, it’s time to make a change. Students are often shocked by how much effort they must put into their classes. Even though students are often told how much time and effort they will have to put into their classes, they are typically stunned when they are actually expected to do it. If you’re really struggling, reach out to your advisor for helpful tips on how to manage your course work. They may also have resources available to you to make studying easier or more enjoyable! Don’t take on more than you can handle. Some students can handle four courses at a time while others may only be able to focus on one. Wherever you fall on this spectrum, that’s okay! Progress isn’t linear. Lastly, ask friends and loved ones what worked for them or look up studying tips online. If one method fails, don’t give up! Everyone is different, you just need to find your niche.

In all honesty, college was the most stressful time of my life. When my routine was no longer existent, I found that I had to discover new ways to manage stress and anxiety. It wasn’t until my junior year that I was able to find ways to manage that stress that worked for me. I found that what worked for me didn’t necessarily work for my friends. I had always been an extremely active person, so I naturally gravitated towards fitness to take my mind off of whatever I was stressed about. Going to the gym at the end of the day helped me relax and refocus. Other stress relievers can be painting, reading a book or even just watching a movie or tv for a little while. Find a healthy coping mechanism and make sure to incorporate it into your new routine.

Last but not least, money. Money can be a huge concern while earning your degree, and managing it can be difficult. My advice would be to set a budget or allowance for yourself. You can make it weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly. Factor in the cost of your loans, along with other expenses such as books and materials. When I made my budget, I also included money for food, extracurriculars along with how much money I would put into savings. I really stress putting money aside for savings. When my senior year rolled around, I was able to pay off my whole first semester with what money I had put aside which saved me the stress of paying more interest on my loan. Every bit counts, save what you can, when you can.

For many students, college is a whole new world and what comes along with it can be stressful and overwhelming. Finding what works for you during this time is extremely important. Sometimes, though, a little guidance can be helpful — take it from people who learned the hard way.

Nursing and the Human Culture

The studies of human culture presents in the nursing field through Humanities courses. Subjects that do not have much relation to nursing have been reconsidered as important and incorporated into nursing as a means to train better nurses. Looking into the branches of Humanities, moreover, you will see that it has subjects that would make nurses knowledgeable on certain issues that aren’t in their nursing curriculum.

One of the branches of humanities is languages. If you know at least one additional language as a medical practitioner, you will have a lot more opportunity as a nurse. Talking to your patient is one thing, but communicating with them in their own language is a higher level of nursing entirely.

Art is a branch in humanities that can be of use when it comes to the nursing profession. Sometimes it takes art to be able to treat a patient, especially when the latter needs special attention. It helps that you can be creative when dealing with your patient. Art can help to open the doors of trust between the nurse and patient. Artistic creativity is a way of thinking that transcends traditional nursing.

Literature is also a study in humanities that is useful in nursing. There are some patients who just can’t stop talking and sharing a their stories. As a nurse, you should be able to handle this type of patient. Sharing an intimate story with them is at times more effective than giving them technical reports about their illnesses. Be prepared and take time to share a line or two.

Philosophy and religion are also main tenets of humanities. This branch in humanities is perfect for those older patients, because these are topics that they usually talk about. If you can join in on the discussion, then you have given them something worthwhile with which to relate to you and their care – something more meaningful to them than administering medicines.

Humanities goes a long way with nursing courses. It makes for a more complete and knowledgeable nurse in return.

Humanities And The Nursing Profession

The study of Humanities may not come as an integral subject to a nursing student. At the outset, it doesn’t cater at all to what nursing is all about. It is only one of those minor subjects that a nursing student has to go through before graduation.

But delving deeper into it, a nursing student may soon find out that the inclusion of Humanities in the curriculum has its own function.

Humanities is the study of human culture. It covers a whole range of topics from history, communication, law, and even anthropology. It has found its way into the nursing field so that nurses will be able to understand why certain people react to certain situations.

That is that inherent use of Humanities in a nursing course. When a nurse could surmise how his patient viewed his illness or how he accepted his own diagnosis, that nurse has his study of human culture functioning within the confines of nursing. It might be just a prerequisite to a nursing degree, but because of its all-encompassing nature, the subject will enable aspiring nurses to get by the conventions of nursing, especially when faced with important decisions.

As in the case of a patient’s history, which include his medical condition in the past. If a nurse could see some patterns in the past in relation to his present illness, then that nurse has done his job quite well. So, the study of Humanities has its own reason for being in the nursing curriculum. It has found its calling in there by helping neophyte nurses, especially when they are faced with medical issues, and laying the predicate for a much more comprehensive diagnosis. Humanities are no longer an ornament in a particular course, it is also helping nurses to become well-rounded medical specialists.

Picture Of Humanities

Our existence has a twin in a general prospect, and that is Humanities. Humanities is the study about human culture, such as literature, philosophy, and history.These have become some of the subjects that conventionally fall under the Humanities umbrella. Expertise on these categories of human aspects give us the opportunity to feel a sense of connection to everyone who have come before us, as well as those who will live after our lifetimes.

We can’t deny that Humanities has contributed a lot. One is how we look at things differently. This illuminates the importance of critical thinking, historical consciousness and creating competent democratic citizens. This allows us to gain a new perception of everything from arts to business models to politics; humanities subjects have been the center of liberal arts tutelage since the ancient Greeks first used them to educate their people.

Inquisitions into human experience speeds up our knowledge about the world. Through the contributions of Humanities scholars, we learn the norms of different cultures, like what goes into creation of art, and how our history was made. Their legacies preserve the great accomplishment of the past, help us to better understand today’s world, and give us ideas on how to rock the future.

Humanities also brings a bit of clarity to the future by providing the conceptual foundation in searching and understanding the human experience. Furthermore, the study of different language can ease the appreciation for the parallelism of cultures .Pondering a sculpture can give an idea on how artist life affects an artistic thinking.

Vigorous, Dynamic and deep that’s what Humanities is and it would until generations to come.

Psychology: An Important Subject In Nursing Courses

Psychology is the study of human brain processes and behavior. As a college subject, psychology is very interesting. Students learn lessons and principles that help them with the psychological characteristics of a human being. Psychology is an important subject in nursing courses. Many principles in psychology are useful in a nursing career. In fact, psychology is integrated in nursing major subjects like Psychiatric nursing. This particular major nursing subject develops the knowledge and skills needed by nurses in clinical psychology setting.

Nurses Need To Know About The Human Brain
The brain is a very important human organ. It’s responsible for many human function that keeps a person alive. The field of medicine covers all human organs. This includes the brain. The human brain is a complex organ to study. Psychology helps explains to nurses how the brain functions. The characteristics and processes of the brain are learned in psychology subjects.

Understanding Brain Processes Help Nurses Be Efficient In Their Profession
Nurses deal with people. Providing medical service to patients with different kinds of personality can be very challenging. Psychology allows nurses to understand the different kinds of personality people have. This grants nurses skills and capability to provide efficient medical servicing to various types of patients. Understanding a person’s behavior and personality is important especially to a career that involves interaction with other people.

Clinical Psychologist Need Nurses
The field of medicine has a branch dedicated to psychological and mental illnesses. Many psychiatric facilities employ medical professionals like nurses. Nurses play an important role in providing medical treatments to patients with psychological and mental disorders. Mental hospitals need nurses to help them manage patients with abnormal mental conditions. Psychiatrists rely on nurses to provide the basic medical needs of psychiatric patients. Basic medical needs like vital signs monitoring and medicine administration.

Three Important Nursing Subjects Students Should Know

Nursing subjects play important roles in molding students to become highly skilled nursing professionals in the future. These subjects are the foundation of important nursing principles required in the medical workforce. There are more than a dozen of nursing subjects in a nursing course. Each subject focuses on a specific set of principles in the field of nursing.  The principles and information acquired in nursing subjects are useful in the everyday work of a professional nurse.

Here Are Three Important Nursing Subjects that a nursing student should earn in school.

Fundamentals of Nursing
This subject introduces a student nurse to the basic principles in nursing. The fundamentals of nursing is the first major subject that freshmen students need to take up. The topics in this subject include : The Profession of nursing (8 lessons), Asepsis & Infection Control (4 lessons) ,Understanding the Body’s Defenses in Nursing ( 3 lessons), Understanding Rest And Sleep for Nurses ( 4 lessons), Understanding Pain & Pain Management for Nurses ( 5 lessons)  and Understanding Nutrition for Nurses (2 lessons).

Fundamental Nursing Skills
This particular major subject develops the nursing skills expected from a nursing professional. Fundamental Nursing Skills I is usually offered to 1st year students during 2nd semester. While Fundamental nursing skills II and III are offered during the 1st semester of the second year. Lessons learned in these subjects include breathing, Mobilization, Personal cleansing and dressing, Maintaining a safe environment and many other lessons focusing on nursing procedures and techniques.

Nursing Management
Nursing Management is offered for 3rd year students during the 1st semester.  And Nursing Management I and II are both offered during the first semester of the last year. The lessons tackled in these subjects develop a nurse’s ability for decision-making and leadership within the nursing employed organization. Nurses’ management skills like organizing, planning, staffing, controlling and directing are harnessed thru these subjects.

Studying the Humanities    

Why is studying the Humanities important? Many have asked that question because to be honest many have also argued that studying the liberal arts or the humanities in general is a complete waste of time. Others would even argue that the Humanities are the unwise path for college students to take because non-technical degrees tend to have unemployment rates compared to those who are studying to be engineers, accountants, or business people.

Dr. Elwood Watson, in his article at diverseeducation.com, has discussed why studying the humanities always will be important. Dr. Watson said, “To minimize the value of the humanities, or any other area of academic inquiry for that matter, to one’s ability to earn an ample salary is to misunderstand the purpose of what such an education is about.”

The humanities provide students with the ability and vital ingredients necessary to think critically and holistically about an overabundance of issues, including business, science and technology for that matter. And, in an article by Scott Samuelson of the Wall Street Journal, businesses and employers were aggressively seeking to employ graduates who possessed “a demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly and solve complex problems.” Therefore, discrediting the argument of some about the irrelevance of the humanities and how students who study it will not earn as much as those who study other hard sciences.

In addition, Clayton State University, on its departmental website, listed the top 10 reason for people to study the humanities:

  • To practice the analytical thinking skills you need to be a successful student and employee.
  • To improve your skill at oral and written communication.
  • To see the interconnectedness of all areas of knowledge ― how it all fits together.
  • To develop a global perspective by studying cultures throughout the world.
  • To deepen your understanding and appreciation of other’s cultures and other’s points of view.
  • To support and strengthen your local arts community by learning to appreciate the importance of creativity.
  • To clarify your values by comparing and contrasting them to what others have thought.
  • To deepen your sources of wisdom by learning how others have dealt with failures, success, adversities, and triumphs.
  • To appreciate what is enduring and to be able to tell the difference between the meaningless and the meaningful.
  • To be inspired by some of the greatest minds and thoughts of the ages.

The humanities are the cornerstone of any and complete well-rounded education because it provides a good, solid foundation in critical thinking skills. The importance of the humanities should not be dismissed.

The Effects of Humanities to the Students

According to the dictionary, Humanities are academic disciplines that study human culture. The humanities use methods that are primarily critical, or speculative, and have a significant historical element as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences. The basic understanding of the word humanities is the study of how human being live here on earth. However, if we look at deeply the significant things that we need to know and understand, it is how the human being lives on earth right from the very beginning of our existence.

Many has already changed and many things have evolved. The way of living from the past is totally different in the present. Nevertheless, the things that happened in the past have a connection in our present. Therefore, humanities can be described as the study of how people process and document the human experience. How does studying humanities affect the students? It has a big impact when we study humanities; it helps us know the world and it opens up our mind to appreciate the beauty of creation and the magnificence of the world.  It helps us understand others through their languages, histories and cultures. It helps us develop our creativity and it helps us know the reason about being human. Most of all, it helps us realize the value of human life.

However, only a few of our generation today can appreciate the beauty of the ancient arts and the classical music. That is the dilemma that is being faced by our educators today. Ancient arts, cultures and philosophy are the foundation of all the different aspects of our life and we can only learn these things by looking back to our past experiences and learn from it. Thus, it is very significant to the student to study humanities to learn the different walks of life.

The Significance of Humanities in Nursing

Humanities is the study of human culture. The humanities include human language (ancient or modern), history, literature, law, religion, philosophy and music.  Scholars in humanities are commonly called humanists. A lot of schools and universities offer humanities classes consisting of English literature, arts, and global studies. Nursing education can be counted as one. Thus, nursing students ask how important is humanities to their chosen profession.

Nursing is often defined as both an art and science, but humanities have been hesitatingly been studied in the nursing curricula. However, outbreaks of interest in what is called the “nursing humanities” have become obvious. For instance, literary works are rich sources of not only of information, but illumination as well. The study of art, included in the humanities, can make an important contribution to a nurses’ various ways of knowing what is factual. There are also other complementary ways of knowing like ethical and aesthetical, both included in humanities.

Arts and literature give a meaningful learning experience for nursing students. With their nature, students are encouraged to make discussions made up of different interpretations. This kind of interaction allows participants to learn in ways that call forth new ways of thinking.

There are numerous works of literature and arts that provide rich food for the spirit. Also, it gives insight into the nurse-patient relationship and into an individual’s condition.  Good literature enhances language concepts, words, and vision of human existence. To have a pool of vocabulary is needed to support a patient care. Today, we are suffering from a scarcity in vocabulary which cannot support appropriate discussions of the moral problems and crises that confront humans.

This confronts the relevance of the humanities to nursing. The concepts included in the said study can reflect upon nursing practitioners and education.

Humanities and Medicine

Medical humanities is an interdisciplinary field of medicine consisting of the humanities, social sciences and the arts. When we say humanities, it involves different studies like the literature, religion, ethics, philosophy, and history. Social sciences, on the other hand, involve cultural studies, psychology, anthropology, sociology, health, and geography. While the arts include theater, literature, film as well as visual arts. These subjects are used to determine the application and relation of specific factors in health and medicine.

Medical humanities is also understood to be an interdisciplinary, and increasingly international undertaking that pulls on the innovative and intellectual skills of diverse disciplines, including literature, art, creative writing, drama, film, music, philosophy, ethical making decisions, anthropology, and history, in pursuit of medical educational goals. This approach to medicine is a wider and generalized view on how individuals are affected by many elements surrounding us.

The health care system recognizes the value of the humanities in preparing health care professionals to tackle the learning and practice of medicine. The interdisciplinary humanities educate students to check out the historical, linguistic, cultural and aesthetic contexts in which we live. It also allows students to discover and attend more fully to the lasting question of what it is to be human and think deeply and critically and react successfully to the complex situations by which we find ourselves.

The intellectual practices of the humanities, along with the expertise in creating a capstone research and studies that deals with the intersection of the humanities and medicine, have the potential to affect students in many ways that will increase their future performance as physicians managing and reaching patients drawn from across different life circumstances and contexts.