My name is Jesse Adams and I currently am a senior in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at the University of South Carolina. I will be graduating this May (2019), with hopes to pursue a career as a neonatal intensive care nurse.  I have been employed at Piedmont Medical Center since February of 2018 as a nurse technician. After completion of research on campus with Dr. Courtney Catledge on the Lancaster satellite campus, I began to learn what leadership consisted of and this helped me pursue my Associate in Science degree with Graduation with Leadership Distinction (GLD) in the Research Pathway. I have since began to incorporate leadership skills through the clinical experiences in the nursing program, which prompted me to earn the honor of GLD again for my BSN degree. Exhibiting leadership is a segue for professionalism, which helped me to choose the pathway of Professional and Civic Engagement.

       In society, there are many thousands of different job opportunities that one can pursue to dedicate their time and expertise to make a living. There are very specific and fewer jobs that require the specific combination of characteristics of humility, diligence, and compassion. These characteristics are reflective of what a nurse should manifest in health care. When someone observes what is means to be a health care professional, there is a belief of immense knowledge through education, and large financial gain that is warranted to anyone who pursue such a field.

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      While the many careers in health care offer benefits and rewards both financially and emotionally, there is an underlying significance that is masked. Through nursing, there is a mission to help preserve life and make strides to assist someone when their health produces complications. Life has a unique, inestimable value and when it can become at risk of ending, it is a serious matter. As a society, I believe many people take life for granted, but in health care, life is taken in to consideration on a high magnitude. The most important characteristic for a nurse is to have compassion. Humility is a close second because that it takes a special individual to serve someone else and make that person’s life more important and valuable than the one who serves.

      This e-portfolio is designed to prove that providing compassionate care is a quality of a competent nurse, working hard towards health promotion. In my first Key Insight, Commitment to Provide Compassionate Care, I focus on how showing compassion for someone benefits both the patient and the nurse. I believe the incorporation of faith is important and enhances patient care. The second Key Insight, Competency through Integrative Learning focuses on the competency ladder nurses can achieve. Applications of the various forms of education and knowledge helps nurses to learn ways to be more proficient, from additional research to the reading of specific scriptures. My final Key Insight, Professionalism Translates to Equal Care attempts to reinforce how acting as the compassionate, competent nurse, I can eliminate any form of stereotypes or judgement toward any patient. My faith is explored in this Insight to display my perception of seeking care for others, no matter my carnal and internal concerns, as it is my duty to care for everyone equally. In pursuing GLD, I am capitalizing on gaining more leadership experience, acting as a leader, and focusing on these characteristics to lead to a successful career in nursing.