Vital Signs
College of San Mateo
December 2012
Volume 5, Issue 3
Happy Holidays
Welcome back, hope
everyone had a great holiday
break; I’m sure it was much
needed for students and faculty.
At the end of last semester CSM
nursing held 3 different holiday
“donations”; can food drive,
adopt-a-family, and Caminar
house.
The canned-food drive
went well and thanks to
everyone who helped donate
cans we were able to provide
food for families in need.
Adopt-a-family was a
great experience and thank you
to everyone who donate money
for the NSA representatives to
buy the needed items for the
family. We were able to get
everything on the list the family
needed/requested.
Caminar house- I
saved this for last as many
students are unaware what
Caminar house is. Caminar
house is “a nonprofit
community-based agency that
Inside this issue:
has been providing support
services to individuals with
serious mental illness for over
42 years”
(http://www.caminar.org/)
For 2nd years having
completed the psychiatric
rotation there is a new found
respect for an agency such as
Caminar House. I felt that
rotation was such a new and
wonderful experience and
hopefully others in my class
will agree we left that rotation
with a new respect for patient
care and having a better
understanding between the
difference of empathy and
sympathy, and remembering to
be a little less judgmental of
individuals with mental illness.
Change
Q8weeks
2
OR experience
3
Hispanics in
nursing
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Pain
Management
7
Reminders!!!
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Pictures
9+
Caption describing
picture or graphic.
For 1st years I hope
this tradition continues in years
to follow as it makes such a
difference to individuals for the
greatness of giving back.
Special points
of interest:
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
“It’s not a
nurse’s job to be
a person’s judge
and jury”.

100 word
pinning
statement due
March 1.

Kaplan meeting
March 7
How do we change every 8 weeks?
By: Aaron Ly
Hello everyone! I know time pass by fast since we have to change courses
every eight weeks and I know everyone tend to get stress out from all the care plans,
testes, and clinical preparation. I think that is the hardest thing about nursing school,
especially near the end of the semester where I need to prep for competency. I always
get nervous and scared that I am saying or doing the wrong thing, but I always try my
best. Each course has it challenges and it really testes who you really are as a person. I
learned a lot about myself and others since I had been in nursing school and I believe
it made me into a better and understanding person. However, stress is a key factor for
me and I always tend to get stress out really easily, so I want to teach you some
relaxation techniques. The one I like most is mindfulness meditation because it helps
you become aware of your surroundings and your moment to moment experience,
which include both internal and external. First, find a quiet environment such as your
home, office, garden, and place of worship or in the great outdoors where you can
relax without any distraction or interruptions. Second, find a comfortable position and
sit up straight on either the floor or a chair. Third, find a point of focus such as an
imaginary scene, a flame or meaningful word or phrase that you repeat throughout
your session. You may close your eyes or leave your eyes open and concentrate on an
object. Lastly, use the deep breathing technique you all learn and keep your point of
focus if your focus is on an object or if it is meaningful word or phrases. Some of the
benefits of mindfulness include relieving stress, lower blood pressure, improve sleep,
reduce chronic pain, and alleviate GI difficulties. Try this technique and tell me what
you guys think! I hope you guys have an awesome break after this final and remember
to have fun!!!
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Student Nurse OR experience
By: Joey Cortes
My experience in the OR is something I won’t forget. It was great to
see the different procedures that we were covering in class especially the
laparoscopic surgeries. It was amazing to see how precise the surgeons
were in using their equipment while looking on the monitor to do their
procedures. The surgeons at San Mateo Medical Center were great
teachers. This one particular surgeon was verbal in explaining what he was
doing during a knee surgery and what he was removing from the knee to
relieve the patient’s pain. As far as nursing, it was good to see the different
types of environments that the patient goes through. There is a lot of
paperwork involved in the very beginning, but I liked how my nurses were
also comforting the patient telling her that they were going to take good
care of her before, during and after the procedure. It was an example of
being a patient advocate because I could tell that the patient was extremely
nervous before the surgery and it was great to see how a couple of
comforting words and explanation helped relieved the patients anxiety. I
also was able to see a complication after surgery and what they did to
relieve that complication. The patient came in for a hernia surgery but she
also had a history of respiratory problems. After the surgery, she had
difficult time breathing, so the nurses at the PACU positioned her upright to
promote maximum lung expansion, placed her on oxygen and monitored
her pulse oximetry. They put her on continuous pulse oximetry after surgery
because her value was in the low 80%. After the immediate interventions,
her pulse oximetry got up to 90%. The doctor wasn't satisfied that it was
only 90%, so she got admitted for 23-hour observation. The doctor's order
was to have the patient be on continuous pulse oximetry monitoring. It was
nice to be able to witness a patient go from the OR to the PACU to the
Short Stay Unit to the Floor. For the patient, this must have been the worstcase scenario to be admitted after surgery but as a student, it was great to
see the process from beginning to the end.
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Hispanics in Nursing
By Marta Torres
Our country’s population is growing with more ethnically and racially diverse groups
of people, yet the vast majority of nurses in this country are predominantly white. According
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010, 78.6% of RN’s were white, 12.0% were black,
7.5% Asian, and 4.9% were Hispanic. Hispanics are underrepresented in nursing, yet it is
known that there is a high demand for nurses who are Latinos to provide culturally
competent care. According to Center of California Health Workforce studies, the
underrepresentation of Latinos are due to lower overall educational attainment, (in other
words most Hispanics don’t go to college and get a degree, or even pursue a career in
nursing?)
Why the need for Hispanics in nursing? Not just because we are the faster growing,
largest minority group. Most Latinos would or prefer to visit the doctor/hospital if there is a
bilingual staff there to help them. Hispanics also prefer to speak Spanish when consulting a
physician or healthcare professional. (“The Hispanic Market and Pharmaceutical Drugs”,
Cultural Access Group, 2/04) In addition to this preference, Latinos often feel that they are
treated better by another Latino. (Rodriguez, Otto J. How Latinos Approach Healthcare
Issues. 3/02) Latinos often tell the Hispanic nurse something that they would not tell the
doctor or even the nurse of different nationality. In general Latinos feel less discriminated
against or threatened if the nurse is Hispanic. Having a Hispanic nurse is helpful to provide
the doctor with a complete history. Lastly, Latino nurses are culturally competent which is
helpful in knowing certain costumes/beliefs in the Hispanic population.
The National Association of Hispanics Nurses (NAHN) lists 13 objectives of the
Hispanic nurse, four of which I advocate now as a nursing student: 1. Evaluate the health
care needs of the Hispanic Community, 2. Identify barriers in the implementation & delivery
of health services to Hispanic consumers and recommend appropriate solutions to local,
state, and federal agencies, 3. Develop, test, promote culturally sensitive models of
interventions that provide effective nursing care for Hispanic communities. 4. Disseminate
research finding related to Hispanic population to increase awareness of the specific health
care needs of Hispanics. By implementing these objectives nurses will truly make a
difference in health care. As nursing students we should be aware of the importance of our
role in the Latino community. Although all nurses advocate for their patients, bilingual
nurses have a duty provide their linguistic skill or make sure that patients that do not speak
English have a translator. I cannot stress this enough: patients must always know what is
being done to them even if they are getting one simple shot!
Hispanic nurses are leaders, experts, and can make a difference in the health care field.
More recruiting and support is needed to those who wish to enter the exciting field of
nursing. The College of San Mateo Nursing program graduated 5 Latino students in 2010
and 4 in 2011, next year we are expected to have 7 graduates with that number to increase in
the year 2014.
4
Fellow Hispanic nursing students answer the question: How will you help your
Hispanic Community?
Daisy Salmeron (Nicaraguan) states: “I will give back to my community by encouraging Latinas to go to
college, especially the single moms. Letting them know it is never too late to go back to school so both them
and their children can have a brighter future. And hopefully their children will follow in the same path. I
would like to refer them to the many agencies that could help them with the resources necessary to make
going back to school a possibility.”
Eva Torres (Mexican) states: “Offer my bilingual skills to Spanish-speaking only patients; help these people
find resources in their own language. Encourage other people in my culture to become nurses and lastly
participate in educational activities in the Hispanic community.”
5
Pain Management for All
By: Andrea Otten
I decided to write this article about pain management. I have noticed during my
rotation that there are differences in the amount of pain management people receive
according to how the health care worker feels about the patient. For example I witnesses
people that were denied pain medication due to alcohol related issues with the
justification that these people “did it to themselves.” These situations were sad for me to
witness mostly because I am currently dealing with a similar situation with someone
that is very close to me. It is not a nurse’s job to be a person’s judge and jury. How a
person chose to live their life is not our business. What is out business is caring for
patients and managing symptoms. Especially if they are at the end of their life, we
should be making them as comfortable as possible. I chose to write this article on this
topic in hopes that I could open your eyes to this situation. Once we become nurses
become callous and judgmental if we don’t keep compassion as a top priority.
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REMINDERS!!!!
 2ND YEARS- Payment for graduation is due ($100) please see NSA reps if you
have not yet paid
 2nd YEARS- 100 word pinning statement due March 1, 2013
o Guidelines
 Keep less than 100 words
 Send to csmnursing.detamore@gmail.com
 Send to me in Times New Roman- size 12 font
 Put what NSA position title you held (if applicable)
 In subject line of email, please put: 2013 pinning statement
 Spellcheck and proof read please- we are college students
 Please keep clean
 2nd YEARS- Kaplan orientation/presentation set for Thursday, March 7th
after lecture at 3:30pm
o Will be presenting information about the NCLEX course and will be
available to answer any questions
o Payment of $50 made on March 7th is all that is required to reserve
your spot in the class
o Actual NCLEX review class is tentatively scheduled for 5/28-5/31
from 0900-1600
 1st & 2nd YEARS- Tutoring is still available
o Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity if you feel like you
are falling behind or just need that extra help/reassurance
st
 1 & 2nd YEARS- As always please send pictures- always needed for
graduation slide show (send to csmnursing.detamore@gmail.com)

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Nursing School builds friendships that last a life time
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