Southern Cross University Healthcare Portfolio: Personal Biography

This assignment presents a student's personal biography, written as part of a healthcare professional portfolio for a course at Southern Cross University. The biography details the student's upbringing, values, and early influences, particularly their growing interest in nursing. It outlines their educational path, including a diploma and a master's degree in mental health, and their 25 years of experience in the field. The student reflects on their nursing philosophy, emphasizing the crucial role of nurses in patient care and their commitment to compassion, communication, and critical thinking. The biography also includes the student's short-term and long-term goals, emphasizing the importance of communication, critical analysis, clinical judgment, and leadership skills in their practice. The student describes their work in community health programs and their advocacy efforts, demonstrating their dedication to improving patient care and mental health awareness. The document highlights the student's understanding of population health and leadership skills and their commitment to furthering their education and contributing to global mental health initiatives.

Personal Biography
I was born and brought up in a small town of family of 9 in a typical catholic Australian family in 1964.
This is the place where my values were nurtured, I developed faith in kindness and compassion. These
character traits have not only persuaded my childhood, but they have made me the person who I am.
My interest in the felid of nursing grew when I was in my junior year of high school. I was constantly
applying in various volunteer programs after school in my community and that is when I realized nursing
is the field where I want my blood and sweat to be contributed to. Through volunteering, I was able to
understand how many lives I can save just by providing care, especially the ones who are in need of love
and support. That is the reason why I feel I am very sympathetic when it comes to helping people, and
this is the profession through which I can make huge difference in people’s lives. So, I can confidently
say that I am doing what I always intended to do and I can do this for my whole life.
When I entered my diploma course in university of Canberra, I wanted to become a nurse anesthetist;
but in the course of my study and the practice that I involved myself in after my diploma, I somehow
found my niche in mental health care. That is when I felt acquiring more knowledge through my
masters, would be a great opportunity for me to help people who are undergoing pain and trauma due
to various factors in their life, like addiction to drugs or alcohol, depression, anxiety, etc. After
completing 25 years of experience in mental health, I got inclined towards getting my master’s degree at
Southern Cross university and take a step forward in my educational qualification. Throughout my
nursing practice in various organizations and hospitals, I have had the opportunity to experience intense
emotions like joy, pain, sorrow, healing and death, these experiences have only catered me in the
process of realizing that I have made the right career choice.
I believe that one must bifurcate their goals, that is, keeping them short term and long term. For me, my
short-term goal would be to complete my masters in mental health in spring of 2019 and acquire a job
in the field of mental health in the best mental hospital in Queensland, Australia. Whereas, my long-
term goals involve being able to gain experience in mental/psychiatric hospital in Australia. Including, if
the time is right, I would like to further my education, that is, doctoral degree in psychiatric nursing in
order to contribute towards global and cultural mental health and mental health policy through my
work and research. However, my plans are not concrete because one cannot plan everything for
themselves, as sometimes the greatest of the opportunities need no planning.
My Nursing Philosophy
In my career of practice, I have always felt that nursing profession is vastly relevant and how efforts of a
nurse are overlooked every day. Nurses are the individuals who are making things happen when it
comes to a patients overall mental growth. They are the one who are working in stressful shifts and
doing “behindhand scenes” activities like uplifting patients, documenting, washing and referring patients
to get the resources they would require in their development. They are the ones who are executing
doctor’s instructions, but at the same time have the responsibility to be accountable to the orders that
are provided. They make sure, that the patient gets his/her medication or dosage on time and make
sure they are safe as well. They are the one who are with the patient round the clock and first
responders when any patient makes any requests. A nurse is made to be on his/her feet every minute
irrespective of their illness and discomfort. They come before even the shift begins and leave hours after
when their shift ends just to make sure that the patients, they are in charge have all the available goods
before they leave. They are with their patients at every step, even when their family leaves them in

hospitals it is us, who are taking care of them. The bond with them becomes string as we are the ones
with whom they celebrate their joy and it is us whom they look for when they are in pain. Therefore,
nurses are the individuals who tap on this profession even after knowing, that they have to work
tirelessly, there will be highs, and deep painful lows because they are the kindest caretakers to all
patients.
Henceforth, my nursing philosophy is everything that I have mentioned above, this is not just my belief
but it is a responsibly I carry the moment I wear my uniform. In other words, for me nursing is extremely
pleasing, satisfying, and right calling profession. It demands sacrifice, devotion, hard work, honesty and
empathy. It makes an individual grow in various dimensions, not just physically or emotionally but
spiritually through the everyday challenges. This is because each day, a nurse is out of its comfort zone
being in the same place, as he/she doesn’t know which challenge is waiting for them.
Conclusions based on my Nursing Curricular
Communication & Teamwork Skills
Communication is also an integral part of nursing profession. They are required to talk to their patients,
amongst each other, and with other members of the institution to help in the improvement of the
patient. A nurse greets his/her patient, discuss their concerns and issues and simultaneously deliver
holistic and empathetic care so that they can recover at the earliest. However, communication is a key
factor through which the process of a patient’s recovery becomes easy. The reason why I stand by this
skill and consider it vital is because, previous to commencing my nursing career, communication was not
my strength. Prior to being accepted in my nursing diploma, I was someone who would not ask any
person a lot of questions, I was a shy and introvert person and opening up to someone was quite a
challenge. During my third semester in diploma, I also finished a life assessment with a patient from a
longstanding mental care facility. With the help of this interview, which was completely based on a
conversation, I was able to connect and collaborate with the patient to help her recollect her depression
that was related to her past. Through this experience I was able to comprehend that a conversation with
a patient doesn’t have to be perfect, what matters is how well we are able to connect with their loss.
Therefore, now I can proudly say that with 25 years of experience, I have perfected the art of
communication.
Critical Analysis and Clinical Verdict in my Clinical Practice
Just like any other profession, Nursing also requires critical analysis and clinical judgement skills so that a
continuous care can be provided to the patients round the clock. This is because we spend a lot of time
with the patients, so the moment a patient exhibits a minute change, it is the nurse who is able to
identify it. When a nurse identifies these changes in a patient, it becomes extremely critical for a nurse
to respond and it is would be right to say that we are not wholesomely reliant on the health care
provider because in some cases we are also making judgements on the basis of our intuition and
conscience.
The reason for me saying this is because, in my recent practice, I came across a lot of cases related to
enormous cases of depression, especially amongst women. Such cases are increasing each day in today’s
society. From research both, on field and study, I have to come to realization that the symptoms of

depression can be judged much before when a patient goes into chronic or manic stage of depression,
also called psychotic depression. Through this practice and encountering cases of chronic anxiety and
depression, I am able to help the patients especially the young ones, by providing them awareness when
they meet me or ask me questions related to depression. Including, a research paper I wrote about
postnatal depression, discussed about the course, indicators, and suitable steps that must be taken to
diagnose the illness. This paper did not only help me in making critical judgements but gave me
knowledge to educate patients who are suffering from this illness. However, through this clinical
practice and critical thinking, I will be in a better position to recognize changes in my patients, offer
them apt clinical judgement, and help them take precautions so that there are no further complications
caused due to postnatal depression. This judgement will continue to improve with time and experience
as I grow and progress in my profession.
Clinical Deterrence and Population Health Skills
The population that we serve being nurses do not have health related understanding, or they do not
have a proper understanding of the dangers of poor mental health within their communities. Through
the Community valuation program, I was able to provide awareness to the people of the community and
improve their understanding on the topic of mental health. During the course of this project I was able
to learn about various resources that are lacking in many rural communities. The biggest difference I feel
I have witnessed is, prior to this project, when I used to go out on a vacation, I use to observe buildings,
architecture, etc. in a town, but now, I tend to focus on recreational centers, parks, hospitals, etc.it is
only through this project, I was able to understand to ask the patients If there are available and apt
resources to them and help them live a healthier lifestyle.
Leadership Skills
When it comes to being a leader, one particular incident that demonstrates an act of my leadership is a
letter I wrote to senator to advocate for suitable nurse to patient ratios. As per my understanding, this
issue required an immediate attention because, intensive care units should have lesser nurses in
comparison to the medical surgical care units. Patients in ICU are at a higher risk than the one in
intensive care. This is only due to my devoted involvement I was able to recognize this issue and took it
on me to bring the issue in light. Also, as my career continues to move forward, will be able to polish my
leadership skills and be an advocate of concerns and issues.