Reflection and Summary

I created a drawing that depicts a nurse and a patient during an appointment. When you flip the bent pieces of paper, you then see the “behind the scenes” and struggles facing both the nurse and patient. The man is battling stereotypes of schizophrenia with words like “asylum” and “schizo” surrounding him. Even the nurse is facing her own battles with pressures and assumptions society creates regarding women’s health/fertility with words like “woman’s purpose” and “breast is better” around her. The “I’m fine” represents the vulnerability that we must have in our lives, to be authentic people, and to help build therapeutic relationships as nurses. The pieces of paper revealing these struggles are wrinkled, representing the imperfection behind flaws. The colour blue represents what we see on the outside, whereas the red represents what we don’t see, and what inner challenges individuals face. The man’s chest is being auscultated (where his heart is) but despite the use of medical tools, the nurse will not always know what struggles are in his heart.

Artwork Connection to my Five Topics and Podcast

let's recap...

My Five Topics of Choice

1. The Power of Vulnerability

2. Therapeutic Relationships

3. Indigenous Healthcare Structures

4. Breastfeeding vs. Formula Feeding

5. The Post-Colonial Lens

Vulnerability

This piece connects to the power of vulnerability as it shows how, without it, we nurses can miss out on major contributing life stressors a patient may be silently battling, and thus, will be unable to overcome. When a nurse shows her own vulnerability and "human side" (within, of course, the realm of professionalism), he/she will be able to tap into an internal aspect of their patient and, hopefully, unlock vulnerability in them. Being kind and pleasant is a good start (as seen in blue), when we peel back the intenal layers (shown in red), we can truly begin to nurse, by understanding our patients most prominent life struggles. Even if these struggles are imperfect (as seen by the wrinkled edges) they make us human -- and that's beautiful.

Therapeutic Relationships

The power of building therapeutic relationships cannot be undermined. In this depiction, vulnerability is the "key" that unlocks therapeutic relationships, and once this is established, we can begin to heal. The colour in red represents the inner parts of ourselves; our blood, our brains and our hearts. It represents the integrity of building that structure with out patient/healthcare provider to establish deep-rooted trust and care, despite it not always being pretty. I purposely drew Nurse Martha to be auscultating Henry's heart, and once she taps into his heart in a professional yet therapeutic manner, the vulnerability behind each individual's struggle begins to reveal itself.

Indigenous Healthcare Structures

If you completed my DIY case study in the Artifacts section of my portfolio (please do before reading this!), you have background regarding the medical/social history of the man depicted in my piece -- Henry -- who has diagnosed Schizophrenia. Henry is Indigenous, and much of his struggle is based on a lack of holistic understanding regarding the needs of Indigenous patients being treated within Western medical practices. Henry is not only experincing his own schizophrenic hallucinations and societal biases towards people with schizophrenia, but also has historically received inadequate healthcare from Westernized healthcare providers due to a lack of understanding of the needs of Indigenous patients.

Breastfeeding vs. Formula Feeding

The bias, opinions and challenges towards breastfeeding vs. formula feeding is another contributing factor to Nurse Martha's internal dialogue of distress. As seen with the words "breast is better" this piece emphasizes the impact of other's words/opinions on the thoughts and overall wellbeing of young women.

The Post-Colonial Lens

Again regarding Henry's Indigenous identity, this picture goes to show the effects that post-colonialism have on the proper/effective/ethical treatment of Indigenous Peoples, specifically with mental illness and lack access to healthcare being a major determinant of health, Henry faces both the effects of mental illness and post-colonialism in everyday life, and it is the nurse's job to understand these contextual factors using relational inquiry, and find ways to overcome them with Henry in his care plan.

Please learn more about each matter by listening to my podcast and clicking the scholarly research articles included with it below!