Molly Jacobs
Phil 120
M2: Journal Reflections
Journal Reflection #1
Hearing that person A has dementia was not a huge surprise to me. She is 88 years old
and the chances of developing dementia grow with age. I was however a little surprised to hear
that person B has ovarian cancer. I feel like 23 is so young for that diagnosis. Person D’s
diagnosis of a self-inflicted abdomen wound took me by surprise as well. I assumed that if he
really was innocent that he would be fighting to get out of jail and not trying to take his own life.
I was mostly surprised to hear about person C’s diagnosis. When learning about person
C, I imagined a religious man that follows a strict set of guidelines given by his church/religion.
Although the text never explicitly said he was married to a woman, I just assumed he was given
the fact that he was a pastor at a denominational church. Hearing that this man has HIV does
not match with what I had envisioned. I am curious to know how he contracted this virus. The
way HIV is transmitted does not match what I am assuming his lifestyle is. I would assume that
he is not a drug user sharing needles and because he is a pastor, I would assume he (and his
wife) do not believe in pre-marital sex and would therefore not had other partners to possibly
have gotten it from.
Unfortunately, these four people may have different experiences in the hospital setting
due to not only their diagnoses’ but also their socioeconomic factors. I can see person A being
taken care of very well and nurses and staff going above and beyond for her because she is
educated and is at a high socioeconomic status. There is nothing controversial about her
, diagnosis or even her lifestyle really. Person B will also receive good care. However, she is a
single mother and on what I assume is the lower socioeconomic status, and some nurses may
not be as attentive to her, compared to person A. Because of person C’s diagnosis, I could see
the nurse’s own beliefs play a role in his care. Maybe some nurses will even refuse to care for
him? Depending on the crime that person D has been charged with committing, I could also see
some nurses refuse to care for him. Maybe the nurses that do care for him will do so with less
compassion because he is in jail and his wound is self-inflicted?
Journal Reflection #2
In my opinion, dignity is simply the fact that a person’s life is worth something. It
reminds me of the Dr. Seuss quote, “a persons a person no matter how small”. No matter how
much greatness they have accomplished or how many horrible things they may have done, the
fact is that they are a human being. Respect is something that you can give to another person
or even earn for yourself.
Nurses can show both to patients everyday regardless of their socioeconomic status or
medical diagnosis. A nurse can treat a homeless woman off the streets with the same
compassion for a woman that is a millionaire. The nurse should make sure that both patients
are heard, treated with respect, and given the proper care they need. Another example could
be if the nurse had to treat a patient with a violent crime history and is currently in jail. Even
though this patient may have done truly horrible things, the nurse must still realize this person’s
dignity and care for their medical needs with respect. On the other end of that spectrum would
be a scenario where the nurses favorite actor comes into the hospital. Even though the nurse is
Phil 120
M2: Journal Reflections
Journal Reflection #1
Hearing that person A has dementia was not a huge surprise to me. She is 88 years old
and the chances of developing dementia grow with age. I was however a little surprised to hear
that person B has ovarian cancer. I feel like 23 is so young for that diagnosis. Person D’s
diagnosis of a self-inflicted abdomen wound took me by surprise as well. I assumed that if he
really was innocent that he would be fighting to get out of jail and not trying to take his own life.
I was mostly surprised to hear about person C’s diagnosis. When learning about person
C, I imagined a religious man that follows a strict set of guidelines given by his church/religion.
Although the text never explicitly said he was married to a woman, I just assumed he was given
the fact that he was a pastor at a denominational church. Hearing that this man has HIV does
not match with what I had envisioned. I am curious to know how he contracted this virus. The
way HIV is transmitted does not match what I am assuming his lifestyle is. I would assume that
he is not a drug user sharing needles and because he is a pastor, I would assume he (and his
wife) do not believe in pre-marital sex and would therefore not had other partners to possibly
have gotten it from.
Unfortunately, these four people may have different experiences in the hospital setting
due to not only their diagnoses’ but also their socioeconomic factors. I can see person A being
taken care of very well and nurses and staff going above and beyond for her because she is
educated and is at a high socioeconomic status. There is nothing controversial about her
, diagnosis or even her lifestyle really. Person B will also receive good care. However, she is a
single mother and on what I assume is the lower socioeconomic status, and some nurses may
not be as attentive to her, compared to person A. Because of person C’s diagnosis, I could see
the nurse’s own beliefs play a role in his care. Maybe some nurses will even refuse to care for
him? Depending on the crime that person D has been charged with committing, I could also see
some nurses refuse to care for him. Maybe the nurses that do care for him will do so with less
compassion because he is in jail and his wound is self-inflicted?
Journal Reflection #2
In my opinion, dignity is simply the fact that a person’s life is worth something. It
reminds me of the Dr. Seuss quote, “a persons a person no matter how small”. No matter how
much greatness they have accomplished or how many horrible things they may have done, the
fact is that they are a human being. Respect is something that you can give to another person
or even earn for yourself.
Nurses can show both to patients everyday regardless of their socioeconomic status or
medical diagnosis. A nurse can treat a homeless woman off the streets with the same
compassion for a woman that is a millionaire. The nurse should make sure that both patients
are heard, treated with respect, and given the proper care they need. Another example could
be if the nurse had to treat a patient with a violent crime history and is currently in jail. Even
though this patient may have done truly horrible things, the nurse must still realize this person’s
dignity and care for their medical needs with respect. On the other end of that spectrum would
be a scenario where the nurses favorite actor comes into the hospital. Even though the nurse is
