The RN really became a part of the educational team, tailoring her assistance to the child to the classroom environment. In fact, because much of the education seemed tailored towards teaching the students basic life-skills information, such as the weather, the nurse was able to really interact with the child's education. The best part of the experience was observing the inherent joy in children. From an outsider's perspective, the children in this school had very few reasons to express joy or feel happiness. Almost all of them had significant physical challenges in addition to mental retardation. None of these children has a childhood even approximating normalcy. However, many of the children seemed happy. In fact, it was seeing the joy that a small action could bring to these children was very uplifting. In fact, one particular child seemed especially joyful. Because of privacy concerns, I was not able to access the child's medical records, but he appeared to have cerebral palsy and mental retardation. He had a tracheostomy and the nurse and teachers...

Despite the fact that his school, which he seemed to be enjoying, was interrupted for medical care, he seemed to maintain a sunny disposition and optimism that were very uplifting. However, watching his care was also one of the more difficult parts of the visit. Although I feel arrogant for acknowledging this, I could not help but feel pity for these children, knowing that their conditions would never significantly improve. Despite feeling that pity and sadness, I would definitely recommend the observation experience to another student. The reality is that anyone in the medical profession can expect to have patients with underlying physical or mental challenges that came make diagnosis and treatment more difficult. Understanding that, despite apparent differences, these people are human beings who deserve dignity and respect is one key to being a quality healthcare provider. I think visits like this one are a great reminder of…