Skip to main content

June 5, 2019

Image
By

June 5, 2019

           Today, we were given the chance to go to the SnowBird Residential Treatment Recovery Center and the Baptist Cherokee Church.  While observing the childbearing practices within this culture at the Baptist Cherokee Church, I had noticed that there are many foster families and elders that have taken in children of younger ages due to drug and alcohol problems when the mother is pregnant.  There is drug and alcohol problem within this reservation and before the mothers become pregnant, they may become addicted to drugs.  Once getting pregnant, they are addicted and are not able to stop using the drugs, which causes the babies to become addicted to the drugs as well.  We had interacted with an infant who had been born addicted to drugs because the mother had been involved in the usage of drugs since a teenager.  This infant had been involved in foster homes many times in her life, but is now in a good foster home.  Individuals that have the most respect within the reservation are the elders.  Elders within the reservation are known to be at the age of sixty-two and half years of age.  Some types of family structures that I had noticed while observing in the Baptist Cherokee Church were that there were young children with their grandparents.  These children were involved in foster homes and were not involved with their parents no longer because of drugs and alcohol.  Some support systems that are in the community are the church and other families.  This reservation is very family orientated and they are always helping each other out when in need.  When I think about the word resilience and how a child and a family that deals with the battles of drug and alcohol abuse, I think of how hard it would be to bounce back from the stress, challenges, and vulnerabilities without breaking down and having a smile on my smile.  I would for sure break down, but these individuals are doing what they can for their family to make their children and grandchildren's lives better.  These individuals are always still willing to talk to you and teach you whenever they see you!  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

June 6, 2019

By
June 6, 2019           Today, we observed the Mission Children's Hospital in Asheville, which offers cares to eighteen different counties in North Carolina.  As myself and the students with me observed this Children's Hospital, we observed that they are a 130 bed facility that have general pediatrics, pediatric intensive care unit, and a neonatal intensive care unit.  When the nurses are in need of help explaining procedures, they are able to call Child Life to help explain the procedures to the children.  This is somewhat similar to our Children's Hospital back at home in Illinois, but I did notice one thing a little different when observing.  When in the neonatal intensive care unit, when rounding with the parents and nurses about the baby they are caring for, the physicians, respiratory therapist, and nutritionist are at a specific table within the neonatal intensive care unit they sit at to go over all the laboratory results, x-ray...
Post a Comment
Read more

June 4, 2019

By
June 4, 2019        Today, we had a clinical observation experience at the Cherokee Indian Hospital.  During our clinical experience, we had learned that the health care system of the Cherokee Indian Hospital is ran by their people.  I found this very interesting because it shows that the Native Americans really care about their people and their opinions of how they would like to be cared for.  We went to three different areas within the Cherokee Indian Hospital, the emergency room, primary care, and inpatient care.  In the emergency room, myself, Mackenzie, and Alex noticed that there was a team leader, who worked the same as a charge nurse, two providers, a nurse for each section, and two CNA's.  Before leaving the emergency room, we were able to see a patient get triaged.  We then proceeded to primary care, which I found very interesting.   I found that patients were canceling their appointments because of the PerC...
1 comment
Read more

June 2, 2019

By
June 2, 2019                 Before visiting the Museum of Appalachia, I really didn't know much about about the individuals of this territory.  After going through the museum, I found it to be very interesting and educational.  There were several things that stood out to me while going through the museum, especially the areas dedicated to healthcare.  It was very interesting to see how these individuals used their medical supplies and how some of the medical supplies seemed to be very unsanitary.  It made me wonder how many individuals developed an infection after having a procedure done.  As I think of how the Appalachian culture is unique, I think of how these individuals live in a simple environment and are able to live completely off the land.  I discovered that Appalachian individuals look at their families and their people as a whole rather than just one.  A highlight that a I took aw...
1 comment
Read more