Week 8 Journal 1: Self-Reflection, Spending, Saving, and Life Habits – One Paycheck? Two, Three . . . Ten?
Week 8 Journal 1: Self-Reflection, Spending, Saving, and Life Habits – One Paycheck? Two, Three . . . Ten?
Value: 100 points
Due: Day 7
Grading Category: Journals
Read and Reflect
No matter how much you earn, “getting by” is still a struggle for most people these days. Seventy-eight percent of full-time workers indicated that they live paycheck to paycheck, which is up from 75 percent for the previous year, according to a report from CareerBuilder (August 24, 2017). Most of us make New Year’s resolutions, and budgeting or staying on budget is frequently in the top three. According to Statistia.com, after reviewing more than 22,500 sources, the top three New Year’s resolutions for 2018 tied at 37 percent each – eat healthier, get more exercise, and save more money. At the same time, 32 percent of those polled did not intend to make a .
When thinking about the mindset of Americans, their New Year’s resolutions, and the state of our health, as Advanced Practice Nurses, we need to understand that we are dealing with more than the “health” or “disease” of our patients, but also cultural mores and financial constraints. The studies may recommend a certain course of treatment, but when most of us are “one paycheck away” from disaster, the study recommendations do not take into account who’s going to keep the lights on or food on the table.
Reflect on the learning material for this week, other people you may know, and your own personal situation in relation to money. Consider how an individual’s financial well-being directly affects their overall health and their ability to receive preventative services and evidence-based care.
You may journal in first-person and this assignment does not require references as it is your thoughts; however, be sure to review the rubric as a minimum of one reference is required to be considered exemplary work. If you choose to use quotes or citable material, you are expected to follow APA formatting.
Please refer to the for details on how this activity will be graded.
Posting Your Journal Entry:
- Select Start or Edit My Journal Entry.
- Create your journal entry.
- Select Save Changes.
Week 8 Journal
In today’s economy, everything is controlled by money. One’s financial status dictates what they can afford and what they cannot. I have witnessed people choose one necessity over another because they cannot afford both. A few times, I have had to decide whether to pay my bills and have less money left for rent or the other way round. Lately, life has been tough on everyone because of the pandemic. People have lost jobs, exhausted their savings, and left on the edge of their seats wondering what will happen next. People fear being evicted and becoming homeless, the sick are afraid to go see their providers because he/she might order exams such as ultrasounds which cost a lot of money and the patients do not have that kind of money to begin with. My husband has been having hypertension for a while and we knew about it but because his health plan only covered emergencies, he hesitated to see a doctor, not until he ended up in intensive care unit (ICU) 2 weeks ago with his blood pressure in the 200s. Am glad he has been stabilized and he is now home but now I wonder how we are going to acquire regular coverage so that he is able to see his primary care physician (PCP) and how much that will cost. Making matters worse, he is on medical leave, and am worried how we will survive on only one paycheck. I can really relate to Fottrell’s (2018) Ms. Battle’s story. Unfortunately, it is reality for most of us regardless of how educated we are. One would think that being a nurse would mean living well, but sadly we too struggle with daily life issues. On top of paying the bills, we also must pay back the school loans applied during school. The Biden administration recently announced changes to student loan forgiveness programs that could help relieve stress for nurses (Camera,2021) but that is yet to be seen. Although if initiated, I believe it would be beneficial for a lot of nurses having to pay back the loans.
References
Camera, L. (2021, October 6). Biden administration to make major changes to student loan … Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2021-10-06/biden-administration-to-make-major-changes-to-student-loan-forgiveness-program.
Fottrell, Q. (2018, January 20). Millions of Americans are one pay check away from the street. MarketWatch. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-americans-are-one-medical-emergency-away-from-financial-disaster-2017-01-12.
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
Welcome to class
Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.
Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.
If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.
Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- The is a great resource
Journal Rubric
Note: Scholarly resources are defined as evidence-based practice, peer-reviewed journals; textbook (do not rely solely on your textbook as a reference); and National Standard Guidelines. Review assignment instructions, as this will provide any additional requirements that are not specifically listed on the rubric.
| Criteria | Exemplary Exceeds Expectations |
Advanced Meets Expectations |
Intermediate Needs Improvement |
Novice Inadequate |
Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus and Content | In addition to self-reflection, the journal components are provided along with clear examples supported by course content and references that speak to how the journal content relates to the questions posed within the assignment.
Cites one or more references. All instruction requirements noted. 45 points |
Components of the journal are topic focused and accurately and thoroughly presented via self-reflective explanations and application of knowledge to personal and/or professional life.
All instruction requirements noted. 40 points |
Components of the journal are summarized with minimal self-reflection or application to personal or professional life.
Synthesis of course content is present but missing depth and/or development. Missing some instruction requirements. 35 points |
Course content is present but there is no self-reflection noted within the journal.
Demonstrates incomplete understanding of content and/or inadequate preparation. Missing several instruction requirements. Submits assignment late. 31 points |
45 |
| Application of Knowledge through Critical Thinking | Critical analysis is supported with information from scholarly resource(s), offering new insight into the context of the assignment.
Student indicates how the experience will have an impact on their professional practice. All instruction requirements noted. 45 points |
The journal submission presents findings and knowledge gained from the assignment. An obvious link between the assignment and nursing is noted.
Submission provides clarification of the assignment by answering all posed questions. All instruction requirements noted. 40 points |
Journal content may be confusing, unclear, or incomplete–lacking clarification or new information.
The student alluded to a practice application, but the information provided was not clear. Not all questions posed are addressed. Missing some instruction requirements. 35 points |
Submission is primarily a summation of the assignment without further synthesis or analysis of course content.
Application of knowledge is limited, with no direct application to clinical practice discussed. Demonstrates incomplete understanding of content and/or inadequate preparation. More than one question posed is not addressed. Missing several instruction requirements. Submits assignment late. 31 points |
45 |
| Organization | Well-organized content with a clear and complex purpose statement and argument content. Writing is concise with a logical flow of ideas.
5 points |
Organized content with an informative purpose statement, supportive content, and summary statement. Argument content is developed with minimal issues in content flow.
4 points |
Poor organization and flow of ideas distract from content. Narrative is difficult to follow and frequently causes reader to reread work.
Purpose statement is noted. 3 points |
Illogical flow of ideas. Prose rambles. Purpose statement is unclear or missing.
Demonstrates incomplete understanding of content and/or inadequate preparation. No purpose statement. Submits assignment late. 2 points |
5 |
| APA Referencing, Grammar, and Spelling | Correct applicable APA formatting with no errors.
The writer correctly identifies reading audience, as demonstrated by appropriate language (avoids jargon and simplifies complex concepts appropriately). There are no spelling, punctuation, or word-usage errors. 5 points |
The writer demonstrates correct usage of formal English language in sentence construction.
There are minimal to no grammar, punctuation, or word-usage errors. 4 points |
The writer occasionally uses awkward sentence structure. Problems with word usage (evidence of incorrect use of thesaurus) and punctuation persist, often causing some difficulties with grammar.
Multiple grammar, punctuation, or word usage errors. 3 points |
The writer struggles with limited vocabulary and has difficulty conveying meaning such that only the broadest, most general messages are presented.
Grammar and punctuation are consistently incorrect. Spelling errors are numerous. Submits assignment late. 2 points |
5 |
| Total Points | 100 | ||||
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