Going into this class, I thought it would be a breeze because I have worked with the older population for so long and I was confident in my knowledge of the care that surrounded them. However, I was humbled by the amount of information that I didn’t know about the older population of which I will use as I begin to practice as a nurse. There are two concepts that I developed a better understanding and awareness for this population. These included the fact that not everyone meets Erikson’s stages in order or in the way that they are intended, and that when a patient is dying the family tends to focus on how they can fix the problem rather than spending quality time with their loved one in their last moments. 

            The fist insight came to me when I was interviewing my grandmother for the life review project. She never had an occupation or true passion in life other than being a wife and a mother. So, when it came to writing my reflection and analyzing her life compared to Erikson’s stages of development, I noticed that she met the intimacy vs. isolation stage before she met the identity vs. role confusion stage. This is because her purpose in life was to be a mother, however she did not figure this out until after she met her husband and had children. Therefore, we felt that she met the 6^th stage first. This showed me that not everyone goes through life in the stages according to Erikson, everyone is individual and creates the life of their own.

            The other insight came to me after doing the virtual reality case study about death and dying. Being able to see what it was life from the perspective of the patient, I noticed how much the family was not caring for or paying attention to the patient. I almost felt lonely even though I knew the family was there and just trying to help me. I know for a fact I will use this insight because I will have a patient that is dying, and it is important for me as the caregiver to not only support the family but also make sure that the patient does not feel alone through the process. Both of these insights that I have learned in Adult Health IV will not only help me in nursing as I know I will eventually care for the older population, but also as a human being and having older adults in my life it is important that I am aware of these so I can support them as well.