At Lutheran Summer Music – an organization that is rooted in music, community, and faith – I am the Health Counselor, the person of contact for any health-related concerns. My main role is to transport and administer daily medications and provide standard medical support. In addition to this, I am also a resource for students to discuss their overall mental and emotional health. Overall, I could not have found a more fulfilling way to spend my summer of service.

Upon applying for CAPS, my personal statement described in detail how I view healthcare as far more than a routine appointment or a diagnostic test. Instead, I view health as receiving medical care that addresses the multitude of factors that could affect an individual’s access to it. These factors could include social influence, personal experiences, a person’s environment, socioeconomic status, and more. I intend to deliver holistic care that addresses these factors, but I realize now that I was not completely prepared for this as I started my journey as a Health Counselor at Lutheran Summer Music.

Before LSM began, I made interactive posters to encourage students to reflect and check in with me on their mental health, and I made it a priority to connect with the larger community of staff and faculty – but I was still struggling with incorporating my holistic view of healthcare. At this point in Nursing school, my mind is mainly focused on textbook facts: best practice, the consequences of a mistake, and specific procedures to follow if someone reports this specific symptom. I am still quite rigid in medical thought and more reliant on procedure rather than case-by-case response. It is beneficial at times because it encourages me to assess thoroughly and respond quickly, but I feel that it could eventually limit my ability to fully connect with the students who seek me out for assistance.

In fact, as I reflect on one of the first incidents I encountered in the Health Counselor role, I now notice that I was so focused on health-related facts that I caught myself leading conversations that were not therapeutic. I recall focusing on concepts that I knew rather than allowing myself to be fully present in the situation in order to discern what the most beneficial intervention would be. I was worrying about the next steps to take, what I could do as the Health Counselor, what to do if this or that happened… and it only held me back from providing the complete care that I aspired to provide when I stepped into this role.

In the process of becoming the Health Counselor and experiencing some of my first situations in this position, I was struck by the fact that the best care I have given has been by simply being with each individual. In one of my Nursing courses, we learned a variety of theories that included Swanson’s Theory of Caring. This theory describes the main pillars of caring as: Knowing, Being with, Doing for, Enabling, and Maintaining belief. As a Nursing student in this role, I believe I am growing into the nurse I want to be as I learn what it means to ‘Be With.’ I am consistently ‘Doing for’ and helping out in obvious ways, but I think in many situations, ‘Being With’ can be far more beneficial. When someone is struggling emotionally, or not feeling themselves, the best thing we can do is be with them in the moment. This may involve getting this person a cup of water, asking how they are feeling, and simply listening. As a result of becoming more comfortable with ‘Being With,’ I am coming to learn that I do not need textbook facts to address every situation. This new knowledge is helping me to incorporate my holistic, comprehensive approach to healthcare into my role at LSM.

Additionally, I have the privilege of learning all of this in a familiar setting (on-campus at VU), although I am experiencing it in an entirely different way. Before LSM, I had only entered the Chapel of the Resurrection once – during first-year orientation. I had also only been in the Duesenberg Recital Hall once, and certainly had never experienced it in a musical capacity. I am now experiencing the parts of campus that I hadn’t before and seeing that they are all welcoming environments that are filled with promises of new, great experiences. 

I look forward to the new experiences and opportunities for growth as I continue my work with LSM, and I am nothing short of confident that each day will bring me closer to becoming the compassionate, understanding nurse that I want to be.

– Isabella Dietrich, Lutheran Summer Music