Sara Engstrom

April 27, 2016

Dr. Rashida Harrison
PS 1010
Group Project Reflection Essay
Throughout the semester, I, along with four of my peers, researched health care strikes,
their causes, and their effects. Throughout our research, we discovered that many health care
strikes are unionized and are begun by disagreements in a new contract. These disagreements
may include cuts to pay, benefits, or the well being of the nurses during their shift. The strikes
are also caused by poor staffing options or an overall lack of nurses. The group also discovered
that many nurses strikes could lead to an increase in mortality rates or a decrease in the quality
of the patient care. Through all of the research, the most surprising piece of information was that
nurse to patient ratios in California had been mandated in order to ensure proper patient care, but
similar policies have yet to be implemented in the rest of the states.
I plan on working on the social problem throughout the rest of my undergraduate career. I
am going to do this by implementing our direct action plan. I am a volunteer at a hospital,
specifically in an emergency room, where I assist the nurses with small tasks. Additionally, I will
continue shadowing physicians in the emergency room as it is a great way to observe and
research how the hospital system works and how its fluency is affected by the changes in staffing
volumes.

This project relied heavily on group work. The group work consisted not only on writing
the essay, composing a presentation, and conducting research, but also coordination, cooperation,
and a balance of power. The group work has taught me how to be a leader when the reigns need
to be taken, and how to step back and let others take the lead when we were studying something
more related to their area of research. The research also gave me patience and trust; it taught me
that my peers and I may not work at the same pace, but all of our tasks will be completed. The
group work gave me the opportunity to work with several different people whom I havent
known previously that are now some of my closest colleagues in the honors college.
This project, along with the class as a whole, has taught me several skills, which I can
relate to other aspects of my life. PS1010 and the group project in particular gave me the value of
a group and taught me how to cooperate and work with others in a professional setting. The class
and project also gave me the skills to accurately identify and analyze a social problem. I can now
use what I have learned to explore different solutions to the problems that I will encounter in the
future. The most applicable skills I have gained would be how to work in a group and maintain a
professional, respectful attitude. The group work skills will not only be very valuable throughout
my career at Wayne State University, but in my career as well. I plan on one day becoming a
physician in an emergency room. I will need to be able to work with a team in order to solve
problems at hand.