Now THAT's a relief

I do like nursing after all!

I'll be honest, I was a little apprehensive about returning to clinicals after our much needed 2 week break. I had SO MANY concerns. I think they were a lot of the same concerns that I had at the beginning of this clinical experience. Like...

What if I couldn’t remember how to give a subcutaneous injection?
What if my hands started to shake again during my patient assessments and medication administration?
What if the nurses groaned when they saw more students enter the report room?
And, oh God, what if after my restful and relaxing hiatus, I discovered that I didn’t like nursing after all?

I was relieved when I got to the unit on Thursday. If the nurses groaned at the sight of our PLU uniforms, it was only on the inside. Despite all my worrying, I was actually HAPPY to be back on the unit. It even felt kind of normal to be there. I gave two subcutaneous injections, had the opportunity to hang IV antibiotics, and learned more about the importance of timing of certain medications. It was all very nursey and exciting.

This week was special, too, because I spent the majority of my time giving patient care. I realize that as a ‘real’ nurse I won’t have the luxury of focusing all of my attention and energy on one patient. And, I'll be honest, I was a little bit disappointed when I didn’t take on two patients on Friday – but, ultimately, I valued that extra time I was able to spend with my patient.

My patient was a sweet, dear woman. It was obvious that the time she'd spent in the hospital was starting to take a toll on her emotionally, so we spent a lot of time talking. There was also lots of time for patient teaching. It was during those moments that I was reminded how I do indeed love nursing.

I've also learned that patients who have endearing accents can make talking about anything (including poop and emesis) that much more enjoyable.

You Tube + Medicine = fun fun fun!

Sadly, I can by no means take credit for this brilliant adaptation of Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack."

Instead, I give you the University of Alberta Medical School's adaptation: Diagnosis Wenckebach.

And, since I cannot figure out how to embed the video into my blog, here's the link to the YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVxJJ2DBPiQ

(You have to cut and paste it because it I am extremely technologically challenged today. I blame the tryptophan.)

Enjoy!

The holy rhombus of nursing?

Another milestone in my nursing career: encountering vomit for the first time.

I think this means I've encountered all four elements found in the holy rhombus of nursing: blood, urine, poop, and puke.

And, as a onetime sympathetic puker, I'm happy to report that I kept my cool -- even when a little bit landed on my arm.

CABG and PTCA

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think it's odd that the abbreviations for these two cardiac interventions (CABG = coronary artery bypass graft; PTCA = percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty) sound like delicious foods.

It does, however, make them easier to remember for a test.

In this past week, I've seen both procedures done live and in person!

Nursing school is SO COOL.

Sgt. Pepper's OPEN HEART's Club Band?

Soooo, I saw an open heart surgery today. Maybe it was more like an open chest surgery because the heart wasn't technically open. It was a coronary artery bypass graft. Which means, in very crude terms, that a blood vessel is harvested from somewhere else in the person's body and then the surgeon hooks it up to divert blood flow around the clogged part of one (or more) of the coronary arteries.

Either way, the point is that I saw a human's insides today. Not only that, I saw a HUMAN HEART. And it just kept on beat-beat-beating away all the way through the surgery.

I was, not surprisingly, dumbfounded. Awestruck. Speechless. But to the doctors and nurses on the cardiothoracic team, that's just another day at the office. I guess that's how it should be.

I had a fantastic view of the whole thing, right at the head of the table with the anesthesiologist. Everyone on the team was wonderful. The surgeon really took the time to explain things (and I'm standing there thinking, OH MY GOD he's holding a heart in his hands), asking me questions, quizzing me about anatomy, and that sort of thing.

And then I got lightheaded and had to sit on the floor. Twice.

After my second dizzy spell, I took a little break in the staff lounge. (BTW, it looks nothing like any of the staff lounges on "Grey's Anatomy." Neither did the OR for that matter.) I ate a little snack, had a cup of coffee, and took some deep breaths before heading back into the OR for round two.

The bummer? I missed the exciting part when they had to shock the heart back into a regular rhythm.

The good news? They were so proud of me for not fainting that they said I could come back anytime.

Go Robin!

Another important lesson

Once you sing a few karaoke songs that you don't really know the words to (and you don't get booed off the stage), suddenly singing in public doesn't seem quite so scary.

It's just one more important life lesson I've learned at Bob's Java Jive.

Week 2 in Med-Surg Nursing

This past week in clinicals further convinced me that going to nursing school was the right decision.

I cared for the same patient (a very sweet and lovely elderly woman) for two days. My official responsibilities were to administer scheduled oral medications, and to perform the morning and afternoon nursing assessments. Other responsibilities include trying to jump in and help out or observe just about anything cool or interesting that happened on the unit.

Medication administration went pretty well. Janet (my instructor) has been sharing tips for how to deal with my shakey hands. The more meds I administer, the less my hands shake; looks like it's just going to take lots of practice.

I liked explaining the therapeutic effects of the different medications in patient-friendly terms -- i.e., sans medical jargon. I know it's important for me to understand the pathology of a disease or a drug's mechanisms of action and side effects on a smaller level, but I found that being able to put things in a "big picture" perspective was both helpful and satisfying.

My assessment skills are getting better, too, but I still can't wait until the end of the semester when I finally have a good, systematic rhythm.

I also got to see chest tubes get removed, measured input and output, emptied a foley catheter by myself, cleaned a bedpan for the first time, gowned up to help care for a patient in contact isolation, tried to act as an advocate for my patient and helped her ambulate in the hallway.

The most important thing I learned, though was how much the caring things a nurse can do (like offer a patient a warm washcloth to wash their hands and face before breakfast) can make a positive impact on a patient's hospital experience.

When we said goodbye on Friday, my patient insisted on giving me a hug and thanked me for taking good care of her. As she said, "Even just a little TLC makes all the difference when you're sick."

Same bat time... totally different bat place

It's Day 2 of my medical-surgical rotation!

I'm on a cardiac unit, which kind of scares the bejeebers out of me, but I should learn a lot. The nurses have a reputation for encouraging their students to be critical thinkers, and for letting us observe some pretty cool procedures as they come up. I'll also have the chance to spend some time in the OR, but I don't know yet when that'll happen.

Last Friday was spent observing a nurse while she did her morning routine and assessments. (So cool.) I got to perform the second assessment of her shift, which was super exciting. It was the first time I've heard a heart murmur in person (!) and I've discovered that my stethoscope is kind of craptastic. Either that, or I just have a really hard time hearing lung sounds.

Today I'm assigned one patient to care for -- and I have three goals! They are:

1. Perform both the morning and afternoon assessments
2. Administer scheduled oral medications
3. Chart, chart, chart!

Because charting is a nurse's best friend?