And now for something completely different

I've switched to evening shift clinicals. That means I start work on my adult medical-surgical unit at 3 PM and work until 11 PM. It makes for a TOTALLY different clinical experience... and it means I don't get home from the hospital until after midnight.

This is the first time I've been on a true medical-surgical floor.  Admittedly, I'm more than a little bit concerned.  Why, do you ask?

A:   Parking at the hospital stinks in the afternoon.  I park my car at a friend's house, which is just about a 20 minute walk away.  It's great in the afternoon, but not quite as much fun after 11 o'clock at night -- especially when you have to pass through parts of a neighborhood that has a reputation for being slightly unsavory.   

B:  The unit has one of the worst reputations as a clinical site among nursing students, due to tension among the staff.  

C:  It utilizes a "team nursing" approach, which means one nurse can be responsible for up to 6 patients at a time.  The care for those six patients gets shared between different staff members: CNAs take vital signs and perform primary care, like give baths and help with ambulation; phlebotomists take patient blood sugars before and after meals; nurses pass meds and do charting... and so on down the line.  

It's very fast,  and seems very task-oriented.  I'm trying not to have any sort of expectations  -- so I guess we'll just see how it goes!