Nursling

(Here I am in my oh so lovely uniform - eagerly anticipating the shift before me)

(Oh my way to the hospital!)

When I arrived at the hospital I was surprised at how calm I was. I have learned that I am not so good with anticipating new things but I undoubtedly know that the months of prayer provided me with the calm spirit. Once my clinical group assembled we discussed the logistics of the day, such as partners, contact precautions, how to contact our instructor, what to assess for, charting...you know all the good stuff. We prayed (how cool is it to be able to pray as a group over the day ahead of us with our teacher?!) and hit the elevator. A nurse ending her shift giggled as ten of us filled onto the elevator after our instructor. "It's always exciting to see nurslings," was her comment to us. With a "good luck" we were on our way to floor two.

We stepped out of the elevator and reported to our nurses. This is the first thing she said to me, "I am so sorry you have to have Miss A as your first patient. She is very confused, cries at everything, and is very needy." *Ok it is never a good sign when you hear I am sorry. Ha. After report I suited up (my patient was on contact precautions for MRSA so every time I went into the room I had to wear a bright yellow gown and gloves) and walked confidently into the room. The first few minutes were fine. Miss A was very compliant and pleasant. Then something snapped. She started crying that her hair hurt. She needed pain meds (which I was not allowed to give her) and as I continued to preform the assessment she looked up at me and said "If you were a real nurse I would take my gun and shoot you." Shocked and caught of guard I tried not to let any emotion show and I said "good thing I'm not a real nurse eh?" I calmly explained that I had to keep assessing her and laughed to myself of course I would be the one to get the difficult patient the first day. Guess its just a glimpse of my future eh?

Granted I had to keep in mind Miss A was in a lot of  pain (she had had the screws in her femur removed because they had gotten infected) and confused, and just wanted to "go back to her people" at her nursing home. My mission was to stay calm, make her as comfortable as I could, and not take the insults or anger personally.

Highlights of my experience:

Helping the wound nurse change Miss A's dressing ( I thought I would be freaked out seeing a deep wound but actually it was neat to see the bone through the missing tissue)

Take Miss A's glucose reading with the glucometer (I thought I would have a hard time pricking someone but it was easy and I really enjoyed it as strange as that sounds)

Helping the nurse put the bed pan under Miss A (Miss A was in a diaper but she was able to tell the nurse sometimes if she had to go so to help her keep her dignity the bed pan was offered. I never realized what a daunting task getting someone on a bed pan can be. We must have rolled Miss A back and forth 10 times while roughly pushing the bedpan under to get the right position. Finally it was in place after urine had already gotten on the wet sheet! At least she got some in the bedpan and felt better!) 

Listening to Tyler's patient's bruit. (Tyler got a really nice patient. He was on dialysis and had a shunt thing in his arm and he patiently allowed each of us to listen to the bruit!)

Listening to Moriah's patient's heart murmur. (This man was 90 something and hilarious. When six girls walked in he lit up. He was loving the attention. He asked Tyler why he hadn't asked any of us out. haha. When I told him that I would be listening to his heart he was like "sure thing hunny" and began to lower his gown! Then as we were leaving he was like "hey hunny" and waved his finger in a circle at me. Too much!)

Although at the end of the shift my legs ached and trying to figure out charting on the computer left me frustrated and exhausted I realized that nursing is definitely going to be an adventure. I have to say that I am excited for next week!

Hi my name is Emily and I'll be your student nurse...

So the "big" day has approached quickly, about 14 hours away to exact....

I have been praying for months for a calm and confident spirit as I walk in my first day and I have also prayed over my patient (asking that it not be too complicating a case or a mean spirited patient!).

Saturday I went to the hospital with my clinical partner Tyler to gather our patient information so we could start writing our patient profiles. All dressed in "professional dress" and wearing our pressed lab coats we hopped on the elevator and road to the second floor (we're on the orthopedic floor). It was scary and yet exciting. I totally felt like I was part of Grey's Anatomy, ha, although I'm sure I looked like a first-timer as I stumbled to choose which way to get around the nurses station. Right or left seems simple until you have to make the choice ha! Anyways what should have taken an hour took us about two and a half. Navigating the computer system was quite challenging, especially when you get locked out twice! (That would be my luck right?!)

As scary as it is to think that I will be caring for someone tomorrow it was so neat to be sitting at a desk reading about the patient I have prayed for for so many months! The problems and interventions we read about and practice in lab were right in front of my face. And while I sympathize with the patient who has to endure the hardships, it's neat to see my knowledge be applied.

Anyways, on my way out of the hospital I stepped into the crosswalk and low and behold there was a shiny penny laying in the street! For those who don't know my story behind pennies I will share it some other time but all I could do was smile. Tyler thought I was crazy for picking it up, I mean to him it was just a penny, but I neatly tucked it in my lab coat pocket and said "Thank you God." I'm sure tomorrow I will be a little nerved but I know that when I walk into that hospital God is with me. I am going to be His hands and feet tomorrow and that excites me!

Spring fever runs rampant

A fever is indicative of something gone wrong in the body, most likely an infection. 

Spring fever not only is the result of over-loaded, cooped up, poor, do the same-old same-old with the same crowd college students but it is also INFECTIOUS.

This morning I woke up to this...

After digging the "fun bus" out from underneath it's "blanket" I realized I am in much need of some sunshine and family.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed my snow day (and got a kick out of watching those who haven't grown up around snow frolic around in the white powder) but I have lost all motivation to accomplish anything. I feel (actually know) I am not the only one. Put us in a room and we accomplish a whole lot of nothing together! Ha. 

Praise the Lord break is but a few days away! A little bit of r&r does the soul good.

Failure...

One of the first things you learn in nursing school is how to take vital signs. Then you move onto assessing patients, and eventually get to the "good stuff," like urinary catheters and injections. That's where I'm at right now and while I love practicing my skills in the lab I have this weight on my shoulders about actually having to preform the skills on a real patient. 

Sure it's one thing to joke about sticking the NG tube in a brain but what if it actually happens? Someone's life is going to be in my hands and that is a lot of pressure. 

My mom told me once that ever since I was young if I thought I was going to fail at something I wouldn't give it a shot. Avoidance worked as a child but now I'm afraid I can't run. This is real life and a calling I believe the Lord has given me (and we all know what happened to Jonah when he ran, I'd like to keep my feet on land thank you very much!).  

I know I'm a student so mistakes are bound to happen, it's part of the learning process. But a mistake in a hospital can be deadly, this isn't putting the wrong mix-in in the ice cream (not to knock Cold Stone workers). I just get very scared and want to run when I have to embark on unfamiliar terrain. I still have a few weeks till I will actually have my first eight hour shift at the hospital but as each week passes I get a little more anxious. In know at the end of the semester I will look back and say "silly me" for being so scared but until then I pray every morning for confidence, a calm spirit, and that my first patient will be a good learning experience.