Baby's First Rectal Medication

I gave my first suppository the other day. The nurse I was working with said, "...patients ALWAYS refuse suppositories." But wouldn't you know it... when we asked the patient if they wanted it, the answer was a resounding "Yes!"

Burn Trauma

Last night we got a patient who'd lit up with his oxygen nasal cannula in causing an explosion that caught his face on fire. When he got to the floor his face was covered in dripping blood and the nurse had to carefully wash his face and shave him. She explained to me that patients with facial burns or burns on the head have to be shaved everyday -a rather painful process as you can imagine! I felt so bad for this guy. He was probably the most gruesomely injured patient I've seen so far.

This is the End

I'm in the final stretch of nursing school. Just a month and a half to go before my classmates and I emerge from under the protective wings of our instructors to hopefully not fall out of the nest onto our faces as new fledgling nurses!

Yesterday I started my preceptorship on the surgical trauma unit where I'll be working for the next 80 hours. I was expecting to see mostly traumatic injuries (as the name would suggest) but the patients I worked with last night had a whole range of histories from cancer to car crashes.

I'm happy to report that my preceptor is VERY nice and in fact all the nurses I met on the floor were friendly (no meanies)!!

Med/Surg is Over

A friend mentioned to me the other day that Chariots of Fire plays in her mind lately when she thinks of me. I'm hearing that song today, and I'm laughing and crying at the same time. I'm the guy with mud all over the front of his shirt and a dorky smile.



The Med/Surg rotation is OVER! On to studying for the NCLEX and completing my 88 hour capstone on a Surgical Trauma unit.

Ostomy Pride

Well, I've never written two posts in one day but as I was sitting here studying for a test I have on Monday, I came across this picture of a sexy lady with an ostomy.

This sort of reminds me of something you'd see in San Francisco where diversity of EVERY kind is celebrated. It's got to be mighty difficult living with one of these.

End of Life

My patient this week was in his 9th decade -a WW II veteran from the Marine Corps who'd been all over the world. I got my first shot at shaving a patient with him, which was scary and also kind of funny. I didn't cut him, thank god, but he looked kind of like a mangy puppy after I finished. He was so happy though, he just kept telling me what a great job I'd done even though he had no idea what he looked like. 

I was so surprised at how lucid he was when I met him. I like how he called his hearing aids his "ears", his glasses his "eyes", and his oxygen cannula his "breathers."

Thinking about how he was reaching the end of his life made me a little sad. I don't think he's going to make it too much longer. Even though he's had a long life and a pretty good one judging by his spirit, it's still an end none-the-less. He'll have some time now to look over his life and think about everything he's done and seen, and when he's gone someone will have lost their dad, their husband, their buddy... It's like the end of an era. Makes ya feel a little melancholy...

Neurosurgical Floor

This week my clinical group moves from a general Medical/Surgical floor to a Neurosurgical floor. I've heard really great things about this unit from classmates who spent their first 5 weeks of the Med/Surg rotation there. This means I'm half way through the Med/Surg rotation!! I'll be singing and dancing when April comes (not only will I be done with Med/Surg but I hear Winter will be over by then...).

I skipped my 8am class today to study for a damn Med/Surg test I'm taking this afternoon. This is the first class I have missed during this entire program (yes, I'm a nerd)!!!

The "make anyone ugly" hat!

I had to wear one of these all day today. I never realized how one accessory could make so many people look so unattractive. This hair covering, shower cap, whatever you want to call it is truly an equal opportunity homely-making machine. If you're ever having one of those days where you're feeling a little down about your looks, I recommend you take a stroll through the operating room department at your local hospital.

HIV

I took care of my first HIV+ patient this week. He was in rough shape, suffering from AIDS dementia, Hepatitis C, and many other comorbidities. During our conversations, I found out a lot of interesting things about his life: a past stabbing, jail time, the loss of two children. Taking care of this person reminded me how much I love and miss working with drug addicts, prostitutes, homeless folks... generally marginalized groups. I appreciate how down to earth and candid they can be (he told me the speech therapist was "a bitch" out of the blue), and I love being a positive, respectful, non-judgmental presence in their lives.

MS

My patient this week had multiple sclerosis. What a horrible disease! This was probably theeee nicest patient I've had so far which my experience all the sadder (not that I hope mean patients die or anything).

This week also brought my first experience with the condom catheter. I'm more used to dealing with cleaning the bums and genis of patients who are more or less out of it, but this one was totally lucid so it made it kind of embarrassing. Better get over it!!

 ...and my favorite quote of the week (from a fellow classmate in my clinical rotation), "I feel like a human bidet!"

It's Baaaaaaaaaack!

Today was the second day of my Medical/Surgical Nursing rotation. We start on a medical floor and move to a surgical floor in about 5 weeks. This is supposed to be the worst part of our program because it is such a long rotation and we have to do about six or more hours of preparation the night before we have to be at the hospital at 7am. The group of student I'm with is really great though, and the nurses on the floor seem very nice (...cuz I'm sorta more used to this).

I was a little scared today because it had been so long since I had done an assessment on an adult who hadn't just given birth (during my last three rotations I've worked with crazy/disobedient teens, sick kids and moms and babies). LUCKY for me I got a fairly young patient today with a peptic ulcer who was completely independent, and the only tubes coming out of him were just a couple of little ol' IV's (no booty or weeny tubes).

Just FOUR months and I'll be done with nursing school!!!

Acute Care Clinicals: Week 1

This week we started the acute care portion of our clinical rotation. Seven other students and I have been placed on the floor of a hospital where people receive care for problems related to end stage liver failure, most are on transplant lists and some have just received new livers. Most everyone there with light skin is bright yellow with jaundice and swollen with ascites. We were all soooo nervous on our first day, but once we got to the hospital and saw what it was like on the floor, I think we all started to calm down a little. I really love the fact that all of my classmates readily admit how scared they are -there are no tough guys in the group. It's really nice to know that when you are feeling really doubtful about your preparedness for these situations, there are seven other people around you to reassure you that, "girl, I'm crapping my pants too..."
On day #2 we were assigned a patient who we had perform a general assessment on. My patient was having a liver biopsy performed on another floor when I got there at 8:00, so I didn't get to work with him until about 11:00. When I finally got to meet him, I found him to be a really nice guy which made it a lot easier for me to do the assessment...!
Aside from working with my patient, I helped another classmate wash hers up . This guy had two chest tubes, three JP drains, a "mercedes" incision (use your imagination) AND these things they wrap around their calves and hook up to a machine that squeezes their legs (I think to help prevent deep vein thrombosis). He had just received a new liver the day before. He was acting a little strange because liver failure can cause neurological problems and I guess he wasn't feeling the effects of his new organ yet. He also had an IV and bandages on both arms. Oh! and don't forget the catheter and butt tube! I mean there was barely an inch of skin that we could actually clean before running into a tube... I also drained a catheter bag (is this getting too disgusting?) and helped a nurse draw blood off of a PICC line. I also saw a craaaaaazy dressing change on this lady's abdomen (the nurse could fit her hand up to the knuckles into the wound).
Next week, we'll start passing meds (just pills, I guess) and the following week we'll be ready for injections!!! This is too fast!