Life is Spazztastic!: March 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Day 1 of my Senior Practicum

Ok, I was so excited about my upcoming preceptorship. They asked us last semester to specify what specialty/area we want to be assigned to. Some of us already knew what we wanted to specialize in. Of course, I wanted L&D, Mother/Baby, or ER in that order. I finally got my hospital assignment a few weeks ago and we were told to call and speak with the training coordinator for the hospital. It didn't list what unit we were working on. I knew the hospital I was assigned to (5 minutes from my house!!) had L&D, but I wasn't sure if that's where I was going. The other 3 in my group didn't express an interest in L&D so that wasn't an encouraging sign.

Well, long story short we were assigned to a Med-Surg unit. That was very disappointing because I was seeking an OB position after graduation and alot of hospitals (for the Residency) look at what you did for your Senior Practicum. Besides, I already had 3 Med-Surg semesters. But the lady told me that I would have to get approval from the school to switch units. So I called and it went up the chain of command and all three people in charge gave me a thumbs up.

Anyways, I had my first day today. Unfortunately, we are only allowed to work 8 hours our first day. But the good thing is that every shift from here on out can either be 8 or 12 hours. Plus I write my own schedule. So for the next couple of weeks I have 2-3 12 hour shifts per week. A couple are back to back.

I was shocked to find out that today I was working in the NICU. Wow, they trust me? LOL Ok, I better make sure that not only my nursing skills are top of the line, but I better be able to tweek those skills for tiny babies who are sick.

Let me just say that my preceptor is AWESOME! I was worried that I'd get someone who hates their job, but this woman not only loves her job, but this is her calling. And she has a fantastic sense of humor. The other woman working in NICU was so sweet too. We had a great time and were so on task. The three of us were a great team. Anyways, I had two babies today. They had alot going on so those 2 alone kept me running. But I was so surprised at how natural it felt. I'm not saying I'm a master. I'm not by a long shot. But with as much second guessing as I do with my skills, I was pleased that I wasn't so hard on myself this time. And since I had a child that was a critical NICU baby when he was born, I knew how the parents felt and I pulled on the memories of the best nurses I had when I was there. The things that helped me, I attempted to use with them. I might look at myself as this shaky nursing student, but to a parent whose newborn started life out COMPLETELY different from what they imaged I am someone who is there to care for their child, to care for them, and to include them every step of the way. I may not feel like I know everything, but they certainly never went to school for it. They look to me for the answers. Showing self-confidence and honest concern for their baby that is their life is generally exactly what they need.

For the last hour we headed back out to L&D where we had a couple of patients. One of the patients was a trip! I just really had a great conversation going with her. All I can say is WOW. This stuff ROCKS! I LOVE it! :-)

Talking to women that are about to have their first baby after a string of miscarriages, I've been there. I can give those encouraging words. I know how it is to not know if the next heartbeat could be your babys last. And it's not up to you whether it is or not. I've seen women counting down the days until their due date. Finally get to a day of contractions and having their water break. Call the dr, call the family, get everyone excited about "The Day" only to show up at the hospital for them to be unable to find the babys heartbeat. They never find the baby's heartbeat. The baby is gone and the world ceases to exist for that parent. How do you go home to everything you received as a gift? How do you tell everyone in your life what happened? Even if one person doesn't find out and they see you a few weeks later and ask about the baby. What do you say?

I've had L&D nurses & instructors tell me that it sort of gets to them that people have this picture perfect view of what a labor & delivery nurse is. It's not "Ewww, how can you stand that? It's so messy and nasty..." and it's not "Oh that's the BEST job! Getting to hold all those babies all day!". Like everything there is good and bad. There's ethical issues that you have to know where you stand and have an open mind before you can confront it in a professional way. You may be pro-life, but you cannot pass judgement on that mother for her past. You must genuinely provide the best care that you can for her. You must be able to hold it together long enough to get your job done when a baby or mother passes on what should be a happy day.

But the bad can't cloud the amazingly wonderful part of what you are. You are honored to be there for one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) event of the family's lives. To be there helping that mother along and watching that baby come into the world is such a wonderful thing. :-)

Simply put. Nurses RULE! LOL

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Adventures in GPC Nursing School - First Semester Fundamentals

Ok I went to bed early Thurs because I had YET another headache. I think it's from the BP meds. Since I knew my dr was going to be taking me off of the Atenolol and Diovan to put me on something else, I didn't bother refilling my Diovan. When I was at the dr my bp was 140/80 I think. No wonder I get headaches at night. So anyways, I got to bed early.

When I woke up it was raining pretty bad and there were lots of accidents on my path to school. Plus I own ONE umbrella so I wanted to drive Cody to the bus stop, so I got up and got ready right away.

While sitting in traffic listening to "Better in Time" by Leona Lewis on STAR 94 I just got to thinking. Pretty soon there wouldn't be these drives to GPC in the morning anymore. The drive I once cursed was going to be something I kinda missed.

So rather than sitting there getting frustrated at the severely backed up traffic I decided to take a trip down memory lane and think about my Adventures in GPC Nursing School.

First thing I thought sitting in this auditorium of 20,000 students (it seemed) was that "They say the people you meet in nursing school become your friends for a lifetime". Yeah whatever. There's no way I'm getting to know all these people LOL

I remember on the first day Ms. Crawford coming in dressed up like Florence Nightingale. That was so cute. I LOVE the story of Florence and this just really helped put a visual to it LOL

Then I remember being scared to death of Ms. Miller. I didn't know how to take her. All the instructors seemed so mean. Wow. Another year of this. It's like boot camp. Did I sign a contract?

I remember doing horribly on my first check off. Nerves. I failed it. I was like "I failed this one, then I'll fail the next one, and then I'll freak on the last one and then I'll be kicked out!!" (I passed the second time around)

Oh and then there was the issue of my first clinical. I was so excited to get clinical at Rockdale. I mean, I love that hospital and I live near it and they said they always try getting you at a hospital close to where you live. Then I found out that Rockdale was only an option for one of the other campuses. WTF?! I remember filling out a transfer sheet and taking it up to Renee. "I want to be at that other campus" LMAO. Request denied. That's when I found out that I was assigned to Dekalb Medical. WTF?! Where in the hell is Dekalb Medical?! Ok, let me just say that I'm not from Georgia and I get really nervous about driving to places I don't know. I'm so afraid of getting lost. Plus I just had a really bad car accident a few weeks before so driving just wasn't my thing.

I got to see a different side of another instructor. One that I could never figure out. She seemed so quiet. Actually I don't know what ever happened to her. I was up on the nursing floor taking paperwork to Ms. Read. She started asking me what I thought of nursing school. Wow. Someone cares? LOL I told her it was scary and stressful. Then she started giving me some good advice and talking with me a little bit. I always looked forward to seeing her around. She was quiet, but she was a real sweetheart.

I remember being so scared and so overwhelmed that first month that at one point I had N&V and severe stomach pain that went on for about 4 days. I couldn't keep anything down. And the pain was unreal. One day I paid a visit to the ER at Rockdale Medical Center. And I'm the type that NEVER goes to the ER. Anyways, they thought it was pancreatitis. Fortunately it wasn't. It was actually an ulcer! Figures.

My salvation to the clinical phobia came as an instructor named Ms. Buchholz. Right away I felt so at ease with her. She had a way of making people laugh and had a personality that reminded me of myself at times. I learned so much from her. She had a way of taking information and making it understandable. Kinda like insulin getting glucose into the cell (my brain being the cell, glucose being the information, and Ms. B as insulin. "Ms. B the Insulin Molecule") Soon I began to love clinical.

It took a couple of months to really get at ease with everything and to learn the whole process of nursing and school. I had no clue what a "nursing process" was and I certainly didn't know a thing about critical thinking.

As time went on I started to see some personalities coming out of the instructors. Ms. Miller was actually a really friendly and hilarious woman. I wasn't so afraid of her anymore! She actually teases me to this day about my first checkoff and how I really came far from there.

So I passed Fundamentals. I'd be surprised at how much I could probably pick up on the material now that my nerves aren't insane LOL And I made some wonderful friends :-) I about got teary eyed thinking about all the people in my class and all my instructors that I just love to death!