Yay Nurses!

So I'm a week off - this is a quick little tidbit from my maternity clinical last week.

I saw a C-section and tubal ligation (getting her tubes tied! Except at REX, they actually just clamped them shut with little metal clamps that they leave in you...interesting) of a Mom - 4th baby, 4th boy, 3rd C-section.

Needless to say, we're in the recovery room; the nurse is doing assessments and taking vitals and doing lochia checks (ladies, check THAT one out! pregnancy is SO much fun), and the doctor walks in for the first time to talk to the Mom after he finished the surgery.

Doc: "So while I was in there, I found some blood clots in the veins that lead to your uterus, so I'm going to start you on a medication to help with that. Okay?"

Patient: " Is that normal? How long will I have to take it?"

Doc: "Not a big deal because when you're pregnant you're more likely to clot, but still enough of a problem that I actually saw them. And I'll have you take it for a few days. Okay, have a great day! Congratulations!"

[Doc leaves room]

Patient to Nurse: "Soo.....what? I have blood clots?"

In nursing school they're always talking about how patients trust the nurses and rely on nurses for clarifying information, explanation, education and the like. Not that I have anything against doctors, almost all that I've worked with so far have been fabulous. But this particular exchange wasn't done in the most tactful manner I'd ever seen (quick, pretty vague, etc), so it was cool to kind of see this seeking for clarification/revealing a sense of trust in the nurse in action. I mean, he hadn't been gone for five seconds, and the patient looked to the nurse for answers. Since they put such a stress on patient education and creating rapport with patients, it was nice to see it carried out. (By the way, the nurse's explanation was more thorough...and calm, so it calmed the patient and husband down a bit).

So...yay Nurses!

But yay for the doctor too, since he, despite his lack of bedside manner in this instance, performed the C-section and brought her handsome baby boy into the world!

Peace Out Cub Scout!

E

Babies!

Well Folks,

I'm starting the year off right by blogging (not just in general, but in a timely manner also) ...and instead putting off my maternity reading! (I'm sorry 100 pages in one night? Not gonna happen.)

Anyways, I can already tell that this blog, at least for me, is going to get more stories from my maternity clinical than my public health clinical, but nonetheless here are 4 terms to describe my public health clinical this week:
1. headaches
2. sore throats
3. itches
4. one SUPER obvious faker!

Even though it was a lot of the same as last week, I'm still really enjoying it. The kids are so cute in their (real and fake) misery. That sounds bad, but you know what I mean.

Maternity Clinical - first day on L&D, and it started out with a bang! I "helped" deliver a beautiful 7 lbs little girl to a set of first-time parents, and it was wonderful. For those of you who are close to me, you may remember a time not so long ago where I had sworn off maternity forever because it seemed...well, totally gross. And it is gross, let's be honest, but it's beautiful too. And coming out of it (this being the second time I've witnessed/participated in a vaginal delivery), still the major thing that I'm taking away is not the grossness of it all, but the miracle of life! It sounds silly I know, but man, when you actually see a baby - a real. live. baby. come out of another human - it's totally incredible. I mean that baby is alive! And it's crying! And it's tiny! And these two people in front of me MADE it. It's incredible. God's incredible. I mean, nursing school has taught me that in pregnancy and in childhood, a whole lot of things can go wrong so easily. But to see this little piece of perfection entering the world is truly amazing. So...I've been converted, maternity isn't too bad after all. I'm still trying to figure out if it's what I'd like to pursue (assuming it worked out with the Navy of course), but I like it so far!

And men reading this blog (or women who can tell husbands/sons), be supportive of the mom! The husband yesterday was SO supportive and encouraging, and it was really great to see. She pushed for less than an hour (first time moms usually actively push between 1.5-2 hours, so this was unusual in a great way), and I think the support of the dad had to have been part of it. And they both cried when the baby came out, and I have to admit that, again, I had to blink back a few tears.

So a great start to my maternity clinical, stay tuned for [hopefully] more interesting stories in the future.

And a funny picture to leave you with: a sign hanging in the bathroom on the L&D floor.

Erika!

Back to school, back to school...

Well folks, it's that time again. Except now we're all trying to figure out, "wait is this our senior year? are we really going to be practicing RN's this time next year?"...the answers are yes, and hopefully!

Anyways, this semester is looking to be an exciting one. And since this was our first week of clinicals, hopefully we'll be getting back into the swing of blogging.

For my public health clinical, I'm working as the school nurse at St. Mary Magdalene catholic school in Apex, NC once a week. I had my first day on Tuesday - my preceptor is so great and I think we'll get along really well. The majority of what I heard on Tuesday: "my tummy hurts....my throat is sore, can I get a cough drop?" Lots of cute kids and, no surprise here, a fair amount of fakers!

For my mother/baby clinical, I'm working at REX hospital (with MK) in Raleigh. This week was just an orientation week for us, but I got my schedule for the semester and my first four weeks are going to be on the labor/delivery floor - I'm sure stories will abound!

I'll let MK and Katie let you (our 3 faithful followers...) know what they'll be doing this semester, but hopefully we'll be able to share some fun/interesting/gross experiences from this semester!

Until then :)
E

PS - Can I just say how great it is to be back here with MK and Katie? Because it is! Ok, great.

Summer Update

So this summer the three absolutely fascinating ladies who run this blog have been off doing our own things for the summer. It's either sad OR a testament to our friendship that all of us were a bit nervous about doing nursing apart. I mean, when I have no idea if my patient should be looking that way or not, who can I ask to come look real fast before I make a big fool out of myself if Mary Kelly and Katie aren't around!?

MK is working as a Labor & Delivery NA at a hospital in Winston-Salem, Katie is a home health NA back in Chapel Hill (but I'll let them tell you about their experiences...hopefully!), and I'm fresh off working a month at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.

For me, I loved the month I spent at Bethesda. The Navy gives rising (nursing) seniors the chance to go to one of their big three hospitals to give them a glimpse of what working at a Naval/military hospital will be like, and to help them gain an idea of where they might want to work once they graduate. Unfortunately for me, I think I came out of the experience more unsure of what floor I wanted to work than when I started! I hit every unit at Bethesda except for the ER. So I visited: Medical, Surgical (where most of the wounded warriors (Marines) are recuperating), Oncology/Hemotology, Telemetry, ICU, PACU, L&D, OB Clinic, NICU, Inpatient Psych, TBI (more wounded warriors are here), APU/OR, and the USNS Comfort in Baltimore.

I'll update a little more on my favorites, and the wounded warriors later, but here are a couple quick thoughts I have coming out of my month at Bethesda.
1. I still would never want to do psych nursing
2. L&D was actually really cool, could be something I'd like to do, and according to everybody is a "ticket to Europe" in the Navy...hmmmm!
3. I loved all the other nursing midshipmen that I worked with - the Navy Nurse Corps has a pretty great group of nurses getting ready to join it in a year or so. And the officer that was in charge of us was fabulous!

Erika

Dear Katie and Erika

So Ladies,
I was thinking of giving you guys cards today, but then I thought you might feel badly for not doing something or I would forget or we would be too busy or whatever so I thought the blog would be a better option. This way, a year and a half from now, when we're done with nursing school and you're feeling all nostalgic, you can look back on this letter with smiles and laughter (at me or with me is your choice). First of all, I love you guys. I really mean it; I love you, even if we don't stay in touch until 40 or stay in the same area or whatever. You girls have meant so much to me this past year, and I hope I've done a fraction for you what you have done for me. We had lots of fun and laughs and insides jokes, yes. But, even we our conversations were pretty boring or we didn't have much to say, we were there for eachother. We vented, we stressed, we yawned and complained, or we just studied and worked together. But, there's something really great about not feeling alone in the whole process, and I'm just glad we had each other through everything: summer school, stressful registration, clinical, evals, head-to-toes, boring lectures, creepy boys, awkward teachers, stressful work situations, etc. I'm so glad we have another year of BLISS left! There's not much better. You two are beautiful inside and out. I can already see how lucky your patients will be; I would love to have either of you as my nurse. You know when to listen, you know when to respond, you know when to advise, you know when to give a reality check, you know when to agree and disagree. Plus, unlike our other friends, we actually think Erika sending pictures of meconium is actually funny. And, we can talk about VD and other related issues without squirming with awkwardness. And I can ask my incredibly inappropriate questions without being ashamed. Well, let's be honest, I do embarrass myself quite often. So Katie, pretty much you're the only normal one. Haha, Erika, help me think of something embarrassing that Katie does. I'm blanking. : ) We each had our moments. All of them fun, in their own way. To all of you reading this, especially if you are their family, these girls are two of the funnest, brightest, most intelligent girls you'll ever meet, and you are truly blessed to know them.... as am I. I wish you two the best summer, and I hope to hear from you often. Thank you for your friendship, your patience, and your willingness to put up with me ... both my good and bad days.
Love Always,
MK

The last of the beginning

In one way, today was very uneventful; in another, it was pretty momentous. Katie, Erika, and I finished our last day of our first year of nursing school. Escaping relatively unscathed, we all agreed we're glad we have 1 year left. AHHHH! Katie, cover your ears. It's funny but seriously, scary, that next year at this time we'll be interviewing for jobs and studying for the NCLEX.
Since I'm super behind, I'll just give a quick recap of my semester. We started out on peds of course, which we finished up far too quickly. Then, moved on to Dorothea Dix. I actually enjoyed the first few weeks there and established nursing relationships with a couple patients in particular. It was really enlightening, because every time I walked out of the building I thought, "If I had to stay there, I'd go crazy too." It's a balance. Yes, that population is unstable; but just remember, environment really does make all the difference, and I and everyone reading this have been so so so blessed to have grown up the way we did and to live the lifestyle we now lead. That's one thing I love about the nursing profession; we are constantly reminded both in the classroom and in the clinical setting, of how terribly blessed we are. It's a shame too though, because I always forget that some how; I let things like 2 hours spent in pointless information sessions and hard tests discourage me. However, I do hate pointless info sessions... and hard tests. Luckily, I always had Katie to remind me (with the tests), "You don't even know you're grade yet." hahaha the face that followed is one of my favorite memories of nursing school. And, now, all the memories Katie, Erika, and I have shared are flooding back. Bahaha LOVE IT! By the way, for those of you who have not seen Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging... watch it! Other than clinical (if you want stories, just ask), the Research project went well, as did Genomics, and final exams ended today. Also, my job at the Yogurt Pump is still great as well, and I'll be back there next year.
I learned so much this year, academically and otherwise.I gained insight into pathology, patient care, empathy and understanding of mental illness, and confidence and independence in the work force for myself. Actually, it was probably one of my greatest years of growth and when I reflect on it, I can't believe how far I've come. I thank my second patient on 3A, who I called "Angel," for teaching me about the fragility of life and the imperative to be grateful for each day. I thank my first clinical instructor, Louise, for her breadth of knowledge and patience in guiding us through such an intimidating process. I thank "Danny" at Dorothea Dix for showing me how extremely fun and interesting even those with disorders like schizophrenia can be. I thank Dr. Grimm for calling a couple of my flaws to my attention; I'm working on it. There are so many stories I wish I would have shared, but I'll just say, with each experience I've learned so much, and I've enjoyed most every minute. I hope to do better with this blog in the future and will be updating it in the summer. I'll let Katie and Erika fill you in on their plans but as for me, I will spend this summer at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem working as an extern in labor and delivery from 7 p.m to 7 a.m. 3 nights a week. I'm actually really excited but of course, would greatly appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers (I'm sure Erika and Katie would too!). So, essentially (that's for you E!), I'll be better about writing in once a week to give you a glimpse into my extremely un-glamorous life. Thanks for the interest. A separate blog will follow that is to my dear friends. I am writing it on the wall to make it easier for them to look back on - scrap booking of sorts. Feel free to read it though because without these 2 girls, my first year of nursing school wouldn't have compared.
Looking forward to the summer and hope you all are too! <3 MK

Whoops!

Okay, we've been slacking...sorry!

I'm going to try and keep this one [fairly] short and sweet.

For the first clinical rotation yet, MK, Katie and I are all on the same unit - the men's intermediate stay at Dorothea Dix Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Raleigh, NC. The primary diagnoses we see are schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder.

I've learned that psych nursing is definitely not the area of nursing I want to pursue, but I also think that this has been one of the most enlightening rotations yet.

At DDH, we also have patients called "forensic" patients - those who have been committed to DDH because they were judged "not guilty by reason of insanity." Maybe more to come on that later, but they've got three levels of security: minimum, medium, and maximum. Depending on their behavior, forensic patients are given certain privileges - like going to "the mall" for group time.

Yesterday, instead of doing group time on my floor, Mary Kelly and I went down to the mall and attended "Horticulture." After a little lesson on horticulture, we transplanted watermelon plants with the help of some patients. When we left, we even got souvenirs! I got a morning glory plant and MK got a tomato plant. I can't wait until my plant flowers! I've got to pot it in a couple weeks. After horticulture, we headed over to "Arts and Crafts," and I colored next to one of the fmax (forensic, maximum security) patients! Haha, too weird.

The fruits of my visit to "The Mall"!