Once I get onto the floor, I happen to see the nurse that I worked with last week. I run up to her! "Hey! How are you?" She actually looks a little excited to see me. I rattle off questions to her immediately. "Do you have any patients that will be staying until Friday? I need two of them!" She tells me that all three of hers will either be leaving Wednesday night or Thursday. I just hope for the best and pick two out of her three patients.
I can't believe how old one of my patients is. I didn't think that people lived to be that old anymore. As it turns out, he is one of the sweetest people that I will ever have the pleasure of meeting. I will always remember his thick accent: "Have you ever been to the Phillipines? It's beautiful - just like California."
Thursday was also my first day cleaning up poop. I have been pretty lucky - everyone else in my clinical group has cleaned up poop multiple times. I am proud of myself for the simple fact that I don't gag. My patient spends the whole time saying "I'm so very, very sorry." I tell the patient, "It's okay, don't even worry about it - it's my job."
I shudder a little bit when I say that. What did I get myself into?
I also give my first intramuscular injections on Thursday - a flu vaccine & pneumonia vaccine. The patient only speaks Spanish - she tells the nurse that it didn't hurt at all. As I walk away, she grabs my hand and looks me directly in the eye & I wish at that very moment that I could speak Spanish. But, at that moment, our language barrier didn't seem to matter. Truthfully, she seemed so happy that I took the time to open her blinds so that she could see outside. Hey, I remember a few things from my days at Paraclete. Ventana = window...right?
Friday morning, my back is starting to throb. For the first time, I've had patients who are pretty immobile, which means a lot of lifting. Yes, I know, you're supposed to protect yourself at all costs. At the same time, even if I have 4 people helping me move a patient up in bed, my back is still going to hurt, lifting 180 pounds.
I spend the morning following one patient to an abdominal MRI & then I follow my other patient to watch a vascular access procedure. I meet several scrub techs and a radiologist. They are all really nice, until they realize that we don't have the proper forms signed in order to perform the procedure.
This was an eye-opening week. I've learned that if for some reason, a friend or family member is in the hospital, I don't want anyone to know that I'm a student nurse (or nurse when the time comes.) I want to be a helpful family member, but I don't want to be the annoying one. I don't want to be the patient's daughter who tells me, "Maybe you should go see if you can help your nurse with something so that she can come here now." Wow - I didn't realize that the School of Nursing patch on my scrub tops means that I'm your servant.
At the end of an extremely long week, my nurse gives me her phone number and tells me to call her with any & all questions that I might have. I will always be so grateful for her taking me under her wing over the past two weeks.
She tells me that I'm going to be a great nurse & week after week, I am really starting to believe that myself.
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