Last day of clinicals, FOREVER.

I finished up my hospital clinicals about a month ago, and have had community clinicals since then. Last week I went to an STD clinic, and it was awesome. Okay, I know that sounds completely weird, but I have so much respect for those nurses. I guess I should say that THEY were awesome. I saw some nasty stuff, too, but I won't go into that.

This week I was at Gatesville prison. I broke the number 1 rule. I ate the food. Oh.my.gosh. I've had some bad food before, and I consider myself to be a pretty tough person when it comes to things like that--but this was horrible. The type of horrible where you have to close your eyes and pinch your nose to take a bite. It was a "hamburger," "macaroni," and corn. Oh, and a biscuit! Even though it came across with the Mayflower, that was my saving grace.

The nurses there were awesome, too. I wouldn't say that prison nursing is for me right now, but I also wouldn't toss it out the window for later down the road. The nurse I was helping said that 90% of the women there were in for drugs. There were two women prisoners in particular that I sat in with that were so sweet...I don't know how they would be capable of doing anything to deserve prison--to be taken out of "the free world," as they call it. I was very impressed at how polite they all were. Also, I didn't know this, but all of their medications are paid for by the state. They only pay $3 for the visit, and often times they can get that fee waived. They get treated very well in that regard. On the other hand, if they need any tests done, it is free, but it could also take anywhere from 1-4 months to get the results...

The first day it was kind of creepy--all of the buildings were white, all of the prisoners were in white, everything was white. And I was in purple, head to toe. haha. Today I felt as at home as you can feel in prison. My friend Katie and I got out early, so we celebrated our LAST CLINICAL DAY IN ALL OF NURSING SCHOOL, EVER at Taco Bell.

The next time I step into a hospital, it will be at my job as a real nurse. I can't believe it!!!

For my own memory...

I'd like to jot a few things down so I don't forget.

I took care of an OLD, OLD man (I wanted to ask him how old he was because that's all I could think about) one week on STC 5, and he couldn't feed himself...so I did. He was so hungry b/c he'd been NPO...we'd already gone through iced tea, mashed potatoes, 3 cups of pudding, 2 cups of water, and then we made it to the chocolate milk. He was drinking it and began coughing. I asked him if he was alright and he said yes, so I just figured it went down the wrong tube. All of a sudden my nurse rushed in and asked if he was okay because his pulse was 18!!! (Normal is around 60.) So all these doctors rushed in to try to get his pulse back up. They suspected that he had a heart attack (he'd already had several), so they were going to check his troponin levels. A HEART ATTACK, right there and then while he was drinkin CHOCOLATE MILK! He was such a nice guy...he kept saying, "Boy that's good..." any time he took a bite. Well, I think that's what he said, but he didn't have any teeth and his voice was really low, so it was kind of hard to understand.

As for today, I went to Ft. Hood to work with the Public Health Nurse. She was way cool. We gave alot of flu shots and flumist. There were so many people, I lost count of how many I gave. I'm surprised because most folks said they couldn't even feel it...but it's an IM injection! I would think that would hurt a little bit. We had lunch at the mall food court and it was weird/cool seeing everyone dressed identically. Except for me and my buddy who were in head to toe purple : ) It's a whole new world there....

A Small Victory, Why I Do This.

I had three patients once again this week. Similar to last week, two were easy and one required a little more attention. She is 40 years old, chronic drug abuser, six kids, and has been in the hospital for over 70 days, and generally has a daily seizure.

My nurse and I got her into a special chair to give her a shower, because it had been QUITE some time. Out of fear (of seizing), she was hollering the whole time. People in the hall were wondering about us, no doubt! Her hair had been in a bun, but when we took it down to wash it we found that it was completely matted. The nurse director went and bought her a special conditioner and a comb. I worked on her hair for about 1 1/2 hours. Didn't get very much accomplished, so they are going to bring someone in to cut it for her.

We wheeled her around the floor to see people and look out the windows before I combed out her hair. She shielded her eyes from the light and sat there limp--she has lost all muscle control (from laying in a bed for two months straight). The nurse director came over and said, "April and Lauren are treating you really well, huh Ms. ____?" She mumbled, "Yeah, and this one is my favorite," and grabbed my hand. That's why I do this. Not to be a favorite, but to make an impact and do what I can to make someone's life or experience a little better. It is so satisfying to love doing something so much and to know that you are right where you should be...I just love this...

First time in a long time!

Wow, today was my first day back at the hospital since April! I will be on the same floor for the whole semester and will be shadowing the Charge Nurse to learn her roles. The Charge Nurse I worked with today was awesome and really helpful. It's weird because normally the nurses haven't liked students particularly, but now that I'm close to getting my RN BSN they have made an exception. : )

My 3 patients were all sweet today. One guy was discharged around noon, so then it was down to 2. Then my old lady fell asleep...down to 1. So I hung out in my other patient's room because he was pretty chatty.

26 years old, has AIDS. It's been progressing quickly. He talked about how his life has changed since he was diagnosed with HIV--before, he was focused on his own happiness and making money and traveling the world. Now he sees people as his first priority, he doesn't care about money. He said, "I don't believe in coincidences though, someone has this all worked out," he glanced upwards. I asked him if he believed in God and he enthusiastically said "Yes!" I asked him how he would describe himself spiritually, and he said "Spiritual." He has all sorts of different beliefs. I felt like I was talking to Arnold, my Yosemite tourist friend from Amsterdam.

On great thing about hospitals--they are FILLED with seeking people. Usually, when a 'crisis' occurs, people wonder, "Why is this happening to me? Where's the purpose in this?" And they wonder where this all fits in the plan for their life.

Anyway, I was so happy to be back in the hospital. Of course, I was nervous as all get out last night and this morning, but on the floor today it felt so right. I hope I didn't freak people out due to smiling so much. I just couldn't help it.

Last day of clinicals, S1 (a follow up post)

It is a good thing, being done with clinicals. I like them--it's what I'll be doing the rest of my life--but I don't like doing paperwork and things like that.

When I got to the hospital, my 23 y.o. patient had been taken to the operating room. His younger brother and sister had decided to donate his liver and kidneys. I guess their reasoning might have been that heart and lungs keeps him whole, still a person. I don't know.

My other patient, the 25 y.o., was extubated yesterday after I left. So today when I walked in, I said, "Hi I'm Lauren. Remember flipping me off yesterday?" He grinned and said, "Yeah." Boy, he has a dirty mouth and was demanding, but sometimes he'd try to make up for it by saying "thanks," or mentioning that he thought we must be pretty tough to be nurses. His parents and girlfriend were there all day. His mom mentioned to me in the hall that she hopes this is a wake-up call for him, because he shouldn't be alive...but she knows that there's a reason for him living.

I forgot to give you his background yesterday--he was driving drunk with his girlfriend and got T-boned by another car. He had multiple injuries from it, the biggest being that his heart was torn away from his aorta...not something you want to mess with. That was Sunday. He's made a pretty remarkable recovery since then.

Surgical ICU

Golly, reading over the last few posts I realized that writing things down in a hurry probably isn't the best thing. I tend to be very factual when doing so. Sorry, makes for a pretty boring read. I'm making some time right now!

Today I was in surgical ICU. The nurse I was shadowing--not helpful at all. Lame. One of my patients was conscious and intubated, and kept on trying to communicate with one hand that was restrained to the bed. He kept asking for water and ice. Then he motioned that he wanted a pen and paper, so after I fetched it he wrote, "You have to take this out." I was impressed because the pen/paper thing usually doesn't work (the patients are too sedated). One time I couldn't guess what he was saying, so he very kindly gave me the birdie. And I very kindly chuckled, said sorry, and left. : ) It would be so frustrating not being able to communicate...poor guy. 25 years old.

My other patient is a very sad story. His dad died earlier this week...I'm not sure if it was natural death or suicide. The patient was distraught so he went to a bar, got drunk, and called a friend to pick him up. When his friend got there he parked across the street, motioned at the patient to come to his car. As the patient was crossing the street he got hit by an oncoming car. He was pronounced brain dead 3 days ago. His mom is already institutionalized, so it was up to his younger brother and sister to make the decisions regarding organ donations. His body could save 7 lives. Right now he's still hooked up to machines that are keeping his body (not brain) alive, so to the family it may appear that he's still alive, but without those things his heart would stop beating in minutes--maybe seconds. It was the saddest thing to see the nurse shine a flashlight in his eyes and there be no reaction. He was 23. He had just gotten out of the military less than a month ago, so all of his buddies were coming in and leaving their patches at his bedside.

I learned alot about organ donations today. In case you are interested, you have to go online and register to be an official organ donor. Having a sticker on your license doesn't do it. If you're not registered online, the choice is up to the family, and it's usually a very hard choice considering the circumstances. As for me, I think I want to donate everything--if it ever came to that.

It was a hard day.

Never too late?

I feel like if I don't post now, I never will--because there's so much to tell!!
In my last Critical Care rotation (the last one I wrote about) I got to insert and IV and do other nursely things. It was cool.

Then I went to my last 3 week rotation on the Psych floor. It was pretty neat. Basically, patients check themselves in to get re-medicated or to have their prescriptions altered a tad. Sometimes something will happen in their lives that sends them over the edge so they'll check themselves in. At the hospital, there's group activities all day to participate in. There's a recreational therapy group, where they play games and team-building activities; there's art therapy; and there's a couple group sessions with the therapist. It's pretty neat to sit in on group sessions because the patients help each other out so much. We didn't really get to do a whole lot on the psych floor; mainly observe and have a couple short conversations with patients.

This week I was in the Emergency Room! The first day I was there it was pretty slow...nothing too exciting. The second day I got to see some traumas, and one from the very beginning admission. The guy couldn't breathe because he had pericardial effusion, where fluid leaks out and builds up around the heart, causing it to not be able to squeeze efficiently. So they intubated him, got him hooked up to all the machines (where they made their discovery), and stuck a needle into the sack covering the heart to get the fluid out. It was cool because I've read about it in our books, but it's a rare thing to be able to see. Even after that his heart was having some problems and they had to cardiovert him.

Other than that I saw a lady with the flu, a guy with a super swollen eye for no apparent reason (nice, nice guy), girl with an abcess (sick but cool), alot of 'drug seekers' and a few failed suicides. Drug seekers are interesting. They come in complaining of pain, but they end of being 'allergic' to everything except for the drug they want. One guy had been in 7 times in March alone. The doctor walked in knowing the history and said, "So how much cocaine have you had today?"

I liked the ER alot better than I thought it would. It's kind of neat to have quick rotation of patients, close and frequent communication with the doctors, and great variety of presenting problems.