Catch Up!

Oh, I didn't write last week...time for a catch up!!!

Last week I was working on the postpartum unit in couplet care. My patient was born the day after me, so that was pretty cool. She was really nice, had lots of good questions, and her baby had the longest eyelashes I'd ever seen in my life! This was this young woman's second baby in the past two years...eek! Glad it's not me :)
I finally felt more comfortable working with my patient as far as walking in, assessing, asking questions to get info, etc. It felt good. I even got to do discharge teaching when they left! So now they know all I know about what the mom should be feeling physiologically (vague enough? :D), how to bottle feed so the baby can tolerate it better, side effects of meds, how to get a birth certificate, who to call if they have problems or questions, and all that fun stuff. I felt useful. The nurses all seem really happy and like they enjoy there jobs. However on the other end of the spectrum...........

there's the Pediatrics floor. Not quite filled with as much life. My patient on Wednesday had a really interesting disease process (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpus)--a hemorrhagic disorder where his blood doesn't clot effectively. These kids are supposed to take it easy and stay away from the rough physical contact that comes along with sports (because they take forever to stop bleeding), however, the dad insisted that he continue playing "PeeWee Football" so he could be a normal kid. How normal is it if you get a paper cut and have massive blood loss? Anyway, he was in the hospital to get loaded up on meds so he could play football. A 7-year-old.
My patient yesterday was really sad. She was 9-years-old and suffered from Cerebral Palsy. She's a Foster Care kid, but didn't have any visitors all day. She laid in her net-covered-crib flopping around a foam puzzle, listening to hospital music for most of the time. I read her a book and talked to her...she looked at me occasionally, but I couldn't tell if she understood anything. I told her she had pretty hair and put my hand on her head, and she moved her hand to her head also. Maybe she understood? I found out that alot of the pedi kids on the floor are in foster care.
On a brighter note, I did go into the Child Life center (the playroom) and met these two boys playing video games. They were sitting in front of the TV, both in blue gowns, both with IV stands behind them. : ) They had just become friends and were going to go in one of the boys' room to continue their party after the playroom closed. That was pretty cool--seeing kids being friends with kids who had some of the same things going on.

I got my paper work done at 4:25...it was due at 4:30. I was so glad to get that out of my hands! :D

Next week I go to Nicu. My impression from classmates is that these babies take your heart. I'm a little nervous...I'm sure there will be sad stories.

What to expect:

"Parents devote the majority of their time to the care and comfort of the hospitalized child, which causes siblings to feel left out of the parent-sick child relationship. Siblings may become resentful of their sick sibling and begin to feel guilty or ashamed about such feelings." page 970

"Parents instensify attention toward the sick child. The other siblings may regard this as unfair and interpret the parents' attitude toward them as rejection and abandonment." page 1056
Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children

Today we learned about alot of things to expect. It's good to know normals.
This is hard.

L&D

We had clinicals last week, but I don't remember much except that I was in 'couplet care' (taking care of a mom and baby together) and that I was still really nervous to walk into the patient's room.

This week, however, I will never forget. Today I worked on the labor and delivery unit....and I got to see a baby being born! It was different than I expected--the baby came so quickly I could barely get my gloves on. It was the woman's 5th child, so it was a pretty easy labor. She pushed once and the head (it was SO wrinlky!) came out, and on the second push the rest of the body popped out! Then my teacher and I dried her off, did a few tests, and gave it it's vitamin K shot and eye ointment. It happened so fast!

It's crazy to think of everything that can happen in a lifetime...and it all just started for this little girl. The mom was so happy. And the baby was so curious, opening her eyes every now and then to take a stretch. For such a neat day, I don't think I could say enough. It was just good.