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.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, April 4, 2008
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.
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.
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