First med surg experience

highlight from week 1: saved a baby snail from a dry tree

Spring quarter started last week, and I purposely have not posted anything about school because I have been so overwhelmed. The past 2 weeks have been a serious emotional roller coaster. I've felt every emotion that I think I will experience while in nursing school- from bitterly crying to unexplained inner peace, to undoubtedly predicting my failure and then to complete optimism about my career choice and future. When I started school, I told myself I wouldn't let academics take over my life and make me feel awful because I just hate basing my life's value on just one thing.  Ha! I may have slightly failed. I have definitely felt like complete crap about myself, lost sleep over it and had high blood pressure the past 2 weeks.

Anyway, I am coming off a GREAT day so I'm feeling good. There are so many things I want to remember about today. Today was my second day of my med-surg rotation so I followed my assigned nurse around and saw so many cool things. I watched a suppository medication administration which was administered while the patient's family was in the room and I couldn't help but smile!! 1) because what is funnier than putting your finger in a stranger's rectum, and 2) because I was genuinely so excited to see a real med pass! I'd never seen a suppository med pass before- in lab, they made a makeshift rectum out of a cup, a rubber glove and some rubber bands.... I was trying my hardest not to smile, because the patient's family would probably be like, 'wtf is wrong with this student nurse'. I saw so many IVs: healthy ones, infiltrated ones- I even got to feel fluid rushing through the patient's vessel by placing my fingers above the IV site, while the RN pushed saline! I saw an IV dressing change and realized blood does not bother me at all.

Not quite yet, but getting there

The best part about today was having the nurse I was assigned to. She was so friendly and real with me, not to mention helpful! She pulled up labs for a patient and instead of just eyeing what she needed to and continuing with her work, she turned to me and asked, "So as a nurse, what lab values are important?". She introduced me to all the patients as a student nurse and talked me through everything she was doing- setting up a PCA, precautions for all the meds she was passing, when to call the physician- and occasionally asked me questions, "What is metformin? Why can IV meds cause a burning sensation?". It really allowed me to practice some critical thinking in a safe environment because she's not the one grading me. By the end of my shift I asked her how long she'd been a nurse, and she said she graduated in 2013. She was so knowledgeable, I would have never guessed! She left me with some encouraging words- that yes, you'll have harsh instructors and preceptors, but you'll also have awesome ones, and that's just how it goes.

I think one of the worst parts about being a student nurse is feeling like you're a bother. When RNs are not receptive to you, not introducing you to the patient and hardly acknowledging you, it just feels like you're in their way and slowing them down. As a student, I think it's hard enough feeling like a fish out of water, but feeling like you don't know how to swim and all the other fish are swimming away and you're just trying to catch up? That makes your 8 hour shift feel like a 12. So glad I got to end the week on an awesome note!

I've written so late it's Friday! Happy Friday everyone.