Week 15 as a Level 2 Nursing Student

One more week of classes - two more weeks including exams until the semester's over! I can't believe it's breezed by so! We practiced removing sutures this week and shortening penrose drains. I haven't seen any penrose drains in the clinical setting and a lot of instructors say that they are not very common anymore, but I think it's still good to learn. You never know if you'll be practicing in a place where they're still being used, right?

Patho's been pretty fast-paced for the past few weeks. We're definitely trying to get through as much material as possible. I really wished that I had taken some background courses before coming into the program, but I'm coping. The keener in me will be reviewing patho this winter holiday.

Clinical this week was good - I'm becoming increasingly comfortable with IVs and have been able to work together with my classmates, going to the bedside with them and watching them set up an infusion. It's really nice to have someone there going through the steps with you and telling you what you're missing, or if you've forgotten to put on the roller clamp. Haha. Two brains are always better than one!

One thing I love about nursing is that I get to keep learning (I realize I'm a student and there are more things TO learn than to NOT learn.) - just when we thought that we'd seen all the surgeries and conditions on this unit, I learn about lupus and Raynaud's disease. It's pretty interesting, learning about these diseases and tying them to which medications the patients are on.

Holidays are a comin!

I ALMOST FORGOT TO ADD MY WARM FUZZY NURSING MOMENT FOR THIS WEEK!!!!!!
So remember how a few weeks ago, I talked about removing the snyder drain and not realizing that my patient was wincing in pain because I was so focused on getting the task done? Then remember what my instructor said about becoming more observant after more practice? Well my patient wasn't in pain when I removed her IV, but she was very very scared. I asked if she wanted me to explain what I was doing as I was doing it (it usually helps with casualty care in first aid) but she was very quick to veto that. So instead I created distractions for her and basically started chatting her up as I removed it. Right after I removed it, I said, "all done!" and she was so surprised she looked at her arm, then up at me, and smiled because she couldn't believe it! So it was exciting for me to be able to do a task (granted it wasn't a HUGE one) and help ease the patient's anxiety related to the task while I did it. My instructor was right and my patient appreciated it!

Ok, that's it. Time to study!