Week 14 as a level 3 nursing student!

The weeks are diminishing and I can't believe this semester is almost over - yet it also feels like this has been one LONGGGGGGGG semester.

Mon was our last PBL class for this semester! This PBL has been one of great learning for me, not in terms of the content (even though I did learn), but in terms of dealing with other ppl. I've found that I am still trying to find the line between being assertive and aggressive. One valuable lesson from this past semester is the urgency of approaching problems as they come up, instead of 'letting it lie' and in a sense, percolating.

I had no patient assignment on Tue so I had a bit of a harder time researching the diagnosis on site while still answering the questions the parents had. My patient was on contact and droplet precautions, so I had to wear a gown, mask, and gloves. Imagine trying to become friends with a 5 year old with half your face covered and coming into the room with this oversized yellow gown on! Daunting, to say the least! Tuesday was pretty rough, trying to look up information, I was getting used to the Fraser health charting, and trying to make sure that I found the right answers to the questions the parents were asking. In a nutshell, I felt incredibly disorganized.
Organization aside, I managed to get along sooooo well with my patient. She had scarlet fever and was still sooooo cooperative and adorable. I couldn't help but grow attached to her just because she was such a sweetheart. I was checking her pupils and I asked her to close her left eye and she closed her right one instead (I didn't bother correcting her, but her mom did!)!! And while I was finishing her head to toe assessment, she paused to show me how she could fold her socks together!! I also gave her stickers for each assessment I did and she was so excited every time!

Because of how Tue unfolded, I was on a mission on Wed! I felt so much better and so much more on top of things! On Tue, I was still charting at 1300, but on Wed, I was done everything including her meds by 0900! And on top of that, when I entered the room to wake her up, her mom said to her, "Honey, guess who it is, your friend's back...." Me!! I was her friend!! Never have I been so excited to be friends with someone. Hehehe! This day was so much better because she had already been on her antibiotics for over 24 hours, she was no longer on droplet/contact precautions, so I was able to go in without the gown and mask and gloves! When I went in later on to see how she was doing, she was drinking her juice. You know how some juice cups have foil on the top and you use your straw to poke a hole? Well she was sipping already and wanted to show me how she was able to poke the hole herself, so when she made another stab, I said, "That looks like a heart!" and she said, "Because I love you!" Sigh.... :)

She got discharged around 1015, so I didn't have a patient assignment, but because of this, I was able to give an intramuscular injection! And also, I was able to shadow a Dr who was giving botox injections to patients with cerebral palsy. The botox allows their muscles to relax and not tense up. It was pretty tough, though, because I had to hold someone's leg while they were screaming and crying to not get it done. That did not make me feel good at all....and I almost cried because it was so hard for me to do.

I also learned about Rett's Syndrome which is a degenerative neurocognitive genetic disorder. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget the matter-of-fact way the mum had to present information to the Dr. It's not that she's heartless, it's that this has been something she has had to deal with for many many many years. Death for everyone is imminent, but to have to be with it everyday is heartwrenching for me. I very much admired the amount of strength and perseverance that patient's mother displays on a daily basis.

But en keeping with the sandwich effect, (good, bad, good) I am very much looking forward to another week in paediatrics to see how I deal with another age group!!! And I know NOTHING about Hannah Montana, Wii, Dora, pretty much everything child related.........but I'm willing to learn! :)