This week was our first day back in the hospital in scrubs. We were shadowing a buddy nurse and had a three pt assignment but I didn't do many skills - just took out a saline lock :) Still, it was exciting to be able to do things and interact with pts and nurses again.
The highlight of this week was being able to connect with a pt who was a bit agitated in the beginning of my shift. He was at risk for choking, so his diet was modified to thickened fluids but could have water if supervised. After lunch, he asked for some water and I said he could have some if he took small sips, but he did have dementia, so maybe that's why he had a difficult time processing what I was saying. He ended up getting really frustrated with me and swore a few times. I was surprised that I wasn't taken aback by his outbursts and repeated what I had said firmly - not sure if that added anything to the situation at all. I gave him some and was hovering (unaware) by his side and by the suction just in case. It's funny because we talk about self-awareness, but I was so worried about him choking, that I guess my body language mimicked it because he said to me, 'relax, mate, why do you look so nervous?' I literally think I was standing with my shoulders up by my ears and my arms were like Mr Burns' from the Simpsons hahaha. I was impressed because that's another lesson learned from a pt - when in hospital, you don't want to feel any different from anyone else. You want a drink of water, something so simple to most, yet you need to be supervised. Worse yet, the person supervising you is hovering over you like you're a baby eating a grape (major choking hazard). Haha. Noone wants to feel that way. Does your mom/dad/boyfriend/girlfriend ever nag at you and watch you do something you feel perfectly competent in doing? How do you feel when that happens? A bit angry? A bit agitated? Food for thought.
Rest assured, my story has a happy ending! When I woke him to say goodbye at the end of my shift, he stirred and said 'thank you for being so kind to me.' That made my day worth it. It's all worth it.
Talking about becoming more 'emotionally intelligent' and tapping into my own emotions, I found myself feeling really unhappy yesterday. It wasn't that I was unhappy, exactly, but I felt like something was really bugging me. I couldn't put my finger on it. Part of it is being around negative ppl - I just can't take constant negativity. It totally messes with me. I think my feeling of 'unhappiness' yesterday was actually stress. Haha! It was because I was assigned a presentation on Tue for PBL and I have to present this upcoming Tue and I hadn't started yet. It was stress that I was feeling but couldn't really pinpoint until hours later. How do I not know what stress feels like....?
Ridiculous. So I made a to-do list and did some research in the hospital today. :) All better!
Learning and living and recovering from the long weekend....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment