Late entry (in red) This week has been pretty tough, in terms of assignments. I had readings to do the entire week last week but also had one presentation on Monday (today), a paper on Monday, a presentation to submit for Tuesday (tmr), and a midterm tonight. This semester has definitely been the most difficult for me, hw wise, but clinical hasn't been too bad.
You can always tell how busy/stressed out I am by:
a) the amount of text msgs I send out
b) how quickly I update this blog (sometimes I'll update even if I'm busy but have had an amazing week)
c) the amount of frustration I have
d) the amount of cookies I eat (haha!)
Let's see. Last week was very neat - I had my alternative experience for my mental health rotation and it was pretty neat. I was at a group home and most of the residents were very high-functioning. It kind of brought hope for me when I thought back about the patient who is around my age - to know that it is possible. :)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Week 3 as a Level 3 Nursing Student!
This first part is copied from a mass msg I sent out earlier, but it really just has a huge effect on me and I would personally appreciate it if someone sent it to me, so this is me sharing my love with you.
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i trust you're all doing well. i've had a really moving week this past week and i wanted to share it with ppl i care about. a few events that happened at riverview really struck me and motivated me and inspired me and i wanted to share it with you.
i'm 22. some of you are my age, some younger, some older. one of the patients i talked to was my age and he has schizophrenia. literally, schizophrenia means 'split mind'. schizophrenia is a very devastating condition. it not only affects a person mentally, the drugs have some serious physical side effects, and a person's social skills are affected as well.
so i was talking to him and i really put myself into his shoes and i was just so saddened. i asked him what an 'ideal situation' was for him and his response was "having a job, having a life, a marriage" and for some reason, i was really shocked. why was i shocked? in reflecting, i think it's because these things seem so simple to me (us). a job that would sustain him, not even a job that was highly coveted. just a job. how simple is that for us to do? then i thought about how he was at such a low point in his life, he talked about how he was feeling so depressed, yet despite those feelings, he still wanted those things that are so easily attainable for ppl who don't suffer from mental illnesses. i really admire his courage to face what's the come, i'm really inspired by his strength to dare to dream, and i'm really motivated by his story. i can't imagine my current situation as being the highest point in my life. i would like to think that it can only go up from here and it isn't THAT hard for me, but for him, it's a road full of adversity and uncertainty.
i think to this day (of my one year relationship with nursing haha), this is one of my most valuable nursing experiences. and because of this, i want to share it with ppl i really care about. i send this to you for a number of reasons:
1. i want to show ppl that the stigma of mental illness is unwarranted
2. i want to share this story of courage, perseverance, and inspiration because i believe fully that we are all capable of achieving whatever it is that we want to do with our lives and
3. because i cannot imagine what life would be like without these stories. it makes me want to do more with my life and really chase my dreams. it really puts things into perspective for me and it's incredibly humbling.
i guess in a roundabout way, i wanted to share this with you guys because i think we're all capable of chasing our dreams, because we can do it so easily. we don't have restrictions on when we can go out, we don't have to earn the reward of leaving our houses for only 2 hours, 3 times a day.
it really moves me and inspires me to do more with my life and i hope that you can appreciate the story and hold it dear to you as I have.
The second story comes from my actual assigned patient. Schizoaffective disorder is a condition similar to schizophrenia but coupled with a mood disorder. My patient had the flat affect which was interesting to note, though it did throw me off quite a bit when the patient would say "I'm very happy" but maintain an expressionless face. The biggest milestone with this patient is that I was actually able to try out some other methods of controlling anxiety. I have no training whatsoever in this type of therapy but I decided to give it a try and it worked. It honestly worked for them! It was amazing to me because I didn't think I could do it and I felt like I was making everything up as I went and I wasn't even 100% sure it would do anything, but they said that it did and that they may try it in the future and that it was really helpful. I really developed a great rapport with this patient and it was so heart warming to have them actually form an expression similar to that of a smile!! When I asked whether or not they were able to express emotion and smile, they said they were ok at smiling then added that I was really good at smiling!!! I was so touched that I managed to illicit any type of expression. Mental health's really starting to impact me in a way I never imagined possible.
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i trust you're all doing well. i've had a really moving week this past week and i wanted to share it with ppl i care about. a few events that happened at riverview really struck me and motivated me and inspired me and i wanted to share it with you.
i'm 22. some of you are my age, some younger, some older. one of the patients i talked to was my age and he has schizophrenia. literally, schizophrenia means 'split mind'. schizophrenia is a very devastating condition. it not only affects a person mentally, the drugs have some serious physical side effects, and a person's social skills are affected as well.
so i was talking to him and i really put myself into his shoes and i was just so saddened. i asked him what an 'ideal situation' was for him and his response was "having a job, having a life, a marriage" and for some reason, i was really shocked. why was i shocked? in reflecting, i think it's because these things seem so simple to me (us). a job that would sustain him, not even a job that was highly coveted. just a job. how simple is that for us to do? then i thought about how he was at such a low point in his life, he talked about how he was feeling so depressed, yet despite those feelings, he still wanted those things that are so easily attainable for ppl who don't suffer from mental illnesses. i really admire his courage to face what's the come, i'm really inspired by his strength to dare to dream, and i'm really motivated by his story. i can't imagine my current situation as being the highest point in my life. i would like to think that it can only go up from here and it isn't THAT hard for me, but for him, it's a road full of adversity and uncertainty.
i think to this day (of my one year relationship with nursing haha), this is one of my most valuable nursing experiences. and because of this, i want to share it with ppl i really care about. i send this to you for a number of reasons:
1. i want to show ppl that the stigma of mental illness is unwarranted
2. i want to share this story of courage, perseverance, and inspiration because i believe fully that we are all capable of achieving whatever it is that we want to do with our lives and
3. because i cannot imagine what life would be like without these stories. it makes me want to do more with my life and really chase my dreams. it really puts things into perspective for me and it's incredibly humbling.
i guess in a roundabout way, i wanted to share this with you guys because i think we're all capable of chasing our dreams, because we can do it so easily. we don't have restrictions on when we can go out, we don't have to earn the reward of leaving our houses for only 2 hours, 3 times a day.
it really moves me and inspires me to do more with my life and i hope that you can appreciate the story and hold it dear to you as I have.
The second story comes from my actual assigned patient. Schizoaffective disorder is a condition similar to schizophrenia but coupled with a mood disorder. My patient had the flat affect which was interesting to note, though it did throw me off quite a bit when the patient would say "I'm very happy" but maintain an expressionless face. The biggest milestone with this patient is that I was actually able to try out some other methods of controlling anxiety. I have no training whatsoever in this type of therapy but I decided to give it a try and it worked. It honestly worked for them! It was amazing to me because I didn't think I could do it and I felt like I was making everything up as I went and I wasn't even 100% sure it would do anything, but they said that it did and that they may try it in the future and that it was really helpful. I really developed a great rapport with this patient and it was so heart warming to have them actually form an expression similar to that of a smile!! When I asked whether or not they were able to express emotion and smile, they said they were ok at smiling then added that I was really good at smiling!!! I was so touched that I managed to illicit any type of expression. Mental health's really starting to impact me in a way I never imagined possible.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Week 2 as a level 3 nursing student
This week has been one of realizations! As much as I'm enjoying the research and readings on mental health issues, I'm having a hard time adjusting to the pace in mental health nursing. I've become very accustomed to the fast paced, task-oriented nature of nursing and mental health nursing is a completely different framework altogether. I'm finding it a bit hard to understand what my tasks are when I'm at the hospital. The patients get up, we take vitals, they get their meds, and they pretty much do activities with the occupational therapists and recreational therapists. This kind of nursing is a whole lot of talking, but when patients don't want to talk and they don't want to play games, I find that I'm unsure of what to do. I ask the other nurses and health care workers if they need help with anything, but they say no. So it's a bit of a challenge for me.
This semester seems super intense. I think for the first time since starting school last January, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the volume of assignments. It may not be such a bad thing to have a two week break during the Olympics. I know it's just a matter of organizing myself, but I'm just scared I won't be on top of everything. Having said that, I won't let it happen either... :)
It's nice having a day off in the middle of the week - I'm really productive in that I get readings and patient research done. Time to go to pharmacology! Have a great week, everyone!
This semester seems super intense. I think for the first time since starting school last January, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the volume of assignments. It may not be such a bad thing to have a two week break during the Olympics. I know it's just a matter of organizing myself, but I'm just scared I won't be on top of everything. Having said that, I won't let it happen either... :)
It's nice having a day off in the middle of the week - I'm really productive in that I get readings and patient research done. Time to go to pharmacology! Have a great week, everyone!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Week 1 as a level 3 nursing student
Level 3 is comprised of our mental health rotation (8 weeks), pediatric rotation (4 weeks) and maternity rotation (4 weeks). This semester, I'm at Riverview and Surrey Memorial.
Finding out that I was assigned to Riverview was slightly daunting...but I honestly believe that it is a matter of exposure, or for me, inexposure. The more exposure you have and the better you understand it, the less intimidating it is. You hear all the time that you need to be open-minded as a nurse and I can honestly say that I think I'll be in situations where I'm very uncomfortable this semester, but isn't it true that you always grow the most in awkward situations? No? Is that just me? :) I think there will be times where I won't know what to say in response to a patient, but who has all the answers all the time, right?
We had our orientation today at Riverview and I was so surprised to hear that there was such a rich history behind it all. It opened in 1914/15 in Coquitlam. Back then, there weren't roads or anything leading out to it, so access was very limited. The means of transportation was via train, which only went out a few times a week! One of the things I found amazing was the fact that the staff and their families used to live on the grounds and it was actually one of the 5 biggest municipalities (back then, of course)! There was a nursing school there and the students actually lived on the grounds as well! They were a completely self-sufficient community, complete with a farm, piggery, cannery, bank, gas station, fire hall, and I'm sure I'm missing other things! I just think it's sad that it'll be closing down in the future - there's such a strong culture there...a really strong sense of family, it seems. There are lunchtime staff running groups, everyone knows each other, the staff who are working there now have been working there for a LONGGGG time.
To talk more about the other classes, I think immunology will be a LOT more interesting than microbiology - the topics seem to tie in to nursing a lot more (maybe I just wasn't so into microbi, I dunno). PBL seems like a good group, it will be itneresting to see how the semester unfolds..we have a lot of strong personalities, a lot of us are really outspoken, so it'll be neat to see how we all work together. NURS 3036 - my mental health class seems really interesting and I love love love psychology, so I'm super stoked for it.
This semester will be a lot of work, but nothing I can't overcome. :)
Finding out that I was assigned to Riverview was slightly daunting...but I honestly believe that it is a matter of exposure, or for me, inexposure. The more exposure you have and the better you understand it, the less intimidating it is. You hear all the time that you need to be open-minded as a nurse and I can honestly say that I think I'll be in situations where I'm very uncomfortable this semester, but isn't it true that you always grow the most in awkward situations? No? Is that just me? :) I think there will be times where I won't know what to say in response to a patient, but who has all the answers all the time, right?
We had our orientation today at Riverview and I was so surprised to hear that there was such a rich history behind it all. It opened in 1914/15 in Coquitlam. Back then, there weren't roads or anything leading out to it, so access was very limited. The means of transportation was via train, which only went out a few times a week! One of the things I found amazing was the fact that the staff and their families used to live on the grounds and it was actually one of the 5 biggest municipalities (back then, of course)! There was a nursing school there and the students actually lived on the grounds as well! They were a completely self-sufficient community, complete with a farm, piggery, cannery, bank, gas station, fire hall, and I'm sure I'm missing other things! I just think it's sad that it'll be closing down in the future - there's such a strong culture there...a really strong sense of family, it seems. There are lunchtime staff running groups, everyone knows each other, the staff who are working there now have been working there for a LONGGGG time.
To talk more about the other classes, I think immunology will be a LOT more interesting than microbiology - the topics seem to tie in to nursing a lot more (maybe I just wasn't so into microbi, I dunno). PBL seems like a good group, it will be itneresting to see how the semester unfolds..we have a lot of strong personalities, a lot of us are really outspoken, so it'll be neat to see how we all work together. NURS 3036 - my mental health class seems really interesting and I love love love psychology, so I'm super stoked for it.
This semester will be a lot of work, but nothing I can't overcome. :)
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Week 16 as a Level 2 Nursing Student
This week was awesome but I'm so sad the semester's over. This was our last week of classes and we had a final exam on Tue for PBL. Then we had two guest speakers come in for clinical skills and I gotta say, I really admire ppl who are able to stand up in front of a crowd and talk about their experiences. To be able to tell a group of 70 about your health history, how you felt after a surgical procedure, and how it's affected your life takes an incredible amount of courage and I really respect that.
We had our last class of patho with David on Wed and it was kind of sad but also exciting at the same time. I'm sad we don't have it over 3 semesters because it's such an important course but the materials are crammed in. I'm going to be a keener and study patho over the winter holiday. Go ahead and laugh at me, but who wants a nurse that can't think and make sense of a diagnosis? I would never wish that upon anybody.
This week clinical was great for me. I had one patient who was very independent and the second patient was total care. I am feeling very good about IV meds, infusions, and injections now. The patient who was total care also had dementia - something I haven't dealt with since level 1, last semester! So it had been about 6 months since I had practiced those communication skills and I was reminded of how patient I had to be. It was pretty hard getting back up to speed, but it was so nice to see at the end of the shift how he had warmed up to me! I walked in and asked if he recognized me and said, "well, I don't know, but I remember the smile!" That is one of my warm fuzzy nursing moments for this week.
Today was my very last day at MSJ and with my clinical group! I am so sad! I'm glad to be done this semester because I'm excited for the holidays, but I'm going to miss my group, instructor, and it's been such a great semester - all the experiences I've had!!! I had the opportunity to nurse with my friend from high school today and it was SO exciting! I had been looking forward to it for such a long time - when I found out that I was at this hospital, I had to contact him right away and say "I hope I'll have a shift with you!!!" and then I saw that he had signed some charting for one of my patients the week before and texted him excitedly saying that I saw his name (not the patient's name) on charting, so there was a sign of him on the unit! So I finally got to work with him and it was so exciting and I have so much respect for him.
I had my final evaluation today with my instructor and he was so encouraging. I was so sad that this semester is over that I couldn't give him any feedback about his teaching (which is great). We made a really awesome gift basket for him and he seemed so surprised! Even though he saw it in the morning...haha! We also made a bunch of things for the ward for them to eat. Unfortunately, we weren't able to have a lot of the nurses we worked with throughout the semester there today! So we never really got to say goodbye! 
4 exams to go!!! Wednesday, here I come!!!!
LEVEL 3, HERE I COME!!!!
We had our last class of patho with David on Wed and it was kind of sad but also exciting at the same time. I'm sad we don't have it over 3 semesters because it's such an important course but the materials are crammed in. I'm going to be a keener and study patho over the winter holiday. Go ahead and laugh at me, but who wants a nurse that can't think and make sense of a diagnosis? I would never wish that upon anybody.
This week clinical was great for me. I had one patient who was very independent and the second patient was total care. I am feeling very good about IV meds, infusions, and injections now. The patient who was total care also had dementia - something I haven't dealt with since level 1, last semester! So it had been about 6 months since I had practiced those communication skills and I was reminded of how patient I had to be. It was pretty hard getting back up to speed, but it was so nice to see at the end of the shift how he had warmed up to me! I walked in and asked if he recognized me and said, "well, I don't know, but I remember the smile!" That is one of my warm fuzzy nursing moments for this week.
Today was my very last day at MSJ and with my clinical group! I am so sad! I'm glad to be done this semester because I'm excited for the holidays, but I'm going to miss my group, instructor, and it's been such a great semester - all the experiences I've had!!! I had the opportunity to nurse with my friend from high school today and it was SO exciting! I had been looking forward to it for such a long time - when I found out that I was at this hospital, I had to contact him right away and say "I hope I'll have a shift with you!!!" and then I saw that he had signed some charting for one of my patients the week before and texted him excitedly saying that I saw his name (not the patient's name) on charting, so there was a sign of him on the unit! So I finally got to work with him and it was so exciting and I have so much respect for him.
I had my final evaluation today with my instructor and he was so encouraging. I was so sad that this semester is over that I couldn't give him any feedback about his teaching (which is great). We made a really awesome gift basket for him and he seemed so surprised! Even though he saw it in the morning...haha! We also made a bunch of things for the ward for them to eat.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to have a lot of the nurses we worked with throughout the semester there today! So we never really got to say goodbye! 4 exams to go!!! Wednesday, here I come!!!!
LEVEL 3, HERE I COME!!!!
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!
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!
Week 14 as a Level 2 Nursing Student
We had our second 12 hour shift this week on Fri so we had Thursday off which was a nice break! We had our last PBL class of the semester and we practiced irrigating bladders this week in lab.
This week in clinical, I had such a good shift! It was really busy for me and I felt kind of crazy, but I really enjoyed it. I got to do a lot of practicing on IVs both on a pump and by gravity!! My morning started off really disjointed and I felt really behind and I was so thrown off by drawing up two different types of insulin into one syringe - I had to do it three times and I was so frustrated!!!! I can verbalize what I need to do, but one time I pulled the safety sheath over the needle and had to restart, the second time I was 1 unit short so I pulled up a bit and ended up getting 5 units and had to restart yet again. But I got it the third time, thank god! I was so mad at myself for taking so long! Then I found out that one of my patients had been discharged already and I didn't even know! That made me even MORE mad at myself!! Hello! What was going on with myself! I was so frazzled. Then I went to do my patient's head to toe assessment and they started crying!!! I was surprised but also not really surprised because their affect while I was in their room was quite sad the entire time. So I guess crying was a natural progression. It was kind of sad because I asked if they wanted to talk about anything and if they could tell us about what was bothering them and they said declined. When I talked to my instructor, he asked how that made me feel, but I knew that it wasn't personal - it's not like she hates me and doesn't want to talk to me, it's just the situational thing, really.
But it was so exciting for me because at the end of the shift when I was saying goodbye, they asked if I was going to be there the day after and I said no and she seemed kind of disappointed and then they smiled at me!! MY PATIENT WHO DIDN'T WANT TO SPEAK TO ME AT ALL DURING THE FIRST PART OF MY SHIFT SMILED AT ME!!!! Celebrate your victories, right? Yay!
My second patient was really tired because they had just come up from surgery and I got to do a lot of work with gravity IV stuff and it was just really exciting to be able to practice. The patient and her husband were really nice, too. There was a lot of family support and she was super sweet.
Almost done level 2!!! Woohoo! I'm going to miss my clinical group and my instructor so much!!!
This week in clinical, I had such a good shift! It was really busy for me and I felt kind of crazy, but I really enjoyed it. I got to do a lot of practicing on IVs both on a pump and by gravity!! My morning started off really disjointed and I felt really behind and I was so thrown off by drawing up two different types of insulin into one syringe - I had to do it three times and I was so frustrated!!!! I can verbalize what I need to do, but one time I pulled the safety sheath over the needle and had to restart, the second time I was 1 unit short so I pulled up a bit and ended up getting 5 units and had to restart yet again. But I got it the third time, thank god! I was so mad at myself for taking so long! Then I found out that one of my patients had been discharged already and I didn't even know! That made me even MORE mad at myself!! Hello! What was going on with myself! I was so frazzled. Then I went to do my patient's head to toe assessment and they started crying!!! I was surprised but also not really surprised because their affect while I was in their room was quite sad the entire time. So I guess crying was a natural progression. It was kind of sad because I asked if they wanted to talk about anything and if they could tell us about what was bothering them and they said declined.
When I talked to my instructor, he asked how that made me feel, but I knew that it wasn't personal - it's not like she hates me and doesn't want to talk to me, it's just the situational thing, really.But it was so exciting for me because at the end of the shift when I was saying goodbye, they asked if I was going to be there the day after and I said no and she seemed kind of disappointed and then they smiled at me!! MY PATIENT WHO DIDN'T WANT TO SPEAK TO ME AT ALL DURING THE FIRST PART OF MY SHIFT SMILED AT ME!!!!
Celebrate your victories, right? Yay!My second patient was really tired because they had just come up from surgery and I got to do a lot of work with gravity IV stuff and it was just really exciting to be able to practice.
The patient and her husband were really nice, too. There was a lot of family support and she was super sweet. Almost done level 2!!! Woohoo! I'm going to miss my clinical group and my instructor so much!!!
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