Week 6 as a level 3 nursing student

"Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress."
- Mahatma Gandhi

Well, this post is clearly many days late. I apologize for my un-timeliness but I've been in a bit of an Olympic/baking frenzy.

Week 6! This week I learned the importance of being assertive and honest in hopes of furthering group process. In NURS 3000, PBL, I've been quite bothered by many issues and as the chairperson for this week, I wanted to bring up my grievances in a very honest and open manner. I mulled over how to do it for hours and did not sleep until 0430 Sunday night with a 0830 class Monday morning. The most important lesson I learned from this experience is that honesty goes miles. That Gandhi knew what he was talking about. I felt as though the class really progressed after that class and I was so pleased with the level of participation.

Let me see, clinical this week was different! It was my first week on the other side but we did not spend much time there. We got to learn about ECT procedure! I gotta say that it's slightly disheartening, the wide-held notion that it is cruel and inhumane. It is not the first line of treatment and it is not done to harm a patient, it is used for treatment resistant patients. So for example, someone who is manic and has not had positive results from oral medications could receive ECT. They are under general anesthesia, given muscle relaxants, and the seizure lasts for max 30 seconds. They awake in 30 min and most patients feel great afterwards. It provides for a better quality of life.

I can't believe that we only have one more week at Riverview! Having said that, however, I am totally anticipating my rotation at Surrey Memorial BABIES, HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Olympic break = money making, baking, and homework

Week 5 as a level 3 nursing student

Cheerie-o, everyone!

Let's see - this week was slightly hectic. I had my presentation on Monday, handed in my PBL proposal on Monday, and took my mental health midterm as well! Tuesday was a bit more relaxed - I just had to meet with my partner and immunology instructor to go over our presentation. I say more relaxed, but I left that meeting feeling seriously anxious. We're supposed to teach our class about the immunological aspects of breastfeeding and I just don't really feel prepared. We aren't teaching it until Mar 2nd, but the deadline for our presentation is Feb. 16th. I always feel so much more pressure when it's a group assignment because both of our marks are on the line.

In clinical this week, we actually got to stay on the same unit for one more week, which was exciting for me because I wanted to interview one of the patients for my PBL paper. It was disappointing, though, because I didn't get a chance to talk to him about it - I really wanted to interview him. It's the same patient who motivated me and inspired me a few weeks back...I've been reflecting lots lately and have realized that he is the first patient who has enabled me to truly empathize with someone.

Sympathy vs. empathy - you don't sympathize, that's feeling sorry for someone, empathize is when you put yourself in their shoes and truly attempt to feel what they're feeling. I was reading his chart and just saw what a hard time he had been going through. When I was talking to my colleagues, one expressed how she wished she didn't know the story behind each person because it was so sad and that it made her depressed. I had to speak up about this because I think nursing is such a collaborative profession and because I was there. I went home on Thursday and sulked for a while before realizing, "hey, despite all these events, he still wants to get better, to improve, to have his own life." It was a huge moment for me, that Thursday evening - I cried, and I'm not too proud to admit it...like I said, it's empowering, for me, to be able to see stories like these. When we talked about this, my classmate seemed really receptive to it and I learned in level 1 the importance of using your colleagues as your resources because if you find the right ones, they can help you through some pretty tough times. When I was in level 1, I grew really attached to a patient and cried pretty hard when I had to leave. That was the first time I truly questioned whether or not I could be a nurse - I felt that putting so much care into a person and having to leave was going to be chronic loss and grief for me. I'm obviously a sensitive person, but I'm finding it easier to detach enough to not cry (I'm not saying it's never going to happen again, believe-you-me) but the whole 'therapeutic relationship' concept is starting to make more sense to me.

My dad always said that you don't have to make your own mistakes in order to learn, and while there has been no specific mistake mentioned in this post, the basis of my dad's statement stands strong. Learning through others is so valuable. Sure, sometimes making your own mistakes allows you to really struggle and grow, but you don't always have to learn the hard way. Drawing on the experiences of others is one of the pillars of life, I think and this week, it really showed to me. I'm not saying that I'm oozing with experience, knowledge, expertise, or whatever, but I'm saying that I knew what my colleague was going through because I'd been there. It made me feel really bad for a while, but sometimes, taking a step back and looking on the other side can be huge. It's always easier to solve someone else's problems, right? ;)

Week 4 as a level 3 nursing student

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. :)

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.

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!

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. :)

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!!!!