I made it through year 1. I am still in one piece even, and have amazed myself at the things that I have learned in just one year straight. While it will take many, many years to feel like an expert, some of the things I now can do are no small feat: I can give medications, including injections, IV pushes, and hanging IV meds. I can put in a Foley catheter, perform a complete head-to-toe assessment, pack and clean a wound, and remove drains and IVs. I can give patient discharge instructions and education before they go home from the hospital, and I can tell you which labs are not normal, need closer watch, or indicate quite serious conditions. I have well over 200 common medications (and just as many-though probably more-medical conditions) with adverse reactions, contraindications, and drug interactions swimming through my head at all times. I have learned everything from types of cancer treatments to birthing complications, cardiac emergencies to erectile dysfunction drugs, and there has been no shortage of opportunities for critical thinking. I have survived a Code Blue simulation, and while not real, I was impressed with the seriousness of my instructor and classmates, and grateful for the opportunity to practice something so vital before actually experiencing one. I remember being terrified to even go into a patient's room and take vital signs, and wondering to myself how the heck I would ever be able to do a quick (but thorough) assessment on a patient and get it electronically charted. My last week in clinical I performed 3 full assessments and charting, which was a huge feat (though I need to be able to take 5 patients by the end...but since previously I'd been taking 2 patients a day, I feel I am well on my way!). My hands shook like crazy as I hung IV fluids and programmed the pump for my IV check-off in lab. Funny, they didn't shake at all as I gave my first Zofran (an anti-emetic AKA makes you quit puking drug) push (a med that goes straight into an IV port in the patient's arm) or hung my first bag of Ampicillin (IV antibiotics). I didn't flinch when my almost naked elderly male patient started bleeding copiously from an IV site that he'd accidentally pulled out, while I quickly gloved up, held gauze to his arm, and reassured him that as soon as the bleeding stopped, he could have a clean gown on. I joked with patients that I helped ambulate (walk) around the halls after surgery, as I held their arm and directed their IV pole. And yes, the last time I wrote, I wrote how medical was not my most favorite placement...I did indeed like surgical much better.
In the past year I have taken over as the president for the Student Nurses' Association, speaking to high school classes about the nursing program, volunteering to provide first aid at events, and yesterday helping with the graduation ceremony of the class ahead of mine. I have been really lucky in finding great classmates that I consider friends. Because I am so introverted a lot of the time, it saddens me that many are just good acquaintances, not necessarily people I would call up out of the blue, but I have made one close friend that I imagine will be a lifelong friend, and I love that we can talk about nursing stuff all day long, but also about life, our kids, and husbands too.
In my final evaluation with my spring term clinical instructor, she took the time to talk to me about what I wanted after school was done. I told her I was interested in so many things, and that eventually I want to teach nursing. She told me that I am the "complete package," and that I will make an excellent instructor one day, and that patient education is perhaps my biggest strength (surprise?), and that I would make a great nurse practitioner, or she really thought, a case manager because of my ability to see the big picture about patient care. I like that idea really, though have not quite put nurse practitioner out of my mind. She also gave me the encouragement I need to do what I have been thinking of all along, which is to not go to OHSU for my BSN, but to "skip past it" so to speak and enroll in an RN-MSN program when I finish Lane. I may even be able to hold off on that statistics course for a bit (so I am not taking this summer!!).
Sorry for all the nursey talk, I think I needed to get it out of my system before transitioning to summer mode. This summer I am taking courses (online) to keep my teaching license up-to-date, will find out what co-op clinical placement I have gotten for the summer, and if I want to take it this week (it is optional, and it is roughly 14 full shifts), and am doing a ride-along with CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) next weekend. Of course like all summers we have soccer camp, swim lessons, and camping trips planned, but the boys are with me 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off all summer, so keeping myself busy in between is imperative! Awhile back I posted on Facebook that our family had been hit hard recently and were in need of prayer. Our health is fine (I have had some people ask), but finances are tough and may prove to get tougher (it is still not my business to fully share), and with me having 1 more year in school to go, the timing is of course awful, scary, and very stressful...that being said, I have faith that we will pull through and be just fine in the end, but your continued prayer and well-wishing are much appreciated. I hope to post again soon, and hope you enjoyed the (rather lengthy) update on my life.
Sarah
