It’s been a while since I’ve posted. This summer I’m taking time to recharge before nursing school begins on Sept 30th; 117 more days. Not that I’m counting. Two days ago I attended our orientation night. It was a two and a half hour information session. Sitting in that room with so many future nurses was a pretty awesome moment. We all worked our asses off to get there so for the night to finally get here was surreal.
We voted on our scrub color for the next two years- pewter won the vote. We found out that the school some of us will complete our Bachelor’s degree through (Oregon Health and Sciences University) has reduced their tuition by 40%! If I attend full time I’ll have my bachelor’s degree in 3 quarters after I graduate with my ASN. It was pretty exciting to think about. We have a mountain of paperwork to complete, deadlines for various immunizations, background checks, and drug/ alcohol testing to complete. I can’t wait to get started! Have I said how excited I am? We went to McMenamins for beer and burgers to celebrate. We sat outside on the deck overlooking the Willamette River and exchanged banter about what lies ahead; no social life, our time being consumed by marathon study sessions- and the jitters we all have about starting. We’ll be doing a flu shot clinic in the fall which had us all pretty jazzed.
in just 26 days I’ll be traveling to Guatemala to take part in a medical mission trip. We will be providing care to underserved communities. It’s completely out of my comfort zone since I haven’t really done any traveling thus far. My awesome friend (and fellow nursing student) are going as well so we will have quite the adventure together. I’m excited to see another part of the world and watch healthcare be delivered in an unconventional way.
These past couple of weeks at work have been a whirlwind. For the first time, I had a patient that required a SOMA bed. It’s a form of restraint that means extra charting, checks every two hours, etc. In other news I also had a patient go unconscious and so had to utilize my emergency badge button for the first time, another try to escape their bed repeatedly, and one attempt to scratch and swing at us.
I’m grateful for the floor I work on not only because of the incredible nurses and fellow CNA’s but because I’m able to see a little bit of everything. Things I’ve seen so far in just three months-C-Diff, pneumonia, COPD, encephalitis, necrotic toes, psychotic episodes, heart failure, code blue, rapid responses, MRSA, death, CPR bring someone back to life, sepsis, alcohol withdrawal, been a sitter for mental health-related issues, witness a swallow test, watch a trach tube be removed, dementia, Alzheimer’s, end-stage liver disease, and diabetes. I’m sure there’s more than that but it’s a valuable patient experience that will help me once I’m in nursing school in September. Dealing with family can be challenging on several levels in addition to figuring out how different nurses like to be communicated with. It’s all priceless time that will help me relate when it comes time to do clinicals in school.
One thing is for sure- through all of this I have learned that I LOVE this work. It is without a doubt, what I’m meant to do. As I go through the preparation process for nursing school and get ready for our medical mission trip, I’ll try and share those experiences and what it all entails. Stay tuned!