I almost passed out!

This week at the hospital I did my rotation in Day surgery. It is not exactly what it sounds like. I did not see any surgeries. That will be my OR rotation. Day surgery is pre-op and post-op. I admitted the patients, went through their history, got them squared away with their gowns and warming blankets. The blanks are so cool, it's an inflatable blanket that continually blows warm air on the patient. One of the patients I admitted was getting a colonectomy (a part of his colon removed b/c of colon cancer), and I was able to go with the anesthesiologist and watch him administer an epidural. I was excited b/c I never received an epidural with my 3 kids, and only saw one from a far. I thought I was in for a treat.

I must preface this experience, in that I had to be there at 5:45am, which meant I had to wake up at 4am to get there. I ate a light breakfast, because it's hard to eat that early in the morning. It had been about 5 hours since I ate anything when I went with the patient for his epidural. I was standing and watching for about 15 minutes as the anesthesiologist tried not once, but 5 times to get the epidural in the right spot. I was amazed at how far the needle went into his spine. I swear, it almost touched his belly button! :) Well, after the 5th time, I started getting light headed and sick to my stomach and my pupils started to constrict. I sat down and I began getting cold sweats. The nurse with the patient had to call another nurse to assist me to the break room. When she saw me, she could see how pale I was and walked me ever so gingerly to get some crackers and juice. I was greeted by surgeons, nurses, a nurse anesthetist, and a fellow nursing student. Embarassing!!! They all smiled because they've all been there. They gave me a few good words of advice. EAT!!! I will make sure to eat often when I am in the OR next month.

Quarter 2, Week 3

Today was my first clinical experience at the hospital. I was in the Progressive Care Center taking care of a patient for end of life care. He had a tripple bypass surgery and was not in good shape. He was having such a hard time breathing, and his irregular heart rate didn't help. Aside from his complications, he was very pleasant. Today he said, I want to go". I tried to clarify what he was meaning. He then stated, "I just want to go to the promise land." I felt so sorry for him, and his wife sitting next to him tried to quiet him up because she didn't want to hear any sort of talk like that. It was interesting seeing that side of nursing today. I wonder what next week will be like when I get a new patient.

Quarter Two - Week 1

I am so excited for this quarter. I am focusing on Medical-Surgical and Pediatrics. I will be able to be in the OR for surgery. I am so excited for that! This is one department I have been seriously considering joining after graduation. After this quarter I'll have a better idea if it is still what I want to do. We will doing pre-, intra-, and post-operative care.

I will be going to Head Start and assessing the toddlers there. I will be very comfortable working with toddlers, especially beacuse I have one! I think I will enjoy it and I am looking forward to it!

The catheterization that went so very wrong

While working last quarter in the nursing home I had many experiences that helped me grow as a nursing student. One of which was the catheterization that I had to perform. The woman had severe MS and her legs would not open very wide. Because of which, the CNA's did not perform adequate perineal care. When I did peri-care for her, I had to do a lot of "clean up" so to say. The smells were atrocious and almost unbearable. After I cleaned her, I set up my sterile field. I prepped her with betadine to sterilize her, and I thought I was good to go. I tried to insert the catheter, but what I thought was the appropriate spot, apparently was not. I had to have the two other students who were holding her legs open to also hold flashlights. I spent about 10-15 minutes or so with no luck. My instructor came to the rescue and assisted with finding the urethra, which still took some fishing and hunting around for it.

The catheter finally went into the right hole. Unfortunately, the catheter that I used was not like the one I was used to in the practice lab. The caths in the lab already had the collection bag attached. I forgot to attach the catheter to the bag. Soon I had urine coming out onto her bed. I quickly fixed that problem and was able to collect the urine in the bag. I then had to blow up the balloon in the catheter with 10ml of water. The syringe had 30, so I had to stop at 10ml. I pushed in the 10ml of water and had difficulty getting the syringe off with the same hand that was holding the catheter in place. Another student nurse that assisted me helped take it off. Unfortunately, I was still putting pressure on the syringe as to not lose water out of the balloon. I ended up squirting the patient with water all over her legs. This is exactly what not to do when performing a catheterization!!!!

I got her all cleaned up and went to measure her urine from her old bag. As I drained it, I became nauseous from the putrid odor of her urine. My spirits were down and I felt very unqualified to perform another one. Comforting or not my instructor said that was the hardest cath-job she’s ever seen, because her anatomical orifices were not in the correct location, which made it hard to find the urethra. I was finally done 50 minutes later!!!

As luck would have it, I was able to perform another catheterization. This time it went off without a hitch. I performed it from start to finish in 10 minutes and my instructor was very pleased, and boy, my confidence level came back.

I look forward to more fun and interesting events during school.

End of First Quater Nursing School

Well, I am happy to say that first quater of Nursing School has come to an end...finally! It has been such a hard quarter but it was worth it, because I did well and passed. It may not be a large feat, but I have to take one quarter at a time.

Two weeks ago I received a package from my parents (it is pictured below). When I opened it up I started to cry. You see, when I was about 12 years old, I attended a Tony Robbins convention, yes that's right, Tony Robbins. I learned how to put mind over matter, and that night, I WALKED ON FIRE! , As I walked on fire, I repeated in my head, "Cool Moss". I walked away with no burns. It was an awsome experience, and my dad said if I can walk on fire, then I can do anything. Afer my experience, I used a beading loom and beaded this necklace. A few weeks ago my parents found it and now I can look at it every day for inspiration.

Here are a few things I have learned about myself and other things while in school.1. I have a new appreciation for the beauty of sunrises2. My kids really are hard to wake up and get going in the morning3. I am starting to become a better test taker4. My husband is so awesome, and the best in the world! I couldn't have gotten to this point if it weren't for his loving support5. I missed making dinners and yummy desserts for my family6. I missed talking to my friends and having our girls night out

Quarter One - Week 9

I can't believe I have only 2 weeks left. I have been busy with studying, writing a paper, going to clinicals, and doing my 10 pages of clinical assignments. I am working at a Long-term facility. I have a patient with multiple problems, including both legs amputated due to diabetes, and one arm tramatically amputated, and on top of that he has a pressure ulcer (open wound) from sitting in his wheelchair all day. He actually has it better than some there. While working there I have taken so many blood sugar tests and given so many insulin injections, I can't count them all. I have given showers and bed baths to patients, administered many different forms of medication (eye drops, oral, topical, subQ and IM). The one I am most proud of is a PEG tube medication administration. A woman has a tube in her stomach where she has tube feedings. I administered her medication in the tube. Fun stuff! I have so much on my plate that I have been a bit stressed. As a result I broke out in one of my typical-fashion stress-induced cold sores. Thank goodness I will be done in 2 weeks and on relaxing on our cruise in 3 weeks!

Quarter One - Week 6

Today ends week 6 of nursing school. The time has flown by quickly, and I can't believe I am over 1/2 done with the quarter.I did something very fun and interesting on Wednesday. I gave Flu shots! We administered them at the local hospital to employees. I was a little nervous to give them because we had practiced injections into little fluid-filled bags. Obviously, human skin, tissue & muscles are much different than the bags we practiced on.I was nervous doing the first one, and my hands were shaking a bit. After the first, I felt comfortable and excited to do another one. I was also able to give a TB shot, which is intradermal (just below the dermis of the skin). I gave it to a sweet, little old lady, who was so patient. My instructor was very pleased with my work. Whoohoo!!As students we were allowed to receive the flu shot as well. One of my fellow students administered my shot . I had a little bit of anxiety, and I started breaking out in cold sweats. At that moment, I realized something. I don't like to be on the receiving end of injections. I much prefer and enjoy giving shots. Anyone want me to practice on them? Ha Ha.

Quarter One - Week One Nursing School

This ends my first week of nursing school. It was a crazy week. The kids have started adjusting to their new schedule of early mornings and getting to bed early. I'm not quite there yet with late nights of studying and early morning schedules. Drew enjoys going to Sue's house, and going to preschool everyday makes him happy. On Wed. he came home with a paper with cut-out people in a circle. He proceeds to tell everyone that it is his "circle of friends". How cute is he! In school I learned about vitals and I was able to correctly take an accurate blood pressure the first day! Whooho! I have so much work to do it is crazy, but Jeff has been so wonderful helping out at home. When I come home he takes care of so much of the "domestic" work and he encourages me to hide in the office and study. I'm so lucky to have such a supportive husband.

Why it is my daily dose

After visiting with my sister-in-law, Marissa, she convinced me to start a blog dedicated to just my fun and interesting nursing school experiences. I was giving her a detailed account of a catheterization job that went terribly wrong, and she said I needed to write them all down. I agreed and with the help of my sister, Heather, she came up with this wonderful and very appropriate name.