Clinical Day 1 First Semester

Today was my very first clinical day... one I've kind of dreaded for a while. LOL I am not sure why because it's at the hospital I work at but something about having your professor breathing down your neck and such, it's just nerve wracking.

I got up at 5am to be at clinical by 0630 even though we were supposed to meet at 0645. I did not want to be late. It's just wrong at the amount of people that are out before the sun rises. It seemed like it was 0500, not almost 0700. Anyway, we met up with the instructor who brought us to a conference room to discuss our patients. My patient was a 32 yr old woman who had a myomectomy so it was a gyne patient that I've been used to the past 4 years of working at the hospital. LOL I lucked out but kind of wished I had had a different patient because it's something I'm used to.

It was hard for me because when I'm at work, I have a schedule in my mind of when I need to do things, what I need to do and when they should all be done. Well, everything needed to be verified before I did them so I had to hunt down my instructor before attempting anything. I introduced myself to the patient and began a head to toe assessment. Little did I know, my instructor would have to check me off again so I'd have to go BACK into the room and explain to the pt that there was nothing alarming in the first assessment, I just need to redo because my instructor needs to observe. I did well... forgot a few things but nothing major. I don't even know if my instructor noticed because afterward outside the room, she said I did a good job. Yes.. something positive was said in nursing school. It's truly a miracle. :-) 

I then later completed a set of vital signs with my instructor on my patient. Did the tympanic temp which is easy. Then my instructor and I both took pulse and respirations... she felt one arm, I felt the other. We both got the same thing. WOOHOO! Then, the craziest thing happened... I took the blood pressure manually. They have a double stethoscope so the instructor can verify what the student says. It is hard to tell what the number is on a manual sometimes but I had said 113/63. My instructor said to verify it with the tech who has an automated machine. She took it and I nearly passed out... it read 113/63. I could NOT believe it!! That never ever happens! Those automated machines are sometimes so off and who's to say my lil' ol reading was even close?! I was awed. LOL 

I helped one of my peers get her patient's bed changed and she was so funny. I was talking to the patient as I was making the bed and she said 'how do you talk and do this at the same time??' I guess when you're used to it, it's second nature. Then the same girl's patient needed to get up and walk but he was sitting on the bed, not really wanting to get up because he was exhausted. Because he was trying to cough something up, he could not lay down for fear of aspiration, so he was a bit ticked off. I was helping her and had said to the patient "How about we go for a short walk, try to loosen up whatever is in there and maybe then when you get back to your room, you'll be able to take some pain medication and a nice nap? Sound good?" He said "Yeah, ok" and we went for a walk. She looked at me like 'how did you do that??' I like having that experience with patients but I'm sure this was the easiest clinical in my next 2 years. Eeek!