This is my pretty girl Sydney and I always look forward to seeing her when I go home. Just a little something to brighten up my spirits as we are entering the holiday seasons but have to power through the rest of the semester. We all need a little something to help us get through the rest of the semester! Good luck everyone! Just think 28 more days until there is no more stress…

 

Shriner’s hospital is very different than many of the other well-known hospitals. This hospital has a great reputation and is known for Orthopedics. The patient’s that we work with on the fifth floor are all rehab patients, and in that case there are never too many. This week during clinical I helped another student out with her patient while waiting for my patient to arrive from the PICU. He arrived towards the end of our shift, so I did not get to spend much time with him, but the time that I did spend with him, I learned a lot. This young male arrived from the PICU after have surgery for bilateral upper extremity nerve transfers. I helped him and his Mom to get settled in and the Mom had many questions for me as soon as they arrived to the floor. I let the nurse know of their concerns and we both went in together. Knowing that the patient has a cast on his right arm and an ACE bandage covering his entire left right, the nurse proceed with a neurovascular assessment and asking him if he has had a lot of fluids that day. She listened to his heart sounds, lung sounds, and abdomen. Personally, I get a lot form observing the nurses do assessment on patients because I learn many different techniques, questions to ask,  specific assessments for specific diagnoses and much more just for observing as a student right now. As the nurse asked the boy how much he drank today, the Mom jumped in and told him that he needs water and to drink more fluids and she did misunderstand what the nurse said. The Mom and her son started arguing and there was nothing for the nurse or I to do other than to listen to them. The nurse clarified that he has an IV line in his foot right now and the need to keep it in just so they have good IV access but the Mom thought that they are keeping it in because they need to administer fluids because he is not getting enough. After watching this, I feel that as student we learn about parents and how to educate and inform both the parent’s and the patient’s but as for me, I did not think about it too much until I was in the situation. They were both arguing and I could tell that they were both frustrated but it was between the patient and his Mom so we did not intervene right away. It makes me think of what else I could have done in that situation and for future situations too because I know that this will not be a first. It is so important to work with the family and parents as well as the patient to make sure that everyone is comfortable and has the same understanding of everything that is going on. Misunderstandings and frustrations will cause unnecessary stress on patients, families, and even the nurses caring for them. It was a bit of an eye-opener for me, to figure out what else that I could do as a nurse to make sure that everyone in the room is comfortable.

During this weeks clinical, I was assigned to a 17 year old male patient, who is on a ventilator and is a quadriplegic. I spent practically the whole time in his room. I worked with his nurse for a bit and also the PCA. First, his nurse told me to go in and practice listening to his heart and lungs sounds so I did and then I talked to him for a while. He seemed very happy that I was there to listen and he told me his whole story and what happened to him. It was a very inspiring story and he said that he wants to travel the world, share his story, and make a difference. He explained how he has been in hospitals for almost a year after his accident and he is in Shriner’s for rehab. Originally, his doctors said that he wouldn’t recover, and that he wouldn’t be able to talk, or move, but now he talks all the time and he can nod, and shake his head a little bit. He has come such a long way and he has a amazing spirit. This patient explained how people like me who listen and all of his nurses are the ones who have really encouraged him and kept him motivated. It has been over a year now, and after he was told that he was not going to live, he can move his head about 10 degrees up and down and he can talk and talk and talk. He has such a great head on his shoulders and him talking to me, really means so much. I felt honored that he wanted to share his story and talk to me. Stories like his and patients like him are the reason why I want to be a nurse. I want to be able to make a difference and encourage patients so they can heal and can better and want to move on. I might motivate him, but he motivates me more.  

 

The semester, I have my Pediatric rotation at Shriner’s Hospital in Philadelphia. If nobody is sure, Shriner’s is an Orthopedic Hospital and many of the patients have spinal cord injuries and scoliosis. This past week I had the opportunity to go to their clinic. Which is their outpatient clinic where people from all over come to be evaluated by a doctor. Many are previous patients who are getting a checkup, many come with concerns, and many for evaluations. I was able to follow a Physician’s Assistant around all day and observe her when she was with the patients. I learned so much, and I could pick up which were some of the priorities for patients, such as being on antibiotics when they have external fixator device on their legs.

There was one girl who had the biggest smile on her face and everyone working there remembered her. She was born with a genetic disease and previously had surgery for scoliosis, where they placed magnetic rods in her back and she would travel from New York to come to Shriner’s where they would move the rods a little bit each time to try and lengthen her back out with a device they called a lengthen-er and she was called a magic kid. Its very interesting because before this device, she would of had to had several surgeries every 3 months or so to get these rods moved. It makes you consider how far technology, especially medical technology had come and the impact it can have on peoples lives.

There was another patient and their Mom who came into the clinical and who only spoke Spanish. I was able to help them get checked in and settled because I understand and speak some Spanish, however not fluently. It was really rewarding and made me realize how much I enjoy knowing another language and the gratification that I was able to help them and to understand and try to relate when no one else could. It gives me more motivation to work on my Spanish and to keep up with it.

This week at the clinic was another great experience and many of the cases gave me different perspectives on life and the medical field and the nursing field. I cannot wait to really be a part of it.

I am in my junior year of nursing school and it is just as difficult as everyone said it would be. However, I am only 6 weeks in. I just had my first exams for all of my classes of the semester and they went well but not as well as I would have hoped. No matter how much I study, how long, how much information, practice questions, its doesn’t matter, I am not going to do as well as I want to. Personally, I am not a good test taker. I lose focus and I tend to dis-regard important information that I need to use to answer the question. But I am sure that you all have seen or heard people joke about what nursing questions are like but unfortunately it is so true. All of the answers are right and you have to pick the best answer. These questions are hard and there really is no easy way to do them other than knowing all of the information you could possible know, and then applying that information. After having all of my first exams of the semester in about a week (and after studying a lot), I realized how much more I need to study and to manage my time better. It has been so stressful and I know for a fact that it is not going to be an less stressful with the coming weeks but I know that I have to keep my head up. There is so much going on and so much to learn and I just have to focus and to breath. All of us nursing majors have to remember to put some time aside for ourselves, or we will go insane. It is not going to be easy but if we really want this, we will do everything we can do to achieve and accomplish this. Never forget who you are and why you are here!

Before Starting Junior year, I went to Spain. Almost a full 6 weeks, and they were the most amazing weeks. Studying abroad was something that I have always dreamed of doing. Thinking about traveling in high school, and wondering about how wonderful it would be and now I can finally say that I did it. Now, what does this have to do with nursing? Nothing. But then again, everything. I attended a 4 week program in Granada, Spain and I took a language course and a Spanish and Islamic Civilization and culture course. Again, those courses having nothing to do with nursing but the important aspect is the culture. Everyone I met, everything that I had experienced, my language and socializing skills, I think are very important aspects that will stick with my for the rest of my life.

Going abroad made me so much more open-minded. I appreciate life so much more and I want to experience more. While in Spain, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Morocco for a weekend. Everyone asks me, what I did in Morocco and I never know what more to say than, I rode camels and toured several different cities, but what I remember are the people. Everyone there is so welcoming. Tourism is their biggest economic producer so they encourage and want people to visit but everyone was so nice. Even though most of the time I did not understand them and they couldn’t understand me, I knew that they really appreciated that I was there. The different cities and areas that we had visited showed me so many different ways of living and the different cultures and lifestyles.

In Granada, the people come off very strong. But, I never felt that anyone was rude or mean. It is a different culture, that’s all. For many who would first visit probably think they’re rude because they might not smile or they don’t say please or thank you but that’s is how they are. And now that I have lived there for a while and taken a culture course to explain some of these Spanish customs, it really helps me to keep an open mind when talking to anyone who I might perceive as different from me.

Not only did I meet people from Spain and Morocco, because I was taking classes, I met students from all over the world. My program group consisted of a few Americans and about 15 Australians. All of these people whom I became great friends with and several of which I still keep in touch with. Most of the time, we spent talking about the differences between Australians and Americans, and it is so different. They use a lot of slang and have different names for so much, such as they call peppers capsicum or sweatshirts are jumpsuits. But I loved hearing about it and learning about all the differences.

Every single person that I met and that I talked to had such a big impact on my life. The trip in itself changed me for the better. It is so hard to explain in words how this trip affected me. It really is one of those life-changing events and I want to experience and learn so much more about the world. I am so grateful that I had this opportunity to immerse myself in an entirely different culture. My trip to Spain gave me a little taste of the traveling life, and now I can’t get enough. This is only the beginning for me and I can’t wait to see the rest of the world.