20th Post!

Woo Hoo!

Today was an ok day (but it's not over yet!) But yesterday was awesome!

For school, we had a 12 hour clinical at a local hospital. In the past few weeks we have been taking turns going to different floors on the hospital. This week, it was my turn to go to the ICU/IMU (Intermediate Care Unit). At first, I was incredibly nervous, "INTENSIVE CARE?! What the heck could I possibly do there!?"

But it turned out pretty good. Everyone was on a heart monitor - a plus because we have a test over Cardiac on Monday. I will admit, I did feel like a goofus for the first few hours.

Exhibit A: While giving a med IV push, I started the saline flush first.

"Hey, Matt (the nurse I followed that day), I'm getting a lot of resistance with this IV..."
"Maybe it's because the clamp is on."
"Oh..."

Not so bad. Not the first time I've done it, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Thankfully, that patient was a really good sport.

Exhibit B: I had to hang a new bag of IV fluids. Once again, no big deal, right? Well, it is when you can't find the right IV line...In my defense, the guy had like 2 lines each with a piggyback - making a total of 4 tubes to try to decipher. Thankfully, Matt intervened and all was well.

Other than my goofups, the day went pretty well. I don't know if it's just male nurses or just the personalities of the guys on IMU, but everything was so laid back, yet everything still got done. I really appreciated this experience, and learned a ton! Next week, I get to go to the OR - SO EXCITED! I hope I get to see something huge...

T-minus like 6 months or so til I get to do this stuff for real... not that I'm counting or anything ;)

Goodnight all, and Godbless!