Nursing 101

It has been a very busy month for us! We have finally settled somewhat into a routine schedule, which suits me perfectly...My husband may or may not claim that I am slightly OCD. When he reads this, he will think, slightly?

(For those of you who dont' know this is Florence Nightingale, whom we fondly call FLO...she is the founder of my profession, and it seems like my professors are pretty much in awe of her. I mean I know she kind of put sanitation on the map, but come on people! As my friends boyfriend said, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you don't know what to do, just think WWFND, "What Would Florence Nightingale do?")

Anyway...I am officially a nursing student, and I absolutely love it, despite the fact that I have to walk a 1/2 mile to class everyday. It is definitely culture shock compared to my comfortable Lipscomb bubble :) This week was a week of firsts for me. I had my first test and my first day in the hospital. That was definitely an experience! My first clinical rotation is at a satellite UAB hospital in a town called Bessemer, AL, which is about 20-25 minutes from our apartment. I have to be there at 6:15 in the morning, to start a shift at seven. Why that early you ask? I have yet to figure it out... The first day was challenging. Our instructor just kind of threw us out on the floor with not a lot of instruction, and we were pretty much like lost sheep. All we have been taught thus far is how to take vital signs and give baths... full day huh?! My patient had a history or medical non-compliance which just added to the angst my partner and I were already feeling!

This pretty much describes me on my first day... CLUELESS!

Day 2 was much better! We had one day under our belts and felt much more comfortable. We even got our patient up out of bed and ambulating in the hallway without much complaint... that's a fancy word for walking :) And I got to take my patient to dialysis where I met a really nice nephrologist who was more than happy to explain all the physiology behind dialysis and kidney failure. Who knew that there was that much to it? There are a lot of details about my two days that are probably not appropriate for sharing on our blog...if you are really interested to know, just ask Jonathan, he really enjoyed hearing the stories at dinner last night :) Regardless, I felt like I had done a fairly good job, but I'm still convinced that working a MedSurge floor is NOT the job for me. My mom told me it was her least favorite as well. Actually her quote was " I'm with ya girl!" At the end of my first day, an Operating Room nurse came up to our floor to prep a patient and I looked at one of my friends in my clinical group and said, "That's where I need to be". We will see!

This is all for now... It is actually Matthew's turn to blog and he will be filling everyone in on what else has been going on. So...blame him for our lack of blogging...Any complaints please e-mail Matthew.Hardison@gmail.com. Happy January!