Post-School Field Report #1

Well, been graduated and done with school for a whole week now.  I've done a whole lot of sleeping and I feel a little disgusted with myself.  But, nothing to be done about that, I've been chronically sleep deprived for about the past 2 years.  I suppose I should cut myself a little bit of slack there.  

When I'm not sleeping, I've been busying myself with getting all of my paper work to take the NCLEX-RN completed and doing up part of the garden.  If all goes well, I'll hear when I can take my exam in the next week or 2.  I feel a little insecure for not job hunting right now, but I know I'm not in the right frame of mind for that right now.  I'll just concentrate on studying for the boards and improving my health for the next few weeks.  After I hear what my exam results are, THEN I'll start the job searching thing with full effort, even if it is flipping burgers while I study for (Heaven forbid!!) attempt #2 at the boards.  

I'm still waiting on my Drexell videos come to me in the mail.  I'm making do with an NCLEX review book until I get them.  I feel pretty bummed out that there wasn't an in-person review class here in town, but there was nothing that could be done.  I know you're asking me why I haven't gotten all of this stuff done earlier.  1) I was too stressed out to do much more than pass my classes.  2) Excessive stress makes me a little to wound up and impairs my ability to think rationally.  "Sane" Sarah is just now resurfacing for the first time in 3ish years.  Yeah, I realize that it wasn't a smart idea to wait so long, but there's nothing I can do about it RIGHT HERE AND NOW.  So no use kicking myself in the pants over that one.  

Well, I'm going to sign off now and go back to bed.  I've got 101 and things to do Friday.  Better than the 202 things I had to do, starting Monday.  I'm making progress! 

The day I followed the Circulating Nurse in the M/S unit!

So, on to a bit of real life. Today, I got to do my observation day in the Operation/Med-Surg. unit. I was so excited that I didn't sleep much of the night. I got to the hospital around 7am. I wandered around a bit, because I was lost. (Perhaps fortunately for me, I've only ever been to the hospital for being born, and for the yearly blood work to check my thyroid hormone levels. I pretty much only know where the Labs and bathrooms are at in this hospital.) Eventually, I found someone who works in that unit and she showed me around. Then I changed into some surgical scrubs. I was quite shocked that they carried scrubs big enough even for someone as fat as I am! They looked pretty good, too.

After finding a few patients who agreed to let me watch their procedures, and having them sign the consent forms (so I could watch), I got to see several things for the first time. I saw 2 colonoscopies, 1 endoscopy and 1 gallbladder removal. I can't give any details about the patients, due to the HIPPA privacy clause. I hope y'all understand.

At first, I was kinda squeamish during the colonoscopies (I mean, after all, they are sticking a camera up someone's bum! Ick!) but it got better. I got to see what a phyllop looked like in someone's colon. I got to see what diverticulitis looked like. They had a hell of a time with the endoscopy, the patient had a hair trigger gag reflex. (They stick the fiber optic camera tube down your throat for that one.) I got to see what vocal cords look like in real life.

I have to say, that in my opinion, the gallbladder removal surgery was the most interesting and the coolest! I watched the team prep the room, prep the patient, and even watched most of the surgery. Wow! They did all of that with just one small incision! I think it's called a laproscopy. The surgeon was using these really long instruments to perform the procedure. I would have stayed to watch the whole thing, but my time was up and I was getting light headed from hunger.

After a bit of being lost and wandering, I found the cafeteria. The food was actually pretty good. Nothing like the slop they feed you in public school. Amazingly enough, I managed to wolf down my food without feeling the least bit queasy after watching the surgery. Heh. Now if I could just pull that trick off for my fear of needles. I do okay if I am the one GIVING the injection, but I still freeze up in terror if I'm the one GETTING the injection. Quite embarassing.

I'm still not sure what department I want to work in after I get my licence. But Med-Surg seems pretty interesting. I've still got a whole nother year (and passing my state boards) to go before I need to make up my mind.