Tuesday, May 23, 2006
How the nursing student got nursed.
Yesterday I started the summer-session of my nursing degree. For the next 6 weeks I am bound to the 8th floor of the largest hospital in this area. Monday through Thursday I will be working on my vericose veins in a Med/Surg unit for close to 9 hours a day -- and still come back for a Friday class.
But it's summer. I just finished my exams. Total bummer.
This morning it was hard to get up and be perky in the hospital lobby at O'Dark Thirty. It was hard to stick it out during the tour and even listening to the younger portion of my group have their little side conversations about the shocking OC twist. I know nursing is for me, truly, but I felt that given a few more days of vacation and maybe a few more hours of sleep and I'd really love that sentiment a bit more.
In the past I've had these moments. Moments when I don't want to talk about tubes, syringes, pathophysiologies, symptoms and Beta Blockers. Times when inserting something into someone just isn't as appealing as letting my mind rot watching the MTV "True Life" Marathons. I know, hard to believe, huh?! These moments flit through my mind -- more frequently when I'm tired, frustrated and mentally exhausted. I'd just toughed out a very long semester with some very trying people while taking some pretty rigorous courses. And this morning, well, it was a perfect time for one of those doubtful moments.
It was during our "scavenger hunt" of the unit when I first had the tinges of "Good God, this is lame." Sure, it's important to know where they keep the KY and the TED hose. Yeah, I should probably find the foley kits and know the codes to the med rooms. But you don't know how it feels to be clumped in a group with 7 other people wearing the same uniform as you, wandering around a hospital unit like you're playing Blob Tag, scribbling furiously, checking items off your pre-printed lists and trying desperately to not be in the way of anyone trying to do actual, real, people-saving stuff. (I imagine the staff can't wait until the students show up that first day.)
My hospital-partner-in-crime and I managed to break away from the herd and started down the hall away from them (intentionally.. ). As we made sure we had most of our lists and that we'd exhausted all muttered complaints about the hunt to eachother, a nurse came out of a patient room and came right up to me.
Nurse: "You. Who are you?"
Me: "Um, I'm a Mason nursing student..... "
Nurse: " I need your help in here."
Partner in Crime: "Yeah, uh, we've got to do this scavenger hunt."
Nurse: "I just need someone to help me move a patient."
Me: "Yeah, ok, I can help you with that." (beats the scavenger hunt, right?)
Still in my sour mood, I went with her into the patient's room. The elderly man in the bed looked nothing short of helpless. I rounded the other side of the bed and evaluated the situation. He had several IVs and a naso-gastric tube inserted (Read: tube up his nose to his stomach for feeding) and naturally couldn't speak. He looked so terribly uncomfortable and tired. As we shifted the man around in bed, he held onto me. But he didn't grip me like a man holding onto a stranger, he almost embraced me -- as someone who trusted me to help him. I felt fuzzy all over.
Once we had him comfortable in bed, the nurse left. I started to make his bed for him and straighten his sheets. I chattered on while I tucked him in and he kept his eyes locked on me as I worked around his bed. Just as I was about to leave, the man grabbed my gloved hand. I turned back towards him and covered his hand with mine and smiled at him. He squeezed my hand firmly and mouthed to me "Thank you". The look in his eyes told me that not only did he really mean it, but that my few moments of kindness and time to take care of his comfort had made a difference to him.
A blog cannot do justice to the feeling I had and continue to have this evening. THIS is why I'm in nursing. It's moments like these that seem to come just when I'm tired or frustrated enough to give less-than-the-best nursing care. Clearly, I am meant to be here. The experience gave me the push I needed for the rest of the day -- and frankly, right into the middle of next week. What other profession could possibly provide a feeling like this? I swear, if I nurse for a lifetime, no amount of money or career advancements could be worth the remarkable moments like these that come in small bubbles of personal interaction when you really connect with someone.
It's addictive. And I can't wait for my next fix. And I only get 6 more weeks of it before I have to wait all summer for my next rotation. Total bummer.
But it's summer. I just finished my exams. Total bummer.
This morning it was hard to get up and be perky in the hospital lobby at O'Dark Thirty. It was hard to stick it out during the tour and even listening to the younger portion of my group have their little side conversations about the shocking OC twist. I know nursing is for me, truly, but I felt that given a few more days of vacation and maybe a few more hours of sleep and I'd really love that sentiment a bit more.
In the past I've had these moments. Moments when I don't want to talk about tubes, syringes, pathophysiologies, symptoms and Beta Blockers. Times when inserting something into someone just isn't as appealing as letting my mind rot watching the MTV "True Life" Marathons. I know, hard to believe, huh?! These moments flit through my mind -- more frequently when I'm tired, frustrated and mentally exhausted. I'd just toughed out a very long semester with some very trying people while taking some pretty rigorous courses. And this morning, well, it was a perfect time for one of those doubtful moments.
It was during our "scavenger hunt" of the unit when I first had the tinges of "Good God, this is lame." Sure, it's important to know where they keep the KY and the TED hose. Yeah, I should probably find the foley kits and know the codes to the med rooms. But you don't know how it feels to be clumped in a group with 7 other people wearing the same uniform as you, wandering around a hospital unit like you're playing Blob Tag, scribbling furiously, checking items off your pre-printed lists and trying desperately to not be in the way of anyone trying to do actual, real, people-saving stuff. (I imagine the staff can't wait until the students show up that first day.)
My hospital-partner-in-crime and I managed to break away from the herd and started down the hall away from them (intentionally.. ). As we made sure we had most of our lists and that we'd exhausted all muttered complaints about the hunt to eachother, a nurse came out of a patient room and came right up to me.
Nurse: "You. Who are you?"
Me: "Um, I'm a Mason nursing student..... "
Nurse: " I need your help in here."
Partner in Crime: "Yeah, uh, we've got to do this scavenger hunt."
Nurse: "I just need someone to help me move a patient."
Me: "Yeah, ok, I can help you with that." (beats the scavenger hunt, right?)
Still in my sour mood, I went with her into the patient's room. The elderly man in the bed looked nothing short of helpless. I rounded the other side of the bed and evaluated the situation. He had several IVs and a naso-gastric tube inserted (Read: tube up his nose to his stomach for feeding) and naturally couldn't speak. He looked so terribly uncomfortable and tired. As we shifted the man around in bed, he held onto me. But he didn't grip me like a man holding onto a stranger, he almost embraced me -- as someone who trusted me to help him. I felt fuzzy all over.
Once we had him comfortable in bed, the nurse left. I started to make his bed for him and straighten his sheets. I chattered on while I tucked him in and he kept his eyes locked on me as I worked around his bed. Just as I was about to leave, the man grabbed my gloved hand. I turned back towards him and covered his hand with mine and smiled at him. He squeezed my hand firmly and mouthed to me "Thank you". The look in his eyes told me that not only did he really mean it, but that my few moments of kindness and time to take care of his comfort had made a difference to him.
A blog cannot do justice to the feeling I had and continue to have this evening. THIS is why I'm in nursing. It's moments like these that seem to come just when I'm tired or frustrated enough to give less-than-the-best nursing care. Clearly, I am meant to be here. The experience gave me the push I needed for the rest of the day -- and frankly, right into the middle of next week. What other profession could possibly provide a feeling like this? I swear, if I nurse for a lifetime, no amount of money or career advancements could be worth the remarkable moments like these that come in small bubbles of personal interaction when you really connect with someone.
It's addictive. And I can't wait for my next fix. And I only get 6 more weeks of it before I have to wait all summer for my next rotation. Total bummer.
# posted by Cathy @ 8:37:00 PM 
