This is my journey from S.N to R.N

Well, my L&D rotation is over.

I have to say, I really enjoyed it! Who knew?! I was not expecting that. It got slow at times, but once the pushing got started, it was a fast-paced environment, good turnaround of the patients, AND you got to build a rapport with them. Everything I love!

I hadn’t realized how much the bedside nurse does. The MD or midwife really only came in after the head was on its way out. They were there to pop the baby out, deliver the placenta, and repair the perineum. That’s it. All the baby care, the comfort, the assistance with labor, being a labor coach, doing the vaginal checks, being there for the pushing which ranges from 10 minutes to 3 hours (a patient yesterday pushed for 2.5 hours!)…that’s  all done by the nurse.

I really liked the continuous monitoring (q30min for baby, q1h vitals for mom) and the fact that there is so much to keep track of. Plus, there is a mini-OR on the unit for the C-sections. How cool is that! One of the nurses today was bedside all morning and then went and was the scrub nurse for the C-section. Very cool.

And it’s exciting. Everyone has a different story and a different history. Bringing new life into the world is always exciting. It’s an infectiously happy environment. AND I liked the nurses there. They are good at what they do and they were willing to teach, which is important. It was so awesome!

Granted, I had an intimidating instructor, but it was still a great experience overall.

Maybe I’ll be in purple scrubs after this??

I look like a grape. And I’m exhausted in this photo. I was supposed to go to clinical 8-4 but stayed until 6 to watch/assist with a live birth and the following baby care.

But I promised pictures. And by pictures, I mean one picture.

Ahh home at last.

Oh yeah, I’m pretty short if you didn’t already know. I kinda look like an oompa loompa. Just purple instead of orange. But I’m a full 5′3 aka fun-sized.

Love,

Laney

NO!

My instructor wants to us to be fundus buddies on the postpartum (PP) floor. After today, I can confidently say that I do not find the fun in fundus (aka the top of the uterus that you can feel during pregnancy).
I’m so bored!

Granted, I think it’s awesome their are nurses who do PP, but tain’t for me.
It’s just a bunch of boobs, butts, and vahoohahs.
And when I feel like I’m not doing a whole lot, time slows. Today was slow. It took FOREVER. I thought I would never leave!
We arrived at 0700. Started the morning off by going through floor orientation and then started the unit tour. Then a classmate from another rotation came in.
“Howdy T! What are you doing here?”
“Oh well, I’m meeting so-and-so for my community rotation,” T replied.
“Oh okay, cool.”
“Yeah,” he continued. “Have you seen so-and-so? I was supposed to meet her at 0830.”

My head exploded. What?! It’s not even 0830 yet? Are you kidding me? I thought it was almost lunch time!
I checked my watch in a slight panic, pushing up my jacket sleeve.
If it were a movie, there would be horror music as it zoomed in to the bright digital numbers that screamed 08:18.

My day went on in that fashion until 1530. I thought the day was done, it was 1000. I thought I had graduated school, it was only lunchtime. I thought I had already had babies of my own, it was only time for a lactation consultant meeting that dragged for TWO HOURS.

Now, this is nothing against the unit. Some students liked it. I just like a faster pace.

Here’s how to remember your focused assessment: Bubble He.

B- breasts [engorgement, cracked nipples, no clogged milk ducts]
U- uterus [firmness, fundus, is it at the umbilicus?]
B- bowel movement [have they had one, stool softener after 2-3 days]
B- bladder [emptying it?]
L- lochia [bloody, mucousy, discharge...what color is it?]
E- episiotomy [check sutures, bruising, tearing, hemorrhoids]
H- Homan’s sign [dorsiflex to check calves for blood clots]
E- emotional [PP depression, appropriateness]

And that’s it. Ugh. Not my cup of tea.
I’m team lead tomorrow aka charge nurse. Which is fine, I like charging.

Oh, and it’s a short day. Due to floor/curriculum changes, we got split into shifts for this rotation. Either 0700-1100 or 1100-1500. Luckily, we all got the shifts we wanted and I am happily on the 1100-1500 shift. I’m not trying to be up super early.
Only three more days (one tomorrow and two shifts next week) and then I can move on to Labor and Delivery. Until tomorrow…

Love,
Laney

That’s right. A little less hand holding.
This was a great last couple of weeks for clinicals.

Last week, I had an adorable client who reminded me of my great-grandmother. I really start to feel like a full-fledged nurse for the first time because I got to advocate for my patient. I set up consults to address stressors outside of the hospital and really built up a rapport over the two days. It was awesome to hear that she was disappointed I wouldn’t be back for a third day. I really accomplished a lot!

This week, the leash was loosened a bit. My instructor really likes for you to take the opportunity to spread your wings if you fell ready because Ortho is a floor where you can do that. You see a lot of the same things (oh, if I see another hip….) which may be boring to some people. I thought it would be boring at first. But then, I realized what an advantage it is to get used to a particular clientele. You really get to test yourself and work faster and add on responsibilities.
For this week, I got a patient on Day 1, did his care, and discharged him home on Day 2. It was awesome! I got to do so many skills by myself- very exciting. My instructor said I was at the level I’m supposed to be at and that I could go in on my own. We would talk it over first…for example the dressing change. She would make sure I was competent and then let me go do it. It was fine since I had already performed all of these skills before.
So, this week I took out a foley catheter, took out an IV, did a dressing change, and administered meds- all on my own! My coassigned nurse peeked her head in while I was doing the dressing change so that she could note it for her own assessment and told me that my dressing change was awesome.
My patient and his spouse both told me I did a great job and how I must have been a straight A student (I wish).
I talked with my instructor about adding on to my assignment- possibly having two patients?? Next week, I’m team lead which is like being Charge Nurse…so I won’t be able to do it then. But the week after is my last week of clinical and she said that would be fine.

She also said how she liked that I was really maximizing my clinical experience because some people in the group were not. And then there were some people in the group not ready to handle that patient load. But she thought that I was more than ready to handle it.

HOO-RAH!
I’m floating on Cloud 9.