My last two clinicals

Sorry for the long delay - these last few weeks have been really crazy! Instead of blogging I find that taking naps is a much more satisfying way to spend free time.

As of yesterday, I'm all finished with my clinical assignments for the term! For my last two, I was assigned to the oncology (cancer) floor of Salem Hospital, which is perfect because oncology is what got me interested in nursing in the first place! Before the Thanksgiving break I had a patient not much older than my husband who had skin cancer that metastasized to internal organs. I know I'm always sounding bossy about this type of stuff, but PLEASE wear your sunscreen, People! This patient was in pretty bad shape and undergoing major chemo for something that is so preventable. This week my patient was my younger brother's age and again had cancer that had metastasized and was causing all sorts of problems. (Out of the nine of us in my clinical group, I always seem to get the young patients!) This person was also a prison inmate and had a guard posted in the room at all times. It was a very interesting experience, but not totally new to me, as I frequently registered inmates when I worked in Admitting. In my experience, inmates are probably the most POLITE of patients and very pleasant to work with, which is why I'm strongly considering getting my LPN license in June and working in one of the prisons over the summer. From what I've heard, it's a very nice job!

The RN I was following around was an amazing nurse and I assumed she must have been doing this for at least 10 years, but she told me she graduated from the same program that I'm in less than two years ago! That definitely gives me hope - right now it feels like forever before I'll know what I'm doing. But I've definitely made progress over the course of the term, and that feels really good. Next term I'll get to administer medications, and that's where the real fun is! And apparently, the potential for malpractice lawsuits! We learned in our "Legal Concepts" lecture that, as students, we are held to the same standard of care as a licenced RN and can be sued for malpractice. Great. Luckily they offer malpractice insurance for students that is really affordable, and I think I buy some. Who wants to tempt fate?

All I have left of this term is a comprehensive final next Tuesday, that covers everything we've learned in our theory class. Can't wait!