Long Time No Post!

Whoops, it really got away from me for a while, didn't it? I've been crazy busy. Let's see if I can recap.

My clinicals have been going along pretty wonderfully. Peds started out in the clinic - and I got to rule out walk-in clinic nurse from my list of potential jobs! LoL, not that I hated working with the kiddos, not at all. But if the only thing I do with a bachelor's degree in nursing is take vitals and admit patients all day (with the very occasional PPD placement), then thanks very much but I'll pass. It reminded me way too much of working in the pharmacy - people come up angry that they've been waiting, which is completely understandable. But, sir, if your child has bug bites and nothing else wrong, then don't you think an appointment would be a good idea? Yeah, not so fun. Then giving shots - oh man. I never want to make my kids have 9 shots at once! People, for the love of everything holy, pay attention to vaccinations and when they're due! Would YOU want multiple injections in one go? No? Didn't think so.

Going up to the GI rehab floor was something else entirely. I really enjoyed working with those kiddos - and I got to do lots of stuff with the nurse I was following! She really made me explain what I know, and let me give meds. It was a great experience. And the kids I got to work with were JUST awesome. Couldn't talk yet, which made it challenging to know exactly what was wrong when they fussed, but.... well let's just say that I am pretty sure I could be a peds nurse in that kind of setting.

Maternal health clinical has been awesome too. Our instructor is just so enthusiastic, it's really pretty cute. She's convinced I'm going to be a labor and delivery nurse, but I'm going to work with adults first before I consider specializing like that - but more on that in a minute. I saw two c-sections and got to put in my first Foley catheter! Man what pressure. I had my nurse with me (keep in mind this is a super aseptic technique because you don't want to give her an infection!), and then I believe 4 other people trying to tell me how to do this. I would have been perfectly fine if they'd let me do it my way from the start, but I got so nervous with all these people telling me what to do that I had to kind of stare at it all for a minute. Luckily my nurse told everyone else to back off and let me do it the way I was taught. I had perfect sterile field the whole time... hopefully the next time I'll just block everyone else out and do it the way I know how. Oy.

Classes in general are... well they're going. I was incredibly frustrated with peds because our first exam was on material that we actually never covered in lecture (unless we got information in the one class I missed because I was sick). I was going to say something to the prof, but it appears that from here on out we're being taught, rather than having all kinds of guests like the freaking resource librarian (I swear if I see her one more time during lecture time I'm going to pitch a fit). That first exam didn't go as well as I'd like, so I'm currently trying to improve my approach - my hope is that between my oomph and the lectures we're (finally) getting this one will be better. Maternal health is the same deal except the prof is an awesome teacher. So I'm just kind of searching for my footing. I don't have bad grades by any means, they're just not good enough for my standards.

Now, on to the decisions. I've been keeping tabs on what I want to do, and more importantly, what I don't want to do. Mental health is a no go. Peds clinic is a no go. That's all well and good, but that leaves a LOT of open space - and I have to choose my practicum! I've been pretty nervous about making a decision that I don't feel informed about, but then I got a chance to sit and talk with several nurses and I feel better now. The gist of those conversations is this: unless I KNOW that I want to work as a NICU nurse, or even with kids in general, or laboring moms, or any pretty specialized area, then starting out in one of those won't do me any good as far as long term move-ability. However, if I start with adults and master my assessment skills, THEN specialize, I have way more options. So basically, I'm hoping to start for a year or two in adult ICU - unless I have to I'm not starting med-surg, because I hope to go back to school before Randy and I have kids. Accordingly, my choices for practicum are: ICU, OR/PACU, or interventional units (these are my INOVA system choices). My hospital choices are Inova Fairfax, Inova Fair Oaks, and George Washington Hospital.

SO! Now you're pretty much caught up. And now I have to get ready for my one class today. Next time, we won't be scheduling a single class on any one day... un-cool.