Nursing Clinicals

I know this blog is about Eric and I, but I can't resist posting something about my students. And, actually, Eric is a huge part of that - without him, I wouldn't have considered being a nurse. Thank you honey.

Another semester over...it seems like just yesterday I was heading down to the lobby to meet my new students. Bright, happy faces. So excited to learn and be nurses. All from different backgrounds and cultures. All wanting to help others and make positive changes in others' lives.

I remember my clinicals in nursing school. They were so much FUN. And I learned a lot. I have tried to replicate what my clinical instructors did.

It is a lot of work - constant supervision and teaching. The teaching aspect has been interesting. Clinical instruction is kind of like on the job training. A situation comes up and I share what needs to be done in that instance, and then we discuss it in post-conference. I am not sure I could ever stand up in a classroom and lecture. I need to get in there and get my hands dirty, so to speak.

When I am caring for patients, the knowledge is like second nature to me now, like breathing for me. I don't have to think about it for the most part. If I have a patient who is hemorrhaging, what has been learned over time just becomes instinct. I think most experienced nurses are this way. (I'm not digressing. I have a point.)

Now I am thinking about it...because I have to explain to someone else why I do the things I do. I mean, I know why I practice the way I do, it's called evidence-based practice. But regurgitating a process step-by-step to a novice with little to no medical experience in a way they can understand is challenging at times. Even inserting an IV...showing them how to tie the tourniquet, the proper angle for insertion, hooking up the IV, properly dressing it, etc etc.

In spite of that, I love sharing my experiences and knowledge with them. I mean, L.O.V.E. it. And it is so refreshing and encouraging to see someone so excited about giving their first injection or taking out their first IV or the Aha! moment like when they recognized someone in distress today. And not just recognizing it, but then responding properly!

Today, I was sitting in the conference room, preparing paperwork for next semester and enjoying some Dunkin coffee (very good, but I'll take a Level 1 anyday, thank you Seattle) in my new mug - a gift from my Wednesday students that says "What happens in clinicals, stays in clinicals" when all of a sudden the door flys open and one of my students says,

"Teacher! I went into this patient's room and her fingers were BUH-LOOOO! (deep breath, eyes wide, lots of hand movements) So I took her vital signs but I couldn't get a pulse ox, so I took off her socks to try it on her toe AND HER FEET WERE BLUE TOO! (another deep breath, eyes still wide, hands still moving as if she is showing me how to take socks off) So, I called her nurse and the charge nurse and then a stat chest xray was done in the room. And then they called RT and they did a treatment and it got better, but then it came back. But then I couldn't find her pulses, (deep breath, hand now moving in a fast rotating motion, like she is wafting a  smell to her nose...but fast...and her hand is at her waist) so they took her for an ultrasound..." The excited, breathless words just kept tumbling out. And you could tell something had clicked....like she was saying to herself "I saw this, and I did this, and I did this right, and the patient is ok...because of me (and lots of other staff), the patient is ok. I made a difference." I smiled.

(Let me further explain that my students this semester are in their first semester...just learning how to assess patients, and do procedures (in addition to theory, nursing process, disease processes etc). For the most part, they are seeing things for the first time.

It is a great reminder of how what nurses do is so vital...and many times so misunderstood or even just unknown. Many people don't know exactly what nurses do. And the media doesn't help. But that is another post. Back to my awesome, bright, cheery students.

So, I have a Wednesday group

and a Thursday group

and I love them all...

and they seem to like me too...

From a couple of the gifts, it is obvious that they have been well-indoctrinated into the Nursing Sense of Humor. And they have also learned how important caffeine can be...

I will miss them...I really will.

I can't wait to see them at graduation.