This second week was a good one. Classes were good and slightly bizarre (which is better than bland). Psych lab is boring but things might change with that. Med surg is a lot to learn but interesting. Psych theory is interesting but seems long. We got to eat chocolate cake at 9am in class so that couldn’t be a bad thing. It was funny to see some of my class mates reactions to it though, but some of the things they said were not very nice. I mean do they have no decency and no filter? Speaking of filters, my mental filter leaves at 4am but it comes back when I wake up; I guess not everyone operates like I do.
Med surg lab was long but informative and practical. Pop syllabus quiz day one….. but hey it gets a grade in the book. None of my class mates have this blog info, so no heads up for the other half of the class.
Clinicals this week went well… And i really like our instructor. She’s very reasonable and up front with her expectations… We had a discussion post to do afterward, answering what suggestion we implemented and what our strength and weakness was. This was my post (slightly edited): Although I didn’t get a chance to document size, shape, texture, and color on anything, I did get to put my patient’s first. I did put their immediate needs above my own, and above the task of following the floor nurse at times. One patient had the worst matted hair I had ever seen. The nurses didn’t want to do anything about it, but It was actually tangled underneath their chin in a noose like fashion. I did feel hesitant to continue my struggle, and after I had untangled their neck, I went to discuss further intervention with the nurses. The nurses did not want me to do anything more so I did not. However, I didn’t see the harm in helping this patient look, and feel, a little more humane.
I think one of my biggest strengths is that I actually care about people and that they often can sense this about me. I usually have patients trust me quite readily; and not just the ones that are alert and oriented. I was able to gain trust, get along with, and even cover ground quickly with a patient who was not in their right mind, and was even a little paranoid. This made me feel needed and like I was making a difference.
If I had a list of strengths and weaknesses….. several would overlap. One of my biggest strengths can also be my biggest weakness. I don’t have a problem asking questions or talking to people, but I can be annoying, I can be overly anxious, overly loud, and just plain over the top. Sometimes I do speak before I think, then I back track. I noticed myself in this mode, right off the bat, on the hospital floor, so I did try to dial it down. This made me feel like I was not integrating well, and when I think about it, it still makes me feel like I do not fit in, will not fit in, and that I don’t even like my own personality anymore.
That was a sad note to end on….. So let me just say: Clinical week one was a big success over all; and when I left the hospital I was smiling like it was my last night in nursing school. End.
I was smiling because of our instructor. Because even though I don’t like clinicals, I literally was on the edge of life itself during last semester Med Surg. I can’t learn effectively and efficiently in a hostile environment. This semester, it will still be rough, as it should. But it actually seems possible this time around. And possible is doable is probable is passable is perfect. So smile and watch this last semester fly by. Ride the waves and enjoy it.
-Enjoy it
The RN journey 