Home Health Clinicals

So I just finished a 5 week rotation in home health. If you don't want to read this entry you can go below and click on the link to watch my video talking about this clinical rotation :). Home health falls under the bigger umbrella of community nursing. We worked out of an office with a clinic and mostly did things such as dressing changes, VAC dressings, IV therapy, palliative visits, ostomy care, staple/stitches removal, drain care etc. If patients are well enough they come into the clinic and if they are unable to come into the clinic the home health nurses go out to do home visits. I was paired with one RN and her and I worked together for the whole 5 weeks. I really enjoyed my time in home health. I have become extremely comfortable working with dressing changes and more confident in my choices of dressings due to the exposure I've had here. Palliative exposure was very minimal but it still makes me uncomfortable and sad and I don't think I'll ever be good at it but who knows. Something important I learned in home health is how important it is to know all your patho, bio, and pharm so thoroughly and really understand the disease processes and ask WHY something is happening so you can begin to see the "bigger" picture instead of just the one task that you are doing. In my job as an ESN we are very task focused and complete all our tasks and its job well done but how many of us stop to ask WHY did this person end up in hospital, HOW can we prevent it, are they okay to go home for discharge? What is delaying their discharge? Maybe this is the part where I begin to think like a real RN...for my next 5 week rotation (Neurology) I want to focus on seeing the "bigger" picture and linking everything together...thats all for now...Hope you guys are having a great semester!

Home Health Clinicals Video

Community Nursing Clinicals

Hello all!!

So this past summer I did a clinical rotation in community nursing. I made a video about this then decided to not upload it because I really did not provide any actual information to you and would rather write this in a blog post. So basically let me just say it. I did NOT like my community rotation. It was really boring. I was placed in a long term care facility. Basically with a group of 3 other students we had to "Assess" our community and based on this assessment address a concern or do something that our community needed. We ended up setting up a meditation program. I felt more like an event planner than I did a nursing student. It wasn't anything like what you think nursing would be like. It was more population and community centered. Don't get me wrong, this kind of nursing is important but personally it's not my thing and I can't ever see myself doing it. That's really all I have to say about it...if you have questions shoot and I shall answer! Sorry for the crappy overview of community nursing. It just sucked for me and I was so happy when I was done LOL.  Ack.

Summer is over

So, for those of you following my twitter (@mandeepg88) you know that I had a very fun filled summer ( 3 weeks count as summer?) so hence the no blog posts but as with school I am back and I shall soon talk about my experience in community nursing last semester and also posts thoughts on this semesters current placement which is home health. Soon..right now I need to go and fall into my bed after a super boring day of orientation. Seriously...orientation for 8 hours? FML FML FML. ugh.

I can see the light

Alright....so there is about 1 week of school left. I'm amazed that I have made it this far. Ugh. If I can survive this week then.....I can survive anything. Then I shall make the videos I have been promising this entire semester to make. My journey as a nursing student is almost coming to an end!! 3 more semesters left...This seems unreal. Also, I've gotten sick an unnatural amount of times this semester. Stress is wreaking havoc upon my immune system. Wah.

Ugh

Hello fellow Nursies...

Halfway through the semester from actual hell and I want to crawl into a hole and never come out. Some quick updates:
- I've started my ESN job
- I've worked some day and night shifts! (will make a video about this soon)
- I am questioning whether or not I still want to work in emerg after graduation
- I hate writing papers. Wah.

More detailed posts/videos to follow. Are you guys suffering through this summer like I am?
Sucks.  Ugh

I'm a nurse?

You always think about how you would react in an emergency situation. Will you remember all of your training and spring into action? Will you cry in a corner and realize you're not cut out for nursing? Will you freeze and then regain control and handle that situation? I like to think that I'll freak out for about 15-20 seconds that hopefully my nursing training kicks in and directs me in the right path.

The other day I was at a family function. Suddenly my dad comes up to my and states that one of my nephews is having chest pain and I need to come look at him. Instantly my heart is pounding. Oh MY GOD. They are putting the care of the child into my hands and expecting an expert opinion. My cousin is looking at me asking what is wrong with her son. PRESSURE PRESSURE. My nephew is 6 years old and has diabetes. He is very good at managing his illness but like with all kids mistakes are made. So I walk over to him. He's lying on a couch clutching his stomach/chest area. He's wincing. This kid is in visible pain. Think Think!! What do you do. I ask him what's wrong. He informs me is chest is hurting.
" Where is it hurting?"
"Right here" He points to an area right underneath his sternum at the base of his ribcage.
"Hmmmmmm, has this happened before?"
"No...it's really hurting"
After some more conversation I determine that this is not chest pain, this seems to be more stomach/intestinal pain. When I palpated I really felt nothing. Pain was described as 6/10 and just started as he was running around with his cousins. After asking him if he hurt himself that he day he mentions that he fell down in the bouncy castle and fell on his stomach. Ah, we are getting somewhere now. My next question...when was the last time you went poop? or farted? he giggles. He went poo this morning. Excellent. I have a nagging suspicion he just needs to burp/fart. I hand him a fizzy drink being mindful of his diabetes. He drinks up....5-10 minutes later. BURP. Suddenly he feels much better and away he goes. I did it!!!!!

In my family I also have a cousin who is a family doctor and he was unavailable when my nephew was feeling sick but showed up halfway through my assessment and told me I did a great job. The only thing he did differently was asking questions about his breathing. DUH ribcage..base of ribcage..lung expansion...can't believe I missed that one.
It felt so good to be looked at as a professional and to help assess and "cure" my nephew of his gas. :) I'm realizing that when I feel like I learn nothing in nursing school it's not true. I'm learning many things.
That's the story for today nursies!! Until next time!

Failure to thrive r/t lack of sleep, social life and mental status decline....

The further along I progress into nursing school...the more and more I realize that I need to start having wine with every meal.

A good buzz oughta help me deal with this shizzzz.

School sucks.  That's the only thought of the day today kids.

Scheduling, scheduling and more scheduling.

So it's Thursday, in one more day I will officially be done my first week of semester 6.  (Just in case anyone is wondering I have 3 semesters left until graduation:) ) All I have heard is that semester 6 is the semester from HELL and will make me want to stab myself in the eye. It's true. Today my clinical instructor even told me that this is the HARDEST semester in the program. FML. FML. FML. FML. FML. FML. FML. FML. FML. FML. FML. FML. FML. GNJKGAK;GHOWBIJgijwi[bi[

Seriously. It's week 1 and let me tell you what I'll be doing this weekend aside from working 16 hours.

1. Contact clinical placement area to set up a meeting time to work on community project
2. Prep for all 3 classes (2-3 hours)
3. Make 4 resumes to be handed in to placement facilitator to be used to place me in my 3/4 and final preceptorship.
4. Health presentation about social determinants of health
5. Begin thinking about my research proposal

I think another FML is in order.

This semester scheduling shall be crucial as well maintaining my mental status so I don't lose my MIND.  You guys should follow me on twitter if you're fond of hearing me whine and complain hehehe ( @mandeepg88) But seriously, this semester is going to test me I can already feel my stress level getting high. My goal is to take this one week at a time and attempt to get through and book a vacation for August so I have something to look forward to. That always helps...*SIGH*

Clinical placements this semester were not in a hospital or acute care instead we are placed at various locations in the community. I am placed at a rehab facility and have to schedule a meeting with my contact to figure out what project I'll be working on this semester...what project you ask? Good question. I have no idea. Not much direction is given other than go and show up and it will come to you. Great. I looooovvvvveeeeee doing things with no direction...note my heavy sarcasm. Ugh. This paired with my insane working out schedule and commitment to eating healthy is enough to make anyone crazy.

Fortunately, I'm not just anyone...I'm nursemanda!!! :D Until next time nursies...
 Toodles. xoxoxoxoxo

I am having trouble waiting

So, there are exactly 20 days left until my orientation for my job as ESN (Employed Student Nurse) on an orthopedic floor. After that I can start work immediately. I am able to book shifts now. OMG. I AM SO EXCITED. I am MORE excited for my very first night shift. I wonder how it will go and if I'll be able to stay awake all night. That's really all that is running through my mind at the moment.

First day of summer classes was today. I'm already crying about it. Jeez. Who came up with the idea of summer school............

:(

Excuse me, you have pertussis, I think....

So, I have a story for you people today!

I live in a big city. Currently in this city we are dealing with a pertussis (whopping cough) outbreak. This is mostly fatal to young children. Hopefully you guys know what this is, and if not then head over to your handy dandy med surg book and look it up ;) Or google....cause when in doubt google what its about. Anywhooo, I was riding public transit to work and was just sitting there minding my own business when I noticed a man pushing a stroller walk onto the train with a woman who was yapping away on a cell phone. In the stroller was an incredibly cute little child. As chubby as could be. They were fairly close to me, The child smiled at me and I smiled back. Then I heard it, the ever so distinct noise made by one who may have whooping cough. The smile slowly vanished from my face as I watched this child attempt to take a breath in between spurts of coughing. I couldn't bear it anymore. I turned in my chair. "Excuse me, hi, um I'm a nursing student and I was wondering if you knew that currently there is a whopping cough outbreak here and your child sounds like they might have it! Were you aware" I was speaking to the gentleman behind the stroller as the mother was too busy talking on a telephone to notice what was happening. Grrrr. The man displayed a look of geniuine concern and took a look at his child then claims "No, I didn't know that....you think he has it?" "Well, I'm not sure but it sounds like it...Can I ask how long he has had the cough for?"  "I think a couple of weeks..I'm not sure thought" Then he glances over at the woman who now is interested in the conversation I'm having with her boyfriend or husband..whatever. I smiled and filled her in on what I was saying and concluded with "Maybe it would be a good idea to take your baby into a doctor to get them checked out, pertussis is treatable but dangerous without treatment and can lead to respiratory issues when the child is older." Here I am thinking I found the perfect teachable moment to help a child and educate a mother and father about the dangers of pertussis, but no. Not even a little bit.
"Who do you think you are?? YOU think I don't KNOW when MY child is SICK??" The woman is infuriated by my innocent advice. Dumbfounded I stare at her face wondering how seriously stupid she could be. I want to ignore her and tell the father to take the child to a physician. I look at her and claim that I was simply trying to be of assistance and if she doesn't want to hear it then fine but for her child's sake she should consider my advice. Then I turn around and go back to my world of silence while waiting for the train to get to my stop. I hope that child was taken in to a physician. And I hope that mother isn't as crazy as she came off.

I suppose my helpful ways aren't always well received. Jeez.....

Summer...what summer?

This is going to be an extremely sad and depressing post. :( Today I sat down and went through all e-mails from my summer profs and sat down and wrote in my planner when all assignments/papers/group projects/quizzes/tests are due and I am extremely sad to inform all of you that school has yet again claimed another summer. Waaaahhhhhh. I have kept hearing that semester 6 is THE HARDEST semester in the entire program. I suppose now I know why. The sheer volume of assignments being throw at us is insane. This semester I am taking 5 classes and they are as follows

Health 4: Health Promotion and Community Empowerment
Professional Growth: Nursing Inquiry
Professional Growth: Nursing Research
Self and Others: Reflection on Caring
Nursing Practice 6: Community Placement

OH. MY.GOD. The other crappy thing about this semester? No acute clinical placements...we are placed in the community which I seriously have ZERO interest in but am curious to see how this turns out. At least I'll have the ortho surgery job to keep my skills up. I can't wait for that orientation. It's Saturday and school starts on Tuesday and I feel like I should already start doing homework. I don't think I'll be able to enjoy breaks until I graduate anymore. That's my thought for the day. Ugh, okay, well I'm off to attempt to enjoy my last 2 days of freedom before school starts. I suggest you all do the same.

Toodles.

Homework...before school starts????

Hello fellow nursies. So, today I receive a frantic text from one of my classmates talking about some kind of prep that needs to be done and a presentation. Sounds normal doesnt it? NO! Why? BECAUSE SCHOOL HASN'T STARTED YET :|...Yes, thats right. School starts on Monday for the summer semester and we have already started to receive numerous emails about homework and prep and presentations...ugh, seriously?? I feel as though I'll be on pins and needles until I'm officially registered with CRNBC as a RN and have passed the CRNE. Breaks? Nursing students don't know what those are. PSH. We just work around the clock all year round.....can you FEEL the sarcasm dripping from my fingers as I typed that sentence? I hope so cause it was there in copious amounts. I'm over it. I'm over nursing school. I can already feel that majority of my videos this semester (since I promised to make them more regularly) are going to be me, bitching and whining about how nursing school stole my summer and I'll just sit infront of a camera and cry...but you guys get me. *SIGH* Great....the only thing I'm looking forward to at this point is my orientation to my student nurse position in 3 weeks!! AND MY BIRTHDAY IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS. oh yea. another year older, another year school claimed. holla. jeez....alright well, all of you who will be in school this summer I feel your pain and we can suffer through it together! For all of you who aren't...I hate you. :(

Toodles.

Mental Health Clinicals.

Alright, so 2 days and 2 videos. Whoa. I'm getting too excited. hahahaha. So, along with a pediatric rotation I had a mental health rotation which...left more to be desired. Out of the 5 shifts we had on the psych unit we only had ONE on the actual unit and 4 other "community visits". It was useless. I feel like I didn't really get a feel for mental health, although after one shift I felt as though I had had enough. It's a lot of mental work and not enough physical for me. The biggest shocker? YOU DONT WEAR SCRUBS!! I don't own other clothing..this became a problem. nursing student problems? Yea, I think so. Now, I don't want to step on any toes but I found mental health to be extremely boring personally. I'm more of a trauma/ER girl as you all know. It was just too different for me. I usually go into clinical acting like a sponge wanting to soak up everything but I couldn't do that here. Maybe it was just me. Mental health and I just don't mesh well together I suppose. Either way I made a video about it. Enjoy.
xoxo

Mental Health Video!  

ESN....Whattttt??? Wait...I'm not ready.

Uh yes, that is correct. You don't know what ESN stands for? Here, let me inform you! ESN= Employed Student Nurse. HUGE emphasis on EMPLOYED. Yes, people I HAVE A JOB RELATED TO MY ACTUAL CAREER!!!!!! Time to stop and do your damn happy dance. Cause I just did. I got hired to an ortho floor at a hospital that I worked in previously and I'm SO EXCITED. I won't start until June/July but who cares. Time to make that wonderful switch from the world of crappy retail jobs to a fulfulling nursing career. This also means the end is almost near. :| I won't lie to you guys, I'm extremely terrified of becoming a RN and being responsible for patients all on my own. The very thought makes me want to hyperventilate a little bit. This past semester was also the last semester where we had a clinical instructor always present on site, from now on we are flying solo with only the nurse preceptor there to guide us...yikes!!! There was a professor I had last semester who continued to remind us throughout the semester that we are now moving from "student" to "pre-RN".......it annoyed the crap out of me and simultaneously terrified me as she constantly repeated this to me every Thursday. Anyone else having similar issues? Ugh, Also, along with the new job comes a nice pay raise and less hours being worked due to more money so I will find myself with more free time (to obviously do homework in), no but seriously..it's making me incredibly anxious at the thought of having free time. Free Time? This concept is way too new to me...what is it? I feel as though this blog entry is turning into a bit of nothingness.  Time to sign off and go to bed. Good night fellow nurses!

P.S.
This website is awesome. Especially if you're a nursing student.
http://whatshouldwecallnursingschool.tumblr.com/ 

Pediatricssss

VIDEEEOOO TIMMMMEEE.
I did a Pediatric Clinical Tips video for you guys! Hopefully you are doing your peds rotation now or soon so my tips can be of use to you! I won't list out the tips here but they are listed out in the video :)
So my overall decision on pediatrics? Drumroll please.....

It's alright. I wouldn't want to work here right now but I could deal with it. Playing with all the kids was so awesome and they are so cute!! But also emotionally it was a little taxing seeing children stuck in a hospital and being very sick. Being an emotional person I had my own issues trying to keep my emotions in check. Also the issue of abused children came up throughout the semester and I quickly realized that this was one of my trigger points and that in no way would I ever be able to look at a parent who had in any way harmed their child without wanting to throw them out the window. I would lose my MIND.  It was a very eventful and eye opening rotation and I am so excited for those of you who are going to be going through it. I didn't really have any bad experiences but if you do have any questions just message below, on the video or shoot me an e-mail!! :) Thanks for reading!

Pediatric Clinical Tips Video!

.....Pediatrics and Mental Health too!!...is school over yet :(

OOOKKKKK So, obviously I lied when I wrote that I was going to upload a video/write a blog post the minute that I finished my horrific pediatric rotation..because pediatrics was done 5 weeks ago and I am also nearing the end of my mental health rotation and yet still no blog posts or videos. :( Hopefully I can crank one out for you guys by the end of this weekend! For now I shall recap my experience for both!

Pediatrics & Mental Health
After being in mental health I can confidently say that I would take 2 rotations in peds over mental health any day. I miss Peds right now. Ugh, mental health most definitely is NOT my forte. More power to the people who work in mental health but this is NOT the area for me. I'm sticking to my emergency room. I <3 the ER. Peds really isn't THAT bad.

I changed my mind. I WILL have a video up for you guys by Saturday night talking about peds and mental health :)

On another note, let me share a facebook status I posted a little while ago:

I hate school. I actually hate it. THIS IS TOO MUCH SCHOOL....school is making me bitter and resentful towards the entire world. School sucks. Seriously....eff school. Fuck this. GHASKLHGLGHAWIO;GHWO;GWO;BGA;BG

So, can you tell that school has me a LITTLE stressed out..hehe. Just a bit... Jeez, school this semester has been super crazy and seriously has probably permanently raised my blood pressure and I probably suffer from HTN right now. Great. At this point in time I have one more group project and 1 essay left to write 1 final and then I am FREE until the summer semester...feels good. Graduation is about 1 year away and it seriously could not come any sooner. Anyone else getting fed up with school? :( wah. get me outta here!!  

Semester 5 and exercise? whhaaattttt?

 Helloo! So, semester 5 is making me a crazy person. Too many assignments/too little time. If you guys follow me on twitter ( @mandeepg88) you have noticed that majority of my tweets are about school taking over my LIFE.  Hence that lack of blog posts, and whenever I am blogging it is usually when I am procrastinating on some type of homework LOL.  Another common theme on my twitter page is exercise. I have always been somewhat of a fitness fanatic, but lately I have been in overdrive. I got myself a lovely personal trainer last summer and he is kick ass. One of my videos was about how to keep yourself sane while in nursing school because TRUST ME, you will go crazy, and a big part of me staying sane is working it out at the gym. Nothing like a little bit of sweat to de-stress yourself!

I'm not sure how many of you do 'Clinical Decision Making Models'...basically it's an assignment that you do where you pick a patient and do a write up on them regarding their health status and writing nursing diagnoses, but I hate writing them. They suck...that is what I am currently procrastinating from.

There are 2 weeks left in my rotation in pediatrics! As soon as I am done I will upload a video for you guys talking about how my experience was. It was...interesting....LOL.

Until next time xoxoxoxoxoxox. 

Waiting...takes forever

I applied for a student nurse job. I'm waiting for an interview. This is taking forever. I'm so ready to leave retail behind forever and this interview needs to find its way to me RIGHT NOW! Waiting sucks.
On another note. I'm halfway through my peds rotation and okay I'm not freaking out AS much as I was before but I think pediatrics isn't really my thing. I have a more detailed video about peds when I'm finished my rotation (4 more weeks), but I think I'll stick to surgical or ER. School is also making me crazy. Whoever told me that 3rd year is the most difficult was correct. I've scaled back my hours at work and spend every waking hour either hitting the gym or hunched over textbooks. It's sad. I've forgotten what life before school was like. Boo. Sigh.......I;m currently procrastinating...I need to go write my paper. :( See you guys soon! Hope everyone is doing well this semester!

Pediatrics

So, yesterday I orientated at the big pediatrics hospital in my area.  I was initially very nervous about starting this clinical rotation because of the children. I've worked with adults for 2 years now in my clinical rotations but children honestly scare the crap out of me :| Everything with them is so precise because they are so small! Everything is different...the IV pumps, the med dosages, the calcualtions...I think forgetting and reverting back to my automatic "im taking care of an adult" mode might be to easy to get into and I'm super nervous about it! I'm also extremely nervous about keeping my emotions in check with all the peds patients. I've been known to cry at TV commercials so I don't know if I can hold it together infront of a child. Kids aren't supposed to be sick! They are supposed to run around and be healthy. Seeing sick kids kind of freaks me out....I do one 12 hour shift a week so yesterday was my orientation and next Tuesday will be my first full working shift on the unit. I.Am.Terrified. :|

Year 2 Complete!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to all of you! Hope you had amazing holidays filled with lots of love and family and whatever else you wanted! I am now officially a 3rd year nursing student!! I can't even believe I am a 3rd year student.  There are so many things I have learned in the 2 years I have been a nursing student and so many amazing experiences I have had that I can't even begin to imagine what the rest of my nursing career has in store for me. I made a video for you guys talking about my second year! Hope you like it! Enjoy! Until next time xoxoxoxox

Year 2 completion video!