Cath Lab and Endoscopy

I forgot to post last night! Sorry!

On Thursday I was in cath lab. It was 0730-1600. We got there and they had us change into their scrubs. They are always so big! lol. I like fitted scrubs.

We were quickly ushered into a room-- after putting on a heavy lead jacket. We also had to wear a lead thyroid protector. It felt weird...but I know it is important to wear.

They were in the middle of a angiogram, which led to a stent placement. It was really neat to watch. The doctor performing the procedure also took the time to explain things. I like when doctors do that.

Once that was done we had a 3 hr break before the next case. We took a break in the cafeteria for awhile. When we got back, the x-ray techs (who are REALLY smart!) showed us some films of the procedure we had just seen. They explained it more. They also showed us some other films.

During the films our other internmates (I just came up with that word!) invited us to an inservice on their floor. We went, it was pretty interesting...because the doctor was nice to look at. lol!

When we got back to the cath lab, we saw a pacemaker insertion. The doctor performing this procedure was also a great teacher! This procedure took about an hour, and by this time my back was bothering me! Those lead jackets are heavy!!!!

We took our lunch after. Once we got back everyone was gone for the day. It was only 1430...so we spent the rest our time in the library.

Endoscopy was fun when we actually saw something. Our day was 0800-1430. It was super busy the first 2 hrs....we saw a lot of colonoscopies/egd's. Once that was done they sent us on a 1.5 hr break. During our break we were asked to go to a pain management inservice. It was actually interesting! But that meant we missed all the action in the endoscopy unit.

Once we got back at 1330, they were done for the day. We still had 3 hrs. We contacted our coordinator who sent us to SWOT. Its the wound team. We saw some very interesting cases. I look forward to our actual day there!

When that was done we still had one more hour left..so we hung out in the cafeteria and talked about how this week wasn't our best week.

My partner and I decided that next week we are going to come in with an open mind and be positive! We lacked the positiveness this week.

It's payday today!! The best part of the day!

Hoping for a better week next week. We have class on Monday and then we are in OR/PACU.

Rehabilitation Unit Day 3

Today was my last day on this unit. I had to follow a PT/OT/Speech therapist today. Our shift was again 7a-1530. I was told when we got there that we were going to attend a team conference and then start observing the therapists.

I had about 1 hr until the team meeting, so the clinical manager FINALLY sat down with us to talk with us. I'm not sure if he wasn't as excited to tell us all about the place because me and my partner both already pretty much know where we want to be, or if he was just having an off day.

The team meeting was pretty interesting. The doctors and therapists get together to talk about the patient, if they are meeting goals and when they will be ready for dc. It was a pretty quick meeting.

I then went to the therapy area and saw that only 4 therapists had signed up on my sheet to have me observe them. Honestly, I hate to sound so negative about this department...but we really felt like we were just a bother to them.

I observed a speech therapist and she was amazing! She really worked with the patient to help his memory. It was then that it clicked. I would like this department if I was a therapists. They do most of the interaction with the patients.

This day was a slow day and we really just wanted to get out of there. I hope tomorrow is better. We are in the cath lab!

Rehabilitation Unit Day 2

Today I was in the rehabilitation unit. I was assigned to follow a nurse. The day sorta started out in a bad way, as the nurse they assigned me to was 1.5hrs late! So I followed my partners nurse with her during that time. I realized that I would not want to be a nurse in that department. The nurses really don't have that much patient interaction and that is what I like about nursing.

They get report, pass meds, and perform treatments if needed. Don't get me wrong, they were nice to me. I just can't see myself working on that unit. We talked with the clinical manager for a few minutes at the beginning of the day (our shift was from 7a-1530). He said that he would give us a tour the next day. It was frustrating because we never got the tour at the beginning, so I always felt I was lost at where I was supposed to go or when asked to get something I had to ask where it was.

I still think that the patients in this department are amazing and it is still really humbling to see them do everything possible to get better. I saw my patient from Friday again and she was really happy to see me. It made me smile. I really wish I could learn how to speak spanish. My goal is to learn! = )

Class Day

Today was our class day. I enjoy these days because we get to see the rest of our intern class. We all get along so well!

We all decided we would make a breakfast item to share with the class. My day today. The picture above is what I made. Yogurt parfaits and blueberry muffins. They were yummy! The interns liked them as well.

We always talk about the week prior. It is nice to hear about the other interns weeks. Since we usually see them only at lunch (if we are lucky!)

After that we we had a speaker come talk to us about team work. This guy is so enthusiastic! I love it.

We then went to the SIM lab and did Health histories on volunteers. I've never done one. It was loooong! I had a hard time at first because I couldn't remember hot to find it on the computer and everyone was busy with theirs. I finally got it to work.

Tomorrow is our 2nd day in Rehab.

Rehabilitation Unit Day 1

Today was my first day on the rehabilitation unit (They don't like it to be called the rehab unit) The person that should've been there to orient us and give us a tour, wasn't. We kind of just got thrown onto the floor. Kind of frustrating!

It was our day to be with a patient throughout the day. I had a female patient who was in there d/t a car accident. She was spanish speaking only. I was able to communicate with her a little bit. I don't speak much spanish though. I really wish I did! Her eyes would brighten when I would talk with her.

I watched her work so hard in PT and OT. She really wanted to get better for her family.

I really enjoyed following her today!

So glad it's Friday today! Going to enjoy the weekend.

Spirtual Care and Flu Shots

Today I had a mixed day. I started the day in spiritual care. The reverend was nice and talked to me about what they do. Our first order of business was to listen to rounds in the ICU unit. The stories are so sad. It is wonderful to see that they have an area in the hospital that allows people to not only talk with doctors and such, but also with a spiritual leader.

I was lucky to be able to sit in on a family meeting. I was very happy to see how kind and compassionate the staff and doctor was. It was unlike any other hospital I have been to.

Half way through the day I went downstairs to help with the flu shot clinic. I loved this...because I felt like a nurse. lol. The above picture if from the flu shot clinic.

After my 4 hrs was done, I went back upstairs to the spiritual care area. We had an employee of the hospital pass away suddenly the weekend before, so they were setting up a service for the employees and family. It was beautiful! We spent the rest of the time up there.

Tomorrow is the Rehabilitation unit

Pre op Day 2

Today was another fun day in pre op. I forgot to mention yesterday that in the afternoon we went over to the pre pre-admitting (not really sure what it is called) This is the area where the patient comes in a day or two before the procedure. They weigh them, take vitals, and do labs/ekg if needed. The ladies in that area do a really good job at explaining the procedure and answering any questions they may have.

I followed a different nurse who was really nice as well. She definitely had a different way of doing things. I thought her way was very thorough, and I liked it that way. She really took the time to talk with her patients. She also explained everything to me. She was AWESOME!

We came in today at 0500, so we were able to leave at 1330. It is always nice to get there early (though hard to wake up!) because we get to leave early. It feels like my nights are longer.

Tomorrow I have spiritual/flu shot clinic

Pre op Day 1

Today I was on the pre op floor. I really enjoyed this floor! The nurses were really nice and it was nice to be able to see the patients before they went into surgery. I think that if the floor wasn't 5 8-hr days I would think about working on this floor in the future. Most of the nurses on this floor have 25+ years under their belt and seem to just want a low stress RN position. They get all weekends/holidays off.

We started the morning at 6am and luckily got off at 1430 because of this. = ) Right when I got there I was assigned a nurse. He was great! Really nice and seemed to like that I was following him. Everything they do is really repetitive, which would make for it to be easy to remember what was done-

You check the patient in
Get them to change into a gown and into bed
Once they are in bed, you have them sign all papers/ask them questions
Start the IV and give them some oral meds
The antibiotics will usually be on call (you give them when the OR calls 3o minutes before getting the patient)

I loved that these patients were usually there for elective surgery and were pretty happy to be there. I was able to educate them on some of the things they were unsure about. I loved the patient interaction! The nurse I followed even complemented me on how I really interacted with the patients and made them happy.

Class Day

Today we had our class day. We all dressed up since it was our 'Intern' Class picture day today. We were all in the classroom today instead of the simulation lab. During class days we will be in the sim lab practicing skills. I really like this, because even though we worked on them during nursing school...we still all need practice for it to become second nature.

We met with the guy who came up with the idea/got the funding for the intern program. We all had been wondering why we only had 9 interns when they usually have 10. He said that they cherry pick each intern. He said that they decided to just have 9 interns instead of having one more that is just mediocre. It made us all feel really good. He said that we were top of the line! = )

Tomorrow me and my partner are on the pre-op floor. Should be fun!

1st Day on the floor! PCOT

Today was a looong day! I woke up at 0300, and left to pick my friend up at 0400. The nice thing about getting there early was we got to leave early.

When I first got to the lab, the phlebotomist supervisor talked with me and gave me my schedule.
It was:

Follow the phelbotomist- 5-6am
In central processing-6-7:30am
Break 7:30-8
Automated-8-9
Pathology 8-9
Histology-9-10
Lunch 11-12
POCT- 12-130
Blood Bank-1:30-2

My favorites were the pathology, histology, and POCT.

In pathology I got to see how they will dissect the body parts/organs to do the biopsies. One of the ladies took me to the morgue and we got to check on the bodies. We did a body count. I would be freaked out to do this myself. She then showed me where they do autopsies. After that we went into the back room and saw the organs that have been donated. There were so many! It was very interesting.

In histology, they showed me how they take a piece of the organ and place it in a wax block. They then shave it down, so the doctor can look at it. It was awesome seeing this done.

In POCT, I was shown how to use the machines. The blood glucose machine (I have used this one before), the hemoglobin machine and pregnancy test machine. I practiced using the blood glucose machine and the hemoglobin machine. Both my results were in normal range.

Today was fun...but tiring! I don't think I am used to working 40hrs on my feet. I am exhausted. Going to catch up on sleep. = )

4th day of orientation (Nurse Intern Orientation!)

Today was a fun day! It was the most interesting day. Today we got to learn all about what we (nurse interns) were going to do for the net 4.5 months.

The coordinator of the program is awesome. She is so nice. = )

She had us introduce ourselves. Then we did a few projects. One was to write down what we thought a nurse was and the second one was to write down how the public saw nurses. It was pretty interesting, both groups came up with the same type of things.

The coordinator then had us go on a scavenger hunt around the hospital and find the stars taped to different areas. She split us in 2 groups. My group had 4 and the other group had 5. There we 10 stars we had to find. Our group started from number 10 and worked our way up. The other group started at number 1 and worked their way down. When we were at 8 (a very tricky one to find! ) we ran into them. They were on 8 as well. We thought for sure we had lost. But, that group also had a hard time finding number 8...so we actually got back to out room before them.

These are the stars we were looking for:


I really enjoy the group of interns. They are all really nice! Tomorrow we start on the floor. We were partnered up in pairs. Because me and my friend carpool, we chose to be partners. Tomorrow we are in the lab...we have to be there by 0445!! And because we commute 30-45 minutes, we have to leave by 0400. That means a 0300 wake up time! Ahh...

Second and Third day of orientation

The last two days of the orientation was the Central Nursing Orientation. We went over the computer systems, got a flu shot, and learned everything about the hospital pertaining nursing. These days were long because we had a lot of travel nurses in the orientation. I would love to be a travel RN, but I know that I need to get hospital experience before I can do that. I couldn't imagine going to a new hospital every 3 months!

We practiced tying restraints and went over practice charts to see if we could find information. Everyone at this hospital is sOo nice! Every day I am once again reminded how blessed I am.

No pictures today...I will try to edit the post and post them when my laptop gets fixed.

1st day of Orientation

Today was the first day of orientation at the Hospital (I'm going to have to come up with a more creative name, since I don't think I should use the real name) It was so exciting. It was the Hospital orientation and every new employee was there. We found out that there are 9 interns in our group. 8 girl and 1 guy.



This will probably be repetitive this week, as I will mainly list just the schedule, things that went one, etc. Once we actually start in departments...it'll get interesting! = )

Last day of nanny job, First day of nursing job Monday!

I am so sad to be leaving my nanny job, but at the same time I'm so excited to be starting my nursing career. I will be a Nurse Intern at a local hospital. I will spend from September 19th, 2011-February 3, 2011 doing this position. We will be seeing all aspects of the hospital. Come February, we are guaranteed an interview into the New Grad Program. I will be so blessed to be able to get into that program.

Today I need to buy scrubs and new shoes....that will be fun! I will post a picture of my new scrubs once I get them. I start Monday at 745am. The first week is orientation.


My goal is to update everyday (I keep saying this...so hopefully it'll happen)

Until next time...

We Will Never Forget

I can still remember vividly September 11, 2001. I remember still being in bed, and my mom coming in to say goodbye before leaving for work. The first thing she said was turn on your TV, "this is bad". My best friend Danielle called me soon after. I was in school at the local community college, and didn't have class that day. I did work though. I remember just thinking about it all day.

We will never forget, I will never forget.

I'm Back!

Wow, it's been a LONG time since I updated this blog. Obviously I suck at updating. I would really like to keep a blog, so I can go back to it year later and remember. = )

Just to recap-
I started nursing school in January 2009.
For 1st semester I had Florence for Clinical and Dr. Melton and Linda for lecture.
Second Semester I had Faustino and Liz for Clinical. Nancy and Sheryl for Lecture
3rd semester (1st time-- I unfortunately had to repeat 3rd semester) I had Claudia Peters for Clinical. Florence and Claudia for Lecture.
3rd semester (2nd time) I had Cynthia and Susana for Clinical. Florence and Claudia for Lecture.
4th semester- I had Eva for Clinical. Linda and Mary for Lecture.

Here I am at Pinning with my mom and dad-

My school paid for The Hurst Review for us, so a week after graduation we spent a week on that. I took the NCLEX June 13th and found out I passed June 15th! During the summer I worked as a nanny taking care of a nursing school friends baby. I interviewed in August for a nurse intern position at a hospital and got it! I start September 19th. My hope is to document the journey.  My goal is to update this blog every night.