A Day to Stay in Bed

Our final clinical day of the term was an easy one: teach the elderly at a senior center about diabetes at a health fair. When I woke up and saw the temperature was 7 degrees outside I tried to devise reasons to stay in bed and predicted that our event would be poorly attended. I know if I were elderly...I'd stay home when it was that cold outside. The weather reminded me of another freezing experience during college in Montana when I needed to use a pay phone at a gas station during a road trip. It was so cold the buttons wouldn't push, and the handset was too frozen to lift. Today it's that kind of cold here.

But these are hearty Pittsburghers...and some of them DID show up. We were welcomed warmly and they really appreciated our bowls of sugar free candies there to tempt them to talk to us. They appreciated them SO much with their repeated visits to the bowl to fill their pockets, I finally got worried and started warning them: "Please be careful how many of those you eat at one time...the sweetener in them can give you diarrhea."

I imagined hoards of elderly with their slow-motion shuffle hurrying to the bathroom with a case of the runs. Nasty image.

Its a challenge teaching people in their 80's and 90's about prevention. I'd animatedly explain diet and exercise and watch their eyes glaze over. Like they'd never heard THAT before. So many of them just want to talk. They'd pull up a chair and start telling me their life story. I would have worried more about that had we been very busy, but the cold kept so many away that I didn't mind. It was a short day and I went home directly and took a nap.

Later, I headed to hip hop class -- kind of Zumba thing. It's too cold out to run so I'm trying to dance a few times a week instead. I like partner dancing most, but this class is too much fun. The style is as far out of my comfort zone as is possible, however. I think my spine may just leave me. After dancing ballet from the age of 3, it's not really a natural movement for me to disconnect my ass and hips the way they do. But I'd like to figure it out -- and it feels good to get a good sweat on even if I look like the whitest girl in the room.

Its another light school day tomorrow and it will also be the big push for Friday's final. Last week was so hectic I needed to take some long breaks this week to rest my brain...I hope it doesn't desert me for the last 2 exams.

We have a week off before the next term and for the first time, I'm not flying home. Trying to devise some local touristy things to do, since this will really be my only chance before graduation.

It feels weird to write "graduation" but there are only 20 academic weeks left. A big decision over the next month is to decide where I want to do my preceptorship. We have 200 hours in our final term working as a nurse with a full patient load in an area of our choosing. Since so much experience is gained, I see this as a chance to work toward my area of interest, since it could lead to a job.

I just have to decide my area of interest!

Right now I'm leaning toward ER, but this is before having had my rotations in labor and delivery, mother / baby, NICU and pediatrics. I have already ruled out pediatrics but the others I'm staying open to.

More on this as we go.

It's 2:26 a.m. and I have more to do for pharmacology. This has been a nice procrastination, but the fun's over.

Babies Holler When They See Me Coming

Clinic nursing just wrapped up today.

We spent four days in a free (or low cost) clinic in a depressing, rundown town outside of the city. I can't exactly tell what the nurses did that was different from a tech; we did a lot of vitals, blood draws and labs.

Big deal.

It wasn't enough nursing for me. Yawn! Other than sticking a lot of veins, I was bored out of my gourd. I suppose the only thing I liked was not having to roll around with a cart dispensing hundreds of pills like on med-surg. (Not implying that's ALL they do...but it sometimes feels like it.)

A few highlights:

• The round, fat 7 month old infant there with an ear infection, just stared googley-eyed at me while I interviewed his mom, but when I came at him with my stethoscope it was all over. He hollered uncontrollably like I was ripping him limb from limb. He screamed when I weighed him. When I measured him. He even tried to cry when his mom nursed him to calm him down. I wanted to reason with him: "Hey kid -- what if I was here to give you your shots? Quit being such a baby, baby!" (I feel this is foreshadowing, since my next rotation is pediatrics. I dread it.)

• The young woman there for some labs. I giddily got ready to stick her. I love finding veins. Unfortunately she didn't have any. Grrrr. I had been on a high the whole time because I hadn't missed yet, and she was my very last blood draw for the term, and then she had to ruin my record. She claims she doesn't use IV drugs, but my instructor and the med tech begged to differ. I don't know how she looked me in the eye and denied it with all the scars on her arms, but whatever. She blew my record and I'm pissed. My only consolation is even the med tech hadn't seen arms that bad in all her years and sent her to the lab for blood work after she failed twice. 

• The jokes between the doc and staff regarding drug-seeking patients. Doc: "It's not you it's me. I just don't think we should see each other anymore. I'm not ready for a long term relationship!" Hahahahahah! I saw her get hit up so many times, I can see how she'd get burned out.

• One of the docs didn't speak English as her first language. She also scared me, this tiny powerhouse. I had to fight not to burst out laughing, nervous as I was, when I watched her interview this old guy. She said, "Any veezing?" He said, "What?!" "Veezing." He cocked his head and looked across at me for help, but I was damned if I was going to correct her and get sent from the room. I just had to raise my brows and shrug. She said it again, "Veezing...VEEZING!" (I quietly wiped tears from my eyes and looked away, before the poor guy looked my way again). Finally he triumphantly shouted, "OH...WHEEZING!!!" He looked so relieved, and he and I shared a private moment of joy. 

Anyway, clinic nursing is not for me. I'm beginning to narrow down my path in terms of selecting the place where I will do my preceptorship during our last term. I really appreciate how widely spread our clinical experiences are since there are so many directions to take for a nursing career. This school does an amazing job of exposing us to our options. 

Wrapping up the term:

The freshman are looking haggard in their second term. Sadly, I wonder how many they will lose from their class next Friday. There's the complete triumph of making it yourself, only to look around while you celebrate and realize a few of your classmates aren't there. Our class bled off a few people every term and now only the veterans remain. I'm trying to keep the spirits up for the students I mentor.

Just 7 more school days left in this term. If I think about how many exams there are left, I'll bury my head in the sand. Tomorrow its a drug exam, and the next day we have a big nursing exam, followed by a pharmacology exam. The weekend for some sleep and then studying for finals next week. 

As always...I'll sleep when I'm dead.