Second Clinical Day!

I survived my second day on the DEU floor (for those of you who didn't read about it earlier, the DEU is a Dedicated Educational Unit, designated for senior nursing students from my school only!).  It wasn't nearly as crazy as last week, which was a good thing.  We had an admit with bath salt ingestion.  That was interesting.  Talk about altered mental status.  Whew!  It was like this patient was from a planet even further away than Pluto.  Speaking incoherently and just "out there".  Today's PSA:  Do not ingest bath salts because they mess you up!

A lot of geriatric patients.  When I take care of geriatric patients (especially the ones with dementia) I find myself wishing I could have known them in their prime.  One patient had such a sparkle in her eye, I know she had to have been quite a trip when she was younger but dementia and old age had gotten the best of her.  It's very sad.  When I started nursing school I always said I never wanted to work with geriatric patients -- its too hard to see them approaching the end of their life.  But, after working with so many geriatric patients I find myself grateful that I was able to make a difference, even if it's small.

I had my first C-Diff patient.  Thankfully NPO status saved me!  No food in, no explosions out!  I have heard some C-Diff nightmare stories and am thankful that I do not have one to pass on to you today.

I also got my first Med/Surg II exam grade back.  89 (only 2 grades higher than me -- virtual HIGH FIVE!).  The average was a 77.  Eeek.  I'm glad the first exam is over and I know what to expect from here on out.  It was a very fair exam, but there were A LOT of med calculations questions.  I think that was what hung a lot of people up.  I have to be happy with an 89, especially for the first exam.

I've spent the day today reading about legal stuff in nursing for Leadership.  Ooooh, exciting.  There was a story about a nursing student who erroneously gave oral Nystatin to a patient, except she gave it IV.  Oh dear!  That horrified me.  The patient died.  I can't even imagine what that experience must have been like.  Reading about the legal stuff makes me REALLY NERVOUS to be out there practicing on my own license someday.  I'm gonna hold people's lives in my hands and have no preceptor or instructor to catch me when I stumble.  Scary stuff.

I can't say that I really learned something worthy of passing on for Words of Wisdom.   Wait, I do have something:

"WHEN WEARING A STETHOSCOPE AROUND YOUR NECK KEEP THE BELL END TUCKED INTO YOUR SCRUB TOP.  THIS DOES TWO THINGS -- KEEPS THE BELL WARM SO WHEN YOU TOUCH IT TO A PATIENT THEY DON'T JUMP AND SCREAM, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY IT PREVENTS A PATIENT FROM GRABBING BOTH ENDS OF YOUR STETHOSCOPE IN AN ATTEMPT TO STRANGLE YOU."

The Clinical Nurse Manager told me this and I think it is valuable advice.  Especially if you have a patient who has ingested baths salts and is from the planet CRAZY!