The first week of the spring semester has come and gone and as much as I may miss actually getting to use my tv, I can honestly say I am ready to hit the books and start this semester at full speed. While I am a little intimidated about having two part time jobs, acing school and having a life, I am optimistic that I can lead a balanced, though full life this semester.
So far working at Mercy has been awesome. I love being able to care for patients independently and after orientation I really feel like an important member of the unit team. In addition to having the cutest patients, I am working on my time management, organizational and practical skills. Although it took time to adjust to a heart rate of near 200, I am now confident in my ability to take vital signs, mix formula, perform heel sticks, gavage or bottle feed and perform occult blood tests. I am also confident in my ability to change the diaper of a baby who has 30 cords attached to them, no matter how small…
My clinical this semester is on Zayed 12 East, a Neuroscience Acute Care/Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Located in one of the newest JHH buildings, this floor is the epitome of cutting edge medicine. Patients come from all over the world to be seen by the #1 Neuro team, which I can now (kind of? maybe?) claim to be a part of. I can definitely feel the pressure but also feel competent in my abilities and confident that my clinical instructor, who usually works on Zayed 12 West, will lead us to perform our tasks (including giving meds!) safely. These patients are very diverse in terms of age, level of cognitive functioning and severity. I am looking forward to this once in a life time experience which I am sure will live up to all my expectations.
Outside of school, I have been taking advantage of my coveted free time. Some other nursing students (including another lovely blogger) and myself tested out our culinary skills by making a variety of mouthwatering, and mostly nutritious dishes. We have homemade lemon chicken with avacado-corn salsa, sweet potato fries, whole wheat pesto pasta with chicken and grape tomatoes, thai chicken lettuce wraps and chicken pad thai.
