Fourth Week of Nursing School

October 16^th, 2012

To My Fouth Week of Nursing School,

            Recently I joined the undergraduate nursing student organization as the 15 month accelerated fall start representative. I didn't want to mention running for the position before because I didn't want to get my hopes up and be disappointed. For some reason, I happened to be the only person to run for the position, and was elected by default. I'm thankful that I got the position and am excited to be involved with UNSO. In the future, if I can keep up with my grades I will hopefully be able to join Sigma Tau Theta, the nursing honors society, in the future.

            Last week I took my first exam for nursing school. Man, oh man...studying for pathophysiology zapped the energy out of me. I ended up doing above average, but of course I could have done a lot better if I had started studying sooner. Procrastinating to the max is the story of my life. I need to change my study habits, but how do I change if this is how I've been since grade school? Since the test, I have been extremely tired, out of it, and I sometimes feel like I'm in a drowsy-dreamlike state. It just might be that I need to keep tighter control over my diet and diabetes. I think the combination of stress and anxiety from the upcoming cascade of exams and assignments along with stress bingeing and lack of exercise has to do with it.

            Yesterday, I had my third off campus clinical. The patient I was assigned to this time was admitted with complaints of syncope and was under observation to try and figure out why she was experience prolonged episodes of lightheadedness. My patient had past medical history of Parkinson's disease and during the hand off, the nurse stated that the doctors thought that the lightheadedness was a secondary autonomic reaction to medication and her Parkinson's. Compared to last week, my patient was much more stable and I felt like I had less to do. I did notice that I was not as comfortable with approaching the patient because she always had a family visitor in the room. I was very self-conscious about my words said and actions performed on my patient. I definitely realize that I need to learn how to be more confident and more bold in the care I provide for my patients. I checked on my patient about every 30 minutes and in between I tried to keep myself busy on the floor.

            I was able to help a fellow nursing student and PCT help a patient use a commode and transfer to the bed for an echocardiogram. I was informed later that the patient had lower extremity edema and a skin deterioration condition as result of her vascular problems. At first, I thought that the odor was due to bad hygiene but was surprised to find that the skin deterioration was the reason behind the musky odor in the patient's room. I felt sorry for the patient because I am certain that the PCT's did not help her clean as efficiently as they could of. Furthermore, I heard that the patient's family members visited the hospital often. This surprised me because I feel that the patient would not have gotten to such a bad state if her family had just been more involved with her health.

Goodbye Fourth Week of Nursing School,

Clos3tGirlyGirl