the long haul

I did my first 12 hour shift on Wednesday. Wow, I was really tired by the time it was over, especially because I spent the night at Laxmi's and slept so lightly. But it was good- my first patient was receiving blood. That was a good experience for me. But my preceptor had a drug seeker... she yelled and swore and had the whole place in an uproar for a while. Finally, she agreed to be discharged. I thought we might get to pull the secret 'yellow card' out, but no.

Today I was going to work 7-3 but my preceptors weren't there and I didn't want to work with Sandy because she looks mean and grumpy. No thanks, it's hard enough being new without someone totally annoyed with you on top of everything.

During my half hour break, I went outside. It was 88 degrees, but I would never have known what it was like outside from the unit as there are no windows. I sat out in the 'garden' area and read. That was nice but over top soon. I felt like I wanted to sleep, but I was afraid a nap would make me sleepier than before.

My preceptor, J, is nice. One good thing is that the preceptors volunteered for this, so they aren't annoyed with having a student.

here we go again

My first day on the floor at the observation unit went pretty smoothly. In fact, my preceptor and I didn't even get a patient for the first four hours. We showed me around a little, we chit-chatted, checked email, etc. Not thrilling exactly but I guess I could be complaining about working my ass off on the first day instead.

I have two preceptors and they both seem very nice. For the most part, we worked out my schedule and it's ok I guess. Some Saturdays afterall, but not all of them. I think working 40 hours is going to take quite a bit of getting used to though. And by the time I'm used to it, I'll be done!

So both of my patients today were thyroidectomies. I learned the ins and outs of admitting, documenting, and assessing for this unit. I think I will enjoy it.

a few weeks gone by

Well a few weeks have passed and I'm happy to report that my Med-surg professor bumped my C+ up to a B-. I love her even more.

I've started my externship, or at least completed one week of orientation. The coordinators are very nice and my preceptor also seemed nice. I start actually working the floor Monday morning, so until then there isn't too much to say. Except that when I had to poke my own finger to demonstrate that I knew how to use the glucometers, I whined like a baby. That hurts! It left a bruise on my finger for 2 days!

The best news is that my unit, the Observation Unit, doesn't operate on weekends, holidays, or overnight. I'm basically on the best unit one could be on, as far as schedules go. I will write about the unit on Monday.