Clinicals

I started clinicals this semester and it has been exciting and crazy! I have to be up by 5am to get ready and be at the hospital by 6:30am. I'm not a morning person so it's been interesting. This first half of the semester is the med-surg clinical, so most of the patient have just had some kind of surgery or are going in for surgery. I've had quite the variety of patients! Most have been very nice. We are allowed to do most anything as long as the nurse we are helping is in the room. Some nurses are really helpful and let me do everything, but others are rude and try to ignore me. I've taken out an IV, given subq injections, assessed patients, given many bed baths, fed a patient, hooked up IV's, given medications, watched a chest tube being taken out, helped hook up blood to give to a patient, watched dialysis, and soooo much more! I haven't done too many major things, but we've only been to the hospital 6 times. I've been asking the nurse that I follow around a lot of questions and trying to soak everything in. Hopefully I keep getting helpful nurses that want me to learn from performing the skills. I think I'm really going to like the whole being a nurse thing!!! Thank goodness!