Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Two beautiful days and a school update.

For two days the sky has been a dazzling electric blue, and the mercury rose clear into the upper sixties. The crisp, spicy scent of fallen leaves is dense in the air.

Lovely.

__________________________________________________________

Today was my last day of inpatient clinicals for the semester. Pediatrics was a good learning experience, but I'm pretty sure it isn't the specialty for me. However, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed obstetrics - specifically the postpartum unit. I really like doing patient education, and there's a lot of teaching we can do with new moms. I also liked getting to know the families. It was nice to be a part of such a happy time in patient's lives.
Next up is two weeks of outpatient OB clinicals, followed by two weeks of outpatient pediatrics. I can't believe how fast this semester is flying by!

Two weeks in a row I had both a paper and a care plan* due. It made for a lot of writing and some pretty stress-filled days. As I turned in my second paper, I felt immediately lighter and more carefree. I have one more big paper due this semester, and two presentations to give - but everything from here on out is more evenly spaced out, and with my hospital clinicals being over I'll have more time to get everything done. Perhaps now I can start planning a wedding...


*Care plans are huge write ups about the patient care we provide in the hospital. We write about the patient's medical history, the pathophysiology of their illness, list the tests and procedures they've had done, and document findings from our own assessments of the patient. We then come up with possible nursing diagnoses and interventions we can do while caring for the patient. In the hospital they're mostly a generic form included in the chart, and you only need to select which diagnoses apply to your specific patient. In school, however, they're a pretty involved project.They're a great tool for learning the material and understanding how the pieces fit together, but they're also a total pain in the butt.

No comments: