The semester is coming to a close and we are taking our last exams before finals. I'm very excited for the busy J-1 semester to come to an end and move on up! Anyway, clinicals have been wonderful! Last week I got to work the ER for 16 hours and it was tons of fun. I got to practice some of my advanced skills like IV insertion, fluid bag set up, urinary catheters and dressing changes. It was really exciting and busy most of the time. We had a point where three traumas came in at once for C-spine (neck) injuries from a car rolling accident and that kept us busy for a while. I would say ER is much faster paced, and there was a lot less charting for the students to do which was a nice break! I can't decide between the ICU and ER though since I enjoyed both of them so much. I think the more experience I get, the easier it will be to make a decision.
This week we are amping up for a pharmacology exam and getting ready for the next scenario right after thanksgiving. I plan to go home and practice my skills on my family, lucky them! I'll be back soon for an update, good night!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
One month left!
We have one month of classes left in our J-1 semester! whohoo! We are almost there...thank goodness!
We have a scenario test coming up the week after Thanksgiving, in which we are given a case (patient) and need to figure out what the problem is and what to do with our patient in regards to meds, procedures, labs, etc.. These tests are the most nerve racking because if we fail twice we get kicked out, so fingers are crossed. Other than that the other exams are going really well, still getting my B to B+ average, going to try to bring that up!
Clinicals are going well, last week at Gritman the census was soooo low that I didn't have a patient, so I got moved over to ICU again, which was hoppin! The nurse let me hook myself up to an EKG (heart monitor) and analyze my heart rhythm, and measure my PR, QT, and QRS waves to check for heart pathology! It was cool, I will post a picture of it. Turns out my heart is pretty healthy. Anyway, next week I have two full day in ER. I am really excited for this because usually in ER there are many IV starts, injections, closed reductions, traumas, and of course drunk college kids from UI to deal with. Not to mention all the people who come in for the sniffles. Either way I'm hoping its fun, and I hate to say it but I hope I can stand in on a code... :) (crashing patient). I'm just eager to learn. I'll be back soon for an ER update. Peace to you!
We have a scenario test coming up the week after Thanksgiving, in which we are given a case (patient) and need to figure out what the problem is and what to do with our patient in regards to meds, procedures, labs, etc.. These tests are the most nerve racking because if we fail twice we get kicked out, so fingers are crossed. Other than that the other exams are going really well, still getting my B to B+ average, going to try to bring that up!
Clinicals are going well, last week at Gritman the census was soooo low that I didn't have a patient, so I got moved over to ICU again, which was hoppin! The nurse let me hook myself up to an EKG (heart monitor) and analyze my heart rhythm, and measure my PR, QT, and QRS waves to check for heart pathology! It was cool, I will post a picture of it. Turns out my heart is pretty healthy. Anyway, next week I have two full day in ER. I am really excited for this because usually in ER there are many IV starts, injections, closed reductions, traumas, and of course drunk college kids from UI to deal with. Not to mention all the people who come in for the sniffles. Either way I'm hoping its fun, and I hate to say it but I hope I can stand in on a code... :) (crashing patient). I'm just eager to learn. I'll be back soon for an ER update. Peace to you!
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