Just so everyone knows, I have started my own blog site. However, it will be focused on nursing stuff. I will probably cross-post some of those posts here. If you want to hear about my nursing stuff, the site is at http://homepage.mac.com/sean.elliott/iblog
here’s my latest post from my nursing blog
It has been a couple of interesting days. I did my first two shifts working as a nursing attendant. I thought I knew what to expect, but it was completely different. Fortunately, these differences tended to be positive.
The first day started at 6:30am at the the hospital . I looked shiny and new in my favorite black scrubs and “fresh off the press” name tag. The only clue that I had ever stepped foot in the hospital were my half dirty nursing shoes.
the first thing we did was get big glasses of ice water for those patients that weren’t NPO, or had NG tubes . This was actually pretty fun since all the patients seemed so grateful to receive a bit of water. While we did this, the other NA filled up the portable linen cart and placed them around the unit. I always thought the linen refills were done by housekeeping, but I guess not.
Then it was time for the fun to begin! We checked the communication log which lists which patients need to be cared for first. Two patients were post-op, so we went and gave them a wash to get the yellow antiseptic stuff off from surgery. The exact name escapes me, but I want to say it’s betadine .
Then it was off to help other patients. The NA I was buddied with knew the patients a little better than I did, so she knew where her help was needed. We bathed a couple patients, walked a couple patients to the toilette, changed some diapers, made beds, and took people for their requisite post-op walks.
In the midst of this, the breakfast trays arrived and we handed these out to all the patients. I have never known just how annoying cluttered bedside tables could be until now! Once everyone was done, we were responsible for collecting all the trays. I always thought the food service was done by kitchen staff, but I guess I was wrong.
Then we went from RN to RN asking how we could help them out. Many needed their patients walked or bathed, or toiletted. This was all pretty tame, and there was rarely an occasion where we needed to rush.
The afternoon was spent restocking the linen carts, med carts, blanket warmers, and clearing the hallway of dirty stretchers, beds, and chairs (after cleaning them, of course).
Then it was off to the university to work on a logic model for our community health nursing project. We’re working on a needle exchange program in which we teach proper injection methods before handing out clean needle kits. These kits advertise our Community Health Nursing Services. Yay for harm reduction strategies!!!
The next day, it was back to school for Community Health Nursing group work before going back to the hospital for another NA shift.
Here’s some hi-lights.
- Spilling a cart of 21 large styrofoam cups of water
- Four middle-aged men sleeping soundly in their bed, cuddling their PCAs.
- Meeting a student from a rival school of nursing , doing the same job, and clearly better than me.
- When struggling with one of those stupid IV gowns, being told snidely by the other NA, “Don’t worry, maybe you will get good at this later,” and thinking “Just because I grabbed the wrong snap doesn’t mean I’m bad at this now, and I can’t wait until I’m your boss in one month,” and then thinking “That’s not very nice of me to think, since I can’t deny I have room for improvement”
- Walking a very sweet old lady to the bathroom a couple times, noticing how much stronger, faster, and stable she was today. Then hearing later that her incision had dehisced horribly, and that she would have to stay in bed and use a bedpan for a couple days.
- Seeing just how much a mother loves her mentally retarded adult son. It gave me one of those happy gushy nursy moments.
- realizing just how much less stressful nursing is when you take away the medication and assessment aspects.
- Meeting the attractive male RN that will be my mentor for the summer. He seems nice, but intimidating. This will be the first time I will have a male role model. I am absolutely ecstatic that I have this opportunity before graduating.
- Spilling a full bedpan all over a patient’s bed and having to change her gown, attends, linen, soaker pads, and then thinking to myself. “maybe I will be good at this later.”
- Realizing that my basic care skills are definitely lacking, and that this opportunity to work as an NA will help infinitely in that respect. Even after two shifts, I feel so much more confident. Now, when I’m doing clinical rotations, I can focus on the medication and assessment skills (as well as the other 1000) because the basic care skills will be there and solid.
Other things we did on the evening shift:
- Stocked Gloves
- Emptied linen bags and flung them down the 10 story chute
- cleaned equipment
- stocked med carts
- filled oxygen tanks
- talked with patients
I am so incredibly happy that I decided to work as an NA before becoming a nurse on this unit. In fact, I wish I had decided to do this two years ago when I was first qualified. Yes, the job is “beneath” my skill levels in nursing, and it was hard just letting IV pumps beep when there was air in them, or calling a RN when a dressing needed to be changed, or to not be able to look at patients charts to find out what their diagnosis was. However, my basic care skills are lacking, and I need help with that ASAP. Plus, I now know where everything is on the unit, I know the staff, and I understand the ebbs and flows of the unit. These are things that will make my first days as a RN here infinitely easier.
As for how the NA job is different than expected; I thought I would be assigned ten or so patients, and be responsible for all the basic care of those patients for the entire shift. Instead, we worked more on an on call basis. Also, I didn’t realize that the NAs did all the stocking of supplies. I actually enjoyed the stocking. You can work slowly, at a casual pace. I also underestimated the power and necessity of the NA’s position in the care of patients. This was reflected in the grateful attitudes of the nurses and patients towards me as I did my job.
YAY!
