Saturday, September 30, 2006

Mediocre Impressions

OB and Peds are okay. Upperclassmen always told me it was a "nice break", but I'm neither relieved nor inspired.

I'm a little frustrated; I study for OB and Peds equally but have an A in one and a C in the other. I partially blame the C on the ridiculous lecture format for that course. My instructor spends the first 45 minutes of each class talking about how to study and very little time actually talking about what it is we should be studying. More often than not diseases just... aren't discussed. It's frustrating; so Meredith, Cris, and I have started making up our own chapter outlines every week in an attempt to create USABLE notes. After classes on Thursday, we just park it in the library and don't leave until we finish reviewing everything.

I miss Instructor Incredible's class. At least I learned things in there, and never felt sleepy.

My clinical experiences have been somewhat disappointing as well. I spent several days in Labor and Delivery without seeing a single birth. Then, on my LAST day there I got to witness a C-section. It was horrifying to behold because the epidural... uh... well it wasn't working. That lady was kinda screaming and fighting them. They had to hold her down in order to push general anesthesia meds... but by the time they got her under, the surgeons were already cutting through the uterus. I observed all this while pressed up against the back wall with several other speechless students. Apparently this was a very unusual occurrence, but since it was the only live birth I've ever seen, my perceptions of the process will forever be skewed. This has only confirmed my extreme distaste for labor-type nursing.

Peds is disappointing mostly because I am being held on such a short leash. We aren't even giving meds! I understand the caution with which one must treat kids... but I feel like too much of my time is spent sitting idly by rather than providing care. Also, my patience with children is fairly thin, but my patience with parents is even less substantial.

In short, I'm not having the fabulous time I was used to having. That's probably more my fault than anyone else's. Therefore I'm going to have to work especially hard at observing Instructor Exhausted and Instructor Technology if I'm going to uncover the gems of wisdom I previously found so abundant. In the meantime, I look to my Nurse Tech job as a source of inspiration.

8 Comments:

Ah yes, an instructor can make or break a class for a student (yet they don't seem to realize that). Which class are you doing poorly in? What book are you using?

By Blogger MM, at Tuesday, October 3, 2006 at 9:12:00 AM PDT  

I used to read yer blog before i started nursing school.I'm currently taking my Med-surg class. It's interesting so far but the exams are in-ing me.I put so much effort but the grades are so frustrating.

Good luck in yer peds and OB, I can't wait to get there :)

You encourage me...

By Blogger Student Nurse, at Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 9:33:00 AM PDT  

Our Peds/L&D rotation is in the spring. One of my instructors told me there a several things we can't do with the kids, such as push meds. Several of my classmates have already expressed concern about being bored, which your post kind of confirms.

Semester is half-way over here, so yours must be too. Hang in there.

By Blogger Unemployed Nurse Jack, at Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 3:53:00 PM PDT  

dang frustrating! Keep it together, it'll be over before ya know it...right?

By Anonymous Anonymous, at Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 10:47:00 PM PDT  

Just found your blog and like it,

I am in level one and slugging it out in Pharm. I'll be glad when this is over.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at Friday, November 3, 2006 at 12:36:00 PM PST  

Love your blog. Having no contact with nurses other than to receive their care I must comment that L&D nursing is so very special to the patient at a time when there is such pain and uncertainty of how things are going. A good L&D nurse can make the difference between the perception of childbirth as misery or as mystery. Fortunately all my experiences were of mystery, helped along by wonderful, caring and oh so helpful nurses. Thank you to all.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 8:00:00 AM PST  

I'm just finishing my OB/Peds rotation- both are specialized areas, and more often than not, people hold polarized opinions and either love the areas or hate them. Very small gray area.

I disliked both, but school is a learning experience. Take from it what you can and be grateful for the exposure.

By Blogger Denny, at Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 10:58:00 AM PDT  

Just barely surfed onto your blog 3-4 years after you wrote all of this, but it's a good one. I'm currently in my OB/Peds classes and rotations, and I'm not a huge fan of them, mainly because I'm not doing hardly anything. We just observe all the time, or do really menial CNA type things rather than the stuff that the nurses are doing.

I'm really getting tired of observing and want to start actually doing, like we did in Med-Surg. But, I figure the next semesters will be more intersting.

By Blogger Sam Potter, at Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 2:33:00 PM PST  

Post a Comment

<< Home