Monday, July 30, 2007

The Last Week of School

One final down, one to go, and then the graduation ceremony is on Thursday.

What a semester this has been! I have had the opportunity to explore nursing in the community, as well as complete my preceptorship in an ICU. I really enjoyed both experiences--particularly the preceptorship--because I felt like it gave me the opportunity to complete my transition from student to novice nurse.

Here are some of the highlights:

The Magic of Learning

My preceptor met me with a smile the first day. She oriented me to the unit, assessed my general knowledge, supervised my opening notes, etc. But as the day wore on, I noticed she was sneaking candy from her pockets.

"What'cha eating?" I asked.

She looked at me askance. "You're totally into Harry Potter, right?" I put a question mark there, but in reality she spoke the words more like a statement of undeniable fact. Luckily, I was, in fact, a Harry Potter fan. I know for a fact my lot would have been different and dire if I had answered her in the negative.

"Of course..." I said. Whereupon she produced several packages of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Bloodpops, Chocolate Frogs, and other Potter candies from her pockets. For the rest of the summer, Potter became a constant default discussion topic in the lulls between my educational experiences. She showed me a book she was reading that speculated on the symbolism behind the Potter series. She showed me the costume she had made for her child for the midnight release party. She held her hands over her ears and yelled "lalalalala" as soon as I mentioned that the book had leaked over the Internet. A true fan. (Or addict?)

I wouldn't say that Harry Potter conversations were the most memorable thing about my preceptorship. I learned so much about the day-to-day routine, policies, procedures, computer charting, teamwork... the experience was invaluable. However, I found it refreshing to be paired with someone who was young and at least as nerdy as I am.

I lamented the fact that she took vacation around the book release date, so I could not see her in the last days of clinicals. My classmate and I brought food for the rest of the staff, but I couldn't let this woman's semester of efforts go unrewarded. I agonized over what kind of Potter trinket would be appropriate for a thank-you gift. I felt certain she'd already have anything that could be bought in a store... so I finally decided on something home-made.

The nearest thing to nurses Harry Potter's world are the lime-cloaked Healers of St. Mungo's Hospital. (And trust me, I wouldn't have known this if she'd not told me about the costume she was sewing). As a gift, I painted a small wooden plaque green with the symbol of the hospital, and emblazoned the words "St. Mungo's Award for Distinguished Healer Mentor" on the front. I left it in her locker for discovery. I hope she likes it.

Memorable Quote of the Semester

"One time a student was working in the ER. And she told us that a woman came in with gonorrhea. She was a prostitute, and she had an ostomy. In fact, she was prostituting the ostomy... and I know none of you are going to forget the concept of 'portal of entry' after that story."

~~~

Alright, that's all I have time for at the moment. One more final to study for. Expect an update after graduation.

12 Comments:

I have worked in a ER as a nurse for a couple of years and find myself unphased by most things. But that ostomy story made me stop and shudder. Well done!

By Anonymous Anonymous, at Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 8:57:00 AM PDT  

could she have been in LSUHSC ER? If not ok more that 1 person on earth is prostituting their ostomy. Sick to my stomach.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 2:06:00 PM PDT  

I have no idea which hospital. And I wouldn't say so if I did. It would probably constitute personally identifiably information.

By Blogger esunasoul, at Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 2:37:00 PM PDT  

That is positively one of the most disgusting things I have ever heard of.

You're going to make a great nurse!!
(;

By Blogger Beth Coll Anderson, at Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 8:33:00 AM PDT  

Kudos! Very informative article, keep up the good works! More power
http://philippinenurses.blogspot.com/

By Anonymous Anonymous, at Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 1:08:00 AM PDT  

Hi, While surfing the web, I came across your website and found it to be very information. I would like to share your website with my visitors. I was wondering if we can exchange links, please review my site http://philippinenurses.blogspot.com .

I already added your link to my blog, please do the same in return.

Thanks,
Myk

By Blogger Myk, at Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 2:31:00 AM PDT  

Hi, While surfing the web, I came across your website and found it to be very information. I would like to share your website with my visitors. I was wondering if we can exchange links, please review my site http://philippinenurses.blogspot.com .

I already added your link to my blog, please do that same in return.

Thanks,
Myk

By Blogger Myk, at Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 2:32:00 AM PDT  

So are you going to start a new blog , ie. "Iamnolongeranursingstudent"

By Anonymous Anonymous, at Friday, August 3, 2007 at 1:53:00 PM PDT  

wow, that ostomy quote just blew. my. mind.

ugh.

By Blogger Prisca:, at Saturday, August 11, 2007 at 8:54:00 AM PDT  

As I am NOT a medical person, I quickly googled "ostomy" to find out what it was... Imagine my relief when I saw this featured link:

Ostomy available.
Don't just Buy it - Win it!
www.eBay.com

Jzayara

By Anonymous Anonymous, at Thursday, August 16, 2007 at 1:05:00 PM PDT  

That is quite hard to stomach - it's an awesome post though!

I'm Jonathan, and I'm on the staff at NursingLink. I would like to feature it and other postings of yours on NursingLink if it is alright with you. Please let me know. You can email me at jzuk01@gmail.com if you are interested. Thanks - they are all great reads.

By Blogger Jonathan Zuk, at Sunday, August 19, 2007 at 9:50:00 PM PDT  

I am currently in Nursing School. Heather it is great to read your stories because I know my class and I sure have ours also. It has been a great experience but tiring one balancing school and life in general. Somehow the demands don't stop they just get stronger! :-)

http://nurse211.wordpress.com

By Anonymous Nurse211, at Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 10:25:00 PM PDT  

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