How my first semester of clinical prepared me as a future nurse

This semester i had the opportunity to have two rotations at a children's hospital and long-term care facility; both clinicals brought new experiences and reinforced my interest in helping adults compared to pediatrics. To begin, when I started my pediatric rotation I was extremely nervous of caring for kids and dealing with the parents but my experience was the complete opposite. Throughout the weeks, I've gained more confidence with vitals, administering and identifying the needs of the patients; despite my anxiety with the parents at the bedside they assisted with care and were comfortable with me providing care to their child. Despite my jitters in the beginning, I had the opportunity to face those uneasy feelings and improve. The best part of the rotation was administering medications through IV, flushing and removing IVs and giving respiratory treatments with the aid of respiratory team and witnessing suctioning which was pretty cool.

In my medical surgical rotation, I had the opportunity of hanging with the senior population and listening to their stories and providing assistance when needed. One cool thing I liked about that rotation was administering insulin. In the beginning, I was a bit nervous about giving the needle since I have my own personal anxiety towards needles but administering it to others was a great feeling because I was not on the receiving end LOL. Also, I was excited because my resident did not feel a thing despite my nervousness; one thing i found interesting is how weird it felt breaking through the skin. Overall, both of my clinical experience reinforced the passion I have of helping others and that I am in the right place. Also, one huge take away I learned was you won't know the answer to ever question and learning new things is part of the job so do not be nervous to ask for help.

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CT imaging

During the week in clinical, I had the opportunity to view the CT imaging of my pt with respiratory distress including croup and intermittent stridor during at rest. It was pretty cool to see the airway narrowing on the imaging, it went from an open airway to a thin pencil shape causing breathing issues for the patient. The nurse showed me both images of the lungs from the front and side, the side image provided a more clear view of the airway constriction which was cool.

My first infant patient experience

My first infant patient was a 5 month old foster infant being treated status epilepticus.  My patient is in the infancy stage of development of trust vs mistrust. During this stage, infants are learning to trust the world which is fostered through consistency of care by parents and making sure the infant's needs are met without frustration which leads to mistrust. The infant did cry a bit due to the environment and loved to be held and rocked constantly to soothe him. 

I was fortunate to have the infant all to myself without any parents which was interesting with soothing him but also helped me build that confidence of being alone with a patient and using clinical judgment. For example, while soothing the infant with rocking and talking to him, I noticed he had his hand in his mouth a lot signaling teething so i talked to the nurse about prescribing medication to alleviate the soreness.  Also, the patient was receiving medications through IV which was pretty cool watching the nurse set up the drip, flushing and replacing the tube. I was a bit nervous of taking care of an infant alone but it wasn't bad and i had the fun opportunity to change diapers and walk him down the hall. I was a bit worn out after the first two hours with steady rocking and transitioning from standing to sitting but I wouldn't trade that experience the infant provided and I was sad to leave him at the end of the shift. 

First Clinical in Peds

My first time on the floor was pretty good, I was nervous at first because this is my first time working with infants and younger children. My first patient was a 4 month old and I was anxious and thinking he was going to cry but he was chilling, moving around and let me take his temperature; in my head I was like please don’t cry, please don’t cry lol. My nurse helped me through it which eased my nerves and the parents were nice as well which made me a bit more comfortable. My second patient was a two-year-old and I had to perform vitals on her, I was nervous because she was the first patient I did full vitals on. I was more anxious about forgetting to count the correct sec for HR and RR; I worked through it by remaining calm and going to the instructor for assistance along with practicing outside of clinical so I am more comfortable. Also, I had to give this patient bolus feeding through the NG tube which was pretty cool, weighed her pamper for urine output and performed a respiratory assessment.
One thing I learned was that the parents were actually nice and allowed me to provide care despite my basis thinking they would be mean or say no. Also, as previously mentioned learning how to do bolus feeding was a good learning experience applying what I learned in lab to patient care. The respiratory assessment allowed me differentiate normal and abnormal lung sounds and the toddler had substernal retractions which was pretty cool to observe as well and tachypnea. During the upcoming weeks in clinical, I hope to learn more about pediatric care, utilizing proper clinical judgment while providing case and easing my nerves. Also, I would like to see procedures performed if we are allowed like placing a NG tube or chest tube, going to the NICCU and other departments.

Why nursing?!

After graduating from Penn State in 2015 with a double degree in Psychology and Criminology, I found myself lost in trying to figure out what career I wanted to pursue. I took a year off to find what my interest where, I knew I have a passion for helping others and putting a smile on one's face BUT having a career sitting and listening to people's problems would not suit me. I am more hands on and like to be on my feet. Also, I am intrigued by personality disorders and mental illness and want to help those that are stigmatized by society and help integrate them into society and let them know their illness will not win and they can continue to live a healthy life. So, the idea came across my mind to become a psychiatric nurse instead of a psychologist that specializes in treatment of mental illness; the schooling for nursing is much shorter than the 8-10 years needed for a psychologist. As a psychiatric nurse, I am applying the knowledge of psychology and treating individuals with mental illness with a more hands on approach. I know psychiatric nursing will be challenging because you never know what you're getting but at the same time I am a Gemini and have multiple personality changes throughout the day so I will adjust LOL.





With that idea in mind, I started applying for entry level hospital jobs and started by first job as a hostess working in dietary. I was extremely nervous and was thinking can I work in a hospital and see things without getting grossed out. I began working and loved it instantly, I loved talking with the patients along with getting knowledge from the nurses and other health staff around me. Also, receiving motivation from patients telling to pursue nursing and that I am in the right place due to my personality and how compassionate I am, that gave me a extra umph that maybe I am in the right career path. Moreover, I started researching accelerated nursing programs along with taking prerequisites at CCP because I have a BA instead of BS. While working at the hospital, I was taking sciences courses then I came across Widener. I chose Widener because it was night classes which allowed me to work during the day, it was convenient and not a far commute. 2018 was an exciting year for me, I started a new position at the hospital working as a Patient Service Associate(PSA) then got accepted into Widener's accelerated nursing program two months later; I was ecstatic and anxious to see what nursing school is about along with preparing for a stressful two years. Currently, I am in my second semester and starting clinical which  I am excited for because I miss being on the floors with the patients.