It comes round quickly and then flies past.... is it Superman late for dinner?
No! Its Placement!!!
So those first 6 weeks of uni had passed, I'd done all my skills labs to make ABSOLUTELY sure I new my stuff before being let loose. I new all the systems of the body, nursing models, care planning, how to carry out observation and calculate drug doses, how to fill in my placement documents, how I was going to get there, my uniform was ironed and proudly hanging up in my room all ready for my 5:30am start... I was ready, I was confident, I was prepared......
YEAH RIGHT!!!!!
I was so nervous I reckon I developed iron hard abs my stomach was churning that much!
Not because I felt unprepared or like I new nothing, as Uni had given me the low down on what to expect to some extent and I felt that I had learnt as much as what I could from lectures and skills lessons without actually experiencing it.
No, it was because this was REAL!
Real sick children, real life and death situations, real life changing times for patients and parents and I was going to be part of it. I was going to contribute and have input (even if only in a small way) in their care and that terrified me! These children were not dummies like in the skills labs, the parents were not being played out (often in fits of nervous giggles) by fellow nursing students in lectures and these drugs were actually administered to patients instead of harmless water just being drawn up and injected into a sponge for practise.
This was the real deal and I was going to be experiencing it for 12 and a half hours, 3-4 times a week for 3 months.
So I turned up to my placement ward 20 minutes early all wide eyed looking at tiny babies with wires and tubes and beeping things attached to them and thinking, 'I have to help look after them?!'.
It can be a shock for those who have never really been in hospital to see somebody all rigged up to machines and apparatus, even those who have experienced Nan's and Grandads, Uncles and Aunties etc receiving care in hospital. Because these were children and children just shouldn't get ill and be exposed to this sort of thing, they should be at home running round the house causing havoc or at school painting and learning to read or at Birthday parties playing pass the parcel. Not here being given yucky tasting medicine, being put to sleep to have operations, being poked and prodded by strangers and certainly not doing anything so terrible as passing away.
But this is reality. Being a nurse to such children and being able to help them and their family while receiving care is truly the greatest reward you can ever have. Making a difference.
As I found out it is not all sad and sorrow and hard times. In fact these are relatively unoccurring and the majority of the time children get better, are happy and leave with a smile on their face (and normally leave you with a Thank you card and box of chocolates!!). It is very rare for a child to die, most of the nurses on the ward could count on one hand how many child deaths they had seen and some had been there a LONG time!
If you are nervous about starting placement talk to your personal tutor, they can point you in the right direction or give you some sound advice.
So the nitty gritty (and why your really reading this!!!) : What have I been doing??
Taking observations- such as blood pressure, temperature, respiration rate, heart rate, O2 saturation, capillary refill time and plotting these on a chart to calculate a PEWS (Paediatric Early Warning System) score
Calculating drug dosages- in tablet, liquid, capsule and topical (cream) form
Feeding patients- alot of the children I care for are babies, so it would be giving them milk in either a bottle or down an NG (nasogastric) tube
Passing an NG tube- a hollow tube that is inserted up the nose and down the throat into the stomach. Milk and liquid medications can then be given to unconscious patients or patients with an unsafe swallow this way
Injecting medication- as a student you are NOT allowed to administer anything IV (intravenous) related, how ever subcutaneous and muscular injections are allowed
Writing nursing notes- basically documenting how the patient has been on your shift, any changes or information that needs to be passed over to the next shift
Admitting patients to the ward- patients who have come in to have operations or procedures done need to be admitted. Basically doing a set of observations on them, medical history, any allergies, that sort of thing
Changing and washing patients- again I look after alot of babies so changing nappies and baby grows, giving them a bath, changing their sheets etc
Operations- fear not I don't actually DO them!! I am given the opportunity to observe them down in theatre. I have seen open heart surgery...... I'll save that interesting experience for another post!!
Wound dressing- changing the dressings over the scar after operations and removing stitches (this can be barrels of fun on an unwilling toddler!!!)
Removing cannula's- basically a cannula is a hollow tube placed into a vein and kept there so that medication can be given through it, when patients go home they need to be taken out
Interacting with patients and parents- this may be in general or you may be teaching them how to draw up medication for themselves/their child at home or taking them to have scans or xrays, anything really!!
These are a few, there is more but I'd be here for ever writing them all! These are the main ones though, but these may vary from ward to ward depending on what kind of ward it is (ie cardiac, neuro, medical etc).
I have LOVED placement! I finish mid February and I'm dreading it. I feel I have learnt so much and developed leaps and bounds in regard to my chosen profession.
I had nothing to be nervous about that first day, once you get to know and understand the running of a ward it is all so less daunting and complicating. You find your feet and flourish! My mentors are amazing, they encourage me without putting me under pressure, they will explain things fully before asking me to do them, they are funny and friendly (they don't seem at all teacherish!) and they can see when I am ready to be pushed abit harder to reach my potential.
All in all this placement has really confirmed that I have chosen the right career for myself and I cannot wait to be a fully qualified Nurse and be out there all superwomenlike :D
Till my next post,
Kimbers xXx
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