I have completed 4 shifts in the emergency department as a nurse so far and I feel like I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. I make the silliest mistakes like taking a blood pressure in the arm of a man whose finger was so infected and swollen that his skin split. Something is strangely a muck with my IV's--I got them all today but they just didn't seem quite right. I somehow manage to blood-let every one of patients! :)
I feel adrift in the nursing world. Being a graduate nurse is kind of crippling. I am in limbo between Registered Nurse and Secretary and I can't really find my niche. Soon though! 8 days and counting!
I did have my first "trauma" today. An 80 year old man who took a spill on his scooter going thirty miles per hour. Wouldn't have been so bad except he was on a blood thinner so it took a bit of work to get all his bumps and abrasions to quit oozing. He was so nice and sweet but his wife called me Rhianna...haven't heard that one before!
I love being a nurse though. I enjoy being the hands that bring God's healing touch. My people skills are improving so much. Dealing with all kinds of people in all different kinds of situations has a way of launching a crash course in diplomacy and patience. I have been so protected these past 3 years, deep in the nurses station only interacting with the doctors and nurses. Now I am one of them (almost) and I couldn't be happier!
My plan is to take it one day at a time. Do the best I can with each and every patient I see. And continue to fake it til I make it :)
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Don't most people "fake it til they make it" in a new job? I know you will get the hang of it in no time. You are good at knowing what the next step is before most. God blessed you with a sharp mind.
ReplyDeleteDon't you love all the old people on blood thiners? I gave a patient a bruise the other day because I scrubbed his arm to hard before I put in his IV. Fun times.
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