GC 1/19 and 1/22

This week I went to LTAC (long-term acute care) with Purcell.  We were given the task of giving all of the long term residents ice in their water. However, after we filled up the container with ice and started asking the residents if they wanted a refill, they all told us that someone had just com to refill their water buckets with ice. So, we went to Garden Bridge and helped out with some of the residents in there. Unfortunately, they weren't doing much in there either because they had just finished doing their activities and were eating.

Post Partum- The Medical/Surgical Unit for Babies

Post Partum- The Medical/Surgical Unit for Babies

• My Responsibilities: none
• New Knowledge: I learned about all of the different types of nurses and all of the qualifications and education necessary to achieve different degrees in nursing
• Best Thing: The best thing was talking with one of the nurses on the floor. She was very patient and sweet.
• Worst Thing: Seeing how many of the women had miscarriages or abortions
• Overall: Good

• When I came to Post Partum, I was immediately greeted by the nurse that I followed. She was very welcoming and was very knowledgeable. She went out of her way to try and find things that were interesting for me to see (though we couldn't find anything because all of the nurses were either eating or charting). Because of this, I just talked to her and asked her questions about her job, why she wanted to go into it, and how it compared to other jobs in the medical field. 
• Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see any diagnostic procedures, but the RN I followed explained the diagnostic procedures to me. She told me that the nurses keep track of the number of times the woman has been pregnant in the past, the number of babies they've delivered, the number of term babies the woman has delivered, the number of abortions and miscarriages that the woman has had, and the number of living children that the woman has. They check all of these to determine how difficult the birth is going to be, and how knowledgeable the mother should be about everything that's going on.
• I was not able to see any therapeutic procedures while I was on the postpartum floor, but the nurse that I followed told me that they instruct the parents on how to hold the baby, how and when to feed them, and how to change diapers.
• No diseases or disorders observed.
• Grafa- number of times pregnant 
• Para- Number of babies delivered 
• Breech Position- Baby is coming bottom first

1. The Post Partum is less strict than the NICU, and it was more peaceful (from my experience there). There were a lot of adorable pictures hanging on the walls, and the entire environment was very welcoming. All of the babies and mothers were healthy and just waiting to be released. All of the nurses were very nice, and they were all willing to answer my questions and strike up conversation with me. There were one or two nurses who were charting on their computers when I was there, and there was a blood pressure/vitals machine that could be wheeled to all of the rooms if necessary.
2. The nurses worked as a team and seemed to be their own community made up of friends who had mutual respect for one another. They communicated with each other very well and they seemed very comfortable with each other. The environment was professional, but also comfortable. They had social events and medical conferences planned for all of the nurses, and they were making an achievement board while I was there. They seemed like a very constructive and welcoming community of nurses. 
3. I learned a lot about the diagnostic procedures that I mentioned before, and in addition to those, the nurses also keep track of the baby's  estimated gestational age, how dilated the mother is, how thick or thin the cervix is, how the mother and baby are positioned in relation to each other, and if the baby was coming out head first or bottom first. This helps the nurses guide the mother and give her advice. I also learned about all of the different levels of nurses. There is an LVN/LPN who can do basic nursing skills and have the least amount of education. There are ARNs who get an Associates Degree and are able to care for the patients' mind and body, BRNs who get a Bachelors Degree in nursing, care for the patients holistically, and are always in charge of LVNs and ARNs. After that, there are RNs with a Masters Degree who understand and theorize about why nurses do what they do, and who can teach at nursing schools. Lastly, there are RNs with PHDs; these nurses philosophize about nursing and advance nursing as a field by incorporating their ideas into lessons that future nurses learn about.
4. The Post Partum area was a very nice and peaceful place; the nurses were all great and interesting and passionate about their jobs. I would still consider the ER and ICU my favorite units because of the type of medicine that is being practiced, but the nurses in the Post Patrum area were my favorite by far. I do not want to work in Post Partum, but I adored the nurses and would love to talk with them again.

GC 1/12 and 1/15

This week I went to therapy. I spoke to several nice residents. played dominoes (and won!), and talked to one of the physical therapists about why he wanted to go into physical therapy and if he liked it. The physical therapist that I talked to said that he fell into physical therapy while he was in college (as a premed). After he learned more about physical therapy and began to practice, he fell in love with it and never looked back. It was nice to talk to a GC worker who genuinely enjoyed their job and was passionate about it. He really enjoyed seeing the improvement in his patients, and he got a lot of satisfaction out of his job.

GC 1/7

This week in GC I was in Physical Therapy. While this is a fairly interesting field in and of itself, most of the time we (the students) aren't allowed to do anything except watch or push wheelchairs. The physical and occupational therapists are nice and easy to talk to, but they know that we can't do anything to help, so they usually just request that we watch them work. Originally learning about the exercises that they do is interesting, but now that I've seen these exercises multiple times, I've just started asking the physical therapists about what kind of schooling an testing they needed to take. I've also started talking to residents about their experiences in GC and in life. Learning about people is fun and interesting because it helps to develop better people skills, but I'd like to focus on the medicine more in the future.

The Beginning of Life In NICU

The Beginning of Life In NICU

• My Responsibilities: none
• New Knowledge: I learned about how varied life in the NICU is for the nurses, and I also learned about baby incubators.
• Best Thing: The best thing was seeing the babies when I first came into the NICU, they're adorable! 
• Worst Thing: Seeing a baby that was sick and who's mother couldn't see him because she couldn't afford to stay in the hospital.
• Overall: Fair

• When I came to the NICU, the nurses were doing all of their charting. Because of this, I saw them use the computer to do the charting and order medication. I also saw the incubators and learned that they are used to keep the babies at a stable temperature.
• The only diagnostic procedure that I saw was a head to toe assessment of a baby. The baby was crying a lot and wasn't getting enough oxygen, so the nurse checked the baby's entire body and realized that the oxygen tube that the baby had been using had slipped off.
• One therapeutic procedure was that the nurses give the babies medication (but I didn't get to see this, it was just talked about). I was able to see a baby interact with its mother, and that calmed the baby down. I was also able to see the babies begin to eat, which calmed them down a lot and put them back to sleep.
• No diseases or disorders observed.
• Communicable: an infection that can be passed on from one person to another
• Congenital: a condition present at birth
• Prognosis: the likely course of a disease or ailment

1. The NICU is a very secure area in the hospital, and in order to enter it, I had to verify my identity   as a student twice. Once I actually entered the area, it was very quiet and the lights were dim so that the babies could sleep peacefully. The nurses were nice, but they were also very strict and productive. All of the babies were in small, isolated chambers to keep them warm (like incubators). The babies vital signs were being monitored at all times, and the staff used computers to do all of their charting. 
2. The nurses worked as a team and coordinated their efforts. They communicated with each other very well and each nurse always knew what the other was doing. If the babies seemed to be in distress, the nurse would assess the problem by checking their vitals, checking when they ate, and doing a full body assessment, then they determined whether they should administer medication. Many times babies go to the NICU because they were born prematurely and are too small, so if the nurses determine that the baby is too small during the full body assessment, they order a medication that help's the babies put on weight. 
3. I learned that babies are kept in little incubators if they are born prematurely. The incubators keep the babies at a stable temperature and they block the light so that the babies can get restful sleep. I also learned that the nurses are in charge of tracking the mother's down if they are no longer at the hospital and getting their consent for everything that the nurses do for the baby (I assumed a social worker or administrator would've done this). I also noticed that the nurses were very willing to answer my questions (which can't be said for all nurses), and I wonder if that was because they are always educating new moms.
4. The NICU was a very nice and peaceful place; the babies were adorable and there wasn't too much stress (at least not the day I went). In addition to this, the nurses were kind and very productive. However, I prefer working in a more hectic setting with patients who are in critical condition. Although my experience in the NICU was very relaxed (in terms of the condition of the babies), I was told that there is a lot of variety in the NICU, because the patients (babies) are admitted for a multitude of different reasons (being premature, having infections, etc.). I do not want to work in the NICU for the rest of my life, and I wasn't able to help with anything or observe sick babies (I only saw preemies), but overall it was a good experience.