So this is my very first blog as an alumnuae of Lourdes College.  Wow.  Where do I begin?  Well, first things first.  I am fresh out of school as of December 2007.  I received my RN-BSN and couldn't be happier with the education I had at Lourdes.  I will be taking my boards in March, and then I will be a very happy camper because I can finally be a real nurse.

Right now I'm working at The Toledo Hospital in the Nurse Intern/Residency program.  I just started last week and I am still in the school frame of mind--for example, remembering my patients' information so I can write my client report forms, thinking that I'm still in clinical and have to fit homework in somewhere...it's not quite set in yet that I am finished and I don't have to worry about that stuff anymore.

I am rotating through several different units at TTH.  Right now I'm in the ER for the next three weeks, so if any of you guys go to the ER at Toledo between the hours of 6:30 am and 7 pm, be sure to look me up.  :>)  I don't really know how I feel about being in the ER because that was just an area that never thrilled me to pieces.  I can sum it up in two words: organized chaos.  I've only been there for two days and it's insane.  I don't know how people function like that, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to get stuff done, and then you turn around and you have another patient to take care of and now you have to drop what you're doing and get that person admitted while the other person you were taking care of first is complaining that you're taking too long.  WOW.  It is insane. 

So I function right now as a lost puppy dog/nursing assistant.  I spent most of Friday running after a 6 foot 2 inch nurse whose legs were as long as I am tall, and wheeling people to x-ray or CT scans, and helping people out to their cars or to the bathrooms, or doing damage control to keep people calm.  Chaotic. That's what emergency rooms are.  It's exciting at times, boring at other times.  I haven't been there long enough to make an educated decision about whether or not I like it.  I know that I'll be much better once I get onto the intensive care units, which is where I will end up once the residency is over in nine months. 

For now, I must get back to studying for my NCLEX.  I don't want to fail and have to pay another $275 to take the test again.  So in essence, I am still in the school mode with all this studying.  Old habits die hard, I suppose.  Peace.

Sunday, January 27, 2008 12:41:43 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)    Comments [0] |