(no subject)
Mom got me all concerned about clinical when I mentioned how much the instructor reminds me of dad, but now that I've had a few days in clinical... turns out she's nowhere near as bad. Like she's still someone you want to overprepare for (she actually sent someone home on the 2nd day of real clinical. SECOND. DAY), but she's not as scary/intimidating as I expected. It's like she's a different person in clinical, really, because in theory classes she could be quite scary. Almost like it's her comfort zone? That's what I'd have to guess. Apparently she's more used to 3rd year students so I guess that explains it (she's used to students with more of a foundation... which may explain why she's already ready to throw two patients at us instead of one - when I did clinical last year it took until mid-February for them to start doing it, and only on some students not all... then again the workload in medicine is more demanding than rehab).
But yeah, last year I just hated it. I hated medicine. I'm not an acute care type of person, that much is obvious.
But I never really considered more longterm care as a possibility.
And now that I've thought about it, it makes sense. I always sort of feel like I'm not doing anything with acute care people, like it's always the same damn thing. My instructor summed it up nicely last night, actually. "Here [in rehab] you get to see the fruit of your labours [more so than other units in the hospital]." I guess if I'm going to be working with adults, I'd rather have them in my care for longer than one shift, or a couple of shifts before they get sent somewhere else. I also feel like when it comes to nursing stuff I leave a better impression when I get to know them, versus just one or two encounters, and for it there's a comfort level. I'm alright meeting new people, but to have to do it just about every day at work? Fuck that. It's just too draining. I'd rather work somewhere where you get to actually know people, like rehab or psych. Babies and kids are a different story, I'm just talking adults and seniors right now.
God if they make me do an acute care focus in 4th year I will NOT be happy. I'd rather do rural than acute. And that's saying something, cause I already have a hard enough time living in Prince George (and yes, by default Chilliwack as well) cause I feel it's too small.
Like I always get anxiety related to showing up to clinical the night before and the day of, but this time it tends to wash away by the time I'm actually with the other students in the staff room, or the patients themselves. Last time that anxiety was long-lasting. Didn't go away til I finished clinical that day.
I'm not looking forward to the days we have to trade off with the students in the medicine units. Just hope that won't like, bring back memories, and as a result affect me performance. Cause ugh I really didn't like the medicine unit...
And even after this I'm going to have to do surgery. Like post-op stuff. So basically LOTS of wound care, which ugh is just not my thing. If you ever need a reason to not eat, just look up stage 3, 4, or unstageable pressure ulcers. And just about any diabetic foot ulcer. One of the lab instructors I have LOVES wounds and doesn't seem to understand how they make me cringe and want to gag. Maybe surgical wounds won't be so bad, but when it comes to if they take a turn for the worst (infection), no thanks. Between the sight and smell, sometimes I wonder how I manage to not actually gag. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it takes a special kind of person to not just be able to stomach wound care, but actually enjoy it. The thought of packing a wound just makes my skin crawl. And seeing bone proturde through skin (or worse, a wound so deep - like an unstageable pressure ulcer - that you can see bone)?! Don't even get me started...
So yeah this semester has been a pleasant surprise so far.
But yeah, last year I just hated it. I hated medicine. I'm not an acute care type of person, that much is obvious.
But I never really considered more longterm care as a possibility.
And now that I've thought about it, it makes sense. I always sort of feel like I'm not doing anything with acute care people, like it's always the same damn thing. My instructor summed it up nicely last night, actually. "Here [in rehab] you get to see the fruit of your labours [more so than other units in the hospital]." I guess if I'm going to be working with adults, I'd rather have them in my care for longer than one shift, or a couple of shifts before they get sent somewhere else. I also feel like when it comes to nursing stuff I leave a better impression when I get to know them, versus just one or two encounters, and for it there's a comfort level. I'm alright meeting new people, but to have to do it just about every day at work? Fuck that. It's just too draining. I'd rather work somewhere where you get to actually know people, like rehab or psych. Babies and kids are a different story, I'm just talking adults and seniors right now.
God if they make me do an acute care focus in 4th year I will NOT be happy. I'd rather do rural than acute. And that's saying something, cause I already have a hard enough time living in Prince George (and yes, by default Chilliwack as well) cause I feel it's too small.
Like I always get anxiety related to showing up to clinical the night before and the day of, but this time it tends to wash away by the time I'm actually with the other students in the staff room, or the patients themselves. Last time that anxiety was long-lasting. Didn't go away til I finished clinical that day.
I'm not looking forward to the days we have to trade off with the students in the medicine units. Just hope that won't like, bring back memories, and as a result affect me performance. Cause ugh I really didn't like the medicine unit...
And even after this I'm going to have to do surgery. Like post-op stuff. So basically LOTS of wound care, which ugh is just not my thing. If you ever need a reason to not eat, just look up stage 3, 4, or unstageable pressure ulcers. And just about any diabetic foot ulcer. One of the lab instructors I have LOVES wounds and doesn't seem to understand how they make me cringe and want to gag. Maybe surgical wounds won't be so bad, but when it comes to if they take a turn for the worst (infection), no thanks. Between the sight and smell, sometimes I wonder how I manage to not actually gag. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it takes a special kind of person to not just be able to stomach wound care, but actually enjoy it. The thought of packing a wound just makes my skin crawl. And seeing bone proturde through skin (or worse, a wound so deep - like an unstageable pressure ulcer - that you can see bone)?! Don't even get me started...
So yeah this semester has been a pleasant surprise so far.