First Day at the Hospital
This morning was my very first shift as an intern at the hospital. I got up at 5am, started my shift on time at 7, left the hospital at 11:15, had a class at noon, and just finished eating lunch now (2:30). I'm exhausted but really happy!
My first rotation is on the Gynecology/Urology floor. This morning I spent a majority of my time talking to patients, fetching them ice/soda/etc, making beds, and ambulating patients. I shadowed what the hospital calls a Patient Care Extender, but I've also heard them called Registered Nurse's Aide or Clinical Nurse's Aide. There were two people I shadowed, with different styles for patient care (one was much more warm to the patients).
At first I wasn't sure what to do with myself. My assignment was to write the name of each nurse, PCA, and Charge Nurse along with the date on the white board in the patient room. Easy peasy, right? Almost every patient had a request for me. I ended up splitting the task with another intern after almost 2 hours had passed and I still hadn't made it around the whole wing.
I got such a wonderful feeling talking to the patients and helping them. The ones that were being released were obviously the most excited and cheerful, but even the patients staying for the night had only good things to say about their patient care and the hospital. Pretty amazing! Usually people hate the hospital!
I only got to see one cool thing, abdomen stitches. They were perfectly uniform. Other than that patient, everyone was covered up or sleeping.
So, my first foray into the medical field....Success!!!
My first rotation is on the Gynecology/Urology floor. This morning I spent a majority of my time talking to patients, fetching them ice/soda/etc, making beds, and ambulating patients. I shadowed what the hospital calls a Patient Care Extender, but I've also heard them called Registered Nurse's Aide or Clinical Nurse's Aide. There were two people I shadowed, with different styles for patient care (one was much more warm to the patients).
At first I wasn't sure what to do with myself. My assignment was to write the name of each nurse, PCA, and Charge Nurse along with the date on the white board in the patient room. Easy peasy, right? Almost every patient had a request for me. I ended up splitting the task with another intern after almost 2 hours had passed and I still hadn't made it around the whole wing.
I got such a wonderful feeling talking to the patients and helping them. The ones that were being released were obviously the most excited and cheerful, but even the patients staying for the night had only good things to say about their patient care and the hospital. Pretty amazing! Usually people hate the hospital!
I only got to see one cool thing, abdomen stitches. They were perfectly uniform. Other than that patient, everyone was covered up or sleeping.
So, my first foray into the medical field....Success!!!