Wow...
I never realized my passion for nursing until last week during clinicals. I mean, sure, I have always wanted to do it...but, I never realized I had such a burning passion for it. Let me explain.
Our class went to a behavior institute (in other words, a psych house) to do our nursing clinicals. Okay, I admit, most of the chapter in class did basically put me straight to sleep; at times I had to pinch myself to keep my eyes open. Though, that all changed when I actually put that information into action.
I first started off in the adult open unit. This was the unit that people went to before going to the outpatient unit. I sat in group discussion and talked to a lot of interesting people. I talked to a bipolar, a schizophrenic, and a major depressed client. I was quite shocked to find out they are just like you and me. I talked to the schizophrenic and he was telling me how he ended up in the hospital. It was nice that he could tell the whole story without a problem.
There was one patient there that kind of broke my heart seeing. She was 30 years old and had a tracheotomy. The reasoning behind that was 11 years ago when she was only 19, she attempted suicide by drinking Draino (the stuff you throw down the pipes to clean them up). By doing this, she had basically disolved her trachea. It was a miracle she could still talk.
After that, I got to go into the PEDS unit (where all the kids are). At first, my group of 3 people had to wait until they were done eating breakfast and writing in their journal. So, I looked up some of the client's charts. One kid drank a bottle of maple syrup as a suicide attempt because he had diebetes. Sad...this kid was fourteen years old.
Though, I looked up this one particular client who had just come in the previous night. She was only two years younger then me. I looked through her charts to find that she was in for considering a suicide attempt. Her mom got frustrated with her and left in the middle of her getting Baker Acted. Screwed up...but, it reminded me of my mother for a second.
I read further. In the nursing notes, I saw that she was crying in the hallways all night and they thought that this was because of major depression.
That got me thinking...
No, it wasn't because of the depression. No, not at all. This kid was scared. Her mother left her in the mists of all the dilemma. I was thinking this kid just had a lot going on in her life.
I walked up to the nursing station where I heard the nurses talking about making her stay at the nursing station all day until she would talk to them.
Pfft, that's messed up. That's no way to get someone to open up to you. Even if they do open her up, she is going to respond in a negative way. Kind of made me disgusted in a way.
After a little bit, we proceeded to group discussion. Here, people would say their name, say how they are feeling, and discuss a goal they would like to achieve. Before that, however, I had to take all their vitals.
There were only four kids on the unit so I basically knew them all from reading their documentation. I came across the girl who was brought in the previous night. She came sat down to get her vitals with her head sunk to floor and refusing to say a word. Can't say I don't blame her, she's been through a lot.
I asked her how she was doing and tried to make friendly conversation. She did respond in little one worded answers, but, that was still more than what the nurses got out of her.
I sat next to her in group discussion and read her journal. Turns out she wanted to be an LPN or possibly an RN when she grew up.
...but what surprised me was when she said goals, instead of saying "to break out of here" like every other kid in the room, she responded with a "I just want to start over and make up to everyone I hurt."
All the sudden it hit me. That girl was me. I was in the same situation a couple of years ago. She was just dealing with a lot of stress and jumped to conclusions really quickly...just like me.
I took that into consideration when talking to her and guess what? Yep, I got her to talk to me. Her and I were discussing about options on obtaining our RN and life in general. The nurses saw her talking and quickly snatched her away.
But, it just made feel so good that I probably changed her life that day. I made a difference.
I am proud to be a student practical nurse.
Our class went to a behavior institute (in other words, a psych house) to do our nursing clinicals. Okay, I admit, most of the chapter in class did basically put me straight to sleep; at times I had to pinch myself to keep my eyes open. Though, that all changed when I actually put that information into action.
I first started off in the adult open unit. This was the unit that people went to before going to the outpatient unit. I sat in group discussion and talked to a lot of interesting people. I talked to a bipolar, a schizophrenic, and a major depressed client. I was quite shocked to find out they are just like you and me. I talked to the schizophrenic and he was telling me how he ended up in the hospital. It was nice that he could tell the whole story without a problem.
There was one patient there that kind of broke my heart seeing. She was 30 years old and had a tracheotomy. The reasoning behind that was 11 years ago when she was only 19, she attempted suicide by drinking Draino (the stuff you throw down the pipes to clean them up). By doing this, she had basically disolved her trachea. It was a miracle she could still talk.
After that, I got to go into the PEDS unit (where all the kids are). At first, my group of 3 people had to wait until they were done eating breakfast and writing in their journal. So, I looked up some of the client's charts. One kid drank a bottle of maple syrup as a suicide attempt because he had diebetes. Sad...this kid was fourteen years old.
Though, I looked up this one particular client who had just come in the previous night. She was only two years younger then me. I looked through her charts to find that she was in for considering a suicide attempt. Her mom got frustrated with her and left in the middle of her getting Baker Acted. Screwed up...but, it reminded me of my mother for a second.
I read further. In the nursing notes, I saw that she was crying in the hallways all night and they thought that this was because of major depression.
That got me thinking...
No, it wasn't because of the depression. No, not at all. This kid was scared. Her mother left her in the mists of all the dilemma. I was thinking this kid just had a lot going on in her life.
I walked up to the nursing station where I heard the nurses talking about making her stay at the nursing station all day until she would talk to them.
Pfft, that's messed up. That's no way to get someone to open up to you. Even if they do open her up, she is going to respond in a negative way. Kind of made me disgusted in a way.
After a little bit, we proceeded to group discussion. Here, people would say their name, say how they are feeling, and discuss a goal they would like to achieve. Before that, however, I had to take all their vitals.
There were only four kids on the unit so I basically knew them all from reading their documentation. I came across the girl who was brought in the previous night. She came sat down to get her vitals with her head sunk to floor and refusing to say a word. Can't say I don't blame her, she's been through a lot.
I asked her how she was doing and tried to make friendly conversation. She did respond in little one worded answers, but, that was still more than what the nurses got out of her.
I sat next to her in group discussion and read her journal. Turns out she wanted to be an LPN or possibly an RN when she grew up.
...but what surprised me was when she said goals, instead of saying "to break out of here" like every other kid in the room, she responded with a "I just want to start over and make up to everyone I hurt."
All the sudden it hit me. That girl was me. I was in the same situation a couple of years ago. She was just dealing with a lot of stress and jumped to conclusions really quickly...just like me.
I took that into consideration when talking to her and guess what? Yep, I got her to talk to me. Her and I were discussing about options on obtaining our RN and life in general. The nurses saw her talking and quickly snatched her away.
But, it just made feel so good that I probably changed her life that day. I made a difference.
I am proud to be a student practical nurse.