Yesterday was an extremely hectic and anxiety-inducing day for me! I had my first 12 hour shift with my preceptor in the ICU, but I also had to take an extended lunch break to go back to school to have my picture taken for our composite (which I'll touch on later). I was so anxious that I stayed up til nearly midnight panicking, making sure I had everything, what kind of package did I want to buy for my composite picture....what was I going to do when my instructor came to visit me and ask me for report on one of m patients!??!? I even DREAMED about what guage IVs my patient had, and doing an assessment, and seeing my instructor walk into the unit with her dark blue lab coat on. I was a nervous wreck walking onto the unit.
My preceptor was given 3 patients instead of the normal 2 since 2 of the patients were downgraded to just tele status instead of critical, but all 3 had a TON of meds. So, I couldn't do what I normally do...get report, look up labs, look over the meds, do my assessments. It was kind of just like "Lets GO!!". I tried to take the meds that I knew, like I'll do the insulin and Zosyn while you do the PO meds, because I honestly didn't know what all of them were, and we didn't have time for me to look them up. I wrote down all of the meds for the 3 patients, and I am going to look them up today. I also had to do my first assessments with family members watching me. I felt really uncomfortable, but mostly because I was already anxious to begin with, and this was like the anxiety-flavored frosting on the cake made of panic.
It did make me feel better that my preceptor was feeling stressed, too, and that it was because of the patient load, and not because of me. I had to leave around 11:30 to run to school to get my picture taken for my our class composite. We have to wear white shirts, and they put these old school nursing caps on us. I wanted a copy of it just to have, but they rip you off, $55 for ONE 8x10. I just went ahead and got the CD, which is $80, but atleast I can print whatever I want.....but I didn't like how much of a rip off it is. I wish that I didn't have to do the composite picture in the middle of my clinical day, because my hair wasn't freshly styled, and my make-up wasn't ideal. But what could I do? I could have rescheduled it with the LPNs or another time on my own, but I didn't want to. I wanted to take my picture with everyone else. But I was also such a mess that I forgot to snap a bootleg copy of my pic or have someone take a pic of me in my cap.....so I'll have to wait for my package to arrive!
I ate lunch as quickly as I possibly could and got back to the ICU. Luckily, things had calmed down by the time I got back. I felt much more comfortable doing the afternoon assessments, and even my visit from my instructor went better than I hoped it would. I was honest, that I was a bit frazzled because of 3 patients versus 2, but that it was otherwise going ok. We talked about my schedule for the next month, and about charting on the new computer system. My instructor looked just as exhausted as me, so I think this worked in my benefit a little bit. But my goal is to be better prepared, be more organized for the day, and really knock out a great first report with my instructor!
I also think I have been blessed with a great preceptor, and that we will great a long really well. This was something I did worry about, because I don't want someone who has a big impact on me passing my capstone being someone who hates me, lol.
So, I was EXHAUSTED when I got home at 8 last night. Good things happened when I got home though, and Mike had gotten me some beautiful flowers since this past week or so has been so awful. We ate a quick dinner, watched Basketball wives (I got sucked in a few seasons ago, can't help it, lol), and then promptly went to bed! I was soooo ready to sleep! And today, I woke up at 9....got some Starbucks, junk food for breakfast, and being a bit lazy right now. :) I do feel very recharged right now, and am so happy I have this day free to get some things done here at home!!
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