Wow, thanks, you guys.

When I wrote the post about my bad experience with the patient advocacy scenario, I had no I idea that I would receive such an outpouring of support from my friends in blogland. Your responses really touched me, and also helped me move on. You allowed me to remember that there are folks out there who give a crap, and doing what’s what doesn’t always mean doing what’s easy. That meant the world, and I thank each and every one of you for the lessons you taught. I have been able to move on and I now look at the whole bit as incredible lesson in practice. I will carry the experience with me for the rest of my career, but now I am able to focus on having other great learning experiences in the clinical arena. So again, thank you so much for your support. It really means the world.

Onward to this week’s episode of “Why Does Everyone Hate Me in Med Surg II?”

Just kidding.

Well, not about the onward part. But I just haven’t been having an easy time at this hospital. I don’t believe it’s retribution from getting myself in hot water last week because the other students are facing the same issues. The bottom line is that on this floor, the nurses don’t like students. It’s a teaching hospital, so the fact that this is slightly unacceptable behavior could remain unsaid. (But I specialize in saying the unsaid out loud…) My first nurse this week was just incredibly cold towards me and the other students. My nurse yesterday was inpatient and obviously irritated at everything I did and every question I asked. I wrote previously that the nurse really has the power to make or break the clinical, so in that facet, this rotation gets a big fat “F.” At least I’m halfway done.

But the patients are still making my day worthwhile. I’ve had lots of interesting ones, and I’m enjoying working with two at once this time around. I had a woman with meningitis, a guy with a big butt wound, another in renal failure, another in non-responsive state from an assault. The latter has been the most interesting for me, as he went into respiratory distress and had to be transferred to the ICU at the end of my shift. In a way, I felt somewhat responsible for his decline, because I felt I didn’t have the experience to be able to spot what was happening, and I wasn’t sure if my nurse was keeping an eye on him behind me. I got over that feeling pretty quickly, because there were actually lots of people involved in his care who saw it happening and besides, sometimes you do everything right and you still can’t prevent it. It was an awesome experience to be able to witness what happens to a person when they go into respiratory distress (in this case, I found out that he had a PE.) I think now that I’ve seen it once (the dusky coloring, the diaphragmatic breathing, the increasing and unresolving tachypnea and dyspnea) I will know exactly what’s happening next time. One great lesson down. Check.

My other patients were also interesting, including the guy who insisted on calling me a “Bull Shit Student” because “B.S. Student” happens to be embroidered on my school scrubs. He told me jokes all day and pulled a couple of pranks on me. Loved him. So, despite the crabby nurses, it was still a good experience because I was still dealing with the patients that I loved. I am firmly convinced that I’ve learned something unique with each and every one of the patients I’ve dealt with. That’s why I keep coming back.

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