Let the Precepting Begin!

First day of clinical, we hit the ground running with(3) patients right off the top and actually, it turned out to be a great shift. Two cancer patients and one post op Crohn's patient. One of the cancer patient patients was post op bilateral mastectomy/lumpectomy; the second patient was a new acute leukemia diagnosis (2nd day)..which for me was a great opportunity to provide time to the patient and spouse to do some psych/social counseling and research on support groups. The patient happens to live in my neighborhood, so it was great to be able to tell her about Marshall Hospital's leukemia group which she and her husband can attend when she gets out of the hospital. It was also a great opportunity to share with her a copy of Bev Hall's book ~Surviving & Thriving (*thanks to the class for donating these!) The raw grief of the new diagnosis was something I hadn't experienced yet as a nursing student even though I spent alot of my med-surg time on the oncology floor @ Sutter Roseville and a lot of my peds time with the onc patients @ Sutter Memorial. One of my objectives was to work with a patient with a new cancer diagnosis & already this happened the first weekend of precepting.

It wasn't that long ago that I recall getting bad news about someone I cared about & how devastating that can be when you first hear the news. I could see it on the face of my patient and her husband. One minute you are walking the dog at the dog park and the next minute, you are unable to walk, your husband is taking you to the ER and the physicians are telling you that you have LEUKEMIA. *this is what happened to my patient. For a very active 67 y/o female whose been married for 45 years and living a very fit lifestyle prior to two days ago...this was very devastating. To be the nurse that cares for this person up front, is a privilege...there is a lot that can make the transition easier or even more devastating. The 1:1 time I had with her today was very rewarding. I was grateful for the opportunity to have that very intimate contact as a nurse.

It was fun to do procedures today. It was fun passing meds, assessing all three patients and learning all about blood products from the order verification/laboratory verifications and how the PRBCs are primed with NS and administered.

The best part of the experience for me was working with a preceptor who is also a SMU alumna from the ELMSN Case Mgr. program. She has been am RN for the last 18 months and loves working with students (lucky me).

To say that I love the teamwork on this unit is an understatement. I know I am going to learn a lot.