I am a registered nurse. I want to practice what I preach. Questions are welcome!

Nursing school - post-transition update

Transition is the last clinical phase of nursing school. During this clinical experience, we are assigned a non-faculty nurse in an area hospital and work that nurse’s schedule. We are expected to put in ten twelve-hour shifts in three weeks. 

By the end of the rotation, we have to be mostly independent - doing most or all of the charting, interventions, meds, treatments, teaching, phone calls, etc. on our own for a full team of patients. 

I was placed in the ICU for this rotation, and I felt flattered and fortunate to have been placed there. In the ICU, a nurse will typically have two patients. S/he may have only one if the patient requires more complex care, and s/he may have three if the patients require less complex care. 

I was truly fortunate throughout my experience. I saw a few codes, dropped my first NG tube, worked with chest tubes, many ventilators, titrated all kinds of drugs, hung all kinds of blood products, worked with hemodynamic monitors, participated in dressing changes, and even had the experience of withdrawing care on a patient who just wasn’t going to get any better. I was honored to have been able to care for that patient and the family at such a time. 

This rotation has made me absolutely love critical care, and I will soon by applying to the critical care units at area hospitals. I am so excited to begin my career in a month or two! 

All that is left now is to take my last final, graduate, wait a few weeks to take the NCLEX and get licensed, update my BLS certification, and go through an interviewing process to get hired. That might sound like a lot, but as a nursing student, I’m used to jumping WAY more hoops than that ;)

I know there are a few of you who are interested in being nurses, so if these little nursing updates help you any, let me know and I’ll keep doing them periodically.

As for the dieting progress - not so much lately. I did, however, work very hard to eat healthy on those twelve-hour shifts. It isn’t easy to get home at 8 or 9, eat dinner, shower, and pack the next day’s lunch and be in bed by 10. I was pretty proud of myself :) I’ve only lost two more pounds, but that’s better than nothing!

  1. tobeahealthynurse posted this