"RN = Real Nurse"

Today I felt like a real nurse more than ever.

I was on outrotation to ICU yesterday, and asked permission to stay again today. It was really worth it. My more difficult patient, I already knew the nuances of all his equipment & tubes & wires, and was familiar with his MO and particular breed of family drama. My second patient, I knew a lot about her condition from my own health experiences & so felt comfortable managing the interactions, education, medications. It was only my second day in that unit, so I didn't know where everything was, but I knew enough to get by. I was able to do & chart full shift assessments on each, and do a lot of the maintenance stuff all day long as well as both med passes.  I got some positive feedback from the staff nurse, who happened to be charge nurse, early in the shift, which made me feel more confident. She complimented me on my charting.

I feel like everything is starting to come together. Our next two skills on the horizon...IV push and IV starts, I think will really put things over the top. IV push is going to be a game changer in terms of time management, but the next time I go back to clinical I will be switching to DOU (from mostly med surg) and taking one patient for the first day, which will help me get my footing.

Excited! Exhausted. But mostly excited!