First few days of RN program

Monday: Arrive at 8am, sit through 6 1/2 hours of mostly lecture. Ask lots of questions and feel little timid about asking them because I don't know my teachers and classmates yet, not really. Feel completely awed by the first two professors I meet. Go to work immediately after school until 10:30pm, leave about an hour before shift end with my med tech partner's agreement, and crash HARD.

Tuesday: Arrive at 9am having slept like a brick the night before. Everyone is sitting in the same seats as yesterday. There are about 20 chapters of reading I was supposed to have done just for the first week, out of 16 or so different books, and feeling pretty overwhelmed by the quantity of information coming our way and being behind on the reading, but yet also thankful that I'm able to follow everything the teacher is saying so far, and that my most recent job has given me a lot of valuable experience that will help me in this first semester. Almost start crying during the portion of a lecture on therapeutic communication because I've just had a somewhat traumatic experience (for both me and the resident) two nights ago at work that is still lingering in my mind). Even more awed by the teachers today than the ones from yesterday. Especially one of them. I contemplate the fact that I never really admired my science professors as much as I do these nurses I've just barely met. Knowledgeable, wise, and so very intelligent, both academically and emotionally/socially.

Get to go home early that afternoon, around 1:30. Need to tune my brain out for a bit, so put on some TV and end up watching it longer than intended just because it feels so good to let go of that brain overload feeling for a few hours.

Get myself back on track, do a review of some math that's going to be on a test tomorrow (already!) to make sure I remember how roman numerals work and can do all types of fraction math with speed, briefly consider watching the videos about basic bedside care that I'm supposed to watch for tomorrow's skills day, but decide sleep is more important. Then have a fitful night's sleep.

Wednesday: Arrive on campus at 7:30am to the skills lab for an all day basic care activity nicknamed "CNA in a day". Realize that although I have been working in an RCFE (residential care facility for the elderly) for the last 8 months, I don't have a lot of the skills that are considered basic in a long term care facility, like giving a bed bath, sitting a bed bound patient on a commode, taking blood pressures the old fashioned way, brushing a patient's teeth for them or shaving their face, etc.

Tomorrow, Thursday, I'll be going to my first clinical site for orientation with my clinical instructor. My clinical instructor just got hired two days ago, and I'm a little wary of that fact. She will be shadowing another more experienced instructor while teaching us. She seems nice enough so far though.

Passed my first phlebotomy competency!!

I didn't know we were going to be doing a skills check-off tonight, but we did! I was apprehensive about it, because I hadn't tried doing the procedure without looking at the page before tonight, but I practiced a couple times (and let someone practice on me a couple times), and then went for it, and it was fine! She said I was very thorough and did a great job.

My partner, however, barely passed. She got out all her materials, and was going to swab my finger with alcohol, and I didn't want to say anything, but she didn't have any gloves on yet, and that's IMPORTANT with a capital I; our observer apologized that she should have caught it too. Then, after she used the lancet on my finger, she went straight to collecting blood into the tube instead of wiping away the first drop. THEN she didn't know the last steps about what to write on the requisition and double checking the spelling of my name. She was probably just nervous, but she hadn't done it well when it was just the two of us and no observer either.

The person checking us off made her go through it orally a few more times without the actual stick, and she still wasn't getting it right without some serious coaching, but finally the lady passed her. I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't have passed her. We get a second try after all, if we don't get it right the first time.

I really, really, REALLY hope I can do my externship at the hospital that I volunteer at. That would be ideal.

Finger Stick Blood Collection

Tonight was our first skills portion of the phlebotomy class I'm taking. Okay, well, I guess technically we already had one, but that was just how to wash our hands correctly :)

We partnered up, 8 at a time, and went through the procedure of doing a blood collection from a lancet poke in the finger tip, collecting to a capillary tube. I got to practice twice, on two different people. Both said I did a very good job. I was a little nervous going into it (both on the patient side and on the phlebotomist side) but it went pretty smoothly. I think the part I will need to practice most for is not the actual hands on stuff but the best things to say to the patient and being sure to come across warmly and with confidence rather than nervous and new at this. But tonight went well.

I can see that my worlds are starting to collide a bit. The girl I carpool with to phlebotomy class is neighbors with the woman who is out on maternity leave form my new work. So my job is going to know eventually that I am taking a phlebotomy class. Which means that I am thinking of moving on. But maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe they will offer me a full time gig if they are keeping in mind that I have other options open.

First week @ Work (Medical Lab)

Last week was my first week working at my new job in a clinical pathology lab. Pretty much the first entire day was taken up by orientation, reading company policy documents & doing online safety training modules. From there on, it was right into the lab "shadowing" one of their current star employees who is leaving in 2 weeks.

The shifts I was working were 2-10:30ish, with a ten minute paid break twice a day and a half hour "lunch" break in the middle. For the first 3 in-lab days everything was scattered all over the place, trying to jump from one machine to the next, getting little pieces of information scattered about in my head about various equipment, procedures and software, with barely a chance to even try it out before moving on to the next thing.

I am not used to doing shift work, or working in any sort of extremely structured environment. It was a struggle for me being on my feet moving around so much (when I'm used to mostly desk jobs), and also just trying to stay alert for that long. I learned that it is important to grab a snack and rehydrate during those short breaks to keep my blood sugar up. I'm not diabetic or anything, but spending all that time on my feet and not having a chance to get a bite to eat here and there I started feeling really foggy very quickly.

On Friday, my last day in the lab this week, my trainer had me start out the shift just focusing on "heme" which means running the CBC's, "retic's", and making blood smear slides of samples where indicated. I did that for several hours, then after my lunch break started adding in running some urines now and then, doing some triage drug tox tests and cardiac tests, and vitamin D levels, and archiving samples. By the end of the night I was feeling a lot more confident, and was able to move through some of the shut down procedures without any supervision, and actually feel like I was being more of a help than a hindrance.

Working from 2pm through 10:30 or so, in an indoor environment with all those bright lights, and all the physical activity completely threw my sleep schedule off. I would get home around 11, be awake for a few more hours, maybe fall asleep at 1 or 2, then get up around noon the next day and prepare to go to work again. I didn't get much of anything done outside of work, so my task list has been building up.

Now I've got Saturday, Sunday and Monday off, and when I go back on Tuesday I'll be starting at 6am. I let myself sleep in today, but tomorrow I need to start getting up early in preparation. I made a couple of appointments for my Monday off, with my doctor, and to get my job-provided Hep B vaccination series started. I need to check and make sure I haven't already had that.

I think this job will be great preparation for an eventual career in nursing, what with all the running around and multi-tasking. It has been challenging so far but I think thing will move more smoothly with time.

I need to make sure and get some scrubs ordered this weekend. I had a pen in the pocket of my lab coat and it leaked all over my shirt last night.

Interview #2, pathology lab

Today's interview was checking out my practical skills. Pipetting, organization, following verbal directions, etc. I breezed through most of that alright. I did make one small mistake, spreading the bacteria around the first quadrant with the swab rather than the loop (I swear we did this regularly in micro class, maybe for lack of supplies)... and the woman who was checking my skills said she probably just forgot to say it. She told me I had done great at the end. I kept expecting there to be a trick in there somewhere, like a mis-match in labels or something that I was supposed to catch. But there wasn't anything like that. They had me talk to the lab manager afterward. He was already the main guy that I had spoken with during a phone interview for the same position last summer. He told me that the only reason they didn't ask me for a second interview then was because I was still out of state at the time. I really think I am going to get this one. He did say that my "salary requirements" (from my application) were higher than they usually pay new hires, but that maybe he could compromise some since I have an M.S. and most new hires do not. He said they usually pay new hires $15 per hour. From what I have heard, that is about the same as day-shift monitor techs make, so if he's going to come a little higher then there's no reason to complete the cardiac arrhythmia training right now. I do think that phlebotomists make more, which is a little disconcerting since the position I'm applying for *requires* a bachelors degree in science, while a phlebotomist might have only one semester at community college. Community college teaching would have been much better pay, but didn't work out this time. I hope hope hope I can get this job.

When I got home from the interview, which lasted about 2 hours (!), I had lunch, helped my dad with some home repair type stuff for a couple of hours, and then watched some online t.v. and took a nap. Since I've been up again I've been fairly antsy and industrious, getting all sorts of chores done. I think it is nervous energy.