Reflections on the first three weeks

It seems almost impossible that I'm nearly half way through my practical placement at the private hospital but, none the less, time has marched on quickly. The speed with which time is passing is a measurement of how interesting and engaging it is to actually be out nursing people.

There have been many learning opportunities ranging from the simple things like making a bed with a patient in it to, at the other extreme end, dealing with the death of a patient. In between those extremes were counselling and comforting family members of a recently admitted patient, admitting and assessing a patient, simple wound dressings, taking vital signs, managing elimination for colostomy patients, writing a nursing assessment of a patient which is to be used by another agency to determine what level of support this person will receive, working with patients with permanent physical disabilities, as well as patients with mental disabilities, and more besides. I've also helped fix televisions, electric chairs and beds for patients, something that I get called to do because I just happen to be handy with that sort of thing.

Last night I worked with a patient who had a couple of TIAs (transient ischeamic attack) in quick succession and who needed oxygen therapy for a while to help raise the blood/oxygen levels to a more normal level. The Registered Nurse (RN) who supervises me was called to another incident so I ended up looking after this person myself. Aside from consulting with my supervisor on the flow rate of oxygen required I carried out the procedure unaided. I measured blood pressure and oxygen saturations several times over a period of time and once the patient had stabilised I stopped the oxygen. The patient had a peaceful and settled night after this.

It feels really good that my supervisor trusts my abilities enough to let me manage this sort of thing on my own but, by the same token, right at the beginning of my placement I learnt very quickly just how little I actually know and, consequently, I ask lots of questions to make sure that I do the right things.

All in all things are going well and I expect to come out of my placement with a wealth of practical experiences that will help me to put my theoretical learning into proper perspective and help guide my future learning. And, last but by no means least, this is a very enjoyable time right now, helped, in no small measure, by the friendly support and encouragement I am getting from my RN supervisors and the manager of the hospital I am placed at.

Nurse in the making

Since starting my Bachelor of Nursing in January I've had my head down in my books and my hands full trying to keep up with things to do on the farm.

I'm happy to tell you that at least one of those is going well. To date the worst result I've had back from my exams has been an A and the best an A+. As far as the farm goes, I'm just about able to keep up with the critical things but could do with help with the firewood and a few other little things.

At the moment I'm out on placement in a private hospital and am working mostly with people in palliative care but also with people with both physical and mental disabilities.

As you can see when I'm in my uniform I almost look like I know what I'm doing. That aside there are two and a half more years to go before I can graduate. When that happens I still need to sit one last exam set by the Nursing Council of New Zealand and when I have passed that I'll become a NZ Registered Nurse.

I still won't be quite out of the woods yet because I then have to do a six month "transition to practice" before I can consider my employment options and start repaying my student loan. Of course that will also be the time to decide if I want to go on with my studies and go for a Master's degree and perhaps specialise in a particular discipline.

For now I am concentrating on my studies toward my Bachelor degree. And it is now also time for me to go to the hospital and begin my afternoon shift.