Training Grounds...

"...tap me on my shoulder for a job fairly done!..."

we were exposed to our future world of endeavor a week ago. it has been quite a rough start for me as i am a first timer. It was hard to cope up with the new situation and a different atmosphere around me.. I have never expected and thought of seeing a woman in labor in that surprising manner. I was in a state of shock, i felt that this is really it, that this is going to be my life... my future nursing life.

*****

First day...
My first patient was a 76-year old woman with diabetes, and a clinical impression of/or having pneumonia... she is closely bed-ridden for it has been hard for her to ambulate or move even a single muscle. She is so weak and has only few words to utter. I felt a certain feeling of sympathy for her, and was so nervous to initiate certain actions. I have been quite good enough on facing people whom i personally don't know, i got good grades on impromptu speeches, yet it has always been not that easy to seek for a good start. Time is running... my patient is q1, which means her v/s needs to be monitored hourly and she needs to take four different types of meds for about every three or four hours, just imagine, this old woman being deprived of having a continuous rest... will she be able to cope up for this big lost?... i just wonder how difficult was it for her... good thing Nanay's relatives were there... i have been in touch with them since day 1... and am very appreciative of their compassion and care to Nanay... they've told me different stories of her life while we were sitting at the bed corner side by side... i have felt an unexplainable happiness within me... because these people trusts me even if we don't know each other personally and come to think of it, they have just known me for hours then... Nanay needs to take her meds exactly by the time when I entered the room. Her daughter-in-law said that Nanay Labinia does not want to take her meds earlier that time and that maybe, i can convince her to take them all, of course one at a time... i talked to nanay... she wants to take sometime... she needs to concentrate... minutes and minutes passed and we were then able to convince her to take her meds. "buti na lang ikaw ang na-assign kay nanay... napakabait mo...", said Nanay Labinia's daughter... ('good thing you were the the one assigned to my mom... you're such a nice guy...')
this was for the simple acts that i have done. Knowing that people appreciates what i am doing for their loved one puts a great smile in my heart...

******

2nd day...
Nanay has been waiting for me to arrive, said her daughter... and at long last, i have heard Nanay say my name for the first time... i have just started my work, and she asked me to eat snack with her daughter, she said she wants to have some cola but unfortunately she was not allowed to take even a sip. It has been a little smoother as i go along the way, but with a new patient with v/s to be monitored q 30, who does not know what tiring and toxic means?... He is hypertensive and has claimed of being asthmatic.. from private room 2 and then to the hallway, from the hallway back to private room 2... this has been my routine for more than three or four hours... i have not taken a sit during those long exasperating hours... lots of work has been done... i feel the tiresomeness of each and everyone while we were travelling our long way back home... NCP's, a lot of Drug studies and a SOAPIE all awaiting to be done...

*******

Day 3...
It was raining smoothly... Little water droplets are falling/ sliding down the window pane... Everyone was quiet as we were travelling the way to our destination... An unusual scenario for a bubbly and high-spirited group of 14... Things were really quite atypical, i can make an inference...
for the first time, we all went out for a breakfast together... and it was soooo pleasurable!... not for long... I never expected to be away from my patient for that time... I was assigned to the respi ward for a change... At first, I thought it was gonna be an exciting ride, but that was just a thought, its far from reality. I have a new patient, a 3 years old little girl... I don't know how she was oriented and brought up by her mother... she refuses to take her medicine, she wants to wander around, she's like so disoriented - allow me to say she really is. This little girl is so restless and uncontrollable and no one can stop her from crying not even her mom... she cries and cries whenever she sees that pitiful bottle of suspension...
Hours passed and all the patients at the respi. ward were all discharged by the doctor, except Cathlen, my cry baby. While I was waiting for my partner in charting to finish writing stuffs... an unexpected thing, for the second time put me into shock! I saw everything without a blink of an eye... Did she just vomited? "Oh My Heavens", that was my initial response... What have she done? or what shall I do rather... I picked up the tissue from my pocket and with no second thought I cleaned the mess up... mind you i have forgotten to wear my clean gloves... eiw!... i have not thought of following her... to second the motion... that was an exact mind over matter phenomena. Good thing her mother doesn't have any materials to help me clean up during those times... I went to our quarters and gave her some of my good, and unused stuffs... that was my first time to clean the vomitus of other people (aside from mine). Think of it as an appetizer before our lunch Break.
This day was a hassle... but as it ended, knowledge and Learning still found their way... a lot of 'patience' continues to develop sum it up with an undying care and affection for others...

*************

- i would be posting my last day on duty tomorrow... my hands are dead tired... my neurons starts to burn up... and i don't want all of them to turn into dust...