Welcome to Psych.

"See this dent in my nose? Yeah, that's where a patient jumped on my back and smashed my face into a wall 8 times. She broke my nose pretty good... but don't be scared."
Yet again, nursing school has me terrified. Great way to start off a class, Mrs. P. Now I am scared that I am going to get the crap beaten out of me by a patient during clinicals. I knew I should have started working out more...

Don't get me wrong, I have worked with many crazy demented older folks. But really, how much harm can a little old lady do? Dementia is easy... all you have to do is redirect their thoughts--"hey want some potato chips?" or "how about we go play a game." They will more than likely forget what they were even upset about 5 minutes later. With dementia patients you enter their world. If they are in Taiwan drinking a margarita then you nod you head and go right along with them. Working with other psych issues that really make people sick is what scares me. You can't just "go into their world" if they are having hallucinations or hearing voices. You have to pull them back to reality. That is a whole different world of care than what I am used to.

I know that in reality most of the people in the hospital are very normal people that are having trouble keeping their illness under control. I know there are a few people I know that seem perfectly normal despite the fact that they have a mental illness. I know that people are perfectly capable of functioning with mental problems, yet I am still nervous about working with them in the hospital.

I think what scares me the most is that I am still learning to be good at "therapeutic communication." I always have a hard time getting patients to explain things to me--even simple things. Working with patients who are severely depressed only makes talking to them that much harder. I am not good at asking very personal and emotional questions yet. I mean, how easy is it to ask someone about their suicide plan? That is an intense conversation to have and it is a little outside of my comfort zone (as of right now anyways...)

So for now, I am going to stay positive and get my nerves under control. I need to remember to set aside all my thoughts of what I think psych patients will be like and keep an open mind. I start my clinical rotation on Monday!

I will keep everyone posted on how my first day goes.

Labor and Delivery

Mother Baby. This class was the one I dreaded most. I have absolutely zero experience with babies as well as pregnant women. I felt completely out of my element going into my clinical at the hospital and I was sure that I would hate being a Labor and Delivery Nurse.

Boy, was I surprised when I really enjoyed myself.

For the first time in nursing school I felt like I was understanding everything. I could read the fetal monitors and tell when something was going wrong with mom or baby. I understood the medications and the parameters for using them. Finally, I felt like something clicked.

I got to see one vaginal delivery in my rotation. It was absolutely nothing like I had expected--but it was also not a normal delivery. This poor girl pushed maybe twice before that baby was out and the med students were scrambling to catch the poor little baby before it hit the bed. It was such a crazy scene to watch and be a part of. Of course, I was so nervous I am pretty sure that I was standing with my knees locked, and had to leave the room before I passed out. Oy! I didn't want the med students to have to pick me up off the floor while they were taking care of mom! Plus, I didn't want to be that girl who passed out during a delivery. The other students in my group never would have let me live that one down.

By no means was that delivery my only experience. We had mothers who snorted cocaine before coming in, a mother with a stillborn, and even an abusive husband who hit his wife after she had the baby. This rotation challenged me in many ways and made me push my beliefs or bias aside to understand the patients I was taking care of.

I really admired the nurses that I worked with in the hospital. They have so much courage, heart, and passion. It amazed me how they could go from one room with a still born baby to another room and not let their emotions get the best of them. They have an emotional rollercoaster everyday they go into work. But they also get the best job in the world--welcoming babies into the world and watching family's bond and grow.

Maybe I could be a Labor and Delivery nurse after all...