hello medical surgical nursing…

You know it’s bad when the box your textbook comes in… is big enough for you to sit in.

…granted the size of the box was a little excessive for the book; the fact that the seller put the book in a box that big says something. Also, given the fact that in order to pick up the book, one should definitely use the same back saving safety techniques that are used when turning and lifting patients…it’s not an exaggeration to say Adult health nursing is quite intimidating.

However, after I mellowed out after week two, I realized it’s not really that scary, and though Med-Surg is not my interest for nursing I am learning to appreciate it.

I started clinicals last week, so maybe I should give you a bit more time before I ramble off about it, but I have three tests and a 13 page paper due next week, so of course I’m in the perfect mood for blog writing at midnight, and snacking, and surfing the internet…

duh.

Top three reasons why I like Nursing for Adult Health (aka med-surg):

#1. Pathophysiology. A subject I love. It’s not as hilarious as Dr. Taylor’s class, but it’s equally as awesome because the concepts are now being applied to you and your patients.  Application is one of the best things about nursing school because it means that you actually get to DO what you spend so much time reading about and listening to your professor lecture about. Plus you get to give more shots, and I love giving shots! I have no idea how weird that sounds to non nursing student ears but I said it anyway, because you should know that nursing school can make you weird like that.

#2. Clinical. Trust me, I complained in the beginning, which I feel slightly guilty about now. It’s a lot of work, and a lot of work can be daunting business; it is tiring, and of course it is very time consuming…… but all the study and preparation feels nice. Expectations for clinical are much higher because you are pulling together all of the concepts you have learned. It’s very rewarding to see how your hard work from previous semesters is coming together to make you feel more useful!

#3. Patients. I’ll just be honest here, my unit is depressing, especially since maternal health and midwifery is my interest and passion. I miss the babies and moms and all the joy of new life. A consolation is that there is a lot of opportunity to do some much needed patient teaching. In my previous life (before nursing school that is) I taught, so this is an area of nursing that I particularly love. Early in the morning, when the sky was still dark, I was walking sleepily into clinical, feeling depressed about facing my patient who seemed unmotivated the previous day. His diagnosis was very preventable and I wasn’t sure that anything I had said to him the day before was helpful to him at all. When I looked up, there was my patient walking down the hall in his hospital gown and penny loafers- doing laps around the unit. He yells out to me, “Good morning Rachel! I started my exercising!” He thanked me for the time I spent with him and told me he was ready to “turn over a new leaf”. He told me I was great, and that I was going to make a great nurse. My heart was melting all over the floor!

Oy!

That makes my week.

I love nursing school.