I L-O-V-E It!

It has been awhile since I last posted. It seemed to get to be the same old thing every Saturday of clinical and didn't have much exciting things to blog about. I just started Jr. Practicum. It is a short May-mester only lasting 2 weeks. We are required to get in 48 hours of clinical experience along with 6 hours in the simulation lab. I have been assigned to the Outpatient Infusion Center. I could not have a better experience! What the infusion center does is do all the IV or Central line access meds (as well as some injections) on an outpatient basis. Our patient load is mostly those undergoing chemo, needed blood products or those in sickle cell crisis. I have gained so much experience in the three shifts I have worked so far. I have started and discontinued an IV every day, performed one venipuncture (drawing blood for labs), given 3 injections, accessed and deaccessed ports, drawn up meds and lots of other things. The nurses are so incredibly supportive of each other!

Some interesting things that have taken place:

I gave a patient a $6000 injection of a drug called Neulasta. It promotes your body to increase its white blood cell production. Interesting side note - the patient was illegal and had no insurance. So for those that say they don't get healthcare because they don't have insurance - you're not correct.

I gave an elderly man an Arixtra shot - for prevention of deep vein thrombosis. It is a subcutaneous shot that you typically put in the stomach. He walked in, asked for his shot, dropped his pants and asked me to give it a little lower than I expected, pulled his pants up and was out the door. I turned to the nurse next to me and said "nothing like wam-bam, thank you mam!"

One of my patients receiving platelets to get him ready for his next round of chemo had lung cancer and his left lung had been removed. With no oxygen assistance his O2 saturation was 99%. That is better than my mother can get! Isn't it amazing how the body can compensate?

Did you know how horrible sickle cell anemia is? It puts people in debilitating pain. It also causes necrosis of the joints. I had a 21 year old patient in for IV fluids and pain meds due to sickle cell anemia. She had already had a left hip replacement due to the necrosis and was now having issues with her right.

That's all for now. I am so happy to find something I really love to do! I told my husband that being out of the house and working has been enlightening. I love being with my boys, but as I told my husband - "I've tasted freedom and it is yummy!"