Clinicals

I had my first day of clinicals last Thursday! It was incredible. I have clinicals one day a week at New York Presbyterian Hospital, which is on 168th Street, waaaay uptown. It's right next to Columbia's medical campus, which is nice because I am familiar with the area, but not nice because it is 50 minutes from my current apartment.

I work on a med-surg floor, which is basically a recovery floor for geriatric surgery and illness. I love working with older patients. They have really great stories to tell, and they are often used to being in hospitals so they are more forgiving of nursing students. I got to use many of the clinical skills I had learned in skills lab, including changing bed sheets, changing diapers, and moving patients from one bed to another. I also learned how to clean a colostomy bag.

I have my second day of clinicals tomorrow. Here's what I learned this week in skills lab. I don't know if I will get to do any of it tomorrow, but I will get to watch at the very least!

-How to suction a tracheotomy
-How to clean a tracheotomy
-How to give oxygen to a patient
-How to examine ears, nose, and throat

Next week is actually what I am most nervous for. In skills lab, we will learn how to insert a urinary catheter  I'm not looking forward to it, mainly because it just seems like it would hurt the patient so much. Luckily, we have mannequins to practice (and practice and practice and practice) on.