I can see the light!!!

It has been nearly a year since my last post. I missed posting about my Maternity and Mental Health semesters, which were AMAZING!!! My classmates and I laugh at ourselves because every semester and clinical semester "WAS AMAZING!!!" We change our minds just about every clinical day and it's fun to share our experiences. As a nursing student I can tell you that clinical is the favorite part of any semester. That applies to every semester for me. Exams, papers and nursing care plans on the other hand.....bleck!

Maternity was pretty flippin' awesome! I was privileged to be present during 2 C-Sections and one Vaginal Birth which were equally emotional. Word of advice, while holding the mom's leg and the doctor says "OK take a deep breath and push, push, push", it's not ok for you to do it along with her because chances are....you're gonna pass out! Ha, ha, ha So 2 princesses and 1 prince later (and tons of care plans and assessments)I wrapped up Maternity with a day in the NICU. Although I thought I wasn't going to be able to handle the NICU I enjoyed my day there. Now that I'm in my Critical Care rotation I see the same equipment on a much larger scale and its still all very intimidating!

As a Mental Health Technician I was excited for my Mental Health rotation. It has always been near and dear to my heart and I always believed its where I would start my nursing career. Everyone says you should always start in Med/Surg and that may be true for some but I have seen some recent grads opt for Mental Health.

Now I'm in my final semester and Critical Care is....NO JOKE. I now see how Med/Surg set the stage for Critical Care. Now while I think my Med/Surg professor slipped up in some very crucial areas, I'm catching on to vents, titration, meds and the dreaded ECG interpretations. I was lucky enough to find an awesome site that helps with this. www.skillstat.com has helped tremendously!! During this rotation I've been on the Open Heart Unit and it has been very rewarding for me. In the following weeks I will move on to my Acute Care rotation which I'm hoping will be a breeze after completing what seemed more difficult with Critical Care.

Most rewarding and career guiding moment for me so far this semester was my day in the ED. I enjoy fast paced, every changing and rewarding work and I found that in Emergency Department Nursing. I found that I can have the best of all of my nursing experiences in one location. I used EVERYTHING I learned that day and it had the multitasking that I do great with. In an administrative position I made even the most boring part of my day enjoyable and while I don't think I will ever be bored in the ED, I plan to bring that talent along with me IF I'm blessed to land in the ED. Here's hoping!!!