My First Day As A Nurse

I have been a nurse for the past 25 years, and started my career on an orthopedic unit at Flint Osteopathic Hospital. After six years of developing my assessment and clinical skills as an orthopedic nurse, I decided it was time to challenge myself and apply for a position in critical care. I started working in

Scholarship. During my interview for UMMC I was asked if I had a bachelor’s in nursing to which I replied no. I was hired with the agreement that I would pursue my degree with two years of working. This isn’t the ideal way someone wants to continue his or her education. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth feeling forced to pay for more education when you are already licensed as a registered Nurse. At first you feel as though all of the hard work you put into your ADN program is worth pennies because you don’t have BSN next to your name. But then you realize, nursing is no easy task. It requires all that we have learned in this program; the valued ends, presence, praxis, self-care, leadership, advocacy and now scholarship. Having completed

In the following journal, I will discuss observations that I made and thoughts that I had during my first night shift at Rady Children’s Hospital. In particular, this journal will address the theme of discernment. According to Jenny Gribble, the process of discerning involves wisdom and experience, as well as observation and biological knowledge. This first shift gave me plenty of opportunities to watch how differently people throughout the hospital employ their own discernment when assessing situations and making decisions related to patient care.

I realized I wanted to be a nurse in 2010 when I was sitting by my grandfather as he was diagnosed with a stroke. As the physician explained to my family and I that the man we knew and loved would not be able to speak or walk again we were struck with heartache. The compassionate and holistic care that the nurses provided him solidified my determination to become a healer to patients who were not able to care for themselves. Today, I have the joy to work in an Emergency Department caring for acutely ill patients and their families, as they are vulnerable and grieving just as my family was. Nevertheless, I have come to realize that my journey will not end until I become more involved with patient care by earning a degree as a Nurse Practitioner. In this paper, I will discuss my educational and professional goals, short term and long-term goals, and how earning a Nurse

Being only a measly volunteer for my high school HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) program, I am not allowed to participate in much, leaving a lot of down time. I hear the sound of rushed feet pacing up and down the light brown, wooden floors, and the white, florescent lights blind any who dare to gaze up. I am only here to observe surgeries and injuries, yet so far I have only managed to observe impatient nurses streamlining up and down pallid hallways. I glance upward to a clock staring at me from right across the room. It glares 8:48. I moan, realizing I have another thirty minutes before I have to head to school. I turn my head when I hear in the distance an unusually loud herd of frantic feet. Moments later the double doors blast open, paramedics, doctors, and nurses all surround one speeding bed. The transition from utter silence to sudden action throws off my relaxed and daydreaming mind, as I see the ominous bed hurdle its way into an open room down the

I am an Emergency Department nurse whose goal is to care for patients as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I have had the privilege of working in a fast pace setting with patients of all ages and I’ve been exposed to various medical illnesses. As an Emergency Department nurse, I feel these qualities have provided me with experiences that further my education and allow me to provide care to patients. Furthermore, I have gained valuable knowledge from recognizing and stabilizing critical patients to help with the care for uncomplicated medical conditions.

My educational fear in the past was during my first week off ICU orientation, I was assigned an admission from the ER of a post cardiac arrest middle aged patient who was placed on a therapeutic hypothermia. I verbalized to the Charge Nurse of being hesitant to accept the admission since I’m fresh off orientation. She told me “this would be a good experience for you”. I want to keep good positive impression to my colleague being a new nurse of my new unit and took on the mission to accept the assignment. After receiving a report, the unconscious patient arrived on our unit on a ventilator with hypothermic jacket and with multiple drips. My heart started to pound and said to myself “what am I getting into, transferring here in ICU is a mistake, and I just want to cry”. While being shaky, I took good long deep breaths. After the patient was situated the on the bed, I carried on the task according to the doctors’ orders and the protocols. I stayed in communication with my charge nurse for assistance, questions and moral support. I succeeded the patient care uneventfully on a 12 gruesome hours by working and collaborating with the charge nurse, the senior RNs as a

It is a warm summer evening at Grady Hospital. It is my first day as an emergency room volunteer. I’m nervous and eager, hoping to see something exciting. However, it is surreally quiet. Suddenly, there is word of an ambulance en route. Minutes later the paramedics burst into the trauma slot pushing a man on a stretcher. His head and face are covered with gauze that is soaked through with dark blood. It is a flurry of well-orchestrated movement as the attendings and residents start to resuscitate him. They pull back the bandages to reveal a deep gash that is bleeding profusely. With much effort his vital signs are stabilized and he begins to regain consciousness. Later, after the excitement had passed, I learned what brought him here. He is diabetic and couldn’t afford to properly manage his condition. He had fainted due to hypoglycemia and hit his head. He had almost lost his life because of the unfortunate financial realities of modern healthcare. In that moment, I came to appreciate the very real cost of disease and the incredible role physicians have in ameliorating it. This formative experience was the beginning of my path to medicine.

As a new graduate nurse, I am deeply passionate about starting my nursing career at Desert Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department or Women and Infants’ Center. Prior to starting nursing school, I took an Emergency Medical Technician course where I had the opportunity to perform my clinical rotations in a Level I Trauma Center and assist in ambulance transports. My interest for working in a fast-paced environment and in unpredictable emergency medical scenarios motivated me to pursue my senior nursing preceptorship in the Emergency Department. During my preceptorship experience at Inland Valley Medical Center, Level II Trauma Center, I performed 120 hours of ED nursing care and safely treated trauma patients across the lifespan. I helped stabilize patients involved in motor vehicle collisions

Before our first activity begins, my supervisor and I read through our emails to see whether or not there are any new arrivals or discharges for that day. If we do indeed have any new arrivals, I go to the nurse’s station, and pull out the patients charts. During this time, I walk into a private room and

NR-101 is my first nursing class that I'm taking I also took most of my pre-requisites before coming to Chamberlain but finishing up some here. I agree with you about the assignment notebook mine pretty much keeps my life in order I think I would be lost without it. It's keeps me on track and keeps me very organized with everything I have to get done. I can also be a procrastinator when it comes to studying so thats's something I will also be working on. I can totally relate about hearing bad stories when it comes to nursing school and it is scary. You start to doubt yourself a little bit like can I really do this. I tend to get overwhelmed and that's when I start to doubt myself a little. But I'm sure we will all do great and become great

The purpose of this journal is to reflect on my experience and skills gained during my clinical placement at Ben Taub Hospital. On my first clinical day, I was excited and nervous at the same time. My first placement was in the PREOP/PACU area. I was assigned to help a patient who had been in the PACU area going on 2 days. Normally, once the patient comes from surgery they are only in the PACU area for a short period of time before they are discharged home or given a bed in another area of the hospital. This particular patient still had not received an assignment for a bed. The physicians would make their rounds to come check on him daily. The patient was a 28-year-old Hispanic male, non-English speaking, he had a hemicolectomy. He had a NG tube, urinary Foley catheter, and a wound vac. My preceptor had just clocked in and she needed to check on the patient’s vitals and notes from the previous nurse. Once she introduced me to the patient and explained while I was there, she then asked me to check his vitals. (Vital signs indicate the body’s ability to regulate body temperature, maintain blood flow, and oxygenate body tissues. Vital signs are important indicators of a client’s overall health status (Hogan, 2014). I froze for a quick second. I have practiced taking vitals numerous of times and I knew I could do it correctly. I started with the temperature first, when I was quickly corrected on a major mistake I had made by my preceptor. I HAD FORGOT TO WASH MY HANDS and PUT

This Friday, September 15th, I had my clinical observation experience in the ED. I was there from 7:00 am till noon, viewing the flow and duties of the nursing staff on the unit, as well as practicing the skills I have thus learned in school. Throughout most of the morning, I followed Jessica, who had been a nurse in the ER for ten years. It was an insightful experience that broadened my previously limited knowledge of the roles and experience of an emergency nurse.

During my first clinical rotation as a nursing student, I was assigned to care for several older adults suffering from dementia. Although all of my patients ranged in severity from mild to severe progression of dementia, they all experienced moments of agitation, anxiety, or disturbed behaviors related to their disease. It occurred to me after careful review of several patient charts that despite often being prescribed pharmaceutical regimes for other comorbidities, these patients were rarely prescribed medications, besides those to control anxiety, specifically targeted at treating their progressing dementia. Through some research I discovered that the significant number of individuals affected with dementia is a growing public health concern in part due to the current limited ability of pharmaceutical treatments to treat the disease (Samson, Clement, Narme, Schiaratura, & Ehrle, 2015). This revelation began my interest in current nonpharmacological treatments being implemented in controlling adverse behaviors and feelings in patients diagnosed with dementia.

It was an unpleasantly early morning in the hospital waiting room. Nurses buzzed around, busy attending to their patients while a faint beeping sound could be heard in the background. I was starting my second shift of the day at the hospital, just finishing working a shift in the dark, grimy morgue. Groggy, I sat down at my desk to begin another four hours of labor. My position was to assure that the paper work was properly completed and that all patients were attended too. While being a supervising nurse was a great responsibility, it left time to day dream.