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Hi. You found me. Thanks for clicking over! Sit and stay awhile..... This is the view from my window... As I move around my little valley I call 'home,' I've had many different views & this is the one that I keep coming back to.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Week 3: Feb. 15 - 20

Yesterday I attended my facility orientation where we reviewed hospital rules, HIPPA laws, and the codes that are used at the hospital. This part was somewhat boring because I already knew about confidentiality. Some of the codes they use at the hospital are very serious and life threatening (health alarms, bomb threats, etc.) which definitely reminded me that being in the hospital environment can be a very serious thing. However, the orientation speaker said that a code pink (child abduction or kidnapping) usually doesn't even refer to patients. She said that most of the time, little (toddler) brother or sisters of a patient will become distracted by something and walk away from their parents who will then need help finding them. This reminded me that although children can be cute with their endless curiosity, sometimes they can be frustrating!

After attending my orientation, I met with my supervisor. She explained to me again that because the CL department in is a time of transition, I will need to be very flexible and patient. Next we went to the PICU and checked on a few of the children there without any parents or visitors. One boy had to get an x-ray taken. After my supervisor asked a nurse if he would need her, she said that 'no, he seems fine.' I noticed quickly that my supervisor was very persistent in her questions, continuing to ask different questions and in different ways.* I hope that I can be persistent and assertive regarding the care of my patients if I do go into this profession in the future. I know that I am not always as vocal as I should be in standing up for myself, so I hope I can learn this skill.* Even after talking to the nurse, my supervisor went to check on him and talk to his mom. He became very upset once the x-ray machine arrived. Because there wasn't much time, my supervisor could not calm the boy down enough to lay still so she had to hold him down so they could take it. Once we left the room, she explained to me that sometimes if there isn't time, her last resort is to help restrain a child instead of having the parent do it. She explained that the parent is already the 'bad guy' at home and she didn't want a parent to be in that situation while the patient was at the hospital. This resonated with me and definitely got me thinking about the parent-child relationship.

After that, we walked down to a room where a baby was barely waking up. My supervisor said that he didn't have many visitors and that he could really benefit from being held. After putting on the protective scrub smock, mask, and gloves, I sat down to hold him. It was a little tricky at first because he was hooked up to oxygen tubes and blood pressure wires, but then he settled down. It was funny because he didn't like the wires so he kept moving them, but then after awhile he fell asleep. Although it was a little alarming to have to wear so many things to protect myself from whatever he was sick with, it was fun to just hold him and talk to him for a few hours. He seemed like such a sweet little baby and it was sad for me to realize that his nurse was probably his only visitor. I fed him and then held him until he fell asleep.

Before I left my supervisor kept thanking me for being with the baby for such a long time. She told me that if she has spare time, it is one of the most rewarding things for her to just sit and hold a baby who needs to be loved on which I readily agreed with. I know that most days will not be as quiet and easy as yesterday was, but I'm ready and willing to keep learn and observing!

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