What kind of Nurse are YOU?

I’ve been thinking lately about the different kind of nurses out there. There seems to be the ones that love nursing for the patient interaction. They love helping people. They just really love people.


Then there are the ones that are more technically minded. The ones that love the diseases, the machines, the procedures, the lab values, and of course they kinda like the people too.

I think I fall into the latter category. If I’m being honest, people scare me. Diseases fascinate me. When I was doing my outpatient surgery rotation I was in love with being in that procedure room. I ate up every last word the physicians said about the procedures. I loved looking at the monitors and watching the vital signs of the patient under anesthesia. Being able to see inside that patient’s body was absolutely amazing.

I’m still struggling with my patient communication thing. I have a really hard time talking to the patients. I’m pretty good at reading lab values, looking over the chart, understanding the disease process, and knowing what needs to be done, but when it comes to actually having to have a conversation with them, I still have a really hard time.

I wonder if it is something I am going to get over, or if it is something that will always be difficult for me.

So what kind of Nurse are YOU?

I Hate Med/Surg

I want to start this by saying that I hope I don’t offend any med/surg nurses. It really takes a special person to be a med/surg nurse. I just don’t think that person is me.


Ya know, I have read all the horror stories about how med/surg is. NO ONE seems to like it. When I started this nursing thing I decided to put all those stories out of my head and go into it without any bias. I thought hey, I could surprise myself and actually be one of the few who actually likes it.

WRONG!

I think that might be why I am wavering about nursing lately. Med/Surg flat out sucks. It seems like the nurses there are just drug pushers. They run around like drug dealers trying to shove the next dose of medication down the 5 or 6 patient’s throats (or PEG tubes, or IV’s, or arms). Now I don’t mean for this to sound like anything bad toward M/S nurses at all! I have come to see the stress and the lack of time to do anything but pass meds. I get it. It’s not the nurses at all (I have meet some really great ones in M/S) it’s the job itself.

This week I had the chance to do a rotation in outpatient surgery. I absolutely LOVED it! There seemed to be more focus on the patients and less focus on the medications. It was fast paced. It was interesting. It was actually fun.

I didn’t get to see any actual surgeries, that will come in a few weeks during my OR rotation, but I did get to see an EGD with PEG tube replacement, a colonoscopy, a nerve block, and some pretty gnarly wound care. I LOVED IT! The nurses there seemed to love to teach me, and even the physicians I met were more than thrilled to explain every last detail of the procedures to me.

I’m not looking forward to getting back to the M/S floor.

Called out by a friend

The other day I was out chatting with my neighbor. We have become pretty close in the last 4 years since they moved in. I had asked her a few days earlier if she wouldn’t mind me taking some maternity photos of her to get some practice in with my camera.


She was telling me how she was talking to her husband about me wanting to do this, how he said “what is she into now?” and her responding with “Oh you know her. She can’t stay focused on one thing for too long” (I love her brutal honesty).

I thought about that for a while. She’s absolutely right. I really can’t stay focused on one thing for very long. To be honest, I am already starting to wonder what the hell I am doing in nursing school and if this is really what I want to be doing or not.

Looking back on where I have been, I did notice a pattern of focus-to-the-point-of-obsession on something, only to suddenly drop it and get focused on something completely different. I did kind of know this about myself when I started this Nursing journey. One of the reasons I picked Nursing was for the diversity it brings. Is it going to be enough for me though? Is this something I am going to be able to stay in for the long run or am I going to get bored two, maybe three years in? I’d really hate to think that I am doing all this work for nothing, but I’m only half way through the program and I am already starting to have doubts about my long term future in Nursing. Hell, I’m even already starting to think about the next thing I can focus on (photography – see, completely different direction).

I just can’t figure out what makes me do this.

I might be an overachiever

Just to give you an idea on what I have picked up during my whole 10 day break from school:

• I have started my projects for this years big Halloween party - over the top again this year
• I have become addicted to Pinterest and in turn, have a million and one craft projects going at once
• I have decided I need to learn Spanish so I started Rosetta Stone to try to teach myself scratch that, too much for me so I decided to wait until Christmas break to start this again
• I have picked my photography back up, this time I am serious
• Oh, and I am in Nursing School

Some of this isn't so bad. Most of it really helps me deal with my stress. I love just becoming completely absorbed in some of these projects and I LOVE seeing things when they are finally complete.

Photography is the biggest one. I'm really wanting to improve and maybe if I can get a little better, I might consider doing something professionally. That is, of course, if I can improve. I'm considering starting a new blog documenting my 365 project that I am starting and my growth as a photographer. (I know, I can't even keep up with this one). We'll see.

I just worry I might be overextending myself with all of this during nursing school.

Well Hello There Stranger

I’ve been neglecting this blog. I know. I’m sorry.


When I started this blog I had every intention of keeping a day to day (or at least a few times a week) update of my journey through nursing school but as always, life and everything else gets in the way.

To say the summer semester kicked my ass would be an understatement. It was tough. There were MANY late nights studying for exams that were every week to every other week, MASSIVE amounts of paperwork to do for clinical, and TONS of information to get into my brain in just 12 short weeks. Needless to say, I had no energy or drive to blog. It took everything I had just to get through that semester.

This semester seems to be going a little slower, or at least at a pace I feel like I can keep up with. I’m hoping (but not promising) that I will be able to blog a bit more about my experiences in nursing school, and life in general (since that seems to be just as interesting these days). This semester we will be in the OR, PACU, and preop which might make for some interesting stories.

I really have missed my outlet here.

Finals go a little something like this around here...

Stress r/t nursing school AEB excessive intake of coffee and NSAIDS, chronic late night studying, loss of hair, and delirium.



This time tomorrow I will be on a beach somewhere...

Yes, I might be crazy but at this point I really don't care.

It's mid-semester and my family and I are taking a mini vacation.Things are hectic to say the least. A month ago a friend from nursing school and her 3 kids moved in with me. (yes I said three, so that makes a total of 5 kids under the age of 8 in my house...somebody shoot me). She had some crazy circumstances (no she didn't get a divorce) and had no one to turn to so my husband and I took her in for a year and a half. It's been a little difficult getting used to it all. I'm the type of person who really needs my space and as you can imagine in a house of 8 people, space is limited. On top of that, this semester has been pretty stressful. I'd say I deserve a little vacation in the middle of all this madness.

So the family and I (just mine) are packing up tomorrow morning and heading off to the beach for four days to try to get some relaxation in. Maybe it won't be so bad studying for next week's test with the sand in my toes, the sun shining down on me, and the waves crashing at my feet.

Oh, and I made another A on my F&E test last week (barely). Thanks for all the offers for help! I ended up pulling another all nighter but obviously they work for me as the last two A's have proven. I have a feeling I will have yet another date with 10 cups of coffee and 3 am next week.