LAST WEEK OF PEDS!

This as the title obviously implies, this was my last week of my pediatrics rotation. It's been a weird 6-weeks, with having to spend the first 2 weeks doing clinical at Mary Free Bed, then finally getting into the new hospital but only for 4 weeks. I really have enjoyed this rotation though, because if there is one thing I am comfortable with, it's KIDS. I know kids, I understand kids, I'm not afraid to just jump in and interact with kids, so this rotation was good for me. The only thing I'm not used to in this capacity is PARENTS. With adults, most of the time you are assessing your patient or taking vitals or giving meds, you are doing it alone in the room with just the patient. If someone is there at all, it is another adult 98% of the time, who isn't really concerned with what you are doing, if they are even paying attention at all to you. Parents are a whole different ballgame. Parents are hovering over their kids 24 hours a day like lion mothers. They want to know everything you are doing, who you are, why you are here, what you hear when you listen to their breathing, what they're temperature was, how much their diaper weighed, if they're blood pressure is normal. They are CRAZY, and they are enough to make anyone nervous, no matter how comfortable you are with kids. They can also be helpful though, because a lot of the parents are great and enjoy being able to teach students about their kids, especially if they have a child with a chronic condition. They also know their kids better than anyone else so i their child is having a meltdown, the parents know just what to do to help get them over it. So I guess moral of the story is that the parents can either help or hurt, but either way they are there, and they are a part of peds nursing that you just have to get used to.

This week I had a really awesome patient on Wednesday. He was 8 years old and autistic. I was a little leery of working with an autistic child because this isn't really something that I have any experience with, but I figured I could probably handle it. My instructor seemed to think this would be a good challenge for me and that I would be fine with it, so I figured I probably would be fine. I got on the unit RIGHT as the patient was being admitted from out of town. The nurse and a few residents were in there so I had to wait to get report and go in until my nurse came out of the room. The nurse filled me in and warned me that the mom was kind of "difficult" and she rolled her eyes at me. I was thinking "Wonderful, a tough kid and a difficult mom, gonna be a great day." The mom was AWESOME. The kid was AWESOME. The nurse and this mom obviously were just not compatible personalities because she warmed up to me instantly. I spent probably an hour in the room with them showing her how to work the tv, how to order meals, where she can put clothes, food that she brought, etc. She was great, and her son was a riot. Totally non-verbal but he still could definitely understand and show his emotions. I had so much fun working with them and I just really loved it. It just shows that you can't take to heart what someone says about a patient or a family because just because they don't get along with them doesn't mean that they are difficult or rude, it may just mean that you have a different personality than they do. So I am definitely learning so much about the real world of nursing from all of these clinical rotations.

Friday was our last day and we were only there unil 5ish, instead of until 8. I had only one patient and he wasn't a very involved kid. Only a few months old and his parents were living in the hospital and doing all of his care and feedings so there wasn't much for me to do. They were very nice though. This reminds me that the other thing I hate about working on a peds floor is that almost every kid is in isolation. They can be in either contact or droplet precautions, meaning if they are in contact you need to wear a gown and gloves ANYTIME you walk into the room, and if they are in droplet you have to wear a mask. Many of the kids are both, so you have to wear a gown, gloves and a mask anytime you go in the room. This is SUCH A HUGE PAIN. But it's just something you have to do to protect yourself and the other patients that you are caring for.

So now we off to another med surg rotation at Saint Mary's. I loved my last rotation there so I am really excited to go back there for another 6 weeks :) I just hate switching rotations because it seems like just when you finally have everything figured out with charting, know where everything is, have the whole layout of the floor down, BOOM... we have to move again. But I'm glad to be one step closer to graduating, only 166 days left :)