Anyway, this week was a real fun and interesting week :) For an overview, I presented my biggest presentation of the semester on wed, did 2 NG insertion on my friends and had one inserted into myself also on wed, passed my heart(CVS) and lung (respiratory) physical exam on thurs and had a great & thought-provoking clinical posting on friday :)
The Professional Issues and practices (PIP) presentation was quite a big project as it accounts for 60% of our exam grade and is presented to the head of the school of nursing, the entire teaching faculty of nursing, directors from different hospitals and some other guests from the healthcare sector. Although many groups felt pretty stressed out by this presentation, our group actually had a great time preparing and presenting the presentation. Haha... You can say that our group is the most fun-loving and coolest group among all the other groups. We felt that (and we were right) most of the other groups would present very formally and so, we decided that we would be different. Therefore, instead of the traditional powerpoint and endless talking, we injected in some skits and song cum dance into our presentation. I acted as a very senior nurse who was interviewed and a bad nurse. Haha, I just love the laughter when I acted. Hehe. Many of my friends and tutors commended that I was so funny and natural on stage. Heh, I guess it was because I was super relaxed and felt that I was having fun instead of focusing on having to score well for this segment of the exam. *Smiles! Also, commends from the rest was very positive in regards to the points brought out during our "fun" presentation together with lots of humor. Haha, I just love my group!!! Indead, studies can be fun if you make it fun! Here's some pics from the presentation. Enjoy!
Our last rehearsal before the great presentation
My gym partner and I. Haha, the 2 sporty gals of nursing in PBL/PIP group B
Preparing for the moment...
Tada! the presention
acting time :)
Creative way of doing patient education -in song!
And presenting.... My lovely and fun group B with our great tutor Catherine :)
Hohoho.. And ahem, do I look like Joanna's APN preceptor? Votes, anyone? Joanna, u can really joke ar...
Gee.. So fun right? hee.. To group B: Hey gals, I really had great fun with you all in the mist of all the stress. Think you all are really a group to whom God has blessed me with. Prayed before our first tutorial together that God will put me into a group who can learn and have fun together. Thank you Lord, for answering my prayers and blessing me with this bunch of great friends who clicked and jumped right to the performing stage of group dynamics the very first time we met to do the first PBL of our lives:)
Oh oh... And I passed my cardio and respi skills examination! Haha, must really thank J for spending time to go through with me the steps and rational behind every step of the examination. Really really thank God for him. Learnt so much from him. Not so much of the clinical/medical stuff (even though its quite alot), but more of his heart behind studying. He's so different from many medical students. Its really rare to see a med student studying not for the exams, but for the patients. Its so true... What good is it to pass the exam and score distinctions when you cannot pick out the S&S and diagnose a patient in clinics? And what good is it to memorise all the steps and procedures to impress the people around when you fail to make a diagnose after that? Knowledge without application is useless. But knowledge, application and a heart for the patients when combined together equals power!
And guess what? Soon after passing my physical exam test for this 2 systems, I had the opportunity to apply it straight away the next day in clinics! It was my very first time actually being the first on the scene when my patient's condition deteriorated. Did the necessary interventions. And the pt recovered! Yeah! Its really the first time when I realized the importance of my studies towards my pts. Previously, I knew it only in my head. Now, I know it in my heart! It’s the first time when I actually applied what I learnt in an emergency and I knew that my actions can either make the pt better or worse. Wah! Its so scary to think of studying the wrong things and then harming the pt instead of helping him/her. This experience totally changed the way I study now, in a sense that I no longer allow myself to study just for passing exams but more so for the pts.
This week's clinicals was really good. Managed to be more relaxed and talked more to pts. Felt the love and satisfaction while giving basic care to the pts (changing, feeding, showering). I’ve never felt that way before, but now I can feel myself giving to my pts in love. Smiled while doing my work and even had the initiative to take over a maid massaging a pt cos I felt that she needed to rest her aching hands.
Said sorry to the pts when I knew that the procedure will not be pleasant to him/her.
Felt so satisfied and joyful when I saw some of the pts in critical state becoming better. *Smiles* And I managed to find out more about a patient after talking to her. She told me quite a bit of things. (look at clinical case summery 7 for details-for myself to refer.. sorry guys.. its confidential)
Realised that its so important to talk to pts and to hear their stories. Many nurses and docs just ignored the pt above because she talked too much. But they failed to notice that she was actually very lonely with no one to talk to. And when you actually listen to their stories, like this case, you can actually find out the root of the problem to her condition. For example, BO. Many docs will just start to think about the clinical reasons why she is not passing motion. Then order all the tests to check. But when you ask the pt and listen to her, you realize that the root of the problem is actually very simple. Therefore, always always, no matter how busy… Always find time to talk to pt and listen to their story!
Its so easy to fall into the trap of routine and becoming task orientated. Sometimes, you just forget that the patient is actually very worried about his condition and he needs assurance that he’ll be fine. But I must always remind myself that I’m treating not the disease, but the patient!
The morning shift nurses were great and nice. The T1 docs were friendly and joky. The day’s events were also very reflective and I just came to realize what it actually means to be a nurse. I’m glad I made a difference to some of my patient’s lives in one way or another. But more importantly, I brought Jesus with me when I stepped into the wards today and it made a hell lot of difference towards my attitude and work! Glory be to God!!!
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