This is my first post here, and I just wanted to share my story about my first day of clinical, which was yesterday. I did have clinical last year at a nursing home, but this was my very first clinical in a hospital setting. Anyway, my 1st rotation was in the PACU, I got there at 7:00 and we didn't have a patient come in until almost 8:00. Anyway, my preceptor got her first patient and I was just standing there watching the patient start to wake up, and all of the sudden I feel very hot and dizzy. I thought maybe it would help if I sat down, but I started to feel even worse and my vision was getting blurry, so I told my preceptor "Ummm, I don't feel so good," and a few seconds later, everything was black but I was still conscious (I think). So, to make a long story short, about 4 nurses came rushing over and got me onto a stretcher and put a BP cuff on me. Well, my blood pressure was only about 80/40, so they wheeled me down to the ER on the stretcher. After 2 hours and a blood and urine test, I found out that I had a UTI and I was also dehydrated. My instructor wouldn't let me go back to clinical today because she wanted me to get better, but right now I am feeling like a failure and I can't believe this happened to me on my first day of clinical. Anybody out there have a story like mine, or has heard of one, or has any advice for me? Help!
