My day at clinical today...

nekozuki, LPN · Jan 6, 2013

Depends on the part of the body. Did you give it on the abdomen? In that case, it's a 90 degree angle regardless. As for the crazy instructor, well...nothing prepares you for the field like working with difficult people. Seriously, it's the one piece of advice I give to every LPN student. Be grateful, no matter how frustrating, confusing or maddening it can be -- working with these kinds of people and learning to thrive regardless WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER NURSE!

My craziest clinical experience? Tie between two, both involving patients supervised by cops:

First one, went in to give meds to a schizophrenic patient (frail old man) who was being supervised by police. He tried to brush something off my shoulder, insisting a spider was on it. I stepped away, and the RN forward...and he proceeded to throw her into a wall and significantly injure her. She was on limited duty for almost three months. Just shows you can never be too careful!

Other one also involved a patient being supervised by an officer. Tiny 90 lb cancer patient who was arrested for resisting arrest. She was hiding from the cops in a bush, and they sent a police dog in. The dog must've had her for quite some time, because her ear was torn off, she had multiple deep lacerations, puncture wounds and stitches everywhere. The officer put her in the car and tried to take her to jail, where the corrections nurse immediately called an ambulance. They managed to reattach the ear, but man, my heart just broke for this woman. She had no defensive wounds, just hundreds of marks on her head, neck and chest. I did her wound care for the two days I was with her, and couldn't even turn her in bed because the officer had both her hand and opposite leg cuffed. So much for trying to turn, cough and deep breath q2h to avoid secretions pooling in the lungs, eh? In my assessment paperwork, I couldn't even tally up the number of wounds because they were simply too numerous. Reeeaaaally made me skeptical of police procedure.

Lol, I always had the craziest stories in my class because I'd search for the most unusual or interesting cases. I never chose a nurse without asking the unit secretary or charge about what patients would be the most unique. I am really grateful for my clinical experiences, because I got to do and see a ridiculous amount of stuff. Sometimes those kooky old clinical instructorshave the connections to get you into some really cool places.