bswstudent

Dumb question, but how do you learn and apply your clinical skills online? How do you do labs?

Oh gosh. I can't tell you how fortunate your patients are. Kind nurses make the all difference in the throes of pain and discomfort. I remember I was going in for surgery once, I felt exposed, isolated and totally upset. I was crying as they were administering the IV, a nurse just came up to me and held my hand. It was like she was empathizing what I was going through and she was supporting me. I felt less alone. I started to relax (or it could have been the meds) and she was there when I woke up. On the other hand, in post-op for a d/c I remember a very unkind nurse. She was slapping my hand to get the blood flowing to start an IV, and it wasn't in a funny or joking manner. It was more like nurse ratchet. When I was waking up from the IV I felt nauseous, not overwhelmingly nauseous just a bit anxious and upset at what I went through. This nurse literally tossed me one of those cardboard barf receptacles. I felt humiliated. The choice of some anti-emetics, ginger ale, a cool cloth, or even just a couple kind words to help distract me from what I was going through would have made a world of difference. So to the kind and conscientious nurses, thank you.

Hello nurses, I am almost finished my Bachelors in Social Work, and I have a practicum placement coming up in acute care. When asked by my practicum supervisor what kind of placement I am interested in, I said (without any hesitation) in a medical or hospital environment. I finished a stint in research for my university's nursing department and fell in love with health promotion and found myself more interested in clinical practice rather than social work practice. I woke up the other morning and asked myself if I could change anything about my life, it would be to be in a nursing program. I just have a couple questions: 1) Is it true that most nurses find the discipline a "calling"? 2) Do you think there are any transferrable skills from social work to nursing? 3) Do you grow desensitized to the "gross" stuff? Vomit? Phlegm? How often do you actually get viruses from patients? Are there any specialities where the risk of transmission is higher? 4) What is the median age of a nursing student? 5) Did any of you start nursing after being a specific field for a couple of years? Thanks SO much! I really appreciate any response and feel so lucky to be able to ask all of you :)