(me and my roomie)

Ok... I'm cheating :D I had to write a journal for my nursing 206 class (2nd semester Intro to nursing) for every day we have clinicals at the hospitals. So.. here's my third one :D

February 26, 2007
Henry County Health Center

Today, right when Cindy came in, she told me and Crystal that we were going to go and watch surgery. We went down into the surgery place and we had to change into purple scrubs, wear a hair net, things for our shoes, and a mask. I was to go and watch a lap-chole, and Crystal was going to watch a colonoscopy. Then we were supposed to switch. I was able to see the surgeon and a nurse get the sterile field ready, and count everything. I stayed with the nurse anesthesiologist and he explained so much to me. He drew me a diagram of what was going to happen (in this case they were taking the gall bladder and also "cutting the tubes" (fallopian tubes, that is). He also explained all the drugs he was administering and why, and at the beginning, when he was preparing to put in a trachea tube I got to see her vocal cords! It was so neat. During the surgery, I was in awe. It was amazing watching the surgeons at work. It was especially neat seeing the inside anatomy, how it really is.

After the surgery I went with the nurse into the recovery room, and got to see the anesthesiologist and the nurse check on the patient, give oxygen, medication for pain, etc. The pain medicine they were giving came in ampules, so I thought that was pretty neat since we’re learning about that now. The nurse did everything like we are learning to do, like ask the patient to rate the pain on a scale from 1-10, double checking everything, etc. It’s nice to know that they all follow the “rules” as they should. Just like when the surgeons were getting ready, donning the gown and gloves, and they did it just like we were being taught. It was good to see that they take so much care in what they do to keep sterile.

After the woman’s surgery, Crystal joined me for the second lap-chole. This time it was a 21 year old man. When they started, his gall bladder was very much enlarged. I do not have a lot of experience, but I know the gall bladder is not supposed to be long and big. It was amazing. It was quite stubborn as well; the surgeons were really working at getting it out of there. They eventually “stuck” the gall bladder, and bile and gallstones were pouring out of it like crazy. Then they had to go and pick each stone out individually. The bile took a long time to get all cleaned up as well, because there was so much of it. Most of the time watching was them cleaning up. And then there was a consistent flow of blood from somewhere, and they were not quite sure where that somewhere was. The surgeons tried burning various places that were bleeding, but it took a while to find exactly where all the blood really was coming from. Both surgeries took an hour; one being two, essentially, and the other mostly cleaning up.

It was really good for me to see two of the same. The first time I really had no idea what to expect, and the second time I could compare.
I was not sure how I would handle surgery. I had no idea. I never watch this sort of thing on the television (I don’t watch much television, period), and I’ve finally become comfortable with watching someone poke me with a needle. I knew I could handle blood, but I wasn’t sure what smells I would encounter, and what my eyes could bear. But this- this was incredible. The feeling I felt was as if I was watching a miracle. Maybe because people used to die from something as mundane (compared to other things) as a gall bladder being infected. I loved it. I’m not saying I would want to be a nurse in surgery, however, my heart is still with the NICU. I have two more years left in school, we’ll see where it goes.

As for goals, I didn’t really set any specific goals for surgery. I suppose one would be to bear it, regardless of what I see, and the other could be stay out of the way! That was my only job for this clinical, and I can say quite proudly that I was fantastic at my job.

What does this have to do with my nursing practice? Well, for one, watching the nurse anesthesiologist was amazing. It almost makes me want to be one. He was so nice to the patient, talked to them in a caring voice, and as they were “falling” asleep he was rubbing their temples. I love seeing medical personal treat these people, well… like people. It makes me remember that nursing is not “just a job”.

I truly believe that nursing the calling for me.