Loving Life in Scrubs

Welcome to the world of nurses, where the uniforms are comfy and you are once again privileged to receive a locker for all your stuff. Clearly, I have not achieved the prominent status required to receive my own locker, so I just shove a backpack into my preceptor's little cubby.

There are some other aspects that are a tiny bit different than they were at E&Y too- cell phones are ignored for 12-14 hours at a time, diapers and wipes are more common than computers, and clients actually do call us for help with issues. I've worked two 12 hour day shifts which means that I go to work in the dark, go home in the dark, an do not even realize that the temperature outside may be different than it is on my floor. It sounds a little dismal from that description, I suppose, but I have already had so many exciting experiences that I cannot wait to go back for more.

I am on the neuro unit for the next six weeks. We see a lot of brain and spinal cord injury patients who are awaiting or recovering from surgery. We also see patients who may have been involved in an accident or incident in which multiple parts of their body were compromised, but if there is anything wrong with their head or neck, they come to the neuro floor. The NIMU is a specialized step-down unit between the ICU and the floor where I have been working with my preceptor. Essentially, the six bed unit houses patients who are not sick enough to be in the ICU but not "well" enough to be on the floor. I have gotten to see some pretty cool things that I'll leave unmentioned for anyone who is not as enthralled with the human body as I am. I've also gotten to participate in a lot of the care for patients in the unit, thanks to my wonderful preceptor. She really lets me get in there and encourages me to perform lots of skills. Of course, this is wonderful for my confidence, so we have started out very well.

I got to see a real gamma knife surgical procedure as it was happening this week. This is a wonderful, relatively new type of non-invasive treatment for things like brain tumors, arteriovenous malformations, acoustic neuroma, and trigeminal neuralgia. The procedure is incredibly specific at targeting only the intended tissue and happens within an hour. It operates by aiming several low-dose beams of radiation at the exact site of the lesion. Because each dose of radiation occurs within a very short time frame, the procedure does not pose many risks to the patient. It essentially eliminates all of the risk associated with open craniotomies. I was with the patient when she went in for the procedure and met her on the way out. She was completely conscious the entire time. SO COOL!

Aside from all of the neat things that I got to do and see the last couple of days, I am really enjoying how fast the time goes by. Well, I mean, I feel a bit overwhelmed that I have to take in as much as I am in such a short period of time, but I think that I will really thrive in a profession that I enjoy so much I rarely look at the clock. I am exhausted at the end of each day and can barely stand to watch tv afterwards, but it has already been so rewarding. I'm really beginning to feel as if I have made the right decision to change careers. Good thing huh?