Ok, so it wasn't that bad. Not at all actually.

Today was my first full day in the hospital for my Pediatric clinical rotation. Going over to the hospital, I was a bit nervous. I didn't have a patient yet (I went early to get one), and it being my first day, I really didn't know what to expect from the nurses and the patients and the instructor.

Well, they all proved to be pretty amazing. My patient had been admitted to the floor after surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids. She was 6 (almost 7) and totally reminded me of my oldest niece. One of the first things I did was crouch down next to the bed so I was on eye level with her, and tell her I had my tonsils out at 5. Her eyes got big as disks. She was having a hard time talking (due to the swelling from the surgery), but I could imagine her surprise that anyone as old as me could ever have been as young as her. :-)

Most of my day was spent just checking in on her while she slept, and checking in on mom as well. The rest of my time was spent charting and doing a scavenger hunt, helping classmates, and having some great conversations with my clinical instructor. This instructor looks to have the potential to be the BEST INSTRUCTOR I have had yet in clinicals. She is always there, already has given us feedback on our charting, and is always there to answer questions and give us support when we need it. I let her know at the end of the night how much I appreciate it and how I've never had this level of involvement from a clinical instructor.

Then there was my nurse. She let me do my thing, taking care of all the vitals and assessment and charting on my patient. She also appreciated when I pointed out things in the charts I was questioning (missing info, incorrect info). And each time I did, it turned out that I was right to bring it up. :-)

Tomorrow I go back to the same patient (and the same nurse). Which is also a new thing for us - the same patient two days in a row. Which is great because it gives us a chance to build a bond with the patient as well as the family - just like we would if we were nurses on the floor.

The thought of only getting 4 weeks to do this now really points out how much we are going to miss....but at least I get to spend a day in Oncology and another in Pediatric Intensive Care (where she told me that since I'm following another instructor, I might actually get the chance to do more than just observe!!!)

Oh, one of the many conversations I had with my instructor today involved our final semester preceptorships. She basically told me that if I want to do Peds or PICU or NICU that I could do it - all I have to do is be assertive and let it be known that that's where I want to be placed (rather than MedSurg, which holds no appeal to me whatsoever). And she also said that most hospitals tend to hire the students who do their preceptorships there, especially if in a specialty area (and Peds is considered a specialty). YAY!!!