It's been awhile since I posted about classes. Only two more weeks until Finals - woohoo!!

Clinicals are going great - last Friday I spent the shift following a nurse in Pediatric Oncology. Once again, all the nurses there were amazing. She had me giving meds and eyedrops, and otherwise helping with her patients. One of the nurses offered to be my preceptor also :-)
And, as with my time in the PICU, I felt like I had found a place where I could easily work. Yes, it can be difficult, but the parents and kids I interacted with were all incredible - strong, funny, caring, and had developed strong relationships with the nurses. And I like that - I like the idea of getting to know a child and family and helping them over a course of time, seeing the progress (and setbacks). Just one more reason for me to get a job at CHO.

The Wednesday before I went on my first pre-natal visit with Ami, the midwife/classmate I'm apprenticing with this July. The couple were great, the husband was VERY happy to have another guy there. I'll be visiting them again and there when she gives birth. :-)

Otherwise school has been moving along. One of the things we had to do this part of the semester was participate in a Simulation Lab (with a robot baby hooked to a PC). At first we were all annoyed - but turned out that it was a decent experience. We got ot do a lot more hands-on stuff that we would never get to do in the hospital. And in one of the simulations (where I was the parent), the baby coded and then flatlined. Even though the baby was fake, it was still difficult. No one wants to experience a child dying while they give their best effort to keep them alive - but it happens, and I think it was great that they had us experience it in a safe setting. (The downside to the sim lab was the tech guy - he was beyond annoying...).

Now it's just two more weeks of classes and clinicals, then a week of Finals. My last Final is May 23rd. Then summer break starts - woohoo!! I can almost taste the freedom now. :-)

Oh, and on May 23rd, it will be exactly one year until I graduate....it won't get here soon enough.