Wow! I can’t believe we are here and the pinning ceremony is only 3 days away. I think this is the semester, for me, where everything clicked. We have been training for three years to graduate with a BSN. I can honestly say that I am ready for what the future has in store for me when it comes to nursing. I remember so clearly studying for days to understand pathophysiology, pharmacology, med-surg, OB and pediatrics and all those hours of studying are coming together now. Throughout the semester I was able to strengthen my assessment skills, improve communication with patients, connect the pieces of the puzzle together (labs, patho, assessment, diagnostics) and gain a certain level of confidence that I didn’t have during other semesters. I absolutely loved critical care nursing and the independence that comes with it. I felt like there was a greater amount of collaboration in the ICU and that is something I really value in nursing practice. Seeing people from many different fields work together was amazing for me to experience. I also loved being able to focus all of my attention on two patient’s which allowed me to better grasp the full patient picture. One day I can definitely see myself in critical nursing.

If I could see myself at the beginning of this journey I wouldn’t have believed the person that I see today. Jaime, you told us at the beginning of the semester that the goal was for us to be ready and I think that goal has been achieved. I know I don’t know everything there is to know about nursing but I know that I have the tools to find a solution to practice safely.  The learning never stops and every day I will find a way to become a better nurse.

Image Reference

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/11/55/98/11559822d0543bf0214c0c89a086eb30.jpg

This week I spoke with my parents and roommates about what medications they are taking. I started off by talking with my mom and dad together. Before I go further, as many of you already know, my mother is a telemetry nurse and therefore knows her fair deal about medications. She often will teach me about medications that are important to know. Therefore, I focused by survey on my dad who has diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and hypothyroidism. My dad has had these conditions for at least 10 years now and has been taking similar medications for them throughout the years. I assumed that my dad would be very knowledgeable regarding his medications but he wasn’t as knowledgeable as I thought he would be after all of these years. He understood that he was taking medications for blood pressure, high cholesterol, metabolism and his diabetes but he couldn’t specifically name each medication, the dosages or the correct times to take them. Although, I do give him credit because he is usually good about taking blood pressure and blood glucose levels before taking the medication or administering insulin to himself. I think I realized that my dad has definitely become more dependent on my mom to keep him up to date and safe when it comes to his medication regime. I encouraged my dad to learn more about his medications on his own and gave him some verbal information about the medications I was familiar with.

After speaking with my parents, I spoke with some of my roommates. Half of my roommates are really into homeopathic remedies and alternative medicine. They would rather use essential oils to relax them or do meditation to help a headache. Although on the other hand, the other half of my roommates wouldn’t think twice before taking an Ibuprofen to cure a headache. Of these roommates, I asked them what the usual dosage they take are when they have a headache. I was surprised to find that one said 600 mg and the other said 800mg meaning they were aware of dosages. One of my roommates was aware that this medication can cause stomach ulcers and the other had no idea. Overall, I think this was an interesting experience, as I had the opposite results of what I had anticipated when it came to both my parents and my roommates responses.

“Heart in a box” is a portable heart perfusion system. It is still being tested through clinical trials in the US but is already being used in parts of Europe and Australia (Suchetka, 2011). Instead of putting the heart to be transplanted on ice and in a cooler for transport, the heart is put in the chamber pictured above. This system pumps warm oxygenated blood while still beating and still allows for tests to be done on the heart before it is put into the recipient. Typically, the donor heart can remain on ice in a cooler for about four hours before complications can occur but with heart in a box, the heart can survive for up to twelve hours (Suchetka, 2011).

I think this is an amazing invention and may change how heart transplantation is performed in the future in America. I also took a look at the company who creates this technology, Transmedics, and it also looks like they are creating similar transplant technology for lungs and livers as well (“TransMedics,” 2015). This type of technology could possibly decrease post operative complications because the heart was monitored throughout the entire transplant process (Suchetka, 2011). Meaning, less complications for critical care nurses when taking care of post-operative heart transplant patients. I think some questions arise from this type of technology as well. Do patients who have this type of transplant live longer? Is there really a chance of less complication in the long run? I am excited to see what the results of the clinical trials being done at the eight hospitals in the US have in store for the future.

References

Suchetka, D. (2011, August 19). ‘heart in a box’ invention allows transplant hearts to remain outside the body for 12 hours. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2012/08/heart_in_a_box_invention_to_ex.html

Transmedics. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.transmedics.com/wt/page/index

Group number 3: Jennifer Haldeman, Arely Rosales, Eugenie Fasulo
Group name: Sugaah Overload!

Member strengths, limitations and values:

• Limitations – timing and scheduling
• Strengths- Were all good teamworkers! Were all positive people!! Yayy!
• Values- We value trust, respect, and hard work. No slackers here!

Roles and Accountability: We are not going to have a leader. We will share all roles equally.

Communication Style: We are utilizing google docs and we will be meeting before class.

Leadership Style: We will be utilizing a democratic leadership style with an emphasis on teamwork and collaboration

Strategies: Utilize good communication and if we are having problems brainstorm with the others.