Finishing Strong
This semester learning about critical care has been my favorite semester throughout all of nursing school! It has definitely begun to feel like everything is clicking into place in regards to truly applying all of our knowledge. I have never felt more excited to go into clinical rotations than I have this semester, knowing that I will be learning so much in the short amount of hours available in clinical. My confidence in my clinical skills has skyrocketed, my assessments have improved, and my ability to piece together the whole picture with each patient has exponentially grown. My passion for critical care has shown itself as well, and I know that one day I would love to be able to call myself a critical care nurse. The potential knowledge, wisdom, autonomy, and critical thinking skills gained are incomparable. This rotation has overall strengthened not only my nursing skills but my goals as well. My goal includes becoming a nurse on the intensive care unit, whether that happens as a new graduate or later on in my career. That being said, I honestly cannot believe that three years of nursing school have come and gone. We have all grown so much since we started and will all in turn grow to be amazing nurses when beginning our careers! I cannot wait to see how it all turns out for us, even just a year or two from now (at the reunion we will be having…right?)
This is only the Beginning…
It is still hard for me to believe that Pinning is only 3 days away, and I will have completed nursing school! I have worked so hard for so long to achieve this goal and now it is within my reach! It is hard for me to imagine life outside of school. If I am not working on homework or attending class or at clinical, then I can pretty much guarantee that I am still thinking about school or what assignment is due next or mapping out my time so that I can fit is all in. I am so excited to have accomplished this Everest-sized goal. Going through school has taught me that I can be successful at whatever I put my mind to. There were so many times that I felt I would never be able to complete all of the assignments or learn all of the material, but time after time, I did! So many nights I just wanted to give up, but by the grace of God, He kept me going and would remind me over and over again why I wanted to be a nurse.
Going through school I now have a much deeper appreciation for nursing as a profession. I am so proud to be entering the nursing profession on Friday and see it as a great honor! It is something I take very seriously as I have seen throughout these past 3 years the power and responsibility that nurses carry. Power, not in the sense of strength or authority (though they also have these), but in influence over the experience and outcomes of their patients. Nurses have the power to make a patient’s experience the best it can be or the worst. They have the power to make a difference in someone’s life everyday by being present with the person in their greatest time of need. They also carry great responsibility in providing safe and effective care for their patients. Patients and families entrust the care of themselves and their loved ones to nurses. The care nurses provide can mean the difference between life and death for many patients.
When I began this journey 3 years ago, I had some ideas of what type of nursing I wanted to pursue, but tried to stay open-minded each semester except for one area which I was convinced I would never like…Critical Care. I assumed that most of the patients in ICU were intubated and in extremely serious conditions that were too intimidating for me. Since I greatly value patient interaction, I thought I would dislike ICU and would have a very hard time handling the patient situations; however, I was quickly proven wrong. After rotating through the ICU and telemetry, I really enjoyed both areas of care. I loved being able to dive deeper into the situations of each patient I cared for in ICU since I cared for 1 or 2 patients at a time instead of the normal 4/5 to 1 ratio. I was also able to do a lot of nursing interventions and skills that have always intimidated me because I have not had a lot of practice with them and they feel more intense than others. I gained so much confidence in my abilities to coordinate care and assess and intervene appropriately. Overall, this semester has been one of my favorites and I have gained knowledge and experience that have prepared me to enter the nursing profession with a solid foundation that will set me up to succeed no matter what field of nursing I end up in.
Final Blog
I can’t believe this is the last homework assignment of my last class of nursing school. It’s so bittersweet to think that we are finally at the end. I’m more than ready to be an RN and start my nursing journey, but on the other hand, it’s so weird to think that I won’t be with the people that I have come to think of as family for the last three years. When we were told at orientation that these three years would go by fast, I didn’t believe it. And even during it, I didn’t really believe it. But now that we’re here, at the end of the road, I realize that, as much that has happened with us, it has sped by. We went from being little babies to the big sibling ready to leave and enter the world. Crazy.
I feel that our knowledge shot up this semester in critical care. We learned a great deal when we started in patho, and we continued learning in pharmacology. I feel like everything since that was based on those initial building blocks. However, this semester was where we really got to put everything into place as it was our pinnacle class. So much of what we learned was based on topics we were already knowledgeable in, and this was so beneficial to us in learning the more complicated aspects of critical care. This semester, to me, I really felt like a nurse as I took care of patients. There was much less reliance on a nurse or clinical instructor as we really took the reigns and pulled out all that we have learned in these past three years.
Additionally, it took me a while to adjust to this blogging aspect. I have run a blog in the past (now that I think about it, I wonder what happened to that blog?), but this is a new format that my previous host. And while I feel like blogging is a lot like writing a discussion board, I do find this more enjoyable than discussion boards. However, on the flip side, I wish that this would have been introduced to us sooner than our last semester. It felt like, at the beginning, we’re trying to adjust to everything that the final semester was throwing at us (graduation, job applications, critical care, NCLEX) while also finishing up our papers for Ireland, and then learning a whole new technological platform was added on top of that. It was stressful at first because of that, and I wish we had more time to work with it. I would’ve loved to have used it to it’s full potential, and I had grand pipe dreams of making this site into a virtual CV, but I didn’t want to spend all the time on it if we weren’t going to get to use it after graduation.
Overall, I think this course utilized greatly diverse learning methods which benefitted us greatly. I enjoyed the lectures with powerpoints, but I also enjoyed watching videos and acting out scenarios. I feel that, when we utilize more than one part of our brains, we really do experience greater learning that will benefit us in the long run.
So here’s the close-out to the last piece of homework. It’s been a great three years, and I’m going to miss everyone. Now, here’s on to the next big journey!
Last Blog of Critical Care Nursing 420
WOW! I can hardly believe that the semester is over, let alone our nursing program coming to a close! I have to say, this semester is truly where everything “clicked”. I always thought I was strong in clinical, but this was the semester that content such as lab values and ventilator settings actually made sense! I felt like I was able to have conversations with the nurses and doctors during rounds about why certain treatments were being given, rather than just listening to their discussion.
For all of nursing school, the entire three years of the program, and even before I started nursing school, I always thought that ER was going to be where I wanted to be. In my leadership rotation, I got to see a different side of the MICU and SICU, and critical care nursing fascinated me. I have completely enjoyed every aspect of critical care nursing being able to experience it now in clinical.
I feel like all of the previous work that we put in during this program showed during this rotation. Pulling information from pathophysiology, pharmacology, therapeutic comm, and med surg made all the difference. Having that strong background made this semester feel like everything clicked. By the end of the semester, I cant even compare to where we were on our first day of nursing school. I have grown so much and I know it is for the better. I have learned how important it is to stress patient advocacy because when your patient knows you are looking out for them, they make your job easier and more fulfilling. Critical care as a last semester of nursing school couldn’t have been a better experience, or at a better time. WE DID IT!
Final Blog!
It’s hard to believe that in just a few days, we will officially have our BSN degrees! It’s always a happy moment when you finish a semester and realize that you are that much closer to finishing nursing school. Officially completing nursing school this semester, is a mix of emotions as we are closing the book on this chapter in our lives and starting a whole new one. This is our last semester of nursing and after 3 long years of hard work and dedication, it is hard to believe that it is coming to an end. We have all worked so hard to get where we are and now, all of our hard work is paying off. We will soon be working as nurses and beginning our careers as BSN’s.
This critical care course has truly transformed and prepared me for the real world. Before this class, in previous classes, we focused on specific aspects of the nursing profession and worked to perfect it. We have had classes dedicated to fundamentals, pharmacology, medical-surgical nursing, pediatric nursing, mother baby nursing, psychiatric nurse, and the list goes on. Each course has provided invaluable learning opportunities. It is this critical care course that has allowed me to put all of the pieces together and incorporate each aspect into my nursing practice. Rather than focusing on individual aspects of nursing care, I can see patients and their situations in a holistic way. I can effectively incorporate the nursing process into my nursing practice to competently provide the best care possible to my patients. More specifically, this course has provided us the opportunity to care for the sickest people in the hospital. This gave us the opportunity to fine tune our assessment skills and properly prioritize our care to promote well-being and prevent complications thereby improving patient overall outcomes. I have learned so much in this course and throughout nursing school. I am looking forward to beginning my career as a nurse and utilizing my knowledge and skills to improve the lives of patients.
End of the Road
Image Retrieved from:https://www.flickr.com/photos/96614226@N00/447710918
I can still remember the first day of nursing school, thinking what a long journey laid ahead of me, three years of endless emotions and experiences. Now I am in my last week and it is unbelievable. The sensation seems unreal, time passed in the blink of an eye and just like that nursing school is over. It is an exciting feeling, yet overwhelming. It is also unbelievable to think we will be transitioning from student nurse to a “real” nurse once we pass the NCLEX. We have learned many skills and it is time to put them to use.
I really enjoyed NRS 420 because it reviewed the majority of med surg content, it was concise and short. The book was very helpful and it had all the “need to know” information, which was pretty much the whole book :). Clinicals helped tie the material together and overall it was a great semester. An ending with a new beginning.
“Goodbye,” “No, it’s see you all later”
As I begin to write my last blog, thousands of emotions and feelings are rushing through my head such as excitement, sadness, happiness, nerves etc. As I look back on my three years I cannot believe the relationships I have established not only with my fellow classmates and soon to be colleagues, but also the professors who have influenced me to be the best nurse I can be. We have come extremely far these past three years and I am ecstatic to see where each and every one of us will go and how we will each blossom in our careers.
In regards to critical care, at the beginning of the semester I was extremely excited about it because I thought I could see myself working in an ICU, however as it is ending I now have realized that I really don’t want anything to do with the ICU haha. I think this feeling ultimately comes from inexperience because I think I would enjoy it more if I had a more stable foundation in nursing. Experience comes with time…. One thing that I really enjoyed during this semester was the ER. If I could be an ER nurse right out of school, I would take it and run. The teamwork aspect of the ER is what I think draws me to it the most and of course the fast pace and the ability to see a variety of different patients from babies to elderly. When I was working in the ER, I didn’t want to leave clinical. I love being able to utilize all my skills in the ER with the support of the other nurses and doctors. Overall I loved the ER and hope that one day I can have the opportunity to work there.
As of now I will be interviewing for a labor and delivery position at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital actually this Wednesday (maternal and child health is also one of my passions) and we will see what happens there. I am nervous, but deep in my heart I know there is a plan and if it does not work out then I know it wasn’t meant to be. I can’t wait to hear all of the stories that my classmates will share about their first day on the floor… it is exciting and I know deep down that everyone of you is a nurse I would want caring for one of my family members and with that cheers to the class of 2015, WE FREAKING DID IT!!!!!
XOXO Stephanie
scrubsmag.com
Last blog!! =)
Wow, I cannot believe that this is already our last blog!
Anyhow, since I had such an interesting patient two weeks ago and since this blog has to relate to critical care I have decided to talk about his vent settings. I don’t know about anyone else, but I truly enjoyed learning about vents; which is also why I have decided to talk about vents: using the PSV mode to be specific. The pressure support ventilation (PSV) mode is a pressure mode that is commonly used for weaning off the ventilator. When a patient is placed on this vent mode, the patient has the ability to initiate their own breath. When the patient initiates a breath then the vent kicks in and assists them to the point where they achieve the desired pressure level. Not only does the vent help the patient reach a desired pressure level, but it also makes sure that the patient maintains the pressure level throughout the inspiratory phase of breathing. A advantage of this mode is that it decreases the work of breathing in the patient. on the other hand, a disadvantage is that the patient must have an intact respiratory drive.
Morton, P. G., & Fontaine, D.K., (2013). Essentials of critical care nursing: a holistic approach. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.