This quarter I have most Tuesdays off from school, except 3 days when I go to a different department in the hospital to shadow a nurse to see just how different each unit is. My placements have been extremely valuable for assessing my options and interests:
Week 1: Operating Room
I have a relative who works in the OR and she said the nurses there love it and would never leave, so I went to this observation with great interest.
Oh, is that it? I was fully underwhelmed.
I stood in a cold room and watched one nurse hand tools to the surgeon and watched the “circulating” nurse keep an eye out for problems, remind an MD to put on his mask, and play Solitaire on the computer.
The operation was interesting, of course, but since I’m not trying to be a surgeon, it was kinda moot. (I did, however, like to see how I’d react to blood, flesh and guts! Blood and guts? OK; Cauterized flesh with a little smoke arising from it? Not so OK.)
The OR rotation reinforced for me my love for patient interaction and my aversion to boring, sterile work, therefore, the OR is out.
Week 2: Emergency Department
Now this is more like it! Hustling, bustling, adapting, flying, running, communicating… I could tell my preceptors were loving their job, and better yet, didn’t mind taking me along for the ride. In my 12 hours in the ED my nurse dealt with: a woman trying to come off crack, a woman in respiratory distress, a 10-year-old bipolar boy, and a young woman with multiple personality disorder.
I asked three fairly young nurses how they chose the ED and what they liked about it. They all said they knew they wanted to work in the ED as soon as rotated through it during nursing school. They like seeing a lot of different patients and conditions throughout their day, they get bored by med-surg’s chronic care patients, and they like the fast pace. I also noticed that communication between nurses and MDs in the ED were very different than on the Floor. Somehow more collaborative and respectful. I also found it highly amusing that some of the ER docs reminded me of George Clooney’s character on “ER.” I guess that show got it right on the money.
Man, after this observation I so wanted to be able to imagine myself as an ER nurse! I think there’s definitely a coolness factor with being an ER nurse: It is badass to be able to handle anything that comes your way.
But, alas, this department didn’t click with me 100% either. The ED remains an option, but I’m still searching for the ‘one.’
Week 3: Intensive Cardiac Care
Hmm … The ICC is probably the most disconcerting place I’ve been to so far. The acuity of the patients and their multiple tubes and IV drips were quite intimidating. Each nurse is responsible for 2, maybe 3 patients (vs. 4 or 5 on a med-surg floor)–that’s how critically ill each patient is. But my charming, Irish preceptor quickly put me at ease. She said she likes the ICC because the team works wonderfully together and the management is extremely supportive. A few MEPN new grads have done their step-out year in the ICC, but generally, an intensive care unit is challenging for new grads.
There is an amazing special feature that follows a new grad in the ICU for six months, by the Boston Globe. It is fascinating. It’s the first feature of this kind in the mainstream public media. Its intent was to give the public a really deep, insightful look into the work of nurses. It also scared the crap out of me in a thrilling I-hate-scary-movies-but-I-have-to-watch kind of way. It could inspire you, too. Check it out at: http://boston.com/news/special/nursing/top/