I decided to start a blog after seeing one that a former colleague of mine started doing. I wanted to share my own true experiences with you as a nursing student, CNA, and Lpn. These are my own thoughts and feelings as a medical professional. I'm going to try and stay on the funny side of things, (I don't really know how funny I am though) and I may throw in a tear jerker every now and then to numb the crowd. Since we are talking about the human body here, I'm sure that things are going to get nasty, so viewer discretion is advised. I'm not a professional writer and I'll be doing most of my writing at the very end of my work day, so have mercy on my grammar. Sometimes I think faster than I type, and my grammar turns into that of a 3 year old's. I'm sure that you guys will still be able to follow. If not see your ACLS manual for the appropriate algorithym.
Just some background information on me: I am a Licensed Practical Nurse, been one for 8 years now. I am completing classes to get my RN at the moment. I have been in the medical field since I was 16. I first started working in nursing homes. Wiping butts was the name of the game. I don't know why I didn't, looking back now, I wish I had a fun job as a teenager, flipping burgers or stocking shelves. I learned very quickly that you don't work for the money.
Before I could work in the nursing home, I had to take a two week course in order to get my CNA license, then take a computerized test. I got fingerprinted for a background check and I had a drug test. You would have thought that I had gotten accepted in to a ivy league school when I found out that I could take the course. I felt this job was really important. I have test anxiety really bad, so in order to curb that, I try to study as much as I can to be prepared. Being 16, I never saw the big picture of things. I didn't have many friends to talk to, so I was often left out in the dark when it came to what was cool or uncool. I didn't have any friends working in the nursing home and I had no clue as to what the requirements of the job were, but I knew that It had to have been important because I had to go through a 2 week course, a background check, TB skin test, and a comprehensive test over patient care. It never once crossed my mind that the other CNA's that I had met on the job were poor, middle aged workers that had no skills or brains, and that this, grandios, dime-a-dozen job,anyone could do.
So I studied. I practiced making beds, tucking in the corners just right. I learned the correct way to wipe a female, clean around a catheter, empty a catheter, and clean a non-circumcised male. I went over and over the sterile and standard precautions. I practiced taking manual blood pressures and counting respirations. I went over my list of clear liquids, apple juice -yes, ice cream -no. I studied abbreviations and learned what a Lg BM was. This was all knew to me, but I thought that this was the beginning of my career and my whole life depended on it. I remember the class watching a woman bathe a man and me paying such close attention to what she done first, how she washed his body, and how she shaved him. These were all steps that I thought I had to memorize before taking my test. My instructor had tried a little scare tactic and told us that we really needed to study hard because the questions are always changing and we had to score a certain percentage in order to pass and work the floor. I was nervous to no end.
The big day came and I arrived at the American Red Cross building to take my test. I walked into a room full of old Mac computers that looked pre-historic even back then. I told the woman at the desk what I was there for and she led me to a computer, pulled out a large round-record looking disc, about the size of a small tire, and put it in the computer. She told me what my time allotted was and I looked at the clock figuring the amount of time that I could spend on each question. She had a stopwatch in her hand and when she said, "Ready-Go, your on the clock", I immediately tensed up, I was feeling dizzy as everything I had tried learning swam circles around in my head and I thought, "Oh my God, if I don't pass this, I'll never be a nurse".
I opened the file to which she told me to start on, and the first question popped up:
1. MR. JOHN BROWN LIVES IN ROOM 304. THE DELIVERY MAN BROUGHT FLOWERS TO THE NURSES STATION FOR MR JOHN BROWN. WHAT ROOM WOULD YOU DELIVER THEM TO?
Then the second question,
2. MR JOHN BROWN IS ALLERGIC TO EGGS. FOR BREAKFAST HE HAS THESE THINGS ON HIS TRAY: OATMEAL, EGG, TOAST, AND ORANGE JUICE. WHAT SHOULD YOU REMOVE BEFORE TAKING HIM HIS TRAY?
Really???? I passed the test with flying colors. I think my dog could have done just as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment