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Poggles Is A Big Boy Now

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:07:00 +0000

When Poggles was a baby, he pooped everywhere. He couldn't control it. Today, however, is a big day. Poggles is a big boy now, and he only does his business in the litter tray (hurray!).

So, the oven tray can now go away. I will have one less thing to clean, and Poggles can enjoy soft, warm "carpet" everywhere.

After a thorough cleaning of his cage, Poggles was unceremoniously dumped out of his dirty pouch into his clean toilet (poor boy). Don't worry, he is dumped from the ground level.

He scrambled quickly to hide under the wheel as I began to populate his cage with his belongings. He got a fresh toilet paper roll to play with, a clean pouch...

... his food bowl and water bowl came back clean, his dome and cosy came back, he got a fresh paper towel, his ball... and everything was clean.

Of course, Poggles hated it. He came out and sniffed everything, deemed them unsuitable, and went back under the wheel. He did this several times, each time concluding that it was unacceptable.

He slept there all afternoon, and only moved into the new pouch once I gave him back one of his dirty fleece scraps (tsk tsk!) After that, he pulled the paper towel so that it was plugging the entrance, and hissed at anyone that disturbed him.

Yup, he's a big boy now. That doesn't change how grumpy he is though :)

Week 3 of Semester 4

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:36:00 +0000

This was a pretty busy week so I was back to my bad habit of not sleeping enough. I zombied my way through a group presentation, assignments, and homework. What really tired me out though was clinical.

I had it easy last week. My patient was only sub-acute and I had a lot of extra time to putter around bonding with patients. I think my teacher knew I wasn't being challenged enough so she gave me an extra complicated patient this week. I also got to start on medications.

Tube feeding
This was my first experience with feeding tubes. I had only seen suctioning tubes before this, and we had only just learned about managing feeding tubes in lab. Now, here I was with a feeding tube before me. I was pretty intimidated.

However, once I had gone through the process of delivering medications by the feeding tube once, it began to seem pretty straight forward.

There's a lever on the tubing. You open the port, put the syringe in, turn the lever, and flush it with 10 ml of water. Turn the lever, take off the syringe. Suck up the medication (which is crushed and mixed with 30 mls of water), put it in the port, turn the lever, inject the meds. Turn the lever, take off the syringe, suck up more meds, do the same thing as before. When you're done, you flush it again with 30 mls of water, close the port, and you're done!

Okay, so it doesn't sound so straight forward in print. I swear it's easier in real life!

Teacher Feedback
Anyhow, it was quite an experience, and I had to remember to keep the patient upright before doing this to prevent choking. I liked how the teacher gave me feedback on what she saw, and then asked me how I thought it went and how I wanted to improve for next time. It made me do some thinking and it helped me to review what I had read and what I had just learned from the experience.

Parkinson's Disease
This was also my first experience with Parkinson's Disease. The pt basically had no (or extremely limited) control over their own body (twitching, shaking), but the mind appeared to be aware of what was going on. Worst of all, the patient couldn't talk and sometimes could only whisper quietly. I found it incredibly distressing.

I felt that the patient was at the mercy of the nurses, and if something went wrong, the patient couldn't call for help or even push the call button. I didn't like seeing the patient with such little control over what happened. It would be one thing to be unconscious like that, or to be a baby, but this patient was aware of what was going on. I can't put my finger on exactly why I find that so frightening, but it is very scary to me. Maybe it's because it reminds me of being trapped in a doll that can't move or talk, but can move its eyes, think, and feel.

Anyhow, I did my best.

It's Worth It For The Smile
I told the patient every little thing before I did it so that they were not surprised, and I talked the patient through any procedures done by other people (ex. inserting IVs or drawing blood). I asked for permission before I did things, and the patient nodded or shook their head (thank goodness, they could at least move the head a little). I leaned in beside the patient's head so that I could catch the whispers when they came through, and heard little comments like "I'm scared" that broke my heart. I felt so bad for the patient.

I did get a smile once though. That was nice. Parkinson's often creates a mask-like expression in patients so I didn't expect the smile.

Sore Feet
I don't even remember what I was doing, but I was walking/or speed walking a lot around the ward. There were always supplies to gather, people to find, things to do. My feet were super sore at the end of each day. I was walking gingerly when I got home. Maybe I need better insoles or something.

Fatigue
I was so tired. I was emotionally drained from wanting so badly to be good to the patient, and physically tired from lack of sleep and hard work.

It has been a good experience and good learning this week. I wonder what next week will be like?

Enjoy yours!

Week 2 of Semester 4

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:43:00 +0000

The second week of Semester 4 has gone by, and it was a good one.

Homework hadn't quite gone to the killer level yet, and I got my first patient to care for independently in clinical. He turned out to be a really nice guy, and since I wasn't giving any medications yet, the workload was light. I ended up helping my nurse out a lot, and the nurse spent time teaching me about different things on the ward, and showing me different procedures.

Some of my favourite moments this week:

Taming the Sheet Monster
There was a patient loudly crying in a room. The LPN said, "Wow, it's been a long time since I've heard that around here." Unfortunately, he was on his way to do something so he had to hurry off. I didn't see anyone else around to intervene and there were no contact precautions on the room door, so I walked in to see what was wrong.

The patient was tossing and turning and crying about how she was uncomfortable. She seemed to be all tangled up in her sheets. I know how much that bothers ME, so I talked soothingly to her and set about fixing her sheets up. I think she was feeling tired, stressed out, and uncomfortable, and the tangled sheets just tipped her scale. Anyhow, after I fixed her up, she seemed to settle down. I put her call bell in her hand and told her to call if she needed someone.

You're Not Alone
After I said good bye to my patient, I heard another patient moaning/sobbing in her bed. I walked over to check what was going on, and found her very distressed. She told me that she was all alone, and that she was frightened. I explained to her that she was not all alone - there were three other patients in the room with her. I pointed them out to her, and reminded her that there were also many nurses bustling about just outside her room. "I can't see them though!" she said.

I realized that her eyesight must be poor even with her glasses, and that the dimmed room made it impossible for her to see the other patients. I told her about how it was quiet time in the hospital, and how the lights had been dimmed so that patients could take a nap, watch some TV, and relax quietly. They were all still there around her, they were just sleeping. "Just because you can't see them," I said, "doesn't mean that they're not there. There are people all around you. You're not alone."

All the soothing talk seemed to make her feel better. She thanked me and I tucked her into bed. I suggested that she take a nap too, and she agreed that it was a good idea. I adjusted her call bell so that she could hold it in her hand. "Push the button if you feel scared, " I told her, "and someone will come here to check on you. The nurses are just outside your door." She smiled, and I felt good inside. It hadn't been a very hard task, but I think it was important.

Why I Do This
That sort of sums up the gist of what the past week has been like. It was a very good start to the semester, and I am looking forward to the rest of it. I was worried that I would fail and that the learning curve would kill me, but these experiences have reminded me about why I am going through all this trouble. I know that I have the ability to help people even if I don't feel confident about my skills yet.

Lovely Teacher
Also, I am starting to really like my teacher. She is so darn polite! I could really learn a thing or two from her in the manners department. I think she could tip-toe around most uncomfortable topics without offending anyone and still get her point clearly across. She's also very knowledgeable.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Semester 4 of Nursing School - Week 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:20:00 +0000

Ohhh... first week is over. I am soooooo tired!

First Day Back

My first day back was a scramble of activity. Class started at 8am and before, between, and after classes, I had to wait in long line ups to renew my student ID, nursing ID, and UPass. I also had to buy my coursepacks, which were unreasonably expensive.

Brain Food

I would have died of hunger in one line up at lunch if it wasn't for a free bagel at the the student union table. I don't know if it was really a good bagel, but I devoured it instantly. That tied me over until I got home where I ate anything in sight.

For some reason, I get really hungry when I'm stressed out. I think my brain needs extra food to function at maximal capacity.

Anyhow, the first day finished well, but then I had a new challenge - the first day of clinical. *gulp!*

Steep Learning Curve

The teacher told us horror stories about the steep learning curve we would encounter this semester. It honestly made me feel nauseous. Every time she mentioned students that didn't make it or students that had issues or challenges, I thought it would be me next. The teacher was trying to prepare us so that we wouldn't be surprised, but it was very overwhelming for the first day.

Acute Medicine

We got a proper tour of the ward we would be working on, and the teacher explained how it was an acute medical ward. This means that the patients are experiencing a short term medical problem with complications. For instance, they might have had a small heart surgery, but they also have kidney problems, diabetes, a recent stroke, high blood pressure, asthma, cancer, etc. When you add up all these separate conditions, you end up with a REALLY BIG problem.

So, it should be really interesting. The teacher says that we'll learn a lot about how all the different problems interact and influence each other. She promises that we'll leave the semester feeling a lot more confident as nurses.

I am excited about all that learning.

Zombies Rise Early

Today, however, we started our shift at 6:30am. That's pretty early. I know some of you early birds won't find it THAT early, but my sleeping schedule hasn't fully switched yet. Even though I head to bed on time, I can't fall asleep until much later.

This means Zombie Student Nurse.

Luckily, the teacher put us in pairs and she put us with less complicated patients. I am very thankful for this gentle start. My patient was super nice too! He was so cooperative, thankful, and easy to cheer up! There's something to be said about leaving the room with a smile.

Being Sick Sucks

The funny thing is that he seemed genuinely happy to see us and to be cared for by us. He greeted us with such a big smile, and he would hold our hands and give us the most heartfelt look of thanks. It made me feel bad for him. I felt like he must have gone through a lot of bad experiences to value his experience with us so much.

I think being very sick must be very miserable. I can't understand exactly what he is going through, but I can sense that it is very difficult for him. It makes me want to help him more. He chuckled over how we were "fussing" over him, but we really wanted him to be comfortable, clean, and well-cared for. I guess he could tell that we meant well.

The teacher said we did a good job, and that helped to make us feel less terrified.

I would tell you more, but I am much too tired. I wasn't the only one either. I noticed that some of my classmates looked like they would fall asleep on their feet after the shift. We're on the ball when we're on the floor, but on our way out the door...? Zzzzzz!

Have a great weekend!

Reflections on Semester Three

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:54:00 +0000

It's amazing how soon a semester ends, a holiday comes and goes, and another semester begins again. Someone slow down time a little!!!

So let's reflect on the last semester and see how went.

Babies and Mommies
Well, I finally saw the little babies get born. They were a lot bigger than I expected them to be at birth and a whole lot cuter to cuddle. Moms turned out to be braver and more formidable than I expected, and the birthing process was a whole lot messier and scarier. I don't look forward to giving birth. At the same time, I'm comforted that God designed women to be able to handle this very frightening process, and to be extremely good at being moms :) There's hope after all.

Magical Humans
In terms of surgery, humans are magical creatures and medical science is amazing. I rather liked working in surgery, and I better! I'll be working in Medicine all semester coming up.

So, what can I say?

Thank You, Nurses
I think I still like nursing. That's good. I get tired sometimes though. I get to do all this good for people, but it's draining. The work is hard and it's super stressful to get through the classes, assignments, exams, and mastery courses. It's not all roses, that's for sure. We should all be thankful for nurses. They work really hard to make sure we get better when we're sick. Oh, and they work really hard in school to make sure they become good nurses in the first place!!!

When In Doubt, Choose "C"
I was relieved to find out that I had passed all my courses. One exam really kicked me in the butt, and I was terrified that I had failed it. Fortunately, "C" was the correct answer for all of the questions I didn't know (just joking!), and I finished with mastery, two B+'s, and one A-. Hurray! Onwards to Semester 4!

Next Semester
I got assigned to the hospital I had wanted for this coming semester, and I hear that my teacher is excellent. It looks to be a good start. However, this is rumoured to be one of the killer semesters where they really test you. We'll be given really difficult cases to care for in the hospital, and they expect us to apply all of the knowledge we have learned so far. It should be interesting.

Sigh, so the holiday ends January 4th. It was a really good break. I'll tell you about it in a bit.

Enjoy the rest of yours, and good luck for the new year!

Cheers!

Poggles the Hedgehog

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:08:00 +0000

Once upon a time, there was a little hedgehog named Poggles.

Poggles was a very frightened little guy. Every time he got scared, he would put his quills up.

No one wanted to be Poggle's friend. They were scared of getting poked.

Poggles tried to put his quills down.

"Hello! My quills are down! Come and say hi!"

But no one was around to say hi. Everyone was having fun somewhere else.

Poggles decided it was no fun putting his quills down. No one cared anyways. "I'm going back to sleep now. If you bother me, I'll hiss at you, " he said. And that's what he did.

The End

Fresh Christmas Wreath Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:57:00 +0000

Christmas wreaths get more expensive each year, and they're not even REAL! Make your own evergreen wreath with boughs from your neighborhood trees for less than $5! Here's how:

You will need:

Large metal wreath frame. (I got mine at Michaels with a 50% off coupon, so it was only $2.)
Florist wire. (I got mine at Michaels for under $2.)
Evergreen branches from the neighborhood trees. (I gathered about 2 grocery bags' worth, but I had a lot of branches left over, so maybe 1 or 1.5 bags full is enough.)
Real red berries or artificial berries.
Optional: Pinecones and ribbon.
Pruning shears to cut the branches and the wire.
Garden gloves to protect your hands as you work.

Place the metal frame with the rounded side up.

Gather 2-3 stems of your evergreen branches. Layer them on top of the metal frame. I had two kinds of evergreen available and I put the prettier/denser one on top. Use a long strip of florist wire to twist-tie the branches securely to the metal frame.

If you have real berry branches, you should include them in each cluster of branches. I couldn't find any real red berries in my neighborhood, so I added fake berries.

Gather another three branches together. Lay them on top of the first cluster, but move down a little. Tie them to the metal frame with florist wire.

Here's a close-up of florist wire tied to the metal frame. Trim the excess wire off with your pruning shears, and tuck it safely away.

Keep adding clusters of 2-3 branches along the metal frame. The closer you put the clusters, the rounder and more full your wreath will be.

Keep adding clusters until you are all the way around the wreath.

For the last cluster, you will need to lift up the first cluster branches to get underneath. Tie the last bough down with florist wire.

Ta da! You've made it all the way around!

Now use the pruning shears to snip off any stray branches that make the wreath not-round. You can snip any super long branches shorter too if they look out of place, and tidy up the center of the wreath too. If you have any bald spots, tuck an extra branch in and tie it down.

If you had real berry branches worked into the wreath. It will look amazing and be finished. If you don't have any real berry branches, you can use fake red berries. I had a bunch of random red berries left from previous wreaths. Some of these berries fell off of Christmas tree decorations, I think...

Honestly, you could just leave the wreath without any additions. It looks really nice with just the evergreen branches.

I wrapped my berries with wire and tied them to branches, weaved them into the branches, etc. Then I adjusted them so that they were more visible.

If you have pine cones, you can wrap them with wire and tie them in too.

Now, if you have some big ribbon, you can tie it on and make a bow. I rather liked mine without any other additions so I left it.

Here is a second wreath that I made a few days later. I found some real berries to include with the fake berries, so I tied them down with each cluster of branches. I also included some other random branches that had small, oval leaves and tiny red berries.

So, there you have it. For under $5, I have a lovely Christmas wreath to brighten my doorway. When Christmas is over, I'll snip all the branches and florist wire off and save the metal frame for another year.

I hope you will have fun making your own wreath too!

Cheers!

Poggle Laughs

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:20:00 +0000

With exams imminent, here's a funny picture for you!

Poggles was trying to flip himself over when I was blow drying his belly. Um... he looks ridiculous... poor fellow. He looks like he's bracing himself from the super blow drying power :)

Happy studying!

Another Fun Bath With Poggles

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 03:00:00 +0000

Poggles needed his nails trimmed. I figured I might as well give him a bath at the same time since his feet were looking a little grubby.

He wasn't as enthusiastic this time about getting a bath. He tried to run away.

But you'd never know it from this smile...

In fact, he looks a lot like he's grinning in this picture. Hee hee!

I filled the sink with water and let him soak a bit, first with Aveeno body wash. Then I rinsed him off and let him soak with a drop of Aveeno bath oil. It was easy to trim his nails under water. Poggles was very cooperative and the water made his nails soft. There was no loud sound to frighten him.

He got blown dry after that, and I even flipped him over to blow dry his tummy. Last time it was still wet underneath. He wasn't too thrilled about being flipped over.

After all that excitement. It was nap time. (If you zoom in really close to his nose, you can see that it kind of flares out on the edges. Neat! It reminds me of a star-nosed mole.)

Poor fellow. He was all tuckered out. He looks super cosy in his pouch though. Now's he's drying/warming under my desk lamp while I study.

I hope you have a great week!

Last Day of Maternity

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 06:53:00 +0000

It was the last day of my maternity rotation today. I have the radio blasting Christmas music, I'm filling orders for my online shop, and I gave Poggles a proper cleaning. It's a good day today. (Of course, Poggles thinks it's a terrible day. He's afraid of going into his new, clean pouch and he's hiding out under his wheel.)

My sister set up the Christmas tree and I piled the presents I've been hoarding in my room under it. Sigh. How lovely :) On top of that, I'm munching on the little sandwiches I made for our potluck today at the hospital.

So, what can I say about this maternity rotation now? Well, I finally got to see a birth. It's not exactly what I had envisioned.

Labor
There was something like a roll-bar arched over her bed and the mum had her feet on it. She was pulling on a blanket tied to this row bar so that she could have leverage. Meanwhile, people were walking in and out of the room - doctors, nurses, family members. It was a bit confusing, but they were just checking on her progress.

My job was just to watch and to provide encouragement, so I just smiled at the mum, gave her thumbs up, and said encouraging things when she made a good push. Sometimes I put gloves on and changed the towels under her. The mum didn't mind. She was focused on the pushing part.

The nurses were very nice to me and explained what was going on and the different machines. The mum had a fetal monitor over her tummy so that the nurses could monitor her blood pressure, her heart rate, and the baby's heart rate.

Delivery
At one point, I started to see something dark at the vaginal opening. The nurses told me it was the baby's hair. My eyes got really big then and I couldn't stop staring. The dark part got gradually more visible until it was pretty obvious that it was a little head pushing it's way out.

The doctors were called and they all came bustling in with their various teams. There were doctors to deliver the baby, doctors to observe the doctor, and doctors specializing in babies to take over when the baby was born. Everything happened pretty fast after that. Push, push, push, and SPLOOSH! The baby was out! It was amazing.

Newborn Care
The baby's cord was clamped and cut, and the baby was passed to the baby doctors. They checked the baby over, checked the baby's throat, and did a little bit of suction. When they had made sure the baby was healthy, they let the nurse take over. She cleaned the baby off and called me over. I got to put eye ointment into the baby's eyes to protect it from infection, and she gave it a Vitamin K injection to protect it from bleeding. I was pretty excited to see a brand new baby.

Placenta
Then I got to examine the placenta. The nurse showed me the part that was housing the baby in the womb, and the part that connected to the mother. The part connected to the mother looks a bit like chunks of raw liver. She showed me how we have to examine it to see if it looks intact with no pieces missing. If pieces are missing, they have to check the mum to see if some pieces are still inside her.

Stitches
Meanwhile, the doctors were stitching the mum up. Because the baby came out so fast, she had some tearing. Poor mum! She didn't seem to really notice though. She was in a rather delirious state saying things like, "My baby...". I think she was a bit wrapped up in what had just taken place and the miracle of having just given birth to a real live baby.

We wrapped the baby up and passed it to mum. She was overcome with happiness to see her new baby, and it was a very sweet moment.

Mum Amnesia
I took care of the mum for the rest of my shift and checked her studiously. She did great! I was happy to be part of her experience, and I hope it was much better from her perspective than from mine, lol! It's a bit scary to be the observer. The mums seem to "forget" what they go through though. One mum said that she knows in her brain how traumatic and painful it was, but that it's fuzzy. Instead, they glow over their new babes and enthusiastically plan for more children!

It's Growing on Me
So, looking back at these last two weeks, I'd have to say that it got better. I wasn't as stressed out anymore, and I could see how valuable the teaching was for the parents. Everything was hands on and applicable. I would teach the mum to breastfeed, and then I'd watch her actually do it; I'd teach the dad to bathe the baby, and then he'd show me how he could do it alone. It was really nice.

I think the highlight of my time in maternity was cuddling with the babies. Sometimes the mums would leave the baby in my arms while they went to the bathroom and I could croon and rock the baby. It was really sweet. The babies are so cute, so soft skinned, and downright lovable. They make funny noises and they can sometimes smile. It warmed my heart.

I think that despite all the scary things that happened in Maternity, I could get used to it based on the fact that I like the babies so much. Funny how things work. Well, now to hit the books. Final exams start next week! *groan*

Wish me luck!

Have a great week!

Hedgehog Rambles

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:42:00 +0000

Hello! My name is Poggles. I'm the beloved hedgehog of the perpetually strange lady that feeds me.

She's very odd. I spend night after night messing this house up, and what does she do? She throws away my perfectly scrunched up paper towel, wipes off my perfectly coated wheel, throws away my poop collection, and gives me a horribly clean, hedgehog-scent-free pouch! Ugh!

... but then she gives me apples... and cat kibble... mmm! I hear she's growing mealworms for me too!

Just the thought of that yummy food makes my mouth water *smacks lips*

So, I guess she's okay. But, geez, just look how clean this litter is? How can any hedgehog stand this?

Time to start my poop collection again. Maybe I should build a tower with it like last time...

(Have a great week!)

Almost Done - Week 10 & 11

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 03:10:00 +0000

The maternity rotation is starting to be fun. I've learned more in lab, I'm getting assigned two patients at a time (or one complicated one), and I've done my first baby bath. I also know how to do baby assessments.

Babies

Babies are super fun. They wave their arms and legs around, make cute noises, and blink with wonder at blank space. They're also fuzzy. I think fuzzy babies are awesome. Newborns have soft downy "fur" all over them called lanugo. After you bathe the newborn, the soft fur goes all fluffy. It's fantastic!

One thing that has surprised me is how big newborns are. I always thought they would be smaller considering the size of the opening they come out of. Sometimes I look at the baby, look at the mom, and scratch my head. How did it get out?

Teaching

New moms (and dads) have a huge learning curve. If they're lucky, they did a ton of reading while mom was pregnant. If not, they have to learn an encyclopedia amount of information in a very short time frame. It means that I can rattle off information non-stop and it's likely that mom will get something out of it that she didn't know before.

I have been impressed at how eager new moms are to learn. They're like sponges. I guess when you go through that much trouble to bring a kid into the world, you want to make sure you're doing your best for them. So I do my best to provide as much info as I can, keeping things as bite-sized as possible.

Less Blood

Thankfully, I haven't had to work with as much blood as last time. There's still blood, but it's manageable now. I think I won't be as scared if I ever come across the same situation again. I know a lot more about what I can do about it, and about the resiliency of a mom. Moms have super powers, in a sense.

This week, I'll get to see a mom give birth. I'm worried that I'll pass out. Fingers-crossed that I'll be more useful to mom than as a decorative floor mat.

Have a great week!

Onwards With Maternity

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 01:56:00 +0000

Working in the maternity ward has been increasingly stressful for me. I know, I know, I should be loving every minute of it, but for many reasons I'm kind of scared of working in Maternity.

So Much Blood

I walked into a new client's room one morning to discover a trail of blood from the bed leading to the bathroom. In the bathroom was a poor mum lying on the floor. I felt like I had walked into a scene from a horror movie.

There were nurses around her taking care of her, but I felt like I was frozen in time. I looked at the nurses working hard to ensure that the mom was okay and not did not pass out, I saw how pale and sweaty the mom looked, and I saw the look of fear on the husband's face. He was holding his new baby close, but I don't think that made him feel any less terrified at seeing his wife unwell.

Postpartum Hemorrhage

Long story short, it was a busy day. I monitored her health every hour and learned a lot about bleeding in the first few hours after birth. I learned that a full bladder can push the uterus to the side so that it can't contract as well to stop bleeding, about how inserting a foley catheter can help empty the bladder quickly (if there's risk of passing out on the way to the bathroom), and about drugs that can help the uterus contract in case the bleeding doesn't stop naturally.

I'm not particularly scared of blood, but something about a lot of blood soaked towels and sheets frightens me. The cleaning staff did a great job of making the blood on the floors disappear quickly (thank you!), but it was up to me to make the blood on the mom disappear.

Shaken Up

I thought I would see a lot of blood in surgery, but this is really my first experience in seeing and handling so many bloody things. I think I'll get used to it after a few more experiences, but for now I'm rather shaken up. It is scary to see someone bleeding a lot.

Thank God For Hospitals
I guess the good thing is that bleeding in the hospital is not such a big deal. The moms eat food and drink liquids to replace lost fluid and nutrients, and they have IV's hooked up as well. This means that they can get the proper fluids instantly through their IV, including blood products if they need it.

While I was feeling jittery and lost, the mom I was taking care of seemed perfectly fine in no time. It was as if nothing had happened. The baby was fine too. In the end, it was just another happy family leaving the hospital with their new baby.

It's amazing how resilient humans are.

Poggles Likes Baths

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 23:03:00 +0000

Poggles always perks up at the sound of running water. We weren't sure if it terrified him or whether he liked it, but it became very clear today that Poggles LOVES it. (What a weirdo.)

I washed the sink, turned on the water to a nice, warm temperature, and Poggles started to fiddle like crazy in his carrying pouch. I lifted him up to the edge of the sink and he dived into it immediately. Then he just sat with his back under the running tap... and didn't move.

He REALLY liked the shower. I could scoop water and pour it over him, even over his face, and he didn't budge an inch.

I had to move him aside so that I could plug the sink. Then I added a little Aveeno body wash to the water to make his mini bubble bath. I took a soft, clean toothbrush and brushed his back, feet, and belly. He didn't like his head and face brushed much, but I did it anyways. I was just extra gentle, so he resumed his statue pose.

After a nice little soak, I drained the water, rinsed him under the tap (much to his content), filled up the tub again, and rinsed all the body wash away.

He hated being dried with a towel last time, so I experimented with a blow dryer. I put it on a low power, warm setting.

He was a little surprised by the air at first, but then he just hunched over and let me dry him. I kept my hand in front of the blow dryer to make sure that the temperature never got too hot, and I always kept the blow dryer moving. Once in a while, I'd brush the quills to make sure they separated and got properly dried. Towards the end, I pushed him over to his side so that I dry under him too.

His nose got a little dry and I was worried about him getting dehydrated so I gave him a tiny spoon of yogurt. I vaguely remember that hedgehogs are lactose intolerant, but Poggles eats yogurt readily in tiny quantities without any problems. You can see how little I gave him in the picture.

After all that excitement, I wrapped him loosely in one of his fleece liners and placed him under my desk lamp where it's warm. I gave him a couple "cookies" (round cat kibbles), and he settled down for a nap. This ensures that he will dry thoroughly at a warm temperature.

Bath time with hedgies is fun :)

Week 8 of Nursing School, 2nd Year

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:51:00 +0000

I'm finally in the long-awaited Maternity rotation. This was supposed to be the ward that would change my life. I'm supposed to find my calling and feel tugging in my heart strings. Ironically, I haven't really felt that yet.

Instead, I've been slightly bored.

Quiet Maternity
The maternity ward is very quiet compared to the surgical ward. The mothers are generally in good health and I won't be assigned more complicated cases until later in this term. My first patient was very sweet, content with her new baby, and tired. I only had to check her vital signs once, and she was mostly sleeping, feeding the baby, or gazing contentedly at her baby most of the time.

Pain
The main concern of the new mothers is pain from childbirth. After a woman gives birth, her insides have to stop the bleeding and start changing back to pre-baby status. This is a normal process and it is very important. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel very good. Also, some of the moms have wounds from the baby coming out and tearing her nether parts (ouch!) from being too big or too fast.

Here's some traumatic information for you. The tearing can be just skin (first degree), skin and muscle (second degree), skin and muscle all the way to the anus (third degree), or all the way through the anus to the other side of your anus (fourth degree).

I find this to be very frightening. I keep wondering whether these women knew what they were getting themselves into and why they choose to have more kids. I watch them hunched over, walking slowly and gingerly to and from the bathrooms. I'm still in shock-phase, but I'm sure I'll soon appreciate my mom a lot for what she went through to give birth to me.

Teaching Opportunities
There's a lot of teaching to do as a nurse in the maternity ward. Many moms are new to this stage in life, and they don't really know what to expect. I enjoy racking my brain for information to share, and I can see how valuable this is for the mothers. For instance, I can teach the moms about how they will produce a special milk called Colostrum for the first few days. She won't produce a great deal of it, but this special milk is low-fat, high in protein, and contains natural antibodies from the mom that will help the baby to fight infection.

So it's important to encourage the moms to start breastfeeding right away so that the babies can take advantage of this special milk. Some moms don't really know how to breastfeed yet, so the nurses can teach them some tips and tricks on how to hold the baby and to get a good "latch". I also get to teach the moms about how the milk is based on a supply-and-demand system. The more she breastfeeds, the more milk she will produce.

Stressed Out Moms
Many moms feel stressed out for the first few days because they don't produce much milk and the baby starts to lose weight. What they don't always realize is that a) the baby will naturally lose a little weight from extra water being lost and b) the baby's stomach is about the size of a chickpea for the first few days. The mom doesn't really need to feed it that much milk at one time. However, she does need to feed it a little every three hours. As long as she does this, she'll notice her regular milk come in around 3-5 days later and everyone will be happier.

Some moms want to switch to formula as fast as possible because they think that their baby isn't getting enough food, but it's important for me to teach them that human milk is much better for the baby than formula. Formula's main ingredient is whey from cow's milk. My teacher has noticed that babies eating formula are more gassy, more poopy, and more irritable. Also, if the mom starts switching to formula, or using it to supplement her milk, she'll start to produce less milk. It becomes a cycle where the mom becomes more and more dependent on using formula, and the baby is missing out on the awesome benefits of mom's milk.

Lots of New Info
I find the maternity rotation to be very interesting in terms of all the new vocabulary that I'm learning and all the information that is so specific to childbirth. I think that I'll enjoy it a lot more once I have more knowledge from my classes on this area of nursing. For now, I feel a little bit useless because I can't help the moms more. I know bits and pieces of information, but not the whole picture yet.

I'm looking forward to getting more experience in clinical this week. Maybe I'll get to bathe a baby! That would be cool :)

Have a great week!

Happy Halloween 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:40:00 +0000

Are you ready for another SPOOKY Halloween? I know I am! I baked up a batch of peanut butter cookies (Yum!) and my honey came over for some pumpkin carving. We turned on the hilarious Sean of the Dead and then continued on with the more frightening classic Halloween.

I made the spooky-cute tree and he made a classic jack-o-lantern. I like how he looks kind of goofy :)

The pumpkin seeds were boiled in salted water, dried, mixed with garlic butter and a little olive oil, and baked for 45 mins. Then we sprinkled them with some salt and munched away to our hearts content.

I wish you all a very delightful and happy Halloween!

Weeks 6 & 7 of Nursing School (2nd Year)

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:54:00 +0000

The last two weeks have been a blur. There was a massive 52 page paper to hand in, a skill testing presentation, and a slew of exams. The exams continue on this week, in addition to a group presentation. It's a lot of work!

Switching to Maternity
My social life has dwindled down and my poor sweetheart is neglected (tsk-tsk), but there was a teensy break this weekend. We are switching over from the surgical rotation to the maternity rotation so there was no clinical this week. This week I will be in the maternity ward - oh, I am so excited!

At first I was terrified. "Oh no!" I thought, "I am going to drop a baby on it's head FOR SURE!" The parents will relay to the child with sad eyes about how the student nurse, Marie, had slippery hands and dropped him right on his noggin. He'll probably sustain brain damage, and sue me for every non-penny I have.

But, little by little, I began to anticipate being able to see these little squirming bundles of fat and cuteness. Babies are the best! Of course, I'm a little biased right now because I saw my friend's baby this weekend and he's an exceptionally awesome baby :)

The Best of Surgery
Still, I will miss working in surgery. It has been a very good experience. I had a really good teacher that taught me a lot, and I was fortunate to work with many nurses that took time out to show me procedures and other cool things. I also got to try out lots of new skills, such as removing staples on surgical wounds, hanging IV bags, taking out a urinary catheter, giving injections, flushing IV saline locks, and changing wound dressings. It has been neat!

The patients have been a lot more mobile and active than last semester (geriatrics), and it has been exciting to see them get well and to go home. If you ever get hospitalized, remember to try and start moving as soon as you can safely do so. It keeps your blood moving around so that you don't get blood clots and bed sores, and you'll heal faster! You'll also suffer less complications like the dreaded constipation.

One patient said to me in awe, "Why are all these people lying around in bed? They need to GET UP and start walking! They'll never get better by lying around like that!" That patient was an inspiration, and she got better a lot faster than my textbook estimated. I was proud of her!

Well, I better get back to my studying.

I hope you have a great week!

The Pumpkin Hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:32:00 +0000

It was a beautiful day to go pumpkin hunting today. The weather was cool, the leaves are starting to change colour, and it was sunny. My sweetie and I stopped by the local Farmer's Market to look at all the yummy baked goods and fresh produce. There were some amazing pumpkins available! The kind that look like something out of a Halloween cartoon - the odd shaped, Tim Burtonesque variety.

Unfortunately, they cost about $10 for a big one, so we had to pass. Instead, we picked up a fresh bag of kettle corn, still warm and sticking in clumps. It was so good!

At the grocery store, we found plenty of big pumpkins for a reasonable price. I spent forever looking for odd shaped ones only to finally settle upon a very nicely shaped regular pumpkin. I showed it to Poggles, but he seemed a bit bothered by it. He refused to come to the take-out window to get his food.

Maybe the pumpkin is HAUNTED???

(More likely, it just smells funny... :P Have a great day!)

The Take-Out Window

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 01:33:00 +0000

Poggles gets hand-fed every day. Yesterday he discovered "the take-out window".

The side of his cage has a sliding door and I opened it for business. If he comes to the take out window and clambers up, he can take a piece of food to go!

He usually eats the small pieces right there in front of me (with great relish!), but he takes the bigger pieces of food to-go. They are too scary to eat at the take out window so he takes them under his wheel to eat in secret.

Silly Poggles!

My Study Buddy

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:36:00 +0000

Here's a picture of my little study buddy. He usually sleeps with his bum to me so that I can't see him, but he made an exception on this day. I think he looks so cute with those pink little legs to the side.

He woke up after a few clicks, but he just settled back down and snoozed away. My sweetie says that I have been less stressed out this term and he attributes it to Poggles. I guess it's hard to frown TOO much when I look up from the books and see this serene little sleeper.

Have a nice day :)

"Poggle-Poggle!"

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:23:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving! It was a very good day today. I got some homework done and then I spent some quality time with good ol' Poggles.

He's usually very, very grumpy when I clean his house, but he was in a surprisingly accommodating mood today. It was time to grab the camera!!!

He started off as his usual, skittish self except that he didn't turn his back to me. He was watching me. I think he wanted food. This is the fortunate side effect of hand-feeding your hedgehog. When he wants food, he'll pay attention to you!

I led him on a path to his pouch and hid a piece of food inside. He usually doesn't want to go into a new, clean pouch, but I've mastered the trick of rubbing his old pouch against the outside and opening of his new pouch. He sniffs the pouch opening very carefully, and then he walks inside.

I make it extra easy for him to know that there's a piece of food inside by dragging the food in a path along the floor into his house. I'm pretty sure it leaves a scent trail for him. He has a very good sense of smell.

Well, once Poggles got inside of his pouch and ate his snack. He just sat at the entrance. It was a perfect photo op.

He has never liked the camera much so I was very surprised at how he just put up with me. The camera was right in his face and he didn't seem to care. Very odd... Hey, but I'm not complaining! I am very thankful.

I hope you had lots of turkey, stuffing, and other good things with your family and friends today.

Cheers :)

Weeks 4 & 5 of Nursing School (2nd Year)

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 21:18:00 +0000

"It's not a real patient!" I woke up saying yesterday afternoon. I had just had a terrible dream where my patient had died for a very long time and somehow I had never noticed. This was a result of a grueling week of exams and papers, and two clinical days where nothing seemed to go right.

Things Go Wrong
Granted, they weren't my patients, but anytime something bad happens to a patient I start to worry that something bad will happen to one of mine. In clinical this week, one patient stopped breathing, one patient's condition suddenly deteriorated to the point where they had to assign the student nurse to a different patient because the condition was too critical for a student nurse to manage, and one patient was delirious and pulled out all of the tubings and IV. It was a student nurse's worst nightmare.

You can rest easy knowing that none of these things happened as a result of anything that the student nurse's did wrong. We literally walked onto the surgical floor, went to check on our assigned patients, and ran out calling for help. Sometimes bad things happen on a surgical ward because patients have complications from the surgery, different tests, and medications. Luckily, this was our first experience with this since starting in surgery, so I guess it's not that common.

Needless to say, I was running at maximum adrenaline levels. I was in constant fear that I was going to do something wrong. Unfortunately for me, this was also the day that my teacher assigned us two patients instead of one. She also wanted to give us some more complicated cases. *groan*

After running around like a chicken with its head cut off, I came home, showered, and collapsed into bed. I was out in seconds.

Such is the life of a nursing student in second year. There are always too many assignments to do, too little time to sleep, too many exams that coincide with other projects, and waaaaay too much that we don't know yet. In clinical, we are constantly flipping through our textbooks to look up different conditions, reviewing how to do something, what certain medications are for, etc. It's hectic.

Sweet Patients
Of course, not all is bad. I still get nice moments with clients. I was in the middle of rushing off to do something yesterday when one of my clients started calling, "Nurse! Nurse!" I rushed over to see what was wrong. Instead of reporting something frightful, he flashed me a big grin and said, "Nurse, you are doing a great job! I can see you are very busy today, but I know you are going to be a great nurse one day." *sigh of relief from the nursing student*

When I told him at the end of my shift that I was going home now, he exclaimed, "What am I going to do when you're gone? I am going to MISS you!" Lol, I'm going to miss you too, lovely client.

We Hate Homework

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 05:36:00 +0000

I don't know how it happened, but it's already time for the first round of exams. I am feeling grumpy about so much homework and studying, and Poggles is grumpy about it too. Well, he's mostly grumpy because he's my homework buddy.

He's forced to sit in his pouch sleeping and sniffing the air while I toil away. He even has to tolerate getting fed intermittently. Poor guy... What a hard life.

Meanwhile, I'm looking up drug names like Dimenhydrinate, Ipratropium, and Saccharomyces Boulardii. Who comes up with these?!?

Okay, back to the grind. Nose to the wheel, nose to the wheel...

Have a good weekend :)

Pogglebee Growing Up

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:38:00 +0000

Little by little, Poggles is growing up. He's getting bigger, fatter, and a little more used to his new life with my family. He's also developed some nice habits that make my life a little easier.

First of all, he doesn't randomly poop anymore. It used to be that he'd poop all over you if you tried to handle him. He just couldn't control himself. Now, you can play with him and you'll stay clean (Phewf!).

Secondly, he only poops on his wheel and inside of his litterbox. What a champ! The rest of his house stays poop free. Well... almost. He has the unfortunate habit of dragging his dirty paper towel into his house. I think he uses it like a blanket to curl into, and as a plug for the door of his pouch.

Each morning I have to steal his dirty blanket away from him. Ewww....

I found a solution though. (Owning Pogglebee is all about problem solving.) I got rid of his corner litterbox and put the big, rectangular litterbox directly under the wheel. Now the litterbox catches all of the moisture and poop, and the paper towel is just a floor towel for when he climbs out of the box. The paper towel stays pretty clean, and I don't mind as much that he hugs it at night.

Another big plus lately is that he has become more friendly. Guess how? I switched from letting him free-feed to hand-feeding most of his meals. I still leave him a snack out during the day, but he has to wait for me to get the bulk of his food. Yes, it takes more time to feed him one piece at a time, but he knows I'm nice now.

I've upgraded from scary cleaning lady to food lady.

I can lure him out of his house with a piece of food, and after that, I can pet his forehead or gently scratch or rub his chin while he's eating. I find it really nice that I can touch him without him freaking out now. I had to start with just touching his nose, then it moved to chin rub, and now it's small forehead strokes. He's still against being touched on his back, but I'm working on it :)

Oh, and just now, I used my stethoscope to listen to his heart through his fleece pouch. His heart beats so fast! My classmates in the Maternity ward have been telling me about how baby hearts beat super fast too. Maybe I can practice counting Pogglebee's heart so that I'll be more prepared to count super fast baby hearts?

Have a great day!

Weeks 1 to 3 of Nursing School (2nd Year)

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 19:08:00 +0000

The first three weeks back to school have zoomed by! I feel like I have so much to tell you, and yet I have so little time to do it. THERE IS SO MUCH HOMEWORK!!!

Watching Surgeries
So I'll just share a little of what has been going on. First of all, the focus this term is on Surgery and Maternity. The class has been split into two: half of us are in Surgery and half of us are in Maternity. I'm starting in Surgery first so I've had the chance to watch three live surgeries so far! I literally got to stand above a patient's head while the surgeon cut their chest open.

It was the most unreal experience I have ever had. The surgical assistant was holding something smooth and pink inside of the patient and she told me that it was the stomach. My eyes almost popped out of my head.

I expected to see a lot of blood, but the surgeon used a special tool that basically cuts and seals at the same time so there isn't much bleeding at all. The only side effect is a very pungent burning smell, kind of like burning oil.

Team O.R.
Anyways, it was a really positive experience for me to see the surgeries because I'm quite afraid of the operating room. Watching the operations as a student allowed me to see a different perspective and I was really impressed at how nice the nurses treated the patients and how well they all worked together as a team. The anesthetist was able to time things perfectly so that the patient woke up immediately after being transferred to the bed that takes them to the recovery room. It was like magic!

General Surgery Ward
I also got to care for the patients on the surgical ward after they underwent surgery. This is very different than caring for elderly patients like I did last term. Many of the patients on a surgical ward are not elderly and have very little illness aside from the surgery. They can do most of their own care independently, and they also have less medications. So, in a sense, it's easier this term than last term in clinical because I don't have to assist as many patients to the bathroom or bathe them. On the flipside, we have new skills to practice, such as injections, IV, and dressing changes. We also need to see the bigger picture now so that we can plan how to get the patient back to being healthy so that they can go home.

I find this really exciting because I get to think more about what I can do as a nurse to help the person heal better and feel better. I also do a lot of exploring with the patient on how they cope with their illnesses, their support network, and what they do to improve their health. I also get to teach patients about things that can improve their health. Something about all this talking with patients and teaching them makes me feel really useful, so I have really enjoyed clinical so far. I also have a fabulous teacher that really encourages us to think critically about how and why we do things, and whether there are better ways to do things. I love improving processes, so this is candy for me.

Anyhow, I better get back to my studying. So, if you're wondering about why there is a picture of an orange, it's because one of the patients gave it to me as a gift. I only had her for one day, but it was her last day at the hospital and she wanted to give me something. She said that she had really appreciated my care and how nice I had been to her. You can't really give nurses gifts per say, so I asked the teacher what to do with the orange. "Eat it," she said. So the orange came home with me.

Have a great week!