Week Nine: January 11-12, 2010

I had another incredible week! Aside from initially being nervous about where I stood within the group of other students, I really surprised myself and feel I did a wonderful job. I handed in my physical assessments before most the other students, documented in the charts with confidence and was also able to complete all my tasks on time. Mrs. Espinoza even watched me do a physical assessment on my patient and gave me great feedback-what a refief! On Monday I was assigned two very sweet patients. One elderly, Vietnamese man who was very independent and would never stop smiling-it was adorable. He looked especially handsome when he actually had his complete set of dentures in his mouth when they were not hiding in the bottom drawer of his bedside table. He was admitted for dehydration & hypothermia. His son visited with him most the day and was very appreciative of my care for his father. My other patient, let's call him Mr. BV, was also very independent and I was lucky enough to take care of him on both Monday and Tuesday. I was fortunate enough to meet his beautiful wife who was dedicated to visiting with him absolutely everyday from 8:30 in the morning until 5:30 at night. Mr. BV was from the Philippines and had seven children with his wife. Their love for one another was crystal-clear. He was admited to the hospital on December 21st due to complications regarding his rectal cancer. It broke my heart he was still in the hospital after 23 days, he did everything he could do to prove to everyone he deserved to be home with his family. He would walk at least one hour around the med-surg floor while his wife would sit in his room and crochet a scarf or two for her granddaugters. It was a very special opportunity to be able to take care of Mr. BV. He seemed to be very curious about me and my life-for once I wasn't the only one asking one million questions about the other person in the room. He wanted to know how old I was, what my family was like, and when I was finally able to graduate my nursing program. While I was giving him his bedbath he looked straight into my eyes and said in his cute accent, "Katie, I know you will be a wonderful nurse, I can tell; keep working hard." I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little choked up. He was so appreciative of everything I did for him- I was even able to spend some extra time giving him a relaxing back rub along with a foot massage. This week it has become extremely evident that becoming a nurse is exactly what I want to do with my life. Everyday you have the oppurtunity to touch someone's life in a very special way and sometimes they may even change your life. When you stop consuming yourself with the complexities of everyday life and allow yourself to think about what is most important, I believe you will soon come to the realization that it is the simple things in life that matter. Clearly I was thinking about how neurotic I can be at times; always worrying about one thing or another, in this case, always worried about doing each nursing action step by step without "messing up." In the end, I truly believe that if you preform any task out of love I believe you can't go wrong. I will continue to work hard and hope to be the most knowledgable nurse I am capable of being while always caring for each individual patient as if they were my own mother, father, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt, cousin, friend, ect. I am not sure that Mr. BV will ever be aware of how much he taught me as a nursing student but I hope the best for him and his family, and he will most definitely be a patient I will never forget. As much I would love to see him next week, I would love even more for him to be home with his family.