Week Seven: December 14-16, 2009

I apologize for taking four weeks to write this!! Apparently I was too excited for winter break to write the blog. Now that time has passed and that specific week is a bit fuzzy, I will try my best to write what I remember of it. On Monday I was asked to be team leader with my friend McKenna and it was a very nice change of pace. As a team leader you are not assigned to any patients but your responsibilities vary from scheduling fellow student break times, checking that documentation is being completed, assisting with any duties classmates need help with, creating a short presentation for post-conference etc. I also remember the week being a bit comical. I had the same elderly male for the two rotation days I was assigned patients. This man previously had a subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding between the brain and a thin tissue protecting the brain) and clearly suffered from dementia. He had been pulling at his IV tubing and the doctor made the decision to put him in wrist restraints. This really bothers me because in most cases facilities prefer to do all they can to eliminate the use of restraints by using a "sitter" (someone who is qualified to sit at the patients bedside making certain no tubes are being pulled out etc.) The first day I had him he was very unhappy with me for reasons beyond what I could ever imagine-he was being quite delusional. He was certain I had locked him up in jail and that the Croatian army was going to save him. Also, upon entering his room it looked like he had maneuvered out of the restraints and was reaching for the window. I asked politely what he had needed help with and he was demanding his burrito. I took one look at his plate of food and noticed there were indeed chicken fajitas, beans, and rice; no signs of any burrito. He told me very angrily that his burrito had fallen out the window and that someone needed to go get it immediately so he could finally eat, because, of course, he was starving. Me, being the completely innocent nursing student not knowing what else to do, asked him if is was okay if I looked for the burrito later but if I was able to help him eat his rice and beans. I am so glad that went over well. One second he seemed pleasant and the next second I was not sure of what he was going to say or do. He was very aggravated while I was helping him eat, I was making sure he knew what was on his spoon and what was entering his mouth, I also was more than willing to take suggestions for what he wanted to eat next. At this point, burrito talk faded but he did not care at all what I was going to feed him just as long as it was in his mouth and ended up in his stomach as soon as possible! He made a few rude remarks but I feel like he was only helping me acquire my "tough skin." The rest of the day was difficult, I noticed some redness and edema around his forearms and wrists and it was clear the restraints were bothering him. I asked the nurse if I was able to take off the restrains and act as a sitter ensuring nothing would go wrong. As I felt I was doing him a favor he completely disagreed and didn't want a thing to do with me. The next day I was so pleased to find out I had the same patient! I was exhausted and going on the fourth week of being miserably sick and quite honestly was not too excited to "deal with him" as awful as that sounds. I was more than ecstatic to hear my name being called by him while I was in the hall. In his thick Croatian accent he yelled "Katie, can't you see I need help in here!?" I was baffled because clearly I felt he had no idea what my name was and was very excited he wanted help...from ME! This was a great day, I stayed the entire day in his room chatting with him. I learned he was born and raised in Croatia and traveled to America when he was 27 years old looking for work. He has a son (a doctor) and a daughter who live close by. He was in the wine business for many years and told me a little bit about life in Croatia. It was so mind-boggling to have witnessed such a change in attitude and mental alertness. Throughout the day he began teaching me a few words (which happens to be very, very, difficult! I will be sticking to Spanish!) Overall, I really enjoyed my day and was able to get to know another patient on a more personal level-my type of nursing! My last week at Kindred was very rewarding, as we left the hospital many nurses and nurse assistants told us how much they appreciated our help. I just can't believe my first clinical rotation is finished!