NKOTB

I've started training on my actual floor of the hospital, caring for real live patients. I've learned how to use (most of) the equipment there, including my first ever go-around with electronic charting and fancy-schmancy vitals-taking machines. I have yet to have a patient accept my offer of a bed bath or a shower, so maybe these people just like to be dirty or maybe they're too high to move or maybe they just don't wanna get even a little naked in front of me? Hard to say.

Tomorrow I'll have 8 patients to care for, then for my last day of training I'll have the full 10 (my normal load).

And so far, no more fainting. Not at the blood bank, not after chugging up all the flights of stairs in the "tower", not when someone was admitted with their toe already missing, not any fainting at all. Yay me!

Now if I can just navigate the whole time-management aspect and deal with nurses who are unused to delegating anything at all, I'll be golden.

Whew!

First week of hospital orientation

I finished my first week of hospital orientation, which translated into multiple 8-hour days of class, basically. Seriously, I finally got a tour of my unit the last day, AFTER everything else (except restraints) had been covered.

And how was all this class, you wonder?

Pretty cool, for the most part. We're the pilot program of them implementing CNA's at Father Sainty's, so every single one of the CNA's for my floor was hired and trained all together. So it feels like we're a graduating class together after all these days of orientation classes together, which is neat. Dayshift, swing shift, and noc shift all got trained and oriented together for the pre-floor stuff. We learned new things (bladder scans!) and slung each other around using the overhead lifts in the patient rooms. Good times!

Now for the humiliating news: I passed out. Cold. In front of every single other CNA on my floor, two nurse educators, and one of my managers. It was AWFUL. We were in the classroom and I have a needle phobia.

I do okay when someone is actually in front of me bleeding or has an IV inserted or whatever, but that's because I can move around to keep my BP up, and because I know I'm responsible for them and cannot faint. I've cared for someone through a compound fracture and been okay. But when it comes to the classroom setting, when someone verbally starts describing blood draws or the like, I get woozy. Even if I'm listening to a nursing podcast and they get too graphic, I have to change it or I'd be a danger on the road.

So not only do I have a crazy phobia, it's ridiculously specialized; a DESCRIPTION of blood and needles phobia.

So our nurse educator is merrily telling us how to do glucose checks, and going on and on about it, and about how we may not "milk" their fingertips to get more blood, and I was getting woozier by the second. I trying to hang on as long as I could, then I figured I'd better get out in the hallway where I can put my head down without anyone seeing me. So I stood up and started walking towards the door.

Who can guess how that turned out?


Yep, I woke up flat on my back on the floor, with people over me going "Are you okay Polly? Are you okay???".

So. Freaking. Unbelievably. Embarrassing.

So now one of my managers thinks I'm going to do this while working the floor, and the rest seem undecided. All I can do is prove them wrong. And once I do, hopefully this will become a funny story about way back when I first started working at Father Sainty's.

Oy.

Floundering

I had my face-to-face interview over at Father Sainty's yesterday morning, and it went really well. The unit manager was the one who interviewed me, and she told me that I did really well and (with the prioritization scenario) answered it "just right". I should find out at the end of this week or the beginning of next week whether or not I'll be offered the job. I'm thinking I will be, which is wonderful - I can work 24 hours a week instead of 36 and make around the same amount of money. I'm going to need that extra time for homework if this week has been any indication ...

Going back to school hasn't been as smooth sailing as my professional life has been. First I found out that my financial aid wouldn't cover my Bio class (deadline was 0800 to register for it, but I'd been waitlisted and so I went and got the instructor's signature at the first class session at 1100. Too late). I freaked out until I realized I don't even need that Bio class. WHEW! The prerequisite for me to take Anatomy and Physiology I next quarter is Chem 121, which I'm in right now. Thank goodness it's my only class, because I'm woefully behind in the math.

We did an 8 problem assessment quiz in class to see how well prepared we were and I didn't even know how to do any of the 8 problems. Algebra was in high school, which was a long time ago. Instead of bursting into tears and running out of the room, I stuck around for the lecture, and then did the in-class group exercise (conversions using the dimensional analysis method and significant figures). Since this was new to all of us, I did fine with that. I just don't know how to write things in scientific notation, but my textbook should be able to tell me that, as soon as I go buy it. I stayed after and spoke to the instructor, who told me that if I'm willing to work hard and use the extra online resources, I can learn the amount of math I need in order to complete this course.

So I'm doing that. And trying not to freak out too badly.

But if I struggle this hard with every class, I can't imagine taking more than one per quarter, which means I'll be at the community college for a looooooong time.

Sigh.