I'm no longer wearing white scrubs...

I finished my 210 hours of clinical! It was officially 216, but really closer to 235-240 hours. I could not be more excited. Because I was so nervous about clinical I never really paid attention to the big sign by the unit that said neuroscience unit. So after I was there for some time and realized everyone always needed a neurological assessment and had experienced a stroke, it finally clicked. Besides working with stroke patients, the majority of my patients were there because of  mini stroke,  mental status change, new onset of seizures, or cerivcal/spinal fusions. Overall clinical was a great experience but some days were difficult. I only cried once leaving clinical as I was on the phone with Patrick. That was when I was sick and on the first day of me working three 12 hour shifts in a row which of course fell on Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Here I am with my preceptor on our last day together.

My top ten experiences during clinical as a nursing student:

10. Cleaning up poop and pee. It happened from my first clinical at the nursing home to my last clinical. I guess I got a break when I was at an alternative high school and when I was on the psych floor. For some reason the pee smell was far worse for me. One of my favorites was having a patient's suprapubic catheter leak at the insertion site that it saturated them, their bedding, and was dripping on the floor.
9. Giving pills to a four year old who could swallow pills. What four year old can do this?
8. Putting all sorts of restraints on patients including mitts, wrists restraints, and lap belts only to see that confused elderly people can escape them as quickly as I leave the room.
7. Seeing someone with drastically different pupil sizes. It startled me especially when the larger pupil would not react to light. Apparently it was normal for this patient.
6.Walking into a patient's room to smell cigarette smoke. Yes the patient was smoking in the hospital.
5. Seeing all sorts of surgeries including a bedside incision and drainage of a neck cyst, Cesarian section birth, electroconvulsive therapy, a gallbladder removal, and more.
4. Talking to someone with dissociative personality disorder. Ever since learning about this as a psychology major I've always wanted to meet someone with multiple personalities and now I have.

3. Dressing wounds. All sorts of wounds. Weeping cellulitis, pressure ulcers, and my personal favorite a fistula on someone's buttock.
2. Seeing twins born vaginally, with the second baby born breach. I'll never forget his blue leg dangling out first.
1. Helping to take my patient to the ICU as he was rapidly declining following surgery.  He was hooked up to a defibrillator "just in case" as we transported him. We literally were jogging down the hallway as we transferred him.

I am so excited to be done with nursing school! I graduate the last Saturday of the month and look forward to passing the NCLEX-RN licensing test this summer so I can start working as a registered nurse in Utah!