1st Clincal of 2nd Quarter

Well, today was the first clinical of this quarter. Actually, I wouldn't even call it a "clinical" because it was just a big training session.

It was a fairly good day though. We had been forewarned about the "jerk of a training guy" for 2 days prior. We went in prepared for the worst, but in reality the guy was just fine. A bit sharp sometimes, but not so bad that he hurt anyone's feelings or anything like that. Thank goodness, 'cause I went in prepared to fight (just stand up for myself and not let him be mean to me). haha! That training lasted 3 hours.

Next, get lunch and go to meeting room for a "working lunch" with our clinical instructor who, by the way, I think is very cool. :-)
She seems very similar to my 1st quarter clin. instructor in the way that she really wants us to be successful, doesn't seem "out to get us," and is sooo open to helping us get it all figured out! Like, for instance, giving us her home phone number & e-mail, along with her pager number... Makes it very easy for us to reach her. Yay!
So what she did was answer our multitudes of questions while we all had lunch. I'd like to say there were no "stupid questions," but..... when someone asks a question that was just addressed (for the 2nd time) like 15 seconds ago.... No further comment.
But for the most part, most questions were probably about things that a lot of us didn't understand. Shall I say that they don't exactly "spell out" how clinicals are going to go and what we need to do?

We also had a tour and scavenger hunt (which we didn't have time to really do). We're in the new tower at this particular hospital, and the views of the mountains (Hood & St.Helens) is just AMAZING!!! These patient rooms are 100% private and very nice! They're set up well - our instructor said that they really paid attention to nurse/staff recommendations. Woo-hoo! I was pretty confused as I walked around the floors (we go between 2 floors throughout the quarter), but I know that they will all make sense as early as next week! So that's all good. OH, and the nurses that passed us in hallways and who were at the nurses stations (etc.) all seemed pretty nice and gracious about us being there. I hope they're nice. Sometimes they're not!

We'll be learning a lot about a lot of medications this quarter! We'll also be learning about a variety of illnesses & conditions. I'm not overly nervous, mostly excited! OH - and can not WAIT till my OR & SDS (operating room and same-days-surgery) rotation days!!!!! That will be the biggest thrill of the whole quarter!

Ok..... gonne sign off. I'm sleepy! (obviously not getting any studying done on Friday evenings....)