Nursing Clinical Experience

Hola!! This is Camille.

I hope you are all excited for the amazing weather we are having this week.

I want to share with all of you about my second half semester clinical experience for Medical Surgical 
rotation. I have two days of clinical in Good Samaritan hospital from 6:30am to 3:00pm

(Sorry for all the complaint. Keep reading, I’ll bring some positive energy back;)

I am not super excited about getting up at 5:00 am in the morning. To be honest, I often struggle 
getting up in the morning and debating if it is worthy to sacrifice sleep. (You all know what I am 
feeling right?!), and YES, I am so sleep-deprived 

 

However, knowing that I will be able to capture the morning view of sky, the sunrise, and Mount 
Rainier (I can never get a good picture of Mount Rainier tho), knowing that I can be around with 
all the inspiring nurses, and knowing that I can learn from them, it is worthy to get up early. 

Our first day was primarily for getting oriented to the unit and for observing how the 
interdisciplinary team collaborate together for the best interest of the patient. One of the patients 
coded because he underwent hypovolemic shock. He was unconscious as there was inadequate 
blood supplying in brain because of the blood loss. Me and other fellow student were encouraged 
to observe. We were trying to stand right by the door so we can observe better and also we hoped 
that if they needed any help, we would be there. Fortunately, the charged nurse offer us the 
opportunity to help apply pressure on the wound while waiting for the rapid response team to
arrive. As we observed the interventions that the nurses implement to bring the blood pressure up, 
we would find out the rationales behind them. At that moment, all the knowledges are not limited to 
the book and memorization. They become part of what we do. I truly appreciate all the opportunity 
that charged nurse has provided us. I realized that, as a student nurse, my goal is not only to 
practice as many skills as I can  but also learn how to think like a real nurse, and how to deal with 
different situations.

Second week of clinical:

Another thing that I have taken away from this clinical is that I need to take initiative in my learning. 
ADVOCATE FOR MYSELF!  Before I went up to the unit, I always pray that I would be assigned to 
a nurse who is willing to teach. At first, I was disappointed because the nurse was not explaining 
anything that she did, and I felt like I was just following her around doing nothing. I decided to change 
the situation around because I want to be a good nurse in the future, and because of the amount of 
money and time I invested in, I should get the education I deserve. Therefore, I SPOKE UP for 
myself. At the beginning of the shift, I told the nurse that there were goals that I attempted to achieve, 
and I asked the nurse if I can practice more nursing skills and participate more in providing care. It 
turned out that she thought I was not comfortable doing the skills. After I mentioned to her, she has 
let me practice more of my skills, and actively participate. Even though she is not the nurse who 
will explain, she is a good nurse who provides care with compassion. I have learnt so much from 
her on how to deal with those patients who would not stop crying, who would not take medication, 
and whose mind was dissociated from reality. Therefore, I wouldn’t trade anything for these 
awesome and valuable learning experiences.

AND, ONE MORE MONTH, I will be half-way done with nursing school!

Nos vemos más tarde, Amigos!