After such a nice winter break, 8 a.m. has been hittin' me like a sack of bricks every morning since starting back into the school and work routine. However adrenaline does a funny thing to your body when you're really nervous or hyped up about something....it gets you going!
Aww, like when you're getting ready to run your first race and you can't stop jumping around. So the morning of my first clinical day, I meandered into the nursing building at 7:50 a.m.
Wait! Hold the phone. Who am I kidding?
I was speed-walking my little body into the nursing building as fast as I could, terrified that I would be late (even though I still had 10 minutes to walk only a few yards). These nursing gals are crazy though! Apparently most of them arrived with scrubs and jackets on, notebooks out and ready for note-taking by 7:45 a.m. Say what?! I'm just leaving my house at that time!
Crazy....they're crazy I tell you.
Anyhow, once I overcame my fear of being late, I got settled-in, my name tag on, and off we went into the wonderful world of nursing!
Clinical-Day 1 (10:00 a.m.)-Jokes On Me
If you're in the medical profession you've definitely heard of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). Ya know, all the goods that protect both you and the patient involved in a given procedure.
So, each nursing student is given a bag of medical supplies we may encounter in the nursing field, including PPE. We are instructed to practice putting it on, and get comfortable moving around in PPE. We may very well encounter a situation that requires we wear it in our near future, so I thought it necessary to practice. I did not however forsee my own personal dread that was soon to come.
(Just an aside: Nursing school...always be prepared to answer a question....about anything. Then hope you're correct, otherwise ya feel a tad dumb.)
1. Instructor dictates the proper way to don PPE...CHECK!
2. Instructor dictates to check proper fitting of PPE...CHECK!
....I'm really on a roll here! I'm doing everything right!
3. Instructor starts asking questions-I happen to know the answers-double CHECK for me!
....After instructor dictates to the class to start running in place, while still covered in PPE, because after all nurses don't walk anywhere, I think, "Bring it lady! I'm training for a 1/2 marathon! I can jog for at least an hour without wanting to die."
....5 minutes after running in place covered in PPE, my goggles have fogged-up, cheeks are flushed, and mask is uncomfortable...the class is exhausted.
Score: Instructor=1
Me=0
Post-Clinical Long Run
After hitting the pavement for 8 miles (01.32.17) I feel good, strong, and excited that my body is still functioning. The 2nd time I've hit 8 and been perfectly comfortable/pain free.
Wait, what was that? Did I hear you ask, "What was the best part of your run?" Well funny you should ask. It happen to be the fact that I didn't have a surgical mask, gloves, cap, or goggles on.
Crazy how that works.
Lesson learned: I will take running 8 miles over running in PPE ANYDAY
New Goal: Jog in place in full PPE in the privacy of my own home for 10 minutes daily....one day show that instructor what a master of PPE-jogging looks like!
Ohhh, this makes me so deliriously happy to be finished with nursing school. A million times over! (I feel that way almost every day, seriously). My 2 mile jog this morning felt like a PPE-induced-hell, though. Hmmm. Maybe I should start training with the PPE, so my PPE free runs feel amazing and free.
ReplyDeleteGirl I have totally considered doing that.
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