MHKH 3/6/15

MHKH 3/6/15

Responsibilities:

• Follow a nurse in MSU 7th floor.
• Help nurse take VS.
• Talk to patients and make sure they are fine.

New Knowledge/Skills:

• Learned about endoscopy
• Learned about a colostomy bag.
• Learned about new machine that helps take all VS in under a minute.

Best Things:

• Got to follow the nicest nurse there was
• Got to see the new machine
• Talked to some patients 

Worst Things:

• First nurse I talked to was very rude
• First patient I talked to didn't like me.

This Week:

The week was pretty good. The nurse was real nice and I kept the negative experience to a minimum. 

Technology:

A new machine arrived that helps measure all Vs in under a minute. There are lots of IV feeds and ventilators for the patients all throughout the unit. There was also a very large dialysis machine that was being used on a patient and a tech was there to maintain it and get some readings.

Diagnostic:

The MSU has several diagnostic procedures that they perform. One is taking VS on all patients to assure that there is nothing wrong with them. Another is using pain assessments to make sure that all patients are pain free and comfortable.

Therapeutic:

MSU also has a lot of therapeutic procedures that they perform to make sure a patients is healing quickly. If a patient is in pain then pain meds will be administered to make sure they are pain free. If a patient can't sleep they will most likely be given a sleep aid.

Diseases/Disorders:

The MSU cares for a wide variety of patients who have gone through surgery for some disease or disorder. Common infections are sometimes the reason that patients need surgery and stay in the MSU like lung infections like pneumonia and severe bronchitis. One that I saw was a patient with chronic kidney failure and they were getting dialysis treatment.

Med Terms/ Abbreviations:

NGO-Nongovernmental Organizations that help spread awareness of hospital borne illnesses. NPO- patient can't take anything by mouth. I&O- Intake and output.

I. Environmental Assessment:

7th floor MSU is a very nice and quiet place that looks exactly the same as other MSU floors. Nurses are bustling everywhere answering calls of all kinds. The nurse I was following was exceedingly nice. MSU provides care to patients who have just come out of surgery and are staying for more than a day. MSU uses EKG's, IV feeds, ventilators, dialysis machines, and AED's for any Code Blues.

II.Observation:

All nurses except for a few are very nice, especially the one I followed. Everyone here works in conjunction with one another to keep tabs on certain patients and other things and keep everything in check. Phone communication is needed if a nurse is in a patient's room and verbal communication is used if nurse are near each other. Safety measures that are taken are having fire exits and hoses, making sure nothing blocks the exit, and keeping a crash cart nearby if it's needed. Therapeutic Procedures- administer pain meds, sleep aids, make sure patient is comfortable. Diagnostic- keep track of patient vitals, check med prescriptions, check the procedures done, and check overall well being.

III.Knowledge:

Learned about an endoscopy and how it checks the digestive tract. Learned that it is important to communicate with patients to make them feel comfortable, especially if you speak their native tongue. Soem med terms and abbreviations were thrown around here and there. NGO- nongovernmental organization that informs of hospital borne diseases. NPO- patients can't take anything by mouth. I&O- Intake and output. NKDA- a patient is NKDA if there are no known drug allergies.

IV. Evaluation:

7th floor MSU is really nice because most of the nurses care about teaching a student. I thought that my nurse was the greatest person I had met there. I really learned a lot from her too. The 7th floor is a good plave to learn about post operative care and procedures that have been done. It's full of chances to practice effective communication and other skills.