First day of clinicals! (#3)

I definately am more comfortable in the clinical setting than I am in the classroom. I absolutely loved the past couple of days. I enjoyed the independence and being able to feel confident enough to do things on my own. I was a little weary going into it because I had not had the best experiences in the long term care. However, I had never had more fun. That may sound weird, but I find it rewarding and therapeutic just to care of other people.

During the first day, there was a woman who had been sitting by herself in her room and since I really had nothing to do, I went to go talk to her for a bit. I introduced myself and explained that I was a student from Northwest University and that I was studying to become a nurse. She spoke "Spanglish." =) She spoke English very well but added in a little bit of Espanol here and there. I asked her how her day had been going and she said that her favorite part of her day was getting to do communion with a priest that came into the nursing home. She then asked me what I was. I told her I was a Christian. Immediately she responded, "One God for everyone. We all serve the same God." Her statement got me thinking and reminded me that although many forms of Christianity exist, they are just different in doctrine. However, doctrine is not what gets us into Heaven. The simple fact that we all believe in Jesus Christ as our risen Savior is what gets us into Heaven. We are all under and serve the same God no matter how our little beliefs may differ. The only "belief" that matters is the one in which we are saved by. The woman I was talking to just loved the Lord. I was very encouraged by her words.

I enjoyed walking around getting to know the patients. When it came time to pick a patient to take care of I felt like I was choosing something from a menu. Haha if that even makes sense. But I am very happy with the individual that I am taking care of. I got to meet her the first day and then really interacted with her today. I helped her with her daily activities and just talked to her. The elderly absolutely love just having someone listen to them and their stories. And I, in turn, found what they had to say so interesting. A lot of them have such good senses of humor when you let them open up a little. One lady today was making fun of everyone around her being so old. And this woman is in her 90s. She then said, "Oh heck, I'm older than they are" and started laughing. =) I loved to see that.

Overall, I have no complaints as of yet. The nurse I worked with was extremely helpful and she is a believer herself. I definately look forward to going back next week!