Through the ears of a child

So if you ever find yourself bored with your routine, or find that what you love loses a bit of its excitement, grab a child and experience it with him or her. There's nothing like seeing something for the "first" time through the eyes (or in this case, ears) of a child...

Tonight my family (minus my Dad) had dinner with my great aunt at Souplantation. I had just come from 13 hours at the rehab center and hadn't had a chance to change out of my scrubs so I went as is...with my bag full of "goodies". Caleb, my 2.5 year-old nephew got a bit restless, so I pulled out my stethoscope. I put the diaphragm up to his chest and told him I was going to listen to his heart...that lasted for about 10 seconds before he wanted to hear. Wow! The look of delight and curiosity on his face was incredible! Soon he had to listen to Daddy's heart, Grammy's heart, Aunt Pami's heart, and even his own little tummy...

Pays to be a girl

So this doesn't have anything to do with nursing, but I flew up to Eugene, Oregon today to pick up my 94 year-old great aunt and bring her back down. I spent a whopping 6 hours in Eugene, 5 of them in the airport with her...I know, I'm a sucker for unusual adventures; but at this point, I'll take what I can get!

As I was walking through the breezeway at LAX after parking my car, I entered straight into the security clearance as I already had my boarding pass. This big TSA guy checked my ticket and ID and went to usher me into the i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-y long line...at least a 45 minute wait. Then he got this big grin on his face and said, "you know what? Come here..." And sent me to the front of the line! Yay! That gave me time to get my venti soy white chocolate mocha with 2 shots of raspberry from Starbucks and relax instead of standing!

On a different note, while I was in the air, I took pictures of Eugene and Los Angeles...what a huge difference!

The ethics of it all

So this summer I have two sessions: 6 weeks of pediatrics followed by 5 weeks of obstetrics. The last four weeks I've been at a rehabilitation clinic/sub-acute facility for children with brain injuries because our regular hospital fell through at the last minute (boo-hiss!).
I've gotten over the disappointment, but if nothing else, this clinical has made me think. We have several patients, about 25 who are completely bed-ridden. A few of them are able to track me with their eyes, but a good number of them are completely and utterly nonresponsive. There's this one pt who has been there for over a dozen years. She/He (protecting the innocent, here) choked on a fruit pit, a little one, when he/she was just three! This caused an anoxic brain injury, or lack of oxygen to the brain, and permanent brain damage. This patient now lives a life of spasticity, rigidity, blindness, unresponsiveness. There is absolutely zero quality of life. The nurses and aides try their best to make him/her comfortable, but the patient just lays in bed 24/7. We have to tape the eyes shut to keep them from drying out. He/she lives on a ventilator and has to be suctioned every 2-4 hours and fed through a gastrostomy tube every 4-6 hours.
So here's the ethics question: at what point is this person allowed to die? This isn't a euthanasia question as euthanasia is the use of artificial means to end life. This individual hasn't had any quality of life since three years of age. He/She went from being a normal toddler to a bed-ridden, mechanically ventilated individual. The parents visit only a few times a year. If it were me, I would rather die. I would much rather be rejoicing with my Heavenly Father than allowed to lie on a bed with no quality of life whatsoever.
The question that then begs to be asked is who makes the decision to pull the ventilator? And when? Is it after 6 months? a year? Should it be the parents who are guilt-ridden for "allowing" this to happen? The doctor? The state/government? The insurance company? money? I'm not happy with any of those options! We could potentially keep this person alive for years and years to come. An infection will eventually set in that isn't caught in time or is drug-resisitant - but that could be decades down the road.
So this has been a hard rotation in that respect. I love the verbal kids: the ones I can talk to; and I love the parents who come to visit on a somewhat regular basis. I just wish I could do more...

The beginning

So I'm on the brink of starting my career as an I.V. Leaguer, also known as a nurse. I'm going to be starting my final semester soon, then taking the boards and thought for the sake of posterity I should "journal", albeit publically, my impressions: joys, fears, tears, and triumphs.

I can't say I have loved every minute of nursing school, but it's not supposed to be fun. That's not to say I'm not enjoying the process! The information is fascinating, but even more so is the opportunity to give to others of myself. I love talking with my patients and finding out about their lives. Maybe it's that inner spook in me.

So, join me in my journey...and be envious or thankful you are not the one spilling unknown fluids on your clothing or cleaning up blood. :-)