First Simulation Day

Today was simulation day. We were first split in half, and one half had lecture while the other half did simulation for the first half of the day. Then, after lunch, we switched. I had lecture in the morning and simulation this afternoon. Within our "half" of the class, we were separated into 4 groups of 4.

First we had a small orientation to the lab. Then we talked about doing good CPR. Then we were given a scenario and we had to take turns being a Team Leader (the person in charge), the nurse doing the assessment on the patient, the Scribe (the person who is writing down all of the info regarding the case) and the floater (the person who does whatever is needed). The first 2 scenarios were more for getting us acclimated and working on our assessments. The patients were "sick" but nothing potentially fatal. Then we watched the instructors run a code. After that, we broke into our groups and we were given another scenario.

This time I was the Team Leader. YIKES! (Yes I know its not real, but its nerve wracking all the same. Plus we're being video-taped and watched from every angle by all the instructors).

I ran my first (simulation) code. It was crazy. I have a loooonnnnggg way to go, and to be honest I felt like a train wreck most of the time. There were some things (ok, maybe a lot of things) at the beginning, small things, that I missed/forgot, but I did recognize what was happening early on, so I was glad for that. I also think that once the mannequin patient "coded" I knew what to do, I knew the patient's rhythm on the monitor, I knew that the patient's rhythm needed a defibrillator and CPR and meds. I knew what meds to give and how much to give and when to give. But like I said, I need some work. A lot of work.

He survived, my mannequin patient, in case you were wondering. :)

Tomorrow and Friday- more lectures. Next simulation is next week, Friday. Stay tuned....

So Far

These are the books I was given for my course.

(I took a picture next to a standard size coffee mug because its really hard to get the full effect of the size of the books in a picture)

The binder is a 3 1/2 inch binder, filled with double sided pages. I guess if they were single sided I would end up with a 7 inch binder. No thanks. It's already too big.

Over the next 4 weeks I will need to know that binder. All 1096 pages. I will have 11 tests in the next 4 weeks on that binder.

Fun, right?

Anyway, I'm not complaining, because I truly feel blessed with the amazing opportunity I am receiving. I still can't believe it. I will say, however, I do feel slightly overwhelmed at the moment. But I know that will pass and I just need to take things one step and one day at a time.

And I hope that all of that knowledge will stay in my brain.

Simulation Lab

Here is the web page for the simulation lab we're using during our training program. I am SO excited, I can't even tell you. It sounds so amazing. It looks amazing. Its amazing (yes, I've said that word a few times now) the kind of technology available to us today. It's just astonishing to me.

Anyway, click on the link and it will take you to the page. You can read that, and also check out the video if you have a few minutes (its on the menu on the left side labelled "See Us In Video.")

http://med.fau.edu/medicine/simulation_center/

Week 1

Well, folks, that concludes week 1 of my training. I did an EKG and an ACLS course and I am now certified in both.

Thank goodness.

ACLS was hard, but interesting and I will be doing it a LOT in the simulation lab that I will be going to at least once a week for the next 7 weeks. Even cooler? We will use a REAL defibrillator and deliver REAL shocks to the simulation patients. Like, in real life.

Seriously awesome.

Mainly though, I can't wait to not be so nervous anymore. In ACLS as part of our testing we have to go through a mock code as the leader. And boy, its so easy to know all the correct answers when it isn't your turn, but once it is, everything goes blank. I can't wait to NOT go blank anymore.

Until then, I'll just continue to learn and grow. Stay tuned.

EKGs

I can read them.

Ha! But really, taking an EKG course, as well as an ACLS course, were pre-requisites for the ER nurse training program I am in. Which, I'm not OFFICIALLY in until I pass both courses.

Today, I passed the EKG course.

Phew. I thought for a second I had failed, but I got a 91% (needed 80% to pass). Like I said, phew!

Now onto the next........Thursday and Friday is ACLS.

The Beginning

begins tomorrow.

Well, it will only be a taste, really. My director (sounds so.......real, important, weird) wanted me and one of the other new girls to come in tomorrow for 8 hours to follow around one of his nurses. I begin all of my didactic training OFFICIALLY on Monday, November 7, but I will be technically starting in the classroom next week.

I have an EKG certification course for the first 3 days, and then the rest of the week I will be in an ACLS course.

And then the fun begins. 7 weeks of intense Emergency Nurse training.

I am so excited to learn.

And scared.

And nervous.

At Long Last

I got a job! It's been a whirlwind of a week but it all started a week and a half ago, Wednesday the 14th. I just drove down to Miami to go to a couple of hospitals to see about finding a job. I'm leaving one hospital and heading to another when my phone rings. Its the hospital I had been trying to get a job at in the Emergency Department as an ER Tech for the last couple of months while I was waiting for their Emergency Nurse Training program to begin. The program was on hold indefinitely, with thoughts of the possibility it would begin sometime next year (the program is run by a hospital corporation at all of their local south Florida hospitals, so it is not up to the hospital itself, but corporate). I was told I was getting the ER tech job when all of a sudden it completely fell through, no real explanation why, except that they weren't hiring any more nurses as techs and the director reconsidered. After that, I pretty much wrote off the hospital, thinking I couldn't get any position in the hospital, that maybe something was wrong with me.

So they call me. It's the HR/Nurse Recruiter girl. She tells me that they've found out the program is set to begin this year and she wanted to know if I was still interested and still available. I told her yes to both questions and then she said she should know more by that Friday. The next day she called to tell me I had been scheduled for a phone interview with the CNO of the hospital for Monday, and that if I didn't hear from her by Tuesday, I could call her to follow up. Monday morning she called to reschedule my interview for Tuesday. Tuesday I had my interview, and Wednesday I followed up with her. She said everything was fine, not to worry, and it was just waiting for a final approval before she can offer the position. The next day, she called with an official offer.

So in a week, I went from no possibilities of a job to being hired for a job.

In the ER no less. And to top it all off, my friend that I studied with for every exam in nursing school will be going through the course with me.

Anyway, I begin orientation October 24th for the week. The following week I will be taking an EKG certification course and an ACLS course. Then the following week I begin the program. It's one day a week on the computer, 3 days a week in class, and 1 day a week in a simulation lab. Its about 5 or 6 weeks, with a test every week and then when that is done, I will begin on the floor with another nurse.

I'm beyond excited. Nervous. Scared.