The halls of Cascade Vista- Blog#4

Waking up while it is still dark outside seems unnatural at first. Driving along the empty streets of Kirkland at five-thirty in the morning is a surreal experience. We are just starting our third week of clinicals. What an experience so far! This has been the best part of nursing school . Arriving at Cascade Vista, I was feeling a little unsure of what to expect, and nervous about the duties I had once assigned to a patient. Cascade Vista seems like a pleasant establishment, compared to other long term care facilities I have seen. I met my client at lunch, and not much talking was done since hear head was slumped into her nap and she was fast asleep. The nurse there kept coming by to try to wake her, but she kept saying “I’m tired!”. So I let her sleep, even though her food was getting cold. Throughout the first day we were able to get acclimated to the facility by exploring it, meeting some of the residents and attending the morning exercise class. This was the perfect icebreaker, it was wonderful to see how some of the residents responded to having young people around and seeing them enjoying kicking a big purple ball around! We also were able to observe a stage four wound being cleaned by one of the nurses. This experience thus far has really shown me how much of nursing will be learned on the floor through observation, as opposed to concepts in the classroom. The second day of clinicals it was such an experience to go into my client’s room and gently wake up her and be greeted with a broad smile! And this is why I am going to love my job! My client is as sweet as can be, I try to think about what she was like before the onset of dementia, but it doesn’t matter because she’s still got so much personality to her. I love being able to practice my skills with her, and have a human response which adds a completely different element when compared to the skills lab. This clincal experience has only just begun and already it has been so rewarding. It has been significant in boosting my confidence in my abilities to be a good nurse, it has allowed me to witness and participate in different forms of wound care, med. administration, a dental visit, physical rehab and so much more. Numerous people I have talked with that have been through a nursing program told me that they dislike long term care clinical the most, but so far I think it’s been wonderful! It makes me think it only gets better….