Almost done with clinical number one...and it couldn't come fast enough.

My first full-time clinical is almost complete - just one and half more weeks to go! It's gone by so fast. I really feel like I just started. Although it's been a great clinical so far, I'll be 100% honest and say that I'll be glad when it's over. The whole "paying to work" concept just doesn't do it for me anymore. This clinical is costing me over $15,000 in student loans, and as much as I am learning from doing it, the cost of working 40 hours/week is starting to get to me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this feeling will disappear by this time next year when I should be getting paid to do this! Besides, my current rotation is in acute care, and I have absolutely no interest in working in acute care after I pass boards! But, with the economy the way it is, I think it's safe to say that I'll be taking just about any job I can get next year....sad....but true.

I had my first "not so good" experience today. No one was hurt or injured, but I forgot to give a patient her "call light" this morning after helping her get sat up in a chair. For those who don't know what a "call light" is, it's a little button that hospital (or nursing home) patients can press if they are in their room alone and need assistance from the nursing staff. My clinical instructor and I helped a patient get up out of bed and sat up in a chair this afternoon and I forgot to give the patient her call light. This afternoon at about 1:30pm, I was confronted by a very angry nurse stating that the patient had sat up for 2.5 hours and that it took 4 nurses to help her get back into bed. First of all, I did feel horrible about this. I felt like I screwed up big time and I apologized profusely and told the nurse that it would never happen again. BUT, I find it hard to believe that it took FOUR nurses to help this patient get back into bed. My CI (clinical instructor) and I were able to help this patient OUT of bed EASILY with just the two of us. Second of all, I was told later (by a different nurse - the one who was actually seeing this patient) that other nurses had been in to see the patient after we had left and the patient never stated that she wanted to get back into bed. Now, bottom line - yes, this was my fault. I should have given the patient her call light. But, I have been made to feel like a piece of dirt and will probably lose big time points in the "safety" category of my clinical performance instrument next week when my clinical instructor grades me for my final grade. I just keep telling myself that this could have been worse - a patient could have been seriously injured or died. Luckily, this patient was fine and when I went to see her in the afternoon, she made no complaints about it what-so-ever....still, I am left feeling like a "patient-torturer" for the rest of the night...