My first high fidelity simulation was today... and I aced it. I still cannot believe that happened! It was an intimidating, invigorating, and individual experience, to say the least. Basically, we had to assess our patient's vital signs during a 15 minute timespan. We were given a patient chart and had to come prepared with only a stethoscope and a pencil. After we had completed the tasks, we were ushered into a separate room to debrief our performance and the purpose of the exercise. We are then graded pass or fail based on the ratio of nursing actions met and not met.
I am fortunate in that I have an easy-going nature with strangers, as I have discussed in other blog posts. I reminded myself before beginning the exercise that I was there to interact with a person, not to take a test and there was no reason to be excessively nervous. During the exercise I spoke directly to the patient, maintaining eye contact and everything, and tried to keep a steady stream of conversation going. I did this partially for my own nerves and partially to help me think about my actions. I was told later that it had seemed as if I had done the "routine a hundred times." I share that information, not to "toot my own horn" but to impress upon you the exhilaration I felt after doing something well that I have only recently learned.
I am sure I have said this before, but I will say it again - I feel even more confident in my abilities as a nursing student and as a person. It really is the little things that make me feel more and more like a nurse - and I never want to let go of the thrill I experience whenever I learn something new, accomplish a task, and/or make connections!
Anyway, you all must be tiring of my nursing student tales/rants! After my test tomorrow I am sure I will have more exciting things to write about.
Ahh, the life of a nursing student...
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