and i had the best day...

I seem to have hit the traditional winter slump. I am so over winter, over the cold, over being in Omaha, but most of all over this snow and cloudy days. I want sunshine, clear skies, green grass and most importantly temperature over 32 degrees. But this was probably the best week of my semester so far- if for no other reason than the fact that I got to observe a surgery!

Now, I've been waiting to see a surgery pretty much since I walked in the doors of my first class freshman year. (That might be a little bit of an exaggeration) But really, I have been impatiently waiting to see a surgery for what feels like an eternity! And let me tell you, I was completely blown away. I had the chance to observe a complete abdominal hysterectomy, meaning that it wasn't done by scope, there was an actual abdominal incision.

And wow, that's really all I have to say about the whole experience. I've never really wanted to be a doctor, it's never really appealed to me, but this experience has the power to make me reconsider. I'm pretty sure I've ruled out becoming a scrub nurse/circulating nurse because they don't really do much, the surgeons are the ones that get to all the cool stuff. The surgeons get to deal with all the blood and guts, they get to cut people open then stitch them right back up. SO COOL. I can't even begin to describe the awe that I felt as I was standing there watching this surgery occur, I wish I could have paused the surgery and just stood there for a little bit longer.

Granted, this wasn't open heart surgery, but nevertheless it was still amazing. Just the simple fact to me that one day someone decided it would be a good idea to cut a patient open to try and cure their disease amazes me- who would think of something like that? But I guess that's the whole thing with medicine, it's all so amazing that 100 years ago half the stuff we do now wasn't even invented yet.

I mean wow, that just make you take a step back and think about things a little bit.

no habla espanol

Yet again, I seem to have come to another realization through my clinical experiences.

Right now, I just finished my second week in my pediatric rotation (which I LOVE) but last week was a little difficult for me. What made it difficult was fact that I couldn’t really communicate with both my patient, and her parents. Now, my patient was only an infant, so I didn’t come into this week expecting to hold a full conversation with her, however with her parents it was a different story. Her parent’s primary language was Spanish, which I have encountered before, but not quite to this extent. What I am used to is someone of Hispanic descent who primarily speaks Spanish, but who also understands English. This wasn't the case with my parents though. I felt like these parents didn’t really understand a word I was saying, which made me feel powerless.

I was able to do my job- I was able to assess my patient every 4 hours and correctly administer all her medications to her, but I felt like something was missing. In pediatrics communication with the parents is vital, and I really wasn't able to do that. An interpreter was called for when the physicians came to the room, so I was able to ask questions then, but the interpreter only came once a day for the two days I was there. So all the other dozen times I walked into my patient's room I was flying blind, thinking the whole time that I really should learn Spanish.

So there I was, someone who was supposed to be the advocate between the parents and the doctor, and I didn't even know what my parents were saying, or what their questions or concerns about there daughter were.

I suddenly had flashbacks to high school, where my counselor would try and stress to me how important taking a second language would be later in my life, which was a message that never seemed to get through to me. All I kept on thinking was that I should have taken that advice more seriously, because a second language is a skill that will only help you in positive ways. I know this week I really could have used even some basic Spanish like “I’m going to examine your daughter now” or “I’m here to give your daughter her medication.” Instead, I had to speak in a language that they didn't really understand, and just hope that they somewhat understand what I needed to do.

So I guess you could say now that I had my eyes opened. Now I have a desire to learn Spanish (and take it seriously) because when I decided to become a nurse I didn't decided to only be a nurse to certain people, I want to help everyone. If that means I have to do a little bit of extra schooling, then so be it, because if it's going to make me a really good nurse, then it's worth it in the end.