Medical Surgery 6th Floor Unit

Medical Surgery Unit Responsibilities:

• Observe a registered nurse dealing with patients in medical surgery

New knowledge or skills:

• Repeating information to patients in this unit is important because they are sometimes not aware of what is going on.
• When a patient is a fall risk, they must be checked on constantly for their safety.
• Family requests are accommodated for the comfort of the patients. 

Best thing that happened:

• I observed the nurse dealing with a patient that was suffering from possibly Dementia. The nurse was very willing to help the patient even though they were not aware of what was going on.

Worst thing that happened

• I was disappointed that I could not go into a isolation room. 

This week was: Good

I observed sympathy and empathy by the nurse in the hospital. I was fortunate to have a really good nurse to observe. 

Technology Experience Record:

Computer charting

Patient monitor that alerts the nurse if a patient gets out of the bed

Diagnostic Procedures Observed:

No diagnostic procedures were observed. 

Therapeutic Procedures Observed:

One of the patients received a shot to prevent clotting. 

Medical Terminology Abbreviations Encountered:

IV- intravenous

ABG- arterial blood gas

Medical Surgery Journal:

I went to the 6th floor of the hospital. I was familiar with this unit because I had already observed the 5th floor medical surgery area.  I was assigned a registered nurse to shadow this time. 

I waited outside the patients room because the nurse was already helping the patient drink some chocolate milk. The nurse did some charting and went to assess the patient's mental state. This patient seemed confused and did not know that they were in the hospital. The nurse must have told the patient several times. 

I was surprised that the nurse was so patient in dealing with them.  The nurse told me that the patient had fallen and hit her head. The patient was not acting the same since the fall. The patient was lethargic and unaware of her surroundings. I think the fall might have contributed to her confusion. The IV needed to be replaced because it was leaking. The patient received a shot in the stomach to prevent blood clots. We tried to give the patient her medicine but she kept falling asleep and did not want to take her medicine. 

The next patient was in isolation with the flu. I was disappointed that I could not go into the room. But I understood the reasons why. I noticed on the door there was a droplet precaution. The nurse was putting on gloves and a mask. Even though I did not get to go into the room. I was able to listen to what was going on in the room. 

This rotation was not boring. I was able to observe many things during my time with the nurse. I feel I observed the toughest part of being a nurse, dealing with a patient that was not cooperative. I think this will help me become a better medical physician in the future.