"I was BORN ready!"

Today was a very interesting, albeit slow day because of the Jewish holiday. I started off in ASU- Ambulatory Surgery Unit. The charge nurse decided to put me with a pt having a bunionectomy and so I followed the pt up to the OR and watched her short and sweet procedure. Feet really aren't my thing and seeing her foot just sliced open and manipulated with a saw and chisel tool was very interesting but at the same time, a little gross. I don't like seeing an entire body part worked on and not covered up, it disturbs me. When I saw the laporascopic hemicolectomy and the small part of the pt's colon (omentum) over his abdomen when they took it out , I was just in awe. I thought it was the craziest-coolest thing ever. When the surgeon did the biopsy and cut open the piece of colon and found the ulcer, I was pretty amazed. For some reason, that stuff really catches my attention and I could watch those surgeries any time. I think it's also because I had a lap appendectomy done, so I wanted to see how they operated on me..

I paid close attention to what the anesthesiologists were doing because I want to eventually go back to school for nurse anesthesia. What went through my mind was 'what the hell do they do but put the patient to sleep?' but then what set in was 'Well, if this guy starts to decompensate, then that anesthesiologist better know what to do! That person better know what drugs to use and how to intubate like it was nothin.' I just feel like I'm a million years from that job (which I really am, I haven't even started working as a nurse yet) and I just hope one day I can intubate someone like it was nobody's business and know what to do in different emergency situations. I want to be as comfortable as these seasoned anesthetists are someday and be there for the patient before procedures to reassure them and be there when he or she wakes up. However, one of the anesthesiologists really ticked me off because he had put the pt under, intubated him, then left the room to talk on the phone. Who the hell is watching the patient's hemodynamic stability and oxygen saturation?

Another funny thing that happened after the surgery was the brief discussion between the medical student and the surgeon:
Surgeon: "Our next case is a right carotid endarterectomy...are you ready for it?"
Med Student: "Oh, I was born ready!"

In my head: "Whoa whoa whoa. Chill out! You're not a surgeon just YET." Sure I'm a nursing student, but when I do things with the nurse, I'm not totally *yes I am the shit* immediately. It takes time to develop skills...but I guess she's going into surgery so it makes sense...it's good they have that cockiness so they're totally confident in their skills
.....Now I'm just trying to justify her comment.

After all that, I figured I was done with the OR for the day and went back to ASU. They then sent me to endoscopy where I watched a routine colonoscopy. The procedure went flawlessly and we removed polyps. The pt prepped his colon really well, thankfully. I heard stories from my clinical colleagues about poor prepping and seeing shit (literally) all over the screen. The pt was alright, it was kinda hard waking him up from anesthesia, but he eventually roused. The anesthesiologist was HILARIOUS as anything. He made jokes about anything and everything that was said. Unfortunately, the pt really left a bad impression on me, but I didn't truly allow it to phase me. He brought up a topic about immigrants and how they should not be in this country and how when they don't speak English it pisses him off. The primary nurse pointed me out to the patient (I was standing next to him on his right hooking him up to the monitors) The nurse went completely berserk and said "Watch what you're saying!!...Oh my god! Behave! Don't say that..." The patient looked over at me and shrugged and said "Well, she shouldn't be here." I just smiled sweetly and walked away. In my mind, I was like alright, later dude. People should realllly be careful of what they're saying to the people who will be taking care of them one day.... I'm not an immigrant but I'm the daughter of two!

After that, I just followed a different nurse around ASU--there were only 2 post-op patients who were walkie-talkies on the floor. This is proof of the day's utter slowness.