Three in a row!

        On Wednesday I had my first true day taking care of patients in the ER and I must admit that I now have a new respect for the ER nurses at INOVA and for any orders that weren't done, or wound that was not taken care of, etc., etc.  I can now be slightly more sympathetic.  Notice I said slightly.  Since I knew I had 6 weeks of orientation with a preceptor I thought that they would ease me into this whole ER thing...Nope, my preceptor said "go take care of the patients and I will follow you around and help as needed".  Okay-I learn a lot better by doing things rather than listening or watching so lets just see how this will go on my first day.
 I haven't felt so dumb in a really long time!  Little things that you don't think about I suddenly have to ask questions about.  Where do I chart this?  Where are your consent forms?  Where is your transport kit? Where do I get an analscope (yes, that's right.  I said analscope and everyone will be happy to know that it is found in the 'pelvic cart' 3rd drawer down...).  Just when I thought I was getting the hang of things with my patients, I would see another one getting wheeled back to another room.  It really is a matter of multitasking which is extremely hard to do when you don't know where to find anything that might actually make my job easier.  The good news is that I started more IV's in one day than I think I've had to start in the past year, and I saw a lot of new, different things that I had to go home and do some research about.  It has been awhile since I've had to do that.  I'm pretty sure I am the youngest person working there by at least 10 years which is awesome because there is a lot of experience around me, but awful because as a general rule, older nurses don't put up with a lot of shenanigans from the younger nurses so hopefully things will go well with the three day stretch I have ahead of me.  Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  God help me.  I will admit that driving home I got a little frustrated with the Army (again) that I will go through this exact experience every three years, every time I start getting the hang of things I will have to move and be at the bottom of the totem poll.  Luckily I have a much more positive attitude right now so I won't carry on with that rant (realistically, I will probably just wait until I am about to burst and let it all out in a blog. Stay tuned.) , instead I will just speak of the benefits of branching out and learning something new.  I am pretty excited about this challenge and hope that in no time I will be able to take care of whatever Fairbanks brings me (in the ER).