Internship - Day 4 - Interview

As my internship at Palomar Hospital is not under one single mentor, I asked questions to the various nurses and nurses' assistants about their job. It allows many more perspectives to be heard. I didn't want to interrupt the nurses during their extremely busy workflow, so I asked each a quick question in passing.

Why nursing? What got you interested?

"I knew healthcare was what I wanted to do coming into college, so I went ahead with it."

-Joy, RN

"My husband died in room ***, and after being a mother for a while, I decided to be a nurse"

-Barbara, RN

"I was a caretaker for a few years and thought it wasn't enough. So I'm here today, working here for 11 years."

-Louise, CNA

"It's a very enjoyable, yet stressful job. I find it challenging and fun at the same time."

-Sylvia, CNA

What's a typical workday like?

"Although my priority is my patients, I do spend much time logging in notes into the computer regarding each patient's condition. It's important that this information is tracked and accounted for."

-Megan, RN

"Begins and ends with the patients. They are the number one priority here; We're here to make their recovery more comfortable."

-Grace, RN

"There's really no such thing as a "typical" work day, for every single day has something new to teach us. Some days you'll enjoy it, others you wont. It's important not to neglect any one patient or lessen the care you give them based on what kind of day it is."

-JoDeanne, RN

What is the education required of your position?

"An LVN (licensed vocational nurse) generally requires about 2 years of college, and an RN (registered nurse) anywhere from 4-5 years. One can become a CNA (certified nurse's assistant) in under a year."

-Lorna, LVN

Why did you choose to work here at Palomar Hospital?

"I used to work at nursing homes before coming here, and it's an overall much better place to work."

-Linda, RN

"I like the hospital environment much more than, say a doctor's office or clinic."

-Pacita, CNA

What is your favorite thing about working as a nurse (other than general income)?

"Helping patients, or another human being in general, makes it a very rewarding career"

-General response from all nurses.

Internship - Day 1

Today was the very first day of the 11th grade's Internship program. Each students goes to his or her respective place of internship to begin working for the first time. For Jaleh Najmi and I, though, this will be our 3rd month at our internship thus far.

Today was my very first double shift, from 7am to 3pm; each shift is normally 4 hours at a time. Though it began as any other previous shift I've served, it soon became quite an eventful day. The RN's or CNA's have never called upon me to take patients' vitals signs, though I have been trained to do so. Today I was assigned to take vitals for about half the patients on my floor. These vitals include blood pressure, temperature, Oxygen saturation, pulse, and respiration. It was very enjoyable to test several patients for these diagnostics, and it provided me with a sense of fulfillment in what I do.

The main event of the day, though, was in the morning at about 9:30am. As comprehensive and superb as Palomar's health care service is, patients do inevitably pass away. This was the case for one patient that morning, and 3 of us CCE's were privileged to assist the nurse in the body-bagging process. The group composed of the patient's nurse, a CCE level I (college), Jaleh, and myself. It was definitely a fortuitous moment, for it's a job that's not often done.

It's always a great feeling to assist a patient, even in the most minimal ways. There's a hidden type of gratitude that radiates from a thankful patient, who's in a very vulnerable state. I had a patient who required excessive cleaning and frequent bed changes, for his linens were often soiled. Once you clean up a person's bodily excretions, you feel that intangible gratitude; that the patient trusts and likes you.

"What are you excited about learning through this internship experience?"

My future ambition is to someday become a physician, and I tentatively dream to become an anesthesiologist. Though that's very far in the future, I really hope to begin experiencing what the health care industry is like. I'm excited to learn about the different responsibilities each person has in terms of a patient's care. I'm intrigued by the many different people that contribute to any single patient. I'm also ultimately interested in basic knowledge of diseases, illnesses, medications, human anatomy, etc. It would make a great basis for me to learn from.