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.
2 comments:
I think that this was a very unique and clever way to understand what being a nurse is like. A hospital is a huge place and interviewing just one of the employees would not have been a good way to understand what a workday is like there. There is no "typical" (I know, I've been there) workday in a hospital, so getting different people's different point of views was really clever. I think you got the most out of it.
I like what you did with interviewing multiple people about there feel for the hospital. You get to see a lot of different points of view and a better understanding of what it's like in different aspects. Sounds like you have done a lot at your internship in just the first week. Keep up the good work.
Justus
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