Nursing Pediatrics Rotation

      I have been looking forward to my pediatrics rotation ever since I started my intensive nursing program.  There’s a soft spot in my heart for children.  Yes, the children who are hospitalized are sick and not happily playing outside as they should be…but I want to give them the care they so need.  I have a 3 year-old son who’s been previously admitted at the Children’s for respiratory issues so I know that the healthcare team needs to deal, not only with sick kids but also, with their worrisome parents.   Last year, when I found out I was pregnant, a part of me was disappointed because I wanted to graduate with my class at the end of the year, plus, pediatrics was going to be my next rotation.  One year later, here I am back at school, beginning clinical at Montreal Children’s Hospital and blessed with a healthy 9 month-old baby girl in my life. Oftentimes, I think that I was meant to be in the nursing program as a mature student because my past experiences definitely help me by being comfortable while communicating with others. 

  Upon my first encounter with pediatric patients, the young children have already and undoubtedly pulled my heartstrings.  As a student nurse, it’s important to not become attached, not link our patients to our own children, and to not show our emotions in front of our patients and their families.  In my mind, my goal this semester is to quickly refresh my nursing vocabulary, to learn technical skills and become confident working at the bedside.  For the following week, I plan to be organized with a nursing care plan for the day for each patient, read up on the diagnosis’ and watch videos of nursing skills to be done.  It’s important to not only familiarize myself with my surroundings on the pediatric floor but to know what resources are available to refer to my patients and their families.  When caring for a sick child, we may be the only resource or support a parent may have so it’s important that they receive excellent care directly from us. This week, we learned that administering medication is takes a lot of time and requires many steps doing it in real life.  Drug dosage knowledge needs to be safe according to the child’s weight so a calculator in our pocket is more of a necessity in the pediatric setting than it is on a medical-surgical floor.  I admitted I also didn’t have much experience with IVs, tracheostomies, catheters and gastric tubes – but was happy to have observed it all during my day in TDU on 7C.  After all our patients were changed, fed, medicated and suctioned…I still had the time to play games with them and even sing one little girl to sleep.  One thing I’ve noticed among nursing students is that most of us already have genuine thoughts of care and concern, do acts of kindness, and unselfishly give ourselves to others… as though it’s a pre-requisite to be in this program. 

 

MCB xo