Pediatric Reflections Paper
Pediatric Reflections Paper
Prior to beginning the pediatric clinical rotation at the Bethany Children’s Center, I was very certain that I would not like it and nothing could change my mind. I felt like it would be too sad to see the children in their various conditions and read the stories of how they were placed in the children’s center. I also feared actually performing nursing skills on pediatric patients. I believed that it would be nearly impossible to catheterize a child; after all, we barely get adults. I felt relieved that we were not placing IVs and passing medication, but I also knew that the day would drag on forever because of so much observation time.
The very first day of clinical I was so apprehensive and a little scared. I was walking into a closed unit, which worried me, and on top of that, I knew nothing about the environment and what exactly I should do since we were mostly observation. There were millions of questions running through my head. What would I do for an entire shift of no documentation, medication pass, or real hands on skills? What type of nurses would I encounter? Was he/she nice? The last thing I wanted to do was seem lazy and uninterested.
After my first day in unit three, I was so sad to see how many children were in DHS custody and had no family visitation. I also felt saddened by the tracheostomies and struggle for certain children to breathe. These little children were using every muscle in their body just to take their next breath and it broke my heart. I attempted a straight catheterization, assisted a nurse in a sterile catheterization, and assisted with all twelve patients. By post-conference, I was still unsure if I loved the rotation, but I knew that it wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be and I didn’t hate it.
When we returned to the Children’s Center, I was placed in unit eleven and very excited. The infant and toddler room seemed very active and I knew we would have a very busy and interesting day if nothing
Prior to beginning the pediatric clinical rotation at the Bethany Children’s Center, I was very certain that I would not like it and nothing could change my mind. I felt like it would be too sad to see the children in their various conditions and read the stories of how they were placed in the children’s center. I also feared actually performing nursing skills on pediatric patients. I believed that it would be nearly impossible to catheterize a child; after all, we barely get adults. I felt relieved that we were not placing IVs and passing medication, but I also knew that the day would drag on forever because of so much observation time.
The very first day of clinical I was so apprehensive and a little scared. I was walking into a closed unit, which worried me, and on top of that, I knew nothing about the environment and what exactly I should do since we were mostly observation. There were millions of questions running through my head. What would I do for an entire shift of no documentation, medication pass, or real hands on skills? What type of nurses would I encounter? Was he/she nice? The last thing I wanted to do was seem lazy and uninterested.
After my first day in unit three, I was so sad to see how many children were in DHS custody and had no family visitation. I also felt saddened by the tracheostomies and struggle for certain children to breathe. These little children were using every muscle in their body just to take their next breath and it broke my heart. I attempted a straight catheterization, assisted a nurse in a sterile catheterization, and assisted with all twelve patients. By post-conference, I was still unsure if I loved the rotation, but I knew that it wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be and I didn’t hate it.
When we returned to the Children’s Center, I was placed in unit eleven and very excited. The infant and toddler room seemed very active and I knew we would have a very busy and interesting day if nothing