WHAT I LEARNED IN CLINICAL IS

So, last night was my last critical care clinical (not like we had very many, just two) and it was interesting!

I got to my unit super early and obviously nervous/excited, because it'll be the type of unit I'm on starting March, but the night certainly dragged.

It started feeling like a slow crawl at 8 pm and there was SO much night left.

Lessons learned:

1. 6 beers, rum, + Jager (that looks beyond weird. Germany, why?) = just enough alcohol to be kicked out of somewhere for disorderly conduct. But you shouldn't stop there, yelling at the cops who are flashing their flashlights at you is a much better and smarter alternative. You only turn 40 once! And they'll only have you in jail until you sober up.
2. If my family was in the ICU, I'd hover over the nurses taking care of my loved one too. Can't really blame her for doing that, even though we were doing all we could for someone who's prognosis was really bad.
3. Bring more than one book. Never underestimate the power/longevity of a slow night shift.
4. The cafeteria, at least where I was, is open at 2 am. This does not necessarily mean you should eat there.
5. Always make sure you can go back in the way you came, otherwise, you have five flights of stairs in the sketchy part of the hospital to go up.
6. A "thank you, m'am" or any other sincere form of thanks does the heart good. Manners, in general, make the world a much more tolerable place.
7. When a ventilator gets pulled off while turning a patient, you can have your moment of panic, but you should probably try to set that back up, so your comatose patient can breathe.
8. A hot doctor + a unit full of women = laughter! I'm glad to know things don't change that much :) Especially when factoring in the fact he jogs shirtless around his neighborhood and the many comments/stories about that!
9. Rectal tubes are no joke. 0/10 would not recommend.
10. There is such a thing as fantasy golf.

I did a good deed this morning, which would normally be unrelated, except for the fact that the favor was later returned to me when some kind stranger turned in my phone to the lost and found, because, me being the idiot that I am, left it in the library when I was rushing around to print things.

So, thank you, Universe ♥

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.

I found out yesterday evening, as the best Valentine’s Day present in my life thus far, that I got an ICU position for my internship/preceptorship and it’s going to be at the hospital that I was born in and it’s a night shift, which is what I wanted, even though day shift would be nice, considering I still have classes to attend during day time, BUT I DON’T EVEN CARE.

Just good news all around and I had to share ♥