Personal Narrative: My First Clinical

Introduction
I’ve been waiting since I’ve declared to be a nursing major to attend my very first clinical and finally last Saturday on October 17th I attended my first clinical at the Ludlowe Center for Health & Rehabilitation. It felt just like the first day of school! I woke up at 6 am and I felt anxious, sacred, and nervous, but also beyond excited to see what’s ahead of me for the morning. The clinical lasted from 7 am to 1pm, which at first seemed like a really long time but the excitement carried me away and it felt a lot shorter. The early morning was filled with activities that resembled what I have learned in my foundations class. I had the opportunity to visit five different patients and from each of those patients I experienced and

When I left my patient’s room I recalled some of the observations that I have made. When we gave our patient a shower I noticed that her feet were significantly darker than the rest of her body. Her feet were dark blue or cyanotic. I also noticed a round looking ball on the patient’s left brachial. I thought back to class lectures and was able to relate the patient’s cyanotic feet to hypoxia. The patient’s cyanotic feet explained her need for the oxygen tube. Walking into my second patient’s room I was a little bit less nervous. I walked into the room with more confidence than how I walked into my first patient’s room. My second patient was also very friendly. But she did not need as much assistance as my first. She just asked to fill up her basin with water. Later that morning, I had the opportunity to take my second patient’s blood pressure. It was difficult to tell the reading of the systolic and diastolic number due to being very nervous and the voice from the television remote but I ended up with a number that was pretty close to the accurate reading. Despite that, I was happy that my first time taking a patient’s blood pressure went

I was excited to see what hands on procedures I would do, but I was mostly nervous because I did not know what to expect from the patients, I did not know how the patient would respond or communicate. I think my biggest fear before coming to my clinical was how I would react to seeing older patients. As my morning clinical went on I left less nervous and scared, but I also felt sad when I saw some patient’s chart where it read that they are responsible for themselves. I tried my best to accept the situation how it is and not let my feelings interfere with the rest of my morning. After my clinical ended I was very tired, but I felt great! I thought to myself “I finally experienced something that I will soon be doing for the rest of my life”. I also felt accomplished and proud of myself. I was very nervous taking a patient’s blood pressure, pulse, showering, feeding, communicating and so much more but in the end I did it and I overcame my