On the Run

Instead of my usual water run this week on Phillips 3 East, I was able to shadow and observe the everyday duties of Chris, a registered nurse. Within the first few minutes of observing him, it was already clear that we'd be doing A LOT of moving around. We went from one patient to the next, checking up on them, calling doctors, receiving medications and making sure each of his patients were comfortable before leaving. Although Chris does not have the same experience or educational background as a physician, he had revealed to me that with time, he was able to learn some of these things on his own. While he may not be able to prescribe a patient the meds they need, he can make suggestions to the doctor based on observations he's made himself. Despite the fact that I was unable to do much physically, I was able to learn so much about the nursing field as well as the cardiovascular system as we were on the Cardiac Nursing floor.