Finally done with Critical Care rotation. Celebrated it with half of the class and a couple of our clinical instructors. I thought it'll be awkward for students and instructors to mingle socially (because it's unheard of in the Philippines) but it turned out ok. I've always enjoyed my instructors' company during clinicals because they were a hoot but listening to them while we were having dinner was really a blast.
I wish Critical Care could have gone on for 4 more weeks. Of all our clinicals, I enjoyed this the most. Probably because I'm more confident of my skills and of my understanding as to the whys and hows of the different disease processes. Or it could be because I had two of the wackiest instructors in the nursing department. Could ICU/CCU be my niche? I hope so. I need to find that out before I graduate.

Anyway, starting next week, we'll be tackling Home Health. Each of us is assigned to one nurse. No groups. No instructor hovering behind our backs. No staff nurse to orient us to what's happening to the patients assigned to us. And apparently, our instructors expect us to follow the home health nurse to every appointment she has for the day. Problem is some of the places are unknown to me. I don't know Chicago as well as I would like. I can drive to and from school and the mall (syempre) but that's it. I'm afraid of going into the City because traffic is as bad (or probably worse) as Manila. I could probably ask the nurse if I can ride with her. I just hope she won't mind. ;)



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* Pictures taken using Treo 600