Today I made an extra special effort to leave the house early so I could get to the hospital early enough to find out if there were patients admitted to the floor overnight, or if I was going to the ICU, and in that case have enough time to find the ICU and be early enough to get report.
I found my instructor, and she was surprised I was so early, but she told me she told me they had gotten two patients overnight and that she had a really nice patient for me. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to go to the ICU, but I was glad that I would be able to stay on the floor to be able to ask for help if I needed it.
Well, I am happy to report that when my instructor said she had a nice patient for me, she was being sarcastic. I had the most cranky patient EVER. Now, my clinical career is all of two days at this point, but I don't think I've encountered anybody in my life that cranky. But, I am happy to say that I was able to provide him with the highest quality care possible (he was not very verbal, even though I was pretty sure he could hear me) and I was kind to him through the entire shift. I know he wasn't mad at me; he was frustrated that he had to be in the hospital and that people were bugging him. And really, that's how you have to think when you have a patient who is non-cooperative and verbally combative. Overall, he wasn't too terrible to work with, although I did get a bit nervous about the possibility of him running me over when we got him onto his scooter....
After clinicals, I came home, showered, and crashed. I slept for a long time, was up for a few hours, and then fell right back asleep. I wasn't really short on sleep, but I think it was just a little bit of a rough day and there was a sense of relief at the end of the day that just required more sleep to take care of it.
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