I can officially answer that question now that I have completed my “Mother-Baby” rotation. I am very glad to have learned about women’s issues, but I have to say that I am very glad to be done with this rotation. My biggest complaint…the nurses that I had to shadow. With only a couple of exceptions the nurses did not provide a very good learning environment. I recall my day in the nursery when I was supposed to follow the “baby catcher”; she wanted nothing to do with me. I tried to ask pertinent questions, be helpful, all the things a good student nurse should do, but got nothing from her except sighs and short answers. Most of the L&D nurses would ask their patient if it would be alright for a male student nurse to come in and observe. You can only guess what most of the answers were…”No, I don’t think so”. I understand that when it comes to certain procedures, it would be appropriate for a male student nurse to leave or make himself scarce, but if I’m a nurse with a student following me I state that I will have a student with me today to the patient. My last day of clinical I was paired with a great nurse. She was absolutely great. She told the patient who I was and what I was doing. I learned more with my short time with that nurse than I did the entire semester. I really hope that when I get my license that I’ll be able to help students learn what they need to learn.
All in all, I learned a lot this semester (mostly from the lecture classes), but I am glad to be moving on. I am not taking any classes this summer, so I’ve got three months to lounge around and do nothing…..right? Well, I have started on a couple of projects that I’ll discuss next time.
-DV
Nursing will give us a lot of great experiences.
ReplyDeleteVery much looking forward to the return of your blog next semester. I'm starting nursing school in the fall, and have really enjoyed reading your posts!
ReplyDeleteThose women were wusses! When I was pregnant with my FIRST child my family doctor was my OB, that was pretty normal 15 yrs ago. Anyhoo, she was also a teaching doctor and one day when I was there for my check up she was like "Do you mind if I bring some students in here?" And not only did I allow her to bring them in, but they also checked my cervix!! I mean jeez, it was all in the name of learning. I guess I have a larger comfort zone than most people, lol.
ReplyDelete"Where do babies come from?"
ReplyDeleteOh, a nurse has a good answer. haha. Anyway, sometimes the medical world is indeed discriminating men nurses from female. But still I'm hoping that someday,like women on voting rights, male nurses will also be considered with equal rights and responsibilities as female nurses. :)
Thanks for sharing,
Peny@littmann cardiology stethoscope