Melinda Blanco

Day # 5: July 18, 2017

Today I had expected to be with Rosemie, a nurse that I had previously worked with. I waited patiently
for her arrival at 0800 she had still not arrived and I was told that she called out. At that point I
approached the nurse that was covering for her. Nurse Reid was new to the floor (floater) and had only
been there once or twice before. At first, she did not want a student. After 10 minutes, she approached
me and asked if I wanted to shadow her anyways. I agreed and we started our day. We had 5 patients
that day, two of them were off the floor most of the day. One had gone to dialysis and the other was
having surgery for acute appendicitis.

We concentrated on the three we had at hand. The first patient was a 57 year-old male with no known
drug allergies. He had been admitted for abdominal pain caused by sigmoid stricture. Patient had no
medical history and was scheduled to have a colonoscopy the following morning. At 1045 we replaced
his fluids D5 NS with 20 mEq K that was connected to his right 20G AC. The patient denied pain and
was fairly comfortable. Upon checking our pending tasks, we noticed that the physician had ordered a
urinalysis and carcinoembryonic agent (CEA) test. I successfully drew the blood on the first attempt. In
the afternoon, 1400 we provided the patient with a jug of Golytely to prepare him for his procedure.

Our second patient was a 57 year-old homeless woman who had been hit by a car. This patient has a
history of suicide attempt, therefore we monitored her closely. Patient was suffering from a right
clavicle fracture and right rib fracture. Patient stated that she was feeling pain that started in her neck
and radiated to her right shoulder. Patient has a cervical collar in place. At 1035 we administered Aspirin
81 mg, Colace 100 mg, metoprolol 25 mg, and tramadol 50 mg. Patient also received a 14 mg nicotine
patch that was placed on her right upper arm. Approximately 30 minutes after medication
administration, patient was comfortable and slept for most of the day. At 1600 I administered her daily
injection of Heparin to her abdomen.

Third patient was a patient that I was familiar with. The same 15 year old male who I have previously
cared for. This patient keeps getting better every time I see him. The doctors finally chose to discontinue
his trach and he was so happy. He is verbal and expressed gratitude every single time I walk into his
room. His traction has been removed and is working closely with PT. He has made a remarkable
recovery in the past 4 weeks. He is no longer in pain and just awaiting to see what the next step in his
recovery will be.

At 1900 my preceptor thanked me for being with her today. She stated that I made the day fly for her.
She said I know this morning I was a bit rude, but you have been a blessing. I thought I was going to
struggle today but your knowledge from working with these patients really helped me. You are going to
be an excellent nurse and I can tell that you like what you do.
 Melinda Blanco

Day # 6: July 19, 2017

Today was kind of boring. The nurse I was paired with appeared to be in her own world. She wasnt very
engaging. I basically spent my day just following her around watching her work. I checked on the
amount of fluids left in the patients bag but that was about it. Luckily enough it was a short day and
hopefully next week will be better.