On nursing and doctoring…

Posted on May.9.2012 by erika

Happy National Nurses Week!

A fellow nursing student sent me this article (it’s a pretty quick read) from The Atlantic. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortfall of nearly 30,000 primary care physicians by 2015, and more than 65,000 by 2025. How will we fill the gap? John Rowe, the author of the piece, is a physician and a professor in the department of health policy and management at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He believes that Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) can fill the gap. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and others agree. RAND Corporation, a nonprofit policy institute, even said that could save states money.

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bloody hell.

Posted on April.11.2012 by erika

So, I got blood on my beautiful blue scrubs today.

 

oh, the humanity!

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oh, are you?

Posted on April.5.2012 by erika

This week, I assisted with a major surgery I hung out in the OR.

Before I begin, let’s just get this out of the way, shall we? From Rushmore:

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spring break

Posted on March.20.2012 by erika

Within the next few days, I will post about Week 2 Clinicals, Medic Training and Dr. David Ansell’s inspiring talk that he gave to the nursing students (imagined title of talk in my head: Fighting The Man—because it sounds like that’s what we need to do to realize the change we need to see in this country). More on that soon. But first: Spring Break 2012.

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yo hablo español, sort of: week one clinical observations

Posted on March.8.2012 by erika

Observation

#1: The El is different in the early morning. Sleepy. The brown line train has only four cars instead of the usual rush-hour eight car caterpillars. The train rocks a bit more violently when it is empty. I am used to the sun peeking over the horizon as we approach the Loop. Not today. I review steps in my head as I listen to ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” on loop on my iPod. Dirty to clean, auscultate, percuss, inspect, educate, no wrinkles on the bed. What if I screw up? What if my patient falls? What if the IV slips out? The walk toward the hospital from the Polk station is lonely. Mister Blue Sky is living here today hey, hey.

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