October 22, 2004

And So It Goes

"Hi, my name is Jen. I have medical training, can I help you?"

This is what one says to a patient when approaching, to gain consent to treat. This is what ran through my brain last night while sleeping. This sentence. Over and over and over....

Let's just say this class is freakin' intense. So intense I don't have time to elaborate right now. Endless three letter acronyms were drilled into my head on Day 1. Patient assessments. SOAP notes. And more. All must be learned. Not learned in the "I have a test soon, and must memorize this for the test" sort of way I got through high school, but more in the "This could save someone's life, and this information must be ingrained in a cellular sort of way". That's some pressure there, huh?

Day 2 was CPR. But first, I got to play the "patient" and have my classmates find me, assess my (moulaged) injuries and then go painfully step-by-step through what we learned yesterday of the Patient Assessment System. All the while, I was lying in three inches of snow and snow still falling. I was adequately dressed for the wet, but not for the cold despite numerous layers. (Call me a wussy California girl, I guess.) No Gore-Tex boots, so the feet took hours to warm up afterwards.

Okay, back to studying.....

No comments: