technological insanity

I can't believe I'm already wrapping up for the last portion of this final semester. My final preceptorship will be doing surgical nursing at a great floor so I'm looking forward to it! So far in this program, I've seen a lot of everything from what each major area has to offer from general medical-surgical, pediatrics, maternity, mental health, community, geriatrics (home care), orthopedics, etc etc. There are so many other specialties left unexplored and I still don't know what I want to specialize in...

I've had the opportunity to watch a few surgeries and it's crazy what level technology has achieved so far. Along with great staff who are willing to teach some wide-eyed nursing student the ins and outs of a new area, I've been thoroughly impressed. The uterus is actually quite tiny. Laparascopic procedures are so small and minimally invasive... the belly actually gets filled with gas so a camera can see down it to aid in the cauterizing, snipping, sucking, cleaning, etc etc. Regarding the uterus (and associated ovaries and tubes, they all got removed via the vagina... crazy! I later walk into another room and got to watch and play with an excised piece of intestine fresh off the chopping block. I can't imagine ever being an OR nurse... one has to be uber organized.

I think today's procedure takes the cake in terms of being impressive and super amazing because it was cardiac in nature. We had a patient who was on bypass (and those machines are huuuuuuuuuge) and was converted to a VAD (ventricular assist device) so the person's heart could be mechanically pumped as an artificial ventricle... this is all powered by an external battery source. The beating heart is uber cool to watch and human ribs... they look like run of the mill back ribs that you'd eat during a BBQ, lol. I'm amazed by the amount of coordination and number of specialty bodies present to keep the person alive... from the anesthesiologists, the two cardiologists specializing in imaging, three cardiac surgeons and a perfusionist to control the blood just to name a few. It's scary, the fine line between life and death... to think the slightest adjustment could change everything.

After a quick tour of the renal floor, do NOT go on Atkin's or the South Beach diets. Our bodies NEED carbs... You can smell a person by their breath if they've only been eating protein. Diets strict in high protein = bad news for the kidneys... renal failure sucks.