So yay, my clinical was done as of last Thursday. It was a good experience learning all that time management and prioritization crap, but it just made me realize that I never ever want to work med-surg, let alone orthopedics or anything like that.
Went back to to work yesterday after over a month. It was sooo good being back in the ICU. I jumped right back into the swing of things and took care of a level II patient that I thought was stable but the night nurse failed to tell me that he frequently as chest pain. So we did the whole workup, but the EKG showed no significant changes from his previous EKG. I just monitored him closely. I also had a level III patient. He had a nephrectomy done the day before yesterday. I guess they fluid overloaded him in the OR because when he came out to our unit, they extubated him then RE-intubated him 2 mins later. So my job yesterday was to wean his Fentanyl and Versed and work with respiratory therapy to plan for possible extubation. ABGS looked good after weaning his FiO2. However, before I left they decided to let him rest and they would extubate this morning. He was a hard intubation and his airway was very edematous, so they wanted to make sure they had a full team ready with recemic epi and all that good stuff at at he bedside just in case. Man I wish I was there this morning to see if they did extubate.
Then my preceptor tells me yesterday..."So what's your plan after graduation?" and I told her what I've been telling everyone.
"You know, we all love you here and everyone says nothing but good things about you. We all want you to work with us. Bobette [the nurse manager] is saving you a position if you want it."
So yes, I did apply to some other hospitals and will apply to more, but VA is sounding better and better, especially with an ICU position with co-workers who I love. But I've still got a couple months to decide. We shall see.
