This semester I continued my clinicals at the most beautiful UNC Children’s hospital! I was on such a great unit (pediatric burns) with an amazing clinical instructor, team & patients. This was the most time I have spent with the pediatric population and it was very interesting, informative, and fun! This semester included lots of cute patients, CARE PLANS & a fast paced full schedule! Pictured below is my less than glamorous typical view of the semester: my HW spread! Luckily I was ready to go after the first half and made sure to get ahead as much as possible day 1.
A typical week June-August 2018 went something like this…
SUNDAY
- 5:30 am wake up call
- 12 hour pediatric clinical day filled with lots of patient care & care plans!
MONDAY
- HW & Studying day
- Periodically scheduled on campus simulations or lab work
TUESDAY
- Early morning studying & HW time
- Off to the elementary school for my local community clinical 2-6pm
WEDNESDAY
- On campus for courses 8a-4p
- 8am- Pharmacology
- 10:30am- Pediatrics
- 2pm- Community & Public Health
THURSDAY
- On campus course 8a-4p
- 8am- Professional Nursing
- 10:30am- Pediatrics
- 2pm- Community & Public Health
FRIDAY
- Major HW & Studying day
- Periodically scheduled on campus simulations or lab work
SATURDAY
- Free time with Dillon, Saturday AM
- Afternoon for HW+Studying & Clinical Prep work before another early AM
Second Semester Takeaways Continued…
- As soon as you get your syllabus, skim through & find every possible assignment you can complete ahead of time!
- On the first day of our Pediatric rotations, I found some online modules, work sheets and a few assignments that weren’t due until the end of the semester but I completed them day 1. It was so nice to have less to worry about & know I had already lessened the load of the end of the semester
- Pediatric Vital Signs are best memorized after hours on the white board, re-write & replay over & over to really nail them in your memory
- Many of the pediatric conditions are so similar and hard to differentiate at first, what I did was take a sheet of computer paper & fold it into fours… each 1/4 of the sheet would have separate condition… then I would have the entire paper to study together, to fold/open as needed, compare & contrast {nephrotic syndrome/post streptococcal glomerulonephritis, congenital heart conditions, shock, skin conditions}
- Don’t stress about care plans & just make sure to ask as many questions possible, utilize the Diagnosis-Nursing Interventions text, you’ll be amazed how they easily come to you by the end of the semester! ABC!
^My wardrobe these days… all no make up, glasses, tshirts + yoga pants/shorts, running shoes… yikes! But I honestly couldn’t imagine doing it any other way! So proud & excited to be 1/2 WAY DONE!!! Hello Summer!