Meeting With Batch 9

It was a Friday and I am still groggy. I woke up very much tired because I worked last night. I had slept for barely four hours. I have to push myself to wake up because the condition of the traffic right now on the freeway I am taking is very congested.

Yesterday, my Director-of-Nursing at school called me to cover for Batch 9 because their clinical instructor had already resigned because of some conflicts from her masteral school. So I ended up inheriting the batch from her until they can finish their last term. For now they're still finishing second term and two terms more on the way.

I arrived at Earlwood Care Center, in Torrance, CA,  five minutes before 3 pm. I arrived just in time before meeting Batch 9. I felt quite nervous and anxious not because of the new challenge but because I wasn't prepared for this and because I don't know what to expect with this group and the facility.

When I arrived at the facility's front yard I saw two female students sitting on the bench. I gingerly smiled at them and confidently asked them if they were from my school. They say they were and I then introduced myself to them. Then I asked them to show me where they usually meet up for the pre-conference.

They led me to the staff lounge and there we waited for the rest of the group. When all of them came, I started the pre-conference and explained to them my goals and expectations for the day. I also introduced myself to them since it was the first time I meet and saw them. I noticed that I know some of them because they had some make-up duty made from my clinical exposure with Batch 5 at Centinela Hospital Medical Center.

I assigned the group a team leader and discussed with them their assignments. At 4:30pm some were assigned for accu-checks and some did the ADLs. I carefully supervised each one of them and spoke to them if they have issues.

At 5 pm I assisted some students who were assigned to pass medications. I followed them individually and guided them on each medications they were about to give as well as explaining them their responsibilities as they gave the medications to their respective clients.

After passing the medications I was called by the facility's Director-of-Nursing because she needs to talk to me about student's issues. She told me that last week when the students did some procedures on a client they were caught laughing and giggling in front of the patient. She told me that the client's family had complained to her about the incident.

I told her that it was my first day at that time and that I didn't know about the situation. I apologized to her about what had happened and assured her that I will talk to my students about the complaint and also let my school's DON know about the incident. I also told her that it will not happen again as long as I'm with them.

After the discussion I gathered all the students and confronted them about the issues. I lectured a little bit about professionalism, protecting patient's privacy, safeguarding patient's safety, and following HIPAA guidelines. Then I instructed them to go back to work.

At 6:30 pm we left for our dinner and I went with the group at Shakey's Pizza. Since it was a long time I haven't been to Shakey's and at the same time I missed their potato mojose, I decided to pitch in with the group and we ordered a meal. We enjoyed eating our order while getting to know each other.

After our dinner we went back to the nursing home and continued our work. At 8 pm we made another rounds for accu-checks and helped the staff tuck the patients in for the night.

When we didn't have anything to do I told my student's to read their patient's chart and take some information for our post-conference.

I also meet a guy from my province who is also the facility's night supervisor. His name is Nilo Juaneza. He looks younger than me, buzzed, muscular, and very professional. I introduced myself to him and we talked for a little bit. He told me that he graduated at St. Paul's College in Iloilo and he told me that he knew some of my cousins and in fact he was a classmate of one of them.

At 10:30 pm we held our post-conference. We talked about our day's experiences as well as some of the patient's cases. I also gave them a little brushed-up exam about fluids and electrolytes which is their current topic in their theory class. They were so thankful about what I just did and they told me that it will help them for their oncoming final exams. I dismissed them after our post-cofenrence at 11 pm.

I then left the facility and drove my car home. While slowly driving back home I was reflecting on myself about my experiences with Batch 9. My anxiety earlier before meeting them were already gone and I was so happy that I had handled this small group.

I think this group is a more responsible team and I am happy to have been assigned to them. Hopefully, I would want to have them on their next term in Centinela Hospital Medical Center, if God willing.