My first internship pt. 2.

Hey there!

As I am about to reach my halfway point of my internship in the upcoming week I thought why not give you guys an update. It have been four moving weeks already with a lot of challenges, stories and showering people. Not to forget the mount Everest of essays and assignments I try to get done however the persons that are have been chosen as my mentors for this internship aren't around when I need them. Right now I am about one week behind on my assignments... yay me. 

I am trying though, it's just that my internship mentors need to check, approve and sign every bit of my essays and assignments before I can turn them in at school. This really slows things down. 

So far I have discovered a lot already. First of all, my former judgement about elders seems to be mostly untrue. Yes there are also elders that are all grumpy and down but on my ward live the sweetest, loveliest, alive and mostly happy elders I have ever met. My grandparents aside of course. My ward counts 19 rooms of which 18 are currently inhabited. Luckily all residents get along really well and most participate in the activities that are held in the afternoon. I have come across a lot of different medical conditions and a lot of different personalities. Most elders on my ward have physical diseases only but a few suffer from mental illnesses like borderland or schizophrenia mixed with paranoia. The diversity in personalities and diseases make my internship very interesting and diverse.

Second of all, as a new, first year intern the elders love to ask me about me. Luckily we have a lot of time for the clients during the day and we don't have to rush from one to another. This enables us to sit down and have a nice chat with them. The elders love to learn a lot about me (and forget it again five minutes later) but they also love for me to learn a lot about them. You should try once to go in and out a room within five minutes. Believe me it's not possible when the person's awake. As most elders are from around the 1920's they have lived through a lot. Knowing their age makes me aware of the amount of stories they have to tell and I am a sucker for stories. All the things I've heard so far and all the stories they have yet to tell me. My mind is filled with knowledge, personal stories, the stories of their lives. I could write multiple books about what I've heard there in the mere four weeks I've been around. It's absolutely amazing what some of the residents have endured, what they've lived through and how life has made them experience joy but also great suffering. 

Elders really are under appreciated and nowadays youth should visit homes for the elderly more often, if only to listen to their stories. We would all become much more educated and learn about the worlds history through a much more personal and interesting way than a stupid history book. Elders carry along so much knowledge and so many interesting stories about life in the old days. When you think about it it's a miracle that some of them are still keeping up with all the changes that have been thrown at their heads the past decades. The uprising technology, from simple black and white TV to touch-screen TV. 

I could talk about my internship for days. It's such an interesting place and so different from what I've learnt in school so far. Despite the severe lack of sleep I get from my internship, the fact that I'm only allowed to practise the basic aspects of nursing, the lack of communication between my two internship mentors and I and the essays and assignments I just don't seem to get finished I am really enjoying my internship and can't wait what the next six weeks will bring.

All I know now is that becoming a nurse has always been a dream of mine and that dream is now coming true. The dream hasn't changed into a nightmare and I don't think it ever will. A nurse is the perfect job for me, it brings along a lot of challenges but it also combines the things I find most important in life. Helping people and bringing happiness. To nurses all over the world, all 5 million of you, you are incredible, the work you do is amazing and appreciated by so many! Never give up the good work and don't let anyone bring you down! Also, I hope you had an amazing day on May 12th, the official international nurses day!! A little belated congratulations!!!

And as an anonymous person once said: "Save one life you're a hero, save 100 lives you're a nurse."

Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96

source:dekhnews.com

My first internship.

Hello! (Still working on the intro)

The first year of my nursing course is coming to an end. I have passed almost all of my tests and I'm quite confident about the resits I have to take. This year has just flown by and I can't believe that all there is left for this year is a 10 week internship. Leaving aside the 7 big assignments we have to complete mostly within the first five weeks of the internship. *sarcastic yay* 

Last year I had to drop out of uni for personal reasons (will be explained in next weeks blog) and I would have called you mad if you told me I would actually finish and most likely even pass my first year of university. A little while ago I was travelling back home from a long day of school and I felt so genuinely proud of myself for getting where I am now. And maybe this doesn't sound like that big a deal for most of you but for some people, including me, it is. One of my other goals for this year is about to get crossed off and all there is left before I can cross it off my list is the internship.

The internship starts next week and will last 10 weeks. My internship is in a home for the elderly of whom I will be taking care of. It's for three days a week and the other two are assigned for the assignments and other school stuff. On the one hand I am really excited for what's awaiting me but on the other hand I am absolutely terrified. I don't want to be terrified because I'm certain everything will be okay and I'll have a great time there but I can't shake it off. 

I've always wanted to become a nurse ever since I was little and now it's actually happening I am terrified. Along with the taking care of people and helping them get better or deal with changing circumstances regarding their health care as a nurse you have a great deal of responsibility. Peoples lives are in your hands, almost literally. One mistake and it could be over and that is what scares me the most. You are given such a great deal of responsibility. What are they thinking?! I'm only 18, maturity is still laughing at me and running away from my responsibilities has become a big hobby of mine. How are they expecting me to take responsibility for the lives of about 20 elders that are really fragile and have a lot of health care issues. 

Now I know that the majority of the elderly are really nice and sweet so they won't be too hard on me, I hope. I also know I passed all the practical tests so far and I know most of the medical procedures. What could go wrong right?! Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself. Everything will be fine but still I feel terrified for what might go wrong. 

This internship is my first step to becoming a real actual nurse and it will be my first experience in the real world of health care and nursing. I am both excited and scared for what the next 10 weeks might bring. In those 10 weeks I will learn a lot and get a lot of advice on how to improve my nursing skills with both the practical but also the emotional part of the job. Maybe I come out of my internship as a new person, a better nurse probably and someone that is more confident and sure of her decisions. 

For now I'll go and mentally prepare myself for the upcoming 10 weeks. I don't know if you would care or like it if I post some updates during my internship so please let me know!

Lot's of love,
ThatDutchGirl96 or should I change it to ThatDutchNurse96 ;)