Psych Clinical

Hey!

I thought I'd take a few minutes to write about my week in psych clinical because it was probably one of the best weeks that I've had here.

On Wednesday, one of my classmates and I had the opportunity to go with a social worker to visit veterans in the community. We drove around in a sweet government care to Rio Piedres, Carolina, and some houses around the hospital. This service is for patients who have psych problems and need help with medication refills and things like being aware of the services in the community. The first patient we saw had a beautiful big black dog that really made me miss Emma! We went to several houses where no one was home, which seemed strange to me. When I was with the VNA in the Bloomfield area, the nurse was always sure to call all her patients in the morning to make sure they were there and prepared for her visit. I once again learned that things are done differently down here in PR. We went to another house that had dogs, more specifically five newborn puppies! They were so young that their eyes were still closed and they couldn't use their back legs. Bri and I just wanted to play with them instead of paying attention to the patient. The mother was obviously a young mutt who had probably escaped from her home and met a male dog who knocked her up. Spaying and neutering dogs is really a problem here in PR, especially the island of Vieques. If I had chosen to become a vet, I would try to devote time to come down and fix these dogs. Since I can't do that, when I'm ready to adopt a furry friend, I fully plan on adopting an island dog. One of my roommates adopted a dog from Turks and Caicos a few years ago and is very happy with her choice. I'm scared that those five puppies are just going to be released onto the streets :( Everyone go adopt an island dog now!!

The next day at clinical I was in the "Depot" clinic where we saw many schitzophrenic patients who were in to get their biweekly or monthly antipsychotic shot. I got to practice IM shots and psych assessments all morning. The nurse was beyond welcoming and took so much time to teach me all about what she does. Being able to spend the day with nurses like her is so refreshing because it's all too common for nurses to want nothing to do with students; it's as if they forgot that they were once in nursing school. Talk about nurses eating their young! The nurses down here have been more welcoming than any nurses I have dealt with back home, and that is something that I will truly miss. Even if the nurses aren't trained as well as American nurses, they have still taken so much time to teach us what they do know. That being said, we have learned a lot about what NOT to do from the VA hospital, for example uncapping a syringe with their mouth, not wearing gloves when drawing blood, and administering anti-hypertensive meds when the patient already has low blood pressure.

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather back home. I can't wait to be able to wear jeans and boots and hoodies and sweaters and hats and gloves! 13 DAYS!! Two weeks from today I'll be laying in my pillow top queen size bed with my snuggle buddy, Emma. See everyone soon!