Personal Narrative: A Day At St. Luke's Hospital

I did one day of a medicine/surgical clinical day with Anne Hartman at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids. The day began at 0800 and ended shortly after 1600. There were several differences along the way starting with the time. I teach clinicals for Iowa College of Nursing and they begin at 0645 and end at 1530. Anne had informed me that she was not a morning person and got to chose what times she did her clinicals out. Plus, the hours she taught clinicals counted toward her full time faculty job at Mount Mercy University. The hospitals are extremely different. I teach clinicals out of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics where there is a completely different flow to the day. At St. Lukes the first thing that I had completely forgotten about was free parking. At the University Hospital it can cost up to $18.00 a day. So parking at St. Luke’s was a pleasant surprise. The other big difference is the setup of the unit. St. Lukes has long hallways that are confusing to see the beginning and the end of the unit. I was not in the right place and was a little disoriented all day long trying to find my way around. At the University there are three pods that are shaped in a half circle where I teach …show more content…
I also enjoy giving my knowledge to the students. I often view myself as the Kindergarten teacher, as in, the first rotation of school should be a wonderful experience. My students should leave feeling they can be a nurse and be successful. I have a very kind approach, and this leads to my students being confused as who grades their paperwork. The paperwork can be and is atrocious in the beginning. Most of the students improve right away, others seem to struggle a lot over nursing diagnosis. I have enjoyed my week in simulation where I could see the nursing diagnosis being taught and reiterated several times during the simulation. I believe this would be very beneficial to my