Day 3: Gynecology

1 word: gross.

To start off the nurse I shadowed was very welcoming and eager to show me everything about the department and her job as a nurse in the gynecology department. I saw many women coming straight out of surgery that were all recovering from very different types of issues. Some were as grateful as ever even in the most uncomfortable situations, and some were being as snobby as possible. Whatever it was the nurses handled all of them the same and I truly saw how much thankful patients were a blessing to their nurses. I got to watch how nurses charted about their patients and also got to see the huge drug cabinet where all the medicine is held. I loved being put on task by the nurses. The nurse I was shadowing let me go into rooms by myself and deliver minor things that the patients needed. I was able to talk to the patients a little, and some even opened up to me in trying to explain to me how hard it was to be in recovery in this department. I also got to hear a lot from the gynecology nurses about how Obama care is affecting them. Because of the new health care policy, the hospital is very tight on how many nurses work at once in order to save money. At the time that I was shadowing the nurses were complaining about how hard the morning shift will be with only 3 nurses and 12 patients. Also, the sweet old lady that has been working there for 16 years that delivers all the patients their meals was recently fired and I witnessed the nurse I was shadowing and the sweet old lady crying together.
I wont go into much detail into what I saw because quite frankly I'm trying to forget it myself (haha), but I did get to see a side of the women's hospital that I had never even thought about before. I realized every body part women have someone has to be an expert on, and someone has to take care of that part of the body when something is going wrong- even when it is not the most fun. I am thankful to know those nurses and doctors are out there ready to take care of me if that ever happens to me. Baptist truly is such a caring and loving hospital. Here is the only picture I could snap of the day- one nurse giving another nurse a report on her patients who will be taking over her patients for the night shift.