Some catching up to do....
Since I last posted, I have been to Vieques, snorkeled off of Puerto Rico, and started my medical/surgical rotation...I have a lot of catching up to do.
Vieques
Over our Spring Break, we took an excursion to an island off the eastern side of Puerto Rico called Vieques. A small island, 22 miles long and 4 miles wide, sits just 7 miles off the coast. We had been hearing so much about this place. The Puerto Ricans told us that it was a 'must see' while staying here.
After a short, bumpy ferry ride, we landed in Vieques for a couple days of fun.
We stayed in a small bed and breakfast named the Tradewinds which was right on the water. It was cute and included breakfast, drinks and creatures of all kinds including lizards and frogs. Our reptile friends added to the "Puerto Rican" vibe, so I didn't mind sharing a room with them.:)
If you can make friends with the animals, this was a place I would definitely recommend if you are inspired to see what Vieques has to offer.
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| Red Beach - listed as one of the best beaches in the Caribbean |
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| View from breakfast at the Tradewinds |
We also tried out the famous Bioluminescent Bay that is supposed to light up when paddling through the water in your kayak...key words: SUPPOSED TO! Our tour guide said it was one of the worst nights for the BioBay that he had seen in a while. He guessed that because of the unusually warm weather, the dinoflagellates (bacteria that glows) were not lighting up. So while we got the occasional 'glow', it wasn't as bright as it should have been. :(
Besides the disappointing turn out from the bacteria, we were still able to kayak at night through mangroves where sharks come to feed...how cool is that?!
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| The best kayaking team there ever was. |
Culebra
After a few short days in Vieques, we came back to Puerto Rico just to turn around and jump on that same ferry and take a day trip to Culebra. Culebra is another island just north of Vieques off the eastern side of Puerto Rico. We had heard of Culebra and the magnificent beaches there but after the weekend we just had, we didn't know if it could top our experience in Vieques.
Flamingo Beach was just recently put at number 3 on Trip Advisor's Best Beaches in the World; it definitely did not disappoint.
Snorkeling
We went snorkeling off the coast of Puerto Rico on a catamaran cruise. Not much more to say except that it was one of the best days thus far in PR.
While in the water, someone yelled SHARK! It was a massive, humongous, ginormous SHARK:
Ok, fine, so it wasn't THAT big....
Start of Med/Surg
So I guess I should mention that I am also in school...
We finished up our psychiatric rotation and started our medical/surgical unit. While psych was interesting, the medical/surgical aspect of nursing is what really intrigues me.
We jumped into our hand on experience the very first day. I was able to deep suction a patient's lungs (a tube down their throat that suctions out the secretions), change chest tube dressings, administer a MRSA test, participate in an admission and give multiple bed baths. It was definitely a day where I felt submerged in the daily routine of a nurse and I loved every second of it!
The next day at clinical was my rotation to the operation room. Life-changing doesn't even begin to describe it.
It is exciting when walking towards the operating room as it
is a chance to see parts of the body that usually are only seen in pictures in
our textbooks. Going to the OR gives a new meaning to hands on experience and
really puts what we learned in the classroom into real life situations.
After observing the first operation of an arthroscopic knee
debridement (cleaning out years of ‘wear and tear’ in the knee from arthritis),
the surgeon pulled me aside to teach me a few new things. He showed me the
proper way to ‘scrub in’ which included 5-7 solid minutes of washing hands all
the way up to the elbows. He presented the proper way to put on a sterile gown
and gloves while still maintaining sterility. He listed off names of
instruments that were meticulously lined up on the sterile tray next to the
operation table. He then said, “your turn.” Yikes.
Little did I know, he had planned to test me on everything
he showed me to see if I was ready to scrub in for the next orthopedic surgery.
After washing my hands for 5 minutes, trying as hard as I could to remember
which way to scrub the soap and how long to scrub on each finger, donning the
proper gowns, gloves and mask and naming many (missing a few) of the
instruments he had taught me, he said, “you passed the test!”
I was able to stand within the sterile field, help with
mobilizing the knee, and closely watch the subsequent surgery as the two
surgeons worked on the patient’s joint. As they scraped away damaged parts of
the bones and ligaments, they quizzed me on the different parts of the knee
that were being displayed on the large monitor via the arthroscopic camera; A
learning experience I will never forget.
Other procedures I observed that day included a
sigmoidectomy to take out colon cancer, surgery to reduce the intraocular
pressure in the eye of a patient with glaucoma and a fistula placement in the
arm for a patient who is headed for dialysis treatment.
It is amazing to think that a person was blessed with the skills to fix
what is broken and transform a person’s life via medicine. The technology I
observed that has allowed the medical field to progress so immensely
in increasing the quality of life for so many it seriously awesome. The experience in the operating
room was incredible and really made me excited that I entered the healthcare
field in this quickly advancing society.
I should learn that the longer I wait to post my adventures, the longer the blog post is. ;)
