Bittersweet...

Today was my very last clinical day as an LPN student!

As much as I am excited to graduate, and begin my career as a nurse, I was so sad leaving the floor! For the past 8 weeks I have spent every Monday, Thursday, and Friday on the 5th floor of the most amazing facility I have ever had clinicals at. The staff was composed of the kind of people I want to surround myself with every day when I go in to work. They always treated us with respect. Unfortunately, as student nurses, we don't often see this. Most of the time we are considered "the worker ants". We are expected to do the dirty work that the employees simply don't want to do. Many times, they will stop what they are doing, and waste their time, to seek out a student just so that they don't have to do it themselves. Acts like that were hardly ever seen here. The staff was more likely to offer to help YOU, than ask YOU to help THEM. It didn't matter what level of training they had. The treated us like we belonged there. They would offer to let us do procedures with our instructor which often held them back so that we could get as much experience as possible. If they asked us to do something, it wasn't to make their life easier, it was to help us learn. They always took the time to answer our questions, as silly as they might be... and never laughed if they asked us to grab something and we grabbed the wrong "something". They would just offer to come with us and show it where it was so that we could find it next time.

Sadly, this facility doesn't hire LPN's. I can only hope that I will find some place just as special to work at until the time comes when I am an RN and I can go work there too. They were inspiring to me. It's a great feeling to have smiling patients who have amazing things to say about their nurses and the hospital that they are in. Being in a hospital is never fun, and nobody really enjoys it, but the patients in this hospital always had great things to say about their experience. I hope that I can always give that feeling to my patients. I want to be the kind of nurse that can brighten the gloomiest room, and put a smile on the most irritated patient. I think I'm headed in the right direction, and the staff that I was exposed to at this facility made me realize that I can be that person.

Farewell 5 Atrium.... Until we meet again... You will be missed!