First week of Clinicals at Bethany!

The first day of clinicals at Bethany Silverlake nursing home was wonderful. I was not anxious nor nervous but very excited to start clinicals. This is what i always wanted to do, to work with people. We began at 8 a.m with orientation. Orientation was not too long and so I got an opportunity to look into my resident's record and learn about her past and present medical illness. We did'nt get to do much as we were just getting oriented to the new environment, but it was nice to meet with the residents. When we introduced ourselves to them, they seemed happy to see new faces. I was able to talk to my resident and she was really friendly. I was so happy that i was assigned to work with this particular resident for the next four weeks.

The second day was not what i expected it to be. As i entered the dementia unit, i saw my resident sleeping and so i went to help the other residents with morning care. I was dissappointed to see the way some of the CNA's took care of the residents. I had to calm myself and understand that time is a great factor that may be a hindrance to give optimum care. Anyways, my day brightened up when my resident woke up and i gave her a warm shower, made her bed, and fed her breakfast. She was so cooperative despite her illness. She is mobile and so i held her hand and walked with her, and spoke to her about random things. She made my day and i felt satisfied with what i was doing and wished i could do much more than that. I decided that my goal would be to do my utmost for my resident and have a positive attitude. The four weeks that I am going to be there is definitely going to be challenging in many ways, but I will strive to help them in every possible way and bring a smile to their face. I want to integrate my faith into my practice while taking care of the residents so that they can feel God's love through my care.