I finished my second and final week of my long-term care rotation!
This was a busy week for me, as I was trying to get through everything that needed to be done on my internship checklist. I went with a wound care nurse to watch a dressing change for someone who had severe wounds. I will spare you the details but you can google “stage 4 decubitus ulcer” if you’re curious. I’ll just say that was a day I will never forget and leave it at that. I also looked through the hospital’s cycle menus. It made me appreciate school food service a little more!
I wanted to share an experience that really gave me a new perspective on clinical work. I dealt with a patient that was downright hateful to hospital staff. He didn’t cooperate with his treatment and was rude to pretty much everyone he talked to. I had him on my list of patients to speak with on one of my last days at this rotation and immediately dreaded going into his room. But something crazy happened when I spoke with him… he was really nice. Not only that, but I kept trying to tell him I had to leave to see other patients and he kept bringing up new things to talk about. This made me realize that you never know what a patient is going through. Being in the hospital, especially a long-term facility, is frightening and can be lonely. I think as health care professionals that it can sometime be easy to forget that. This experience reminded me that I should treat everyone with respect, kindness and love, no matter how they act towards me or others.
Being at an LTAC facility was a fantastic learning experience and I would recommend it to any dietetic intern.
Next I will be moving on to Outpatient Clinical, which is the last stop on my clinical rotation party bus. I will have another long commute but I purchased the Inman Review Course to listen to during the drive.
Finishing this rotation means I only have 7 weeks left of my internship!
Orientation- 1 week(completed!)Inpatient Clinical- 6 weeks(completed!)- Outpatient Clinical- 3 weeks
Long-Term Care Clinical- 2 weeks(completed!)Staff Experience Clinical- 2 weeks(completed!)- Community- 4 weeks
School Food Service Management- 5 weeks*(completed!)School Nutrition Education- 2 weeks(completed!)Prior Assessed Learning for Work Experience- 6 weeks