My first days of nursing clinical rotations

NURSING

MY FIRST DAYS OF MY NURSING CLINICAL ROTATIONS

BY: LUCY KAMUNYA (BSC NURSING, JKUAT)

At some point in my Nursing curriculum, I have had the chance to rotate in the medical and surgical ward. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it there because the students from the senior class hinted to us how smelly the wards can be. By the time I was going for my rotations I had already hated the hospital. But all in all the rotation was a must. 

On our first day we were taken around for some orientation. I started covering my nose from a distance (it was the most stupid move)….we got into the wards and as we went round I saw a lot of people who were different in every aspect, be it age, sex, height, weight and a background.

But these people had one thing in common, they were all sick. 

Their illnesses weren’t the same but the common thing was that: they were not feeling well. I really felt ashamed for covering my nose. All I could see in their eyes was love.
They looked at us with hope that we would give them a chance to walk out of that hospital strong and healed.  We went home after the orientation and I reported to the hospital for my duty following day.

As days went by, I happened to create a good relationship with my patients. 

There was this particular patient who really caught my attention. He had given up on his life even though his condition was treatable. He always talked of how tired he was with life. It was really painful to see someone in that condition.
It took me a lot of time to convince him to eat and take his drugs. I later came to learn that all he wanted was some love and attention. I vowed to myself to give him the love and care that I I could when I was in the ward. 

One day the saddest news hit me, he had passed away. It was a painful experience because the previous day we had talked and he had promised to eat and take his meds even without supervision. To me he wasn’t just a patient.  I still remember the sound of his voice and his smile even to date.

I have come to learn that those emotions and those tiny connections with a patient are what really make you a nurse. What keeps me going is the fact that I gave him the best I could when he was alive even though he did not notice it. And wherever he is, I want him to know that I would still give him my best if he were alive.