Today was my fifth day in the heart hospital. I have to say, it was not one of my favorite days. It was the same routine as always. Making cigars, listening to nurses, stocking rooms, discharging patients. When I checked into my floor, a woman (perhaps she was a nurse or a specialist) looks at me and says, “Oh, are you volunteering because you want to be a nurse?” From a personal perspective, I am a little tired of people asking this. I have nothing against nurses; in fact, I have utmost respect for them. I could not do their job, every day. Why don’t people ask me if I want to be a Doctor? Specialist? Surgeon? It’s always nurse. If I wanted to be a nurse, I would already be one. I took a class in high school that would have expedited nursing school for me. I took it because I wanted to have some sort of health care exposure and it was the only choice in terms of courses. I have never wanted to be a nurse.
When I reached my floor, I started making cigars (which I’ve concluded, smell like dirty bacon) and overhearing the nurses. Just as in a normal workplace, there are very good employees and there are not-so-good employees. Today, a group of nurses discussed some personal things. Things I doubt I would discuss with close friends. (more…)
Day four. That would be about 16 hours or so at this point. It would be day six, but I’ve been unable to attend twice. Day four of volunteering. This is where I will talk about the things I see on the way of getting into medical school. Thus far, I’m a junior in college. I graduated high school in 2005 in the not so great state of Alabama (sorry, I’m not a fan of college football and humidity). The friends I made in high school are still friends of mine, still great ones. I live in Arizona now, with my family, a job, and school. Throw in volunteering, and it’s an interesting combo.
The first day wasn’t too notable. I was in the process of being acclimated to the atmosphere, the nurses, and my responsibilities. No one really had a set of tasks for me to do; random nurses who had a few minutes to speak to me threw it all together. (more…)
