COVID-19 Class of 2020: The Twists and Turns of My Hospital Residency

Early within the pandemic in North Carolina, nursing students were faraway from all hospitals during our final clinical rotations due to a “mystery illness.” This was alleged to be the time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. But because we weren’t yet registered nurses, we weren’t allowed or expected to supply care or comfort to patients—despite the fact that that was the expectation after graduation, which was just across the corner.

Graduation and beyond

As a part of the graduation process, my class gave oral presentations to the Board of Nursing, explaining how the unconventional learning means of the scholars over the past few weeks had prepared us to grow to be nurses—as if we actually understood what it meant or what we’d need to do if we became nurses. The NCLEX exams were suspended for some time initially of the pandemic, so we were to be called “graduate nurses” until we could take the licensure exam. As a graduate nurse, I used to be hired by my first and current employer. What a fantastic feeling, right? I had a job! I finally got to experience my first rotation on the night shift while also attending in-person classes in the course of the day. I actually have to confess, the toughest part was losing sleep to attend classes, but it surely brought me closer to my goal.

What have I gotten myself into?

The night of my first rotation, my first patient lay alone, dying. I did every little thing I could to comfort him—but to no avail. I will need to have looked just a little overwhelmed once I left the room, because one other nurse got here over and tried to comfort me. When that did not work, he introduced me to the hearth escape.

I learned that the stairwell is not only a heart-healthy approach to get from floor to floor; it’s a spot where nurses and patients go to cry.

Typically, a patient with a poor prognosis could be transferred to a palliative care unit, but what happens when the palliative care unit is closed as a consequence of a pandemic? It was the primary time I had seen patients die alone, and once I finished that tearful trip up the stairwell, I swore, “Enough!” My colleagues and I did what nurses at all times do—found out the best way to solve the issue. We arrange video calls to be sure our patients had a approach to be with their families once they died. When we found an issue, we solved it. We repeated this pattern time and again. Each latest rotation within the COVID-19 ICU made us feel like patients who had just been CPRed, revived, and put back on a ventilator for one more round. Each latest rotation, we began over with latest caregivers with no latest details about COVID-19, just latest requirements for what to document and when, because every unit was different. Should I take vital signs every hour or every 4 hours? Do I would like to show this patient every two hours? What in the event that they are lying on their stomach?

Finding a house

During my second rotation, I began to get my bearings. But I used to be exhausted. I had to seek out some form of work-life balance. Then the nurses began getting COVID-19. When my caregiver got COVID-19, I used to be left alone. Everyone on the ward said if I needed anything, just ask, but everyone was so busy saving lives. Who was I to trouble them?

Then doubt crept in. Am I ok? Will my patients suffer unnecessarily due to me?

I take into consideration how I felt then and the way I feel now, and I realize how far I’ve come. During my third stint, my latest mentor began to show me the ins and outs of my specialty. No more strictly COVID-19 nursing. Now I could search for a house—a team to be an element of. It took me 4 stints to seek out my home within the neuro-intensive care unit, but I’m so glad I did! It meant I finally had a work-life balance. I discovered a close-knit, friendly team, and surprisingly, I discovered that the job wasn’t as scary as I assumed it could be. Suddenly, every little thing was in balance, and I felt higher than I had since I began as a nurse. Coming out of this pandemic and doing residency at the identical time made me a COVID-19 nurse and a survivor. When I finished my residency, I felt like I used to be a part of history. Everyone was talking in regards to the “year of the nurse” and the healthcare heroes, and I used to be an element of it. I owe an enormous thanks to the surgical, palliative, orthopedic, and medical-surgical nurses who’ve temporarily stepped away from their regular jobs to assist shore up hospital COVID-19 intensive care units. That’s what nursing means to me—find a necessity, meet a necessity.