A part of something bigger...

I'd like to share what I think one of the best part of my clinical experience is. My group has to be at the hospital between 6:30 and 7am. Meaning, we have to make sure that we're there before it's time to get report. For those of you that don't know what report is, it's the time of day when nurses that have been with a patient for 12 hours gets to do the "hand off" to the oncoming nurse at the start of their 12 hour shift. It's what helps us nurses decide who we need to see first, whose doing great (or not so great), and it helps us pull ourselves together and prioritize the rest of our day! But that's not the experience I wanted to share with you.  ;)

I LOVE every morning pulling into the hospital! There's always a steady stream of traffic that works their way into the staff parking garage. Filling each spot at a steady pace. Then, as you step out of your warm vehicle, there's the sound of the car doors closing, cars being locked, and familiar faces making polite greetings. Crisp, cool, air fills your lungs and brings you the promise and hope of a new day.

Then, all at once, without any warning...it begins. The street is littered with nurses, physicians, surgeons, to your left is your friend in respiratory who always knows the best tricks to make your patient's cough be productive, if you glance to your right you see ortho and know that you'll be working with them to get your patient up and walking again. If you look in front of you you'll spot some fellow students whose green scrub pants, white top with the nursing student patch on it, and terrified faces give them away!

This is what I love about each morning. Nothing on the unit and with your patient remains the same. Each day always has it's own unpredictable occurrences. But one thing that you can be sure of, is that at the switch of each shift, be it 7am or 7pm you will find the littering of talented people walking across the cross walk, each contributing to the health and wellness of every human being that we may come across or encounter that day. I love seeing people that are passionate and excited to face their job each and every day!  

In all reality, it's really not anything super life-altering; and to an innocent bystander it may even be annoying, you know, having to wait as people cross the street..heck, I may be the only person that finds it exciting, but it sure does make me feel like I'm a part of something bigger!