I had a slow but interesting day serving at Toccoa sick clinic. We started seeing patients after lunch. I had a dynamic team of nurses, some with better experience working in such environments. At the sick clinic, we were seeing patients with COVID-19 symptoms or those who had already tested positive for disease. It was an ideal opportunity to observe the duties of a nurse and the challenges that can present when working in clinical settings. The duties of the nurse in the sick clinic included; scheduling appointments, checking patients’ medical insurance, placing orders in for the insurance provider, requesting orders, COVID-19 testing, strep and flu swabbing, giving injections, getting vitals and reviewing symptoms with patient. It is their job to review the patients past medical history, current problems and medications and allergies. Najafi et al. (2019) argue that since nursing students should employ their knowledge and skills in clinical environments to acquire required qualifications, any opportunity to serve in clinical settings should be accorded maximum attention. Therefore, I was active throughout the session to optimize the learning experience.
We were following strict guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The guidelines include observing proper cleanliness and sanitation, gloving up, wearing masks and shields, and avoiding unnecessary contact which may spread COVID-19. Furthermore, were supposed to handle each patient with dignity and respect without spreading fear. Some of the patients presented with anxiety after testing positive. Most of the patients tested presented with symptoms such as lost sense of taste and smell. Patient education played an important role in such cases to ensure that they did not spread the disease when released from the clinic. They have air cleaners in each room running for fifteen minutes after each patient left before allowing another patient in the room. We also have to wipe the room and everything in the room to ensure that chances of disease-spread were minimal.
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I had a great learning experience at the clinic. While at the clinic, my role was to take each patient to the room, get their vitals, assist the nurse in any other task and give any injections needed. I would also help running rapid COVID-19 test, and help clean each room after the patient left. The things I learned where mostly signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and how they can vary tremendously from patient to patient. The most common symptoms our patients presented with were loss of sense of taste and smell, diarrhea, shortness of breathe, fatigue, headache, body aches, sore throat, cold and flu like symptoms. I had the pleasure of working with nurses Lane, Cassandra and nurse practitioner Morgan. These ladies were really nice and welcoming. They were accommodative and ready to direct me in my activities. They enjoyed teaching me and answering any questions I had. They were very informative and willing to show me how they do things at the clinic.
I enjoyed my clinical day at Toccoa sick clinic.
Reference
Najafi Kalyani, M., Jamshidi, N., Molazem, Z., Torabizadeh, C., & Sharif, F. (2019). How do nursing students experience the clinical learning environment and respond to their experiences? A qualitative study. BMJ Open, 9 (7), e028052. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028052
