Erica Glenn
10/22/12

Emergency Room 

Learning Experience Journal 
1. Assessment of the Environment

• Personnel- Kateleen and I observed a women named Jennifer. She was not the nicest lady in the world, and she barely acknowledged us, even when we were trying to ask questions. There were 3 other women in the ER at the time, and one woman who was in her residency (I think) and she was a college student observing/ helping for her last hours that she needed. 
• Services Provided- The ER provides emergency care to patients that are ill or have just been in a car accident (trauma) or something along those lines. They draw blood and then send it to the lab to be tested. They also insert catheters into patients. They also check vital signs and help the patient in anyway they can to find out what is wrong. They preform many tasks along these lines in the ER. 
• Equipment- There are many pieces of equipment in the ER including, vials, IV's, catheters, thermometers, computers, ultrasound machines, xray screens, sinks, needles, tourniquets, and many other supplies and equipment. 
• Technology Utilized- Kateleen and I saw a pregnant woman come in, and she got an ultrasound, and had her temperature taken, and they put some things on her chest so they could monitor her heart rate. We also saw a catheter put in, and blood drawn with needles and IV's. 

2. Observation

• Health Care Professionals- When we first walked in, all of the women were sitting around talking because there were no emergencies going on at the time. But then later, when patients came in, they became rushed and running around. They all seemed nice and professional, but Monday wasn't there, and that is who Marcela and Dorian suggested we observe. 
• Teaming Skills- All of the heath care professionals seemed to work well in teams. When the pregnant woman came in, three or four doctors had to work together to help her. It was pretty crowded in the room with all of the people in there, but they were all working together, so it went smoothly.
• Communication Skills- All of the doctors know what to do and how to communicate it in an affective manner. When they were working with a patient, they spoke in a manner that they would understand, and were very nice to the patient. 
• Safety Procedures- When taking blood or touching the patient at all, everybody was wearing gloves. Also, when taking blood, when the needle was taken out, it had the cap put back on it and disposed of in the sharps container. There was also multiple trash containers for different waste disposal types. Also, the sink had to be turned on with your foot, so your contaminated hands didn't touch it. 
• Therapeutic/Diagnostic Procedures- Kateleen and I saw an old woman get a catheter put in, as well as a lot of blood drawn (one from IV, and another from the hand). Also, there was a pregnant patient who came in, and we saw an ultrasound, her temperature taken, and more. There was also another patient who came in and threw up, and we saw him get some meds.

3. Knowledge

• New Information Learned- I learned that when putting a catheter in, the patient should be laying as far back as possible. I also learned that there is like a portable little machine that is just like a little only sound ultrasound machine that listens to the heartbeat of the baby. I also learned that some people come into the ER for very minor things. 
• Medical Terminology- When Kateleen and I were in the ER, there was not a lot of medical terminology used.. But there was a few. IV= Intravenous Therapy.
• Skills Learned- I learned to stand out of the way when the nurses are running around trying to help a patient. I also learned the steps on how to put in a catheter. I also learned that if you come into the ER with abdominal pain and you throw up, you cannot drink any water. 

4. Evaluation

• Personal Experience- I enjoyed going to the ER, but i definitely do not want a career in that field. I would not be able to handle the trauma or disgusting aspects of the ER. (Vomit, etc.) 
• Educational Value- I did learn some valuable information while i was in the ER, and I enjoyed my time seeing new things and seeing the difference between a real life ER and the TV show's ER. 
• Professional Value- I got some professional value experience while i was in the ER by observing the health care professionals and such. I also know that i do not want my professional career to have anything to do with the ER. 

Learning Report

1. What were your responsibilities or duties this week?

• This week , when the pregnant woman came in with shortness of breath and chest pain, one of the doctors asked me to go get the thermometer. I left the room and was like frantically looking for the thermometer and i was like asking the person behind the desk and she said it was on the wall. I was like looking everywhere for that thermometer and i kept saying "Where is the thermometer?!?!" and finally she pointed to a wall very far away and i like ran over and got it and ran back to the room and gave it to the doctor. That was pretty much the only thing i was asked to do this week. 

2. What new knowledge or skill did you learn this week?

• I learned that in the ER, they keep a thermometer in a special place on the wall for some reason instead of one in each individual room.. I also learned the steps on how to put a catheter in. I was also talking to another older student in college and i learned how not difficult it is to become an ER nurse. 

3. What was the best thing that happened at the ER this week?

• The best thing that happened in the ER this week was the pregnant woman coming into the ER with chest pains and shortness of breath, because she was the only actual emergency we saw the whole time. 

4. What was the worst thing that happened in the ER this week?

• The worst thing that happened in the ER this week was the fact that when we first got there, it was really quiet and we had nothing to do but talk to the women, who were talking amongst themselves, so it was pretty hard to interject into the conversation. 

5. The "worst" was not really a personal mistake, so there was no way to correct it.

6. This week was fair because neither Kateleen or I got to do like anything, and we were just standing there not knowing what to do for a pretty long time. It was fairly awkward because the person we were observing had another college student that she was trying to teach, so we didn't get any of her attention, and she kept leaving without us. 

Experiene Record

• Technology Observed: 
• IV
• Thermometer
• Computer
• XRay machine screen
• Needles
• Catheter
• Etc.
• Diagnostic Procedures Observed
• Inserting a Catheter
• Listing to an ultrasound machine
• Temperature taken
• Nurse asking questions to see what was wrong with the patient
• Therapeutic Procedures Observed
• The catheter was inserted to help the patient, so i guess that could be considered as a therapeutic procedure.
• No other therapeutic things occurred while we were in the ER 
• Diseases/disorders Observed
• There was one patient with abdominal pains and was throwing up with stomach-bug- like symptoms
• There was another patient who came in with shortness of breath, dizziness  and chest pains. 
• Medical Terminology encountered
• IV- Intravenous Therapy
• Cultures- Bloos cultures
• There were not very many other med terms that i encountered

Experience Journal

This week i was in the ER with Kateleen. When we fist got to the ER section, we had a woman joking with us that it cost $2.50 to get into the ER, and we all had a little laugh. Then we both entered into the ER and walked up to the desk where there were a bunch of women sitting around, and we introduced ourselves, and someone told us to go observe Jennifer, so we found her and introduced ourselves to her. THen she went into a patients room, so we followed, and the college student girl came in with us too. Then Jennifer put a catheter into an old woman, took blood and then took some more blood. After that, Jennifer went into another patient's room where the guy had just thrown up, and she was asking him a whole bunch of questions and stuff. Then she left that room, and like had to go somewhere, so she ditched us. So Kateleen and I asked to observe someone else, and so we did. Then a patient came in with shortness of breath and was about to throw up and she was really dizzy and pregnant. So her whole room got very crowed full of people, and kateleen and i were just trying to stay out of the way. Then one of the doctors asked me to go get the thermometer, so i was frantically searching for it, and found it and ran back to the room. The doctor was asking the girl tons of questions while the other doctors were putting all sorts of stuff on the patient. Then they did an ultrasound to listen to the babies heart beat, and everything was okay. Then it was time to go, so Kateleen and I left the room and thanked the pople for letting us observe. Then we left, and made our way back to the cafeteria.