A different kind of posting;

Sometime in April, May and June, I had my semester 6 posting at a few specialty places. It was one of a kind and unforgettable.

Now let me tell you my story.
1.
Our first stop was to Tanjung Rambutan, at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta (HBUK). It was for our mental health (module) posting. 

We've been to...
-the psycho-geriatric ward
-the normal ward (Ward 2 & 3)
-rehabilitation wards (Ward 7 & 8)
-the ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) room
-the library and
-the centre where the recovering patients actually WORK - making handicrafts for visitors, assembling flowers, tailoring and so much more. They are actually trained to adapt to the working life when they are discharged later. When I mentioned that they are TRAINED, each of them has a punch card and respective off day just like a normal worker. /impressed/

I have bought some souvenirs from the centre because hands down, all the handicrafts were really  impressive!

There were a few dramas during our time being posted there. A few hurdles rose, it kinda shook each of us as the drama was nothing small but a dang serious thing that all of us cannot forget. Nevertheless, I was so glad that we went through together as a team, never pointed fingers to anyone, instead solved it together as one. :)

When we were there, we stayed at the hostel situated a kilometer away from the hospital. Speaking of THAT, I shared a room with my dear (P)s - Prissy and Pau and we sort of had a blast sleeping and giggling together every night. HAHAHAHA. 

I can never forget the 'bugs' moment, 'cats, cats everywhere'  conversation, 'omg it is lizard!' situation, the scorching heat days, the 'shit smell' story during one of those midnights, my burnt fan story, and those nights when we practised (our Hokey Pokey dance) for the 'party' on the last day of our posting! lulz.

Such great memories, man.

But what really left an impact on me was a few touching moments that we had gained during our posting experience. One of patients there actually handwritten us a letter in Mandarin Chinese, to thank our company and presence. I mean... we were only in each designated ward for a couple of days and all we did was just talking, spending time doing activities with them and doing nothing much, really. To the point that we were appreciated is just :'). 

Actually to be honest, seeing patients laughed happily and seeing them changed from being quiet to engage themselves with us in most of the activities was one of our best accomplishments!

However, reading patients' documents on their past history and hearing them telling us made me feel very upset. Broken relationships, abandoned family, inability to cope with stress, and their frequent questions to us, "Where are my children?" and "When can I go home?" really teared the inner me apart.
I was also shocked to see those mentally ill patients who are placed at the psychogeriatric wards. Some of the shocking habits (I wish not to disclose here) were very depressing and these two words 'human values' really striked me bad and I have reflected so much from it.

But one definite lesson that I have learnt was,


"Each of the patient there despite having mental illness deserves to receive all the human rights, respect, nonjudgmental comments and treatments. We all (regardless whether we are healthcare providers or just simple human being) have to always be empathy, sensible, wise, fair and sensitive. Be a human being to another human being."


I will on and off read back this invaluable thought and remind myself to be grateful, to be all of the above said.

... On the last day, after the party that we organised for the patients, I was quite reluctant to leave but I guess two weeks was impactful enough to let me learn. The only shame part was that we did not get to go to any of the admission wards, that is the Wad Kemasukan Lelaki/Perempuan. Cuz' we were told that there were more acute cases that we can see there. Oh wells, no luck for us then.

14 days but so much of memories.


__
2.
Second stop was at Petaling Jaya - Alzheimer's Disease Foundation Malaysia.
We had our Healthy Ageing (module) posting at there. No doubt, it was another memorable posting that I shared with my classmates.

Basically, what we did there was quite routinised.
The morning was started off with 'brain-gym exercise', then followed by morning breakfast for the clients, then karaoke session and arts and crafts session until lunch. After lunch there will be interactive games planned by the ADFM staffs for all the clients to spend their time in the afternoon while they wait for their loved ones to fetch them back from the centre.

Looking at the display at the memorial wall, I was impressed by the handicrafts that the Alzheimer clients made during arts and craft session. So artistic and creative I give them all a thumbs up! We were there for two weeks -in which we mainly observed during the first day of posting, then subsequently (slowly) taking over from the staffs to organize the activities by our own. We did not adjust/alter much (just change some content of) the routinised activities (slightly) because it might cause confusion especially for those clients with Alzheimer's disease. 

..
Truth be told, it was one of the most relaxing postings I have ever had. Spending time interacting with the clients made me happy.

I still remember encouraging Mr. W in one of those A&C sessions because he was feeling quite timid and low self esteem at first. But with constant motivation and support, I was glad to have boosted up his self confidence that he was all smiling from ear to ear after his 3D (DIY) dinosaur, "Long Life" (he named it himself) was properly done. 

Shortly after that, he invited me for a dance during one of those karaoke sessions, lol. I was taken aback but at the same time I was  genuinely touched for such gesture. :') This 'bravo' client has wonderful  smile, sings beautifully and he was one of those inspiring people I met whom I won't forget.

And to conclude this posting, a major thanks to all the ADFM staffs for being so nice, friendly and accommodating. All of you have such caring heart yourselves, please keep it up the excellent job and may God bless you all always. :)

People often ask me, "So when you were talking to people with Alzheimer's, they often forget what they did/say thus they always repeat, don't they?"

Yes. They forget, thus we are there to remind them, to care for them. Caring for people with Alzheimer's is not easy but think back how your parents took care of you when you were young, that's how exactly we should take care of them. They might be forgetful, misplaced things, clumsy, hard to please, but with patience, compassion and great amount of love, you will get through this. Get a respite care when you need, take a break when you're tired.

Also, don't forget to offer your hugs and kissed to your loved ones (although they have Alzheimer's disease)! It is an important physical affection, they will feel happy just like us normal human beings. We feel loved whenever our dear ones gave us a touch/hug/kiss, don't we? :)

"Although they can never remember what we did to them, they certainly will not forget how we made them feel." :) :)

These are some of the lessons I have learnt through a 'Alzheimer's disease-caregiver' talk and also during this posting.
__


3.
Next up, Management posting.
One word : Stressful.

Super, super stressful actually.
Having to juggle between workload (research, incidental-reflective writings), tasks (Team leader, medication nurse, runner), coping with functional nursing, work shifts, tiredness, long distance travel... those days surely weren't easy.

BUT the interesting part of the posting was surprisingly the night shifts days. Hahaha! I must declare that I was one of those who didn't drink a sip of coffee yet survived those wee-and-dawn hours with so much style and pride. #shamelessconfessionhere
Oh well, it was an experience but I am not too sure whether I can cope in the near future. Imagine night shift today, then afternoon shift the next day, etc?

And another incidence I will not forget is definitely 'Dexamethasone 1mg.' Please remember forever, pk.

Also, I'd like to thank some of the staffs there who taught me patiently on how TS Hospital actually works in terms of management and also C.I. for giving me good input for nursing tasks such as passing over report. Despite the struggles that we went through, I still thank YOU olls. :)

___

4. 

Klinik Kesihatan Pedas is next! *woots*

Actually I wasn't expecting a lot for this posting because I had no time to expect to be honest. Hahaha but going back to Seremban feels great. That was my last time staying at Bukit Rasah at Uncle D's. Last time intruding clinical school like nobody's business and last time being member of the Rasah neighbourhood! :)

Community posting was surprisingly fun for me. We started off with school visits and clerking pregnant mummies as well as kids in the first week. It was my first time giving vaccines (MR and DT) to school children. Albeit feeling super nervous, surely it was a cool experience. :)) Subsequently we went for home visits for antenatal and postnatal cases. Pedas is situated near to Rembau, a small town not far away but houses around are made of wood and this small town has a lot of 'kampung' feel which I lovelovelove.

So during home visits, we clerked the patient, checked on the babies, did some anthropometric measurements, updating mum and child's progress in the very important (pink and blue) book that every mum and child suppose to have. On the last week of this posting, we also did a 'mopping' session, meaning we traveled to houses to enquire the families on the updated immunisation status of their children. As you all knew, diphtheria cases went viral due to parents refused to vaccinate the child last July.

"Vaccinations are very important, dear parents. Bring your children to the nearest clinic to get the jab if any of them missed a dose/hasn't taken any vaccines before! Please have a thought about it, it is always better be safe than sorry."

... Back to the story, during the 'mopping' session, we went visit houses near the estates and railway track. Along the journey, we met some friendly chickens, running goat, a family of dogs, cute kittens , a unique duck, an active squirrel and many many palm trees!

Ahh the 'kampung' feel. Love, love! 

Hands down again, this is definitely one of the best postings that I will not forget! Special thanks to all the KKIA staffs for being so amazing and patience in teaching us the proper way of clerking pregnant mums and kids. Thanks to Mdm L and Pn K for always encouraging us to try and do a lot of hands on. FYI, community nurses are very EMPOWERED and basically they are the ones who run the clinic, other than the other healthcare providers like DUH. /proud/

Also, I will not forget the good times I had together lunching and decorating the 'breastfeeding' room with my classmates. :)

Such a memorable posting. That's all for this post. Till then, y'all!

xx

Gratitude ;

Good news today!

My patient is discharged with her baby girl just this afternoon :) #cheers

.......
Being able to nurse this patient is definitely a golden opportunity for me and my learning experience. Two weeks ago, she was diagnosed with Extended Breech in which she was supposed to do ECV (External Cephalic Version) in the ward initially but baby girl inside the tummy decided to descend a stage further to mummy's pelvic hence the plan for ECV failed.

Mummy's diagnosis was changed to Engaged Breech and she was planned for Caesarian section instead. Feeling all nervous as this was her first time having her baby sitting on her pelvic bone rather than the other way around, she can't stop thinking how did it happen and how C-section is gonna be. Albeit feeling anxious, she was willing to answer my strings of questions and was kind enough to give me her permission to do physical examination on her with my tutor. :) #gratitude

The abdominal palpation experience was sure an interesting one. Imagine a baby sitting on a pelvic bone with her lower limbs extended up to mummy's left abdomen and her upper limbs are probably hugging her own self, finding her comfort zone while she lies comfortably under mummy's tummy.
Baby's tiny lower limbs were easily felt that day. Her fetal heart rate was the best thing I ever heard and it was so loud and clear :')

A day after, which was the day she needed to go for C-section, mummy's hubby was finally here to give his best moral support! I know that mummy looked calm on the outside but deep down, she felt nervous as hell. You really can tell by the look of it. Hubby was equally anxious as the wife, needless to say as this can considered as one of the major operations for both of them and also for the little baby who was coming out soon.

As we pushed the stretcher to the general operating theatre, hubby was holding his wife's hands, walking along with the moving stretcher while holding his bag with another hand.
Upon reaching the entrance of the reception bay, one of the staff nurses announced,

"Alright. Both of you can wave goodbye here. Kiss or hug, do whatever you need!" in a joking way.

All of us were stunned for a while and then staff nurse corrected,
"Urmm I meant kiss each other's hands y'know.....", understanding our stunned expression and all of us laughed.

Mummy kissed her hubby's hands, in the meantime giving apology, and the husband did the same.
#thatlovingandsweetmoment
While ticking away the peri-operative checklist in the reception bay, O.T. staff nurse asked,

"So what is the operation that you're going to do today, mummy?"
"Operation of extracting my baby out, nurse." saying it in a darn cool tone.
Everybody laughed again.

I'm amazed by how positive she was at that moment, who still can cracked jokes although she must be feeling extremely jittery inside. I was glad to see her being so optimistic. :)) I prayed hard, for a sucessful operation, for her and her baby girl's safety and health.

As she was wheeled into the room, she sent goodbye kissed to all of us, especially to her husband who was waiting anxiously outside. Every time the door is opened, he would jumped out of his seat to ask about his wife, etc. To be frank, I have never seen anybody (especially husband) so nervous like him (only in movies) but I find it utterly sweet when he constantly asked about his wife although he was acting like he was the one who undergoing the operation but in fact he was just feeling as equally nervous as the wife.
I don't know why but I find #thissolovingandsweet <3

On the following day, I was told that a 2.5 kg baby girl was successfully taken out from mummy's tummy which both mummy and baby girl are safe and sound. #sooooglad
Unfortunately, baby was sent to special care nursery due to hypoglycemia :(
Thankfully, mummy appeared cheerful although baby was not by her side for her to breastfeed.


On the 4th day, baby girl was finally discharged from SCN and admitted to the ward! #woohoo
I did top and tail for her today with the help of my friend. :) Baby girl is sho sho sho cute :> She did not cry a lot when I was cleaning her, just a little wailing when her cord was cleaned using surgical spirit. Haha, otherwise she was all good and well.... cute :>

Since baby girl passed urine and motion, she and her mummy were allowed to discharge! #yays
So I went to talk to her before she was prepared to go back home. We had a little chat about the whole process, from her being admitted to the ward, to C-section, to today, which she was going to discharged with her precious second child. 

She said,

"The operation was quite quick for me. I went in at 12.30pm and came out to the recovery room at 1.45pm. As soon as I was wheeled out from the operating theatre, my husband was relief to see me and our daughter, and good god, he paid more attention to our daughter than me! He can't stop saying how cute our daughter is. Hmmph!"

I grinned for her little complain, yet I find it so sweet, the relationship between all of them. :))

I told her about how her husband went so anxious and worried about her and the baby when she was wheeled into the operating room. Upon hearing, she was touched and thanked God for everything -her husband, her successful C-section, her daughter, etc.

She continued,

"Along the process, I want to thank YOU, girl for always helping me throughout, asking about my concerns and my well being. You are very helpful, hardworking (to ask questions), polite and patient. Please keep it up! Being patient is definitely a golden value that will bring you far in life. Whatever you do, even if you get scolded by anyone, always be patient. Because by being patient, you will be able to go through all the hardships, and the outcome will always be good in the end."

"So thank you, again girl. I appreciate all your kindness and help all this while. I will always pray for your success in your future endeavors. Good luck to you and don't forget to be kind to everyone you meet!"
....
I was beyond thankful for what she said to me. When I was doing what I should be doing, helping people with all I can, with my skills and ability (which to be completely honest), I wasn't hoping for any compliments nor expecting any kind comments like this. 

But having a patient that I nursed from the day I started to work at antenatal/postnatal since Monday until today, seeing the whole process of her from still having her baby bump with a breech presentation to wheeling her to O.T. for C-section to seeing her again at the ward with a compressed stomach and then to the day when she is completely discharged (today), it just feels wonderful. I definitely feel accomplished not by what she said, but being able to nurse her from the beginning until the end.
Y'know the feeling when she wants nobody else but me when it comes to helping and nursing her? I am definitely feeling very privileged and I guess what makes me very glad is that she trusts me. :))


This mummy is thankful for all my assistance and help but you know what, mummy?
Thank YOU for giving me the opportunity, chances, and most importantly, TRUST.
I will always pray for you and your family's well being and if fate permits, we'll definitely meet again. :)

I can't promise (you, mummy) but I'll try to drop by at your Apom Balik's stall (opposite BSN at S2) if I happened to be around the area :D
....................

"Always think positive, girl. Be patient and you'll definitely go far in life."

This is definitely an experience that I am going to remember for a long time. :)


P/S : This is not a bragging/show off post. Rather, I want to be reminded that this is the reason why I still hold into nursing and how it gives me so much satisfaction and accomplishment by simple little things you do to people.
PP/S : I'm glad. I'm really really glad that I chose this. I don't really hope for my posting to end this soon, honestly speaking. Gonna treasure the rest of the days. :))


xx

That satisfaction when..

you finished reading a book within a day. :)

The book is called, "All The Bright Places" by Jeniffer Niven. I'd give it a 4.3 over 5.0
It's little different compared to the normal rom-com book that I read. The themes range from love, suicide, mental health, family, drama and life.

The ending is quite unexpected, the content (I must say) is suspenseful = not boring at all!
And the bonus thing about this book is, there's only little pages in a chapter, unlike those 20 over pages for one chapter and it bored me sometimes to finish one chapter.
All these bonus features made me finish reading it within 24 hours. Woohoo! #awesomelikethat

I didn't intend to complete my reading this early, but I did it! OH wells.
And to be honest, I really really love the satisfaction feeling :)) Although the ending wasn't what I hoped at all, it's still a nice book to read.
I can't reveal much! All I can say is, this book is about a girl who learns how to live from a boy who wants to die. That attractive line caught my brain and heart and made me hunt high and low for it (it is NEWLY released and only 4 books available at MPH SO FAR) during my book shopping with dear roomie.

So what I'm gonna read next? :)
..............................

On another note, hello readers!
It's been months since I typed a word here. Busy and hectic basically just ate parts of my life.
My clinical posting at Seremban just ended last Saturday.
Guess WHAT? I was down with food poisoning with a friend of mine, so on the last day of working both of us were looking like dead fishes out of oxygen and nutrients. Basically both of us lost a lot of electrolyte which resulted in fever, dizziness, fatigue and sleepy. We just wanted to rest and sleep, not moving for ALL DAY LONG. What a drama to end our posting right. Tsk

Speaking of posting, it was quite a different experience for all of us since we went to neurosurgical ward at Hospital Sg. Buloh, gynaecology ward, orthopaedic ward, medical and surgical ward of Hospital T.J. All I could say is, I feel sympathy for patients whom we have encountered at all wards.
Patients that are involved in motor vehicle accidents, fracture, alleged fall, alleged assault, congenital disease, hydrocephalus, stroke, missed abortion, skin cancer, swollen scrotum (but feel no pain) and the list goes on.

This time round, I have also learnt about new diseases/conditions like spina bifida, G6PD enzyme deficiency, TB spondilytis, cervical incompetence, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, Fournier Gangrene, and Xeroderma Pigmentosum.

Well, there wasn't a lot of drama coming from the patients for this posting.. rather, it's from the healthcare providers at certain health institution which the consequences of their responsibility was what actually made the whole situation quite depressing and disappointing. I will not describe what actually happened but I will highlight some keywords here, to remind myself that I will not do that to my patients (ever) in the future.
Here you go :
1) Bilateral deep vein thrombosis --> Above knee amputation
2) Bed sores
3) Harsh and task-oriented
4) Rude/Disrespectful comments

Although it's not your wrongdoings, take it as a good reflection and learn from these mistakes, PK. 


On a positive side, I have come to realization that I am feeling more confident and getting better in terms of skills and interprofessional learning session. The 'scared' feeling is slowly fading off, which is pretty good and sounds absolutely positive. Hopefully as I progress, the  competency will rise and reach to the top!

I have also personally received good feedback from my mentor that my academic results for class tests improved! I was really delighted to receive that piece of good news. All I need to do is to score scenario based oral presentations! (let's finger cross that I'll do well :3)

Alright then, enough of my thoughts and updates for the day!
Til' then :)

Oh, SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI, my Muslim friends and to those who are celebrating!!
*fireworks* *fireworks* *fireworks*

Story of my life #1 ;

#asanursingstudent

Note : A lot of medical jargons are used here. I'm afraid you will not understand what I am saying here unless you google. It's okay if you skip this, but if you insist on reading, you're welcome to!


Semester two ;
One word to sum it all : BASIC.
All my first time was dedicated to these 10 precious weeks of postings.

Vital signs, bed making, bed bath, perineal care, subcutaneous injections, blood glucose monitoring, giving oxygen therapy, disposing urine, recording I/O chart, TPR chart, dengue chart, positioning, assisting patient in activities of daily living, handwashing and so much more.

For my first 5 weeks at PD,
I had familiarized myself with procedures like bed bath and perineal care because in PD, you get plenty of those procedures (during my time) because there were quite a number of bed ridden patients. We also have came across patients who are morbidly obese (it was stated in the case notes :B ) and I was always very scared to take blood pressure from them because either the cuff cannot fit or the machine will give no reading. Heh, but it was manageable after that.


Of course, there was a lot of frustrating moments especially when we did things "slowly" and made a lot of mistakes although we had been reminded several times. :(
But all of us managed to buck up and remained positive throughout the posting.
I still remember there was one time this patient was suspected to have MERS coronavirus and I didn't know it. I took his vitals in the morning without wearing any P.P.E. (personal protective equipments). The moment I knew when the staff nurse informed me... 

I was like, holysh*t, sh*t, sh*t. What should I do now??


After the unnecessary worries, the patient was finally ruled out from having MERS. 
The instant relief within me... Phew! *wipe sweats* 

Lesson learnt : ALWAYS know patient's diagnosis/conditions/underlying conditions before attend to patient!

Then for another 5 incredible weeks at Seremban, we also did more or less the same thing.. just that it was way busier at HTJ's medical ward. Time passed very fast there and I was glad to learn many valuable lessons during my tough-stressful time there :)

I had my second and third (and probably fourth) time giving subcutaneous injection at HTJ. Needless to say, I was very very nervous because giving people injection was my fear and I had to face it and conquer it.
Thanks to Ms. A, (although trembling) I had the most strict yet the best guidance under her and strangely speaking, I am not afraid anymore :)

In PD, five of us got the chance to observe abdominal paracentesis and also insertion of internal jugular catheter whereas in Seremban, we managed to look at how a catheter was placed for peritoneal dialysis and also how last office was done by the KKM students. My first time again, and I already felt the coolness being in the hospital! Hahaha #whatnoobyusuallysays

Honestly speaking, I tend to get excited easily when I heard any new conditions. In semester two, Steven Johnson syndrome, psoriasis and eczema sounded really new to me, believe or not I once thought that patients who have eczema can easily spread to other people by contact. But after some thorough research, I knew that I was wrong. #whatnoobysays

Haha, after ten weeks of postings, 6 working days a week, I must say that I was very glad to be back home! Prolly I can't stand the life - the life of having only one day of weekend. /sobs/
Don't know whether I can still move on and get used to the life in the upcoming sems.

-Fast forward-

Semester three ;

Hey ho!
In this semester, we have learnt more in depth about what we learned in semester two.
*Condition
*Pathophysiology
*Investigations
*Treatment (Medical and Surgical) including medications
*Nursing care/responsibilities
*Health education

The systems we learned were Respiratory system, Cardiovascular system, Haemopoietic system, Gastrointestinal system and Endocrine system.
It was pretty hectic but we made through all these five systems and I'm proceeding to semester four (tomorrow), woohoo!

So during clinical posting (or hospital attachments) at dear HTJ,

First day at medical ward : Orientation. Briefing. The environment of the hospital surprised all of us. New curtains, the floor is somehow cleaner and more sparkling than before. Things are neater! I have to give two thumbs up for the major improvement :)

Second day : Observation of BMAT (Bone Marrow Aspiration Trephine) procedure O_O

It was pretty traumatizing for me. I simply can't imagine how the patient felt that day. I'm sure it was a horrifying experience for him too.

Week two, third day : Observation of liver biopsy done by a specialist, a nice and kind hearted doctor :))

The rest of the three weeks : I had my first try on NGT (nasogastric tube) feeding and removal. I was lucky to get to carry out one of the blood transfusion procedures in the ward. 
Not to mention, I had plenty of chances doing ECG at cardiac clinic. Ohh, there were a few echocardiography and stress tests for us to observe as well :) Then the normal routines (which I practised in semester two) was carried out as usual.


Anything more interesting?
Well I guess it's a yes because there was this one day I finally encountered with a 'brilliantly' smelled stool called, Melena stool. I don't mean to be rude but I almost fainted that morning when carrying out perineal care with my colleague and my dear tutor. What's worse was, the patient can't stop passing motion because the night staff nurse gave him enema which I believed he was scheduled for colonoscope in the afternoon. :/

Other than that, I guess it was so far so good. The learning experience was awesome as we get to relate better with patient's condition, investigation, and also our responsibilities. 

Some new conditions that I came across this semester include : Nasopharyngeal cancer, mitral stenosis, thalassemia, pantocytopenia, malathion poisoning, myeloid leukemia, sickle cell anemia, patient with Charcot foot, Noonan syndrome, acute myocardial infarction (Killip classification) , Meliodosis and many more.

Under ms. V's guidance I have learnt tremendous amount of lessons - about patients, patient's conditions, our nursing roles and also about life.

The one thing I must say that I have great respect for her is the professionalism in her when she's at work. She gave us a lot of motivational and constructive comments which helped us a lot in improving our skills, theories and also as a person. /very very grateful/ 

"There's a diamond in each of you right here *in your heart*. As you go forward, you'll get better each day. As you move forward, the diamond will be slowly polished and soon,

 you all will be shining"

..................... Moving on to another 5 weeks at surgical female ward,
I went with zero expectation and came out with countless of amazing experiences.

The ward was way more relaxing than medical ward, nonetheless.
I had many chances to carry out dressing for different types of wounds - fungating breast, bed sores, venous ulcer, pinsite, etc.
Sadly I didn't get the chance to carry out wound packing YET. Hopefully in the coming semesters I will be able to do that dressing :)

As our clinical assessment was approaching, we also took opportunities to practise health assessment as much as we can as a preparation for the coming exam. 
Thank god, we all did fine on the actual day of exam (though I must say I was very nervous). Still, whether it was good or bad I am thankful for their overall comments. :)

I guess the highlight of my working experience in surgical ward was catching maggots from a wound, cleaning fungating breast (wound), giving enema to an elderly patient and also removing staples from a patient's surgical wound.
Removing staples wasn't really tough for me. As I tried to remove using the technique learnt, I comforted the patient at the same time, trying to ease the tension and nervousness. In the end I managed to remove at least 8 of the 30 staples, whereas the rest of the staples were removed by my fellow colleagues :)

I am sure you are intrigued when I mentioned catching MAGGOTS from a wound. Yes reader, you read that right.
I swear it was one of the most disgusting moments I've had but it was fun! lol #whatnoobysays Hahaha, out of nine big FAT maggots which love sloughy tissue so MUCH, I managed to catch 3 out of the 9 big FAT maggots. Not bad for a first timer huh, self achievement unlock! #whatnoobysays :B

On another note, I WISHED I had the chance to change colostomy bag for at least once but too bad I hardly get any. Just managed to observe my friend doing it :) 

And for the last two weeks at surgical ward, we had our time to visit endoscopy rooms to observe colonoscopy, endoscopy, ERCP, and insertion of PEG tube! Didn't have the privilege to observe bronchoscopy though :(
The time spent at scope rooms wasn't as boring as the time I had at cardiac clinic, to be honest. At least, I get to see different type of images when the specialist was doing the job, haha. The best part was when the surgeon explained to us and probed our critical thinking by asking us questions.
It's something I will not forget. The humor, the experience, the 'first try', the interaction.. Thank you, Dr. M :)


All in all, I enjoyed my posting very much. I even felt reluctant to come back, can you believe it?? #whatnoobysays
Hahaha neway, I want to thank tutors, fellow classmates and medic students (friends) who are willing to guide/teach/discuss cases with me. It was fun learning from each other, hopefully we'll do the same for the rest of the semesters and during our working life of course :D


Hehehe, more exciting stories to come (I'll blog about it if I have the time)!
Thanks for reading, dear reader. Till then  :)

Be a starter ;

14/1/2015 ;
One of the most anticipated and scariest days in semester three had ended not so perfectly but at least with a comforting smile :)
Not perfect because, imperfections are always there. Flaws are always unavoidable.
Comforting smile because I am glad that my case was pretty straight forward and it wasn't too complicated for me to be panic or to the point that I went completely blank. At least my performance just now was okay, just some minor mistakes here and there.


Be crazily curious, self. Practice everyday, do more NCP, improve!



As usual, I had my sleep-deprived hours on the day before. I cannot sleep for very long hours because it will be too relaxed for me, which sometimes I can forget a lot of things. I know this is terribly unhealthy but I am being serious. Stress liddis works. My eating pattern will be altered as well, from the usual big portion to smaller portion or sometimes I can just settle with some biscuits for dinner.

Enjoying the clouds where ever I go. #justbeingpk

Currently, it's the post-clinical assessment! Woohoo
The next assessment to focus on is "Client teaching" assessment which is happening this Friday. /oh god I have not prepared all my contents for my flip chart oh god/
Anyways, for today's assessment, I am glad to be pinpointed, commented and corrected for a better future. Some compliments really made me happy that day.


 "Otherwise, your communication skills is good. I can see the rapport between you and your patient. I also can see great professionalism in you. Keep that up!" :))



16/1/2015 ;

Spent hours to decorate ze flipchart, spent a sum of money in printing those spine-chilling images, I have only one hope in my heart; that is to be able to deliver the 'message' -consequences of tobacco usage on health to my SP (simulated patient), at least 75% of it.

Well, my client teaching assessment was at 10.30 this morning. I was hellafreakingnervous, also shaky due to the cold air-cond. After the teaching session was done, all my organs yelled "Phew!", a sign of relief! :D

During Q&A session, positive feedback are very generous, tho' I find some are a little bit over-exaggerated, whereas negative feedback given are countable, mostly my mistakes, something that I appreciate that they did point 'em out yet at the same time encourage and teach me another alternatives to make it better next time. /glad/ Needless to say, I am thankful.

Thank you, dear lecturers ;)


............
It's not easy to educate a smoker, I'd say. The rate of being non-compliant is always high.

"They do not see the consequences in the long run. Most of them will be like, oh really? Cancer only. So what?", said a friend of mine.

That's pretty true. The impact isn't there, it isn't visible until it hits them. I guess that applies to us, as normal human beings isn't it? 

We don't know what we have done wrong until something bad happen to us. I guess that's why this pose as a challenge for me to educate patients/anybody who smokes. 

Easy to deliver the words, but will the words really will be absorbed deeply to the heart, to the brain to send signal to the rest of the body saying, "Hey, stop smoking. Tobacco smoke is causing harm to all of us." I guess 90% not. 
If one has the desire to change, one must have a strong determination to do so, then with constant effort in mind to achieve the target.

And I failed to do that today. I mean, I educate for the sake of educating, I never really consider whether my SP really feel the 'fear' or the 'effect' of tobacco smoke does to our body. Instead, I asked, "Do you understand what I was saying?" expecting a yes or no answer. 

I should HAVE asked open ended questions to probe my SP to talk more than I do. But then again, I was given only 15 minutes to teach, I was more worried about the time more than whether patient really do take note on what I have just said. Such a task-oriented person, am I? Battling your task with time at the same time making sure your challenging goal is achieved sucks. I somehow am not a master of that YET. But I will be able to prove it to myself that I can do it one day. Slowly, taking one step at at time, 

I WILL
reach the peak, 
I WILL 
overcome the challenge one day.



A challenge will not be a challenge if I take it as one of my weakness/fear.
A goal will not be achieved if I ever ever tell myself, I cannot do it.



Be a starter, be someone who initiates, who knows you'll be the first one who leads the path and something unexpected will come in return?

Photo taken this morning at one of my friend's house, vista B2- featuring sunrise accompanied with uni's silhouette and balcony's rooftop.


Just like this picture, if you don't have the initiative to wake up early, will you have the chance to enjoy view like this? No. Everyday's view is different - in another word, every opportunity that comes is always different. Seize the moment. Once it's gone, it's never going to be the same again.


So be a starter to change. Change for the good, change for a better world.

SEE-ESS-ESS-YOU :)

I'm already here at Seremban, continuing my next 5 weeks of posting. Before we head to the ward, our first week was spent at CSSU :)

The weather here is a little bit unpredictable. One day it can be really sunny (freaking hot), another day can be really dark and cloudy (sometimes rain!). Oh, just to introduce you that this is the pathway that I always walk back home after work :))

So basically at CSSU, what we did was washing, packing, folding, packing, sterilizing (autoclave machine will do this), arranging, sending. I shall just summarize the week with this collage :
First row (photos) : This is the packed dressing towels I did on Monday with Kak Afina, the unpacked dressing towels which I packed on Thursday, and introduction to some sets by Mr. Mohan on Wednesday- sims, cusco, protoscope, etc.

Second row (photos) : On Thursday, I was in the packaging area, packing dressing set, delivery set, child feeding set, and swabbing set. The centre photo shows some roti canai and (very tasty) dal -breakfast packed by Mr.Mohan for us before work! So so kind and generous of him <3 And the photo on the right shows Mr. Rashidi, one of the PPKs who was posing for me, lol! I wanted to snap a photo of the packed items which need to be pushed into the autoclave machine. But then he said, "Tunggu!" *pose for me* *I snap* "Ha macam ni barulah betul!", he said while looking at this photo. Hahaha
Third row (photos) : Mini dressing towels packed on Monday with Kak Afina and friends, and centre photo shows pk pointing at 400 well packed gauzes and the right photo shows 436 packets of gamgees (dressing pad) that me, Shaf and Pauline packed today. Today's achievement and satisfaction : Packed 400 gauzes, 436 gamgees, 120 eye pads in a freezing cold room and get to eat a piece of hot KFC, specially treated by Kak Guna! So much love from the staffs here <3 All in all, it was a good experience working at CSSU, knowing so many sterile items, the process and the working staffs here are all very friendly, kind, funny and helpful.
SN Kalai said, "If you work here, you must be happy. Be crazy, be happy and you'll finish your work faster. Set a target/limit each day, reach the target or beyond that. At the end of the day, you'll feel the satisfaction and sense of achievement!"
On another note, she told me a nice message (words of thoughts) when she was sharing her story about working at the ward (a few years back),

"When I first came to this field, I didn't like it. It was never in my list. Even if it is, it will be my last. After I entered, I tried. I tried to love it. Now the outcome is so much different than what I thought! You should do the same too. T.R.Y. Maybe you don't love it now, you'll love it (deeply) sooner or later." :))

(Written on Friday (12/7/2014) night)

Timeline Tuesday ;

3.49pm

It was a busy,  productive Tuesday, similar to any of those days which time passed really quick – it’s like zaaaAaaP. Whoops it’s 2pm already.

Everybody is having their sweet power nap except yours truly who’s currently typing while listening to Don’t Say Goodnight by Hot Chelle Rae (C’mon don’t say goodnight, with the starts in the sky. Let’s wait til’ tomorrow paints the sun across the night~~)

Yesterday was pretty fruitful, also productive. I see improvements in myself – in terms of speed in doing things. Previous weeks, I felt like I was a task-oriented person, doing things just to complete it. Perhaps there are too many documents to be filled and completed as C.I. says. Or there is an obvious shortage of staffs. Or my speed ain’t comparable to experienced staff.n there. Or or.. so many hundreds of possibilities.

I noticed this since the second week and I have to say, I dislike it. Idk why I felt that way but I just dislike doing things like that. It’s like completing your homework so that your teacher is happy.

Personally, I am someone who do things with all my hearts out be it assignments, handmade/DIY stuff, photography and happiness projects. It’s either do it up to your best and with love, or do nothing at all. So I hope this applies to my career and future working life.

I’m not saying this because I’m gonna stop what I’m doing, what I’m studying and quit this course right away. No. Once I have started to walk on this journey, I’m going to continue walking and mastering the skills before my working life starts. It’s not about giving up half way on where you have started but it’s about realizing that things are not right in the beginning that you’re going to fix it, to make it right, so that you won't regret even for a second in the future.

4.09pm

Evening power nap.

5.00pm
“Let’s go!”

We headed to the swimming pool near the management office.

“C’mon PK. It’s the time to overcome your fear! Let’s do this!”, I whispered to my heart.

I have two wonderful teachers aka housemates aka classmates, who are so patient and are willing to teach me to float, to get used to the pool, to paddle, to SWIM (I must highlight that) – freestyle. I am so glad and grateful to have them to be my side overcoming this fear together.

Flashback : 14 years ago, I was 7. I was almost drown at that age, TWICE a day. Oh goodness me, I swear the feeling was so traumatizing. Ever since then, I never go for swimming ever again.. until 2012. I remembered the first time I learnt to ‘float’ (after so long not getting near to the pool) was at TARC (Olympic sized) swimming pool with Jan and Jeesin.  That traumatized memory came alive again. In the end, I just learnt how to jump and walk in the pool and… float.

Fast forward to today!
I managed to overcome 90% of the fear. I can immerse myself in the water for at least 20 secs, paddle better, and do much more things in the pool that I couldn’t have done before this. It was so amazing and I’d love to go to the pool again for more swimming lessons now :D

Thank you girls. Thank you so so much :))

9.33pm
Thoughts : Start off your day with a smile. Try brighten up people’s day by giving them your smile, your encouraging cheers, your motivating words, your helping hands, your positive thoughts, a part of your happiness. Somehow, these will bounce back to you. And the result of all these is satisfaction, the feeling of being accomplished. :) Try it if you haven’t!

9.44pm
As time runs, it’s the 5^th week and I started to pick up the pace (the speed, to be precise) and feel the ‘I-don’t-do-things-for-the-sake-of-doing-it” in me now.  (which is good isn’t it?) :)

Yeh, I have to keep this going. I can do this! I can certainly do this :))

P.S, P.D :)

I'm home!- for only 18 hours and I'm going back in another 2 more hours. Cherishing the number of hours I am having to spend at home now before heading back! Here are some of the photos that I promised to upload.  :))

Taken by using Huawei U9508.

Just another random, boring, weekly article ;

Hi!
Just another weekly blogpost from mehh :)
This (past one) week was the first week we worked in the afternoon……til’ night. After lunch, pack, go! work, TPR, bedmaking, perineal care, oxygen  therapy, removing venofix, wound dressing, repeat and BOOM. It’s 9pm. Bathe. Sleep.
The next day : REPEAT.

Okay, sorry for the very summarized routine in just a few words but yeah, that’s what we basically did every day, brushing up our skills as we practiced.

That Friday, we worked in the morning, went back home and cleaned ourselves to get ready to the…………….. BEACH! Babeh BEACH!

(Too bad I could NOT upload any photos here (even to Flickr! :( )to show you guys the beach that we went because the internet connection here is slow (like snail) and sucks (most of the time) )

I did upload those photos up to instagram, some to Facebook. So I guess do check it our yourself at the places  I just mentioned? :)

I’ll upload ze photos here, perhaps after my EOS – end of August/early September to be precise. Heh so to those who are anticipating (perhaps there’s no one), be very very patient :)

Right now, just BEAR WITH ME with all these words, typing from all my heart, lungs, liver, stomach, intestine out.  Hees, that’s a little bit exaggerating.

Okay back to the topic about BEACH, we went to look for the one recommended by staff nurses and we FOUND(!) the Petronas petrol station that they were saying – okay no. It’s the beach opposite the petrol station to be exact. XD
Haha it’s called the Pantai Saujana (or famously known as Pantai Batu Empat), Port Dickson! Yes they are right, the beach – the surroundings, the sand (SO HOT AND FINE!), the seaside (not to say perfect clean but it’s better than the dirty beach I went last year), the trees, the windy (yet sunny) weather, and the facilities are all…. I shall give 7 out of 10 marks  :)

Ah, how I could just upload a photo here and let you all judge!

After the sand writing moments, individual photo taking sessions, I kind of escaped from the group and strolled alone to the other side of the beach while observing the families spending time together, kids running here and there..  Such a joyful moment . It actually reminds me of the moment I had together with my extended families back to manymanymanymany ( I guess about 14) years ago at some beach, also at Port Dickson. I miss the apartment my father used to have here, where we always take the chance to have a short getaway during school holidays. But now it’s no longer belong to Papa. Papa sold it to somebody due to some financial issue he had last time. Oh well, memories! :)

After the short walk, I started to walk towards the ice-cream stall nearby the shades of the trees to have something cool, thanks to the ‘ice-cream bell’, which was ringing non-stop that attracted my attention so much especially under this sunny, sweaty weather. So while we were waiting for the sun to set, we chatted, joked, ate cucumbers ( yeah that’s like a huge thing that I need to mention here), and the photo shooting session started again when the sun started to dissolve slowly :)

Then, we headed to P.D. Waterfront (our usual dinner spot) to pack our dinner! Teehee, it was a beautiful day spent with my girls. :))

On the other note, my Facebook timeline is filled with so many news about Food Culture Week presentation by my ND (Nutrition & Dietetics) friends, selling of T-shirts, Chariofare activities going on and also seniors’ graduation ceremony, etc.  Just look at what I’ve missed in just two weeks while I’m away from uni :O

My uni’s so happening with events right? Haha

Anyway, in every thing that I miss out, there’s always something good that comes to me, something that is already starting to shape me to be a competent health care provider.

Things I must see improvement in myself within the next few weeks :

•         Grab and hold the opportunities. BE SMART.
•          Do NOT afraid. Stools, blood, pain, hurt. BE BRAVE.
•          EMPATHY, not sympathy. BE UNDERSTANDING.
•         Always think on patient’s point of view. BE GRATEFUL.

It seems like I have too much free time to actually blog right now, haha. Should have utilized this time to study hard for EOS exam, since I’ve received a piece of not so good news about my recent Pathophysiology class test results. *gulps

Well, let’s see how it goes. Till then! :D

xx