Unoriginal procrastination.

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I wish there was a new way to procrastinate. I'm back to enter my 2nd blog post for today.  I have to write a 1500 word assignment about caring for older clients. 1500 words on constipation, osteoporosis and urine tract infections. I started doing my EN nursing course because i thought it would be a good profession to help people in. Nurses do a great job. I've been in hospital a number of times for various operations and the nursing staff have always made me feel special. (with the exception of an older nurse who wanted me to breastfeed at 2am when we had both finally gotten to sleep)

Nurses checked blood pressure & understood cardiac rhythms. On ER & Greys anatomy they wait at the bedside for the dr to give direction and they spring into action. They are polite, they understand drug names & doses and give you care like your mum would when your sick. They help you shower, toilet & eat when you can no longer do it for yourself.

Now all this is great if Jensen Ackles or Miranda Kerr are your patients but the reality is more like an overweight 80 year old with pressure sores. As a nurse you treat everyone the same regardless of age but there is always a moment where you go 'ugh, old man balls' and wonder why your doing your job.

When i started my course everything was theory based. I learnt about the body and how it works. what actually happens to make your body type at a keyboard. I was taught about chronic diseases such as diabetes & Motor neurone disease but now i'm getting closer to my practical assessment. My brain is thinking, Do i really want to shower, dress & feed older people for the rest of my life?

I asked my nursing student colleagues this question. I was surprised by their responses. First one was: I'll work in a hospital so i don't have to deal with aged care. Seriously? i mean SERIOUSLY? have you been into hospital lately? it's full of sick people over the age of 60.

Second one: I'm going into Paediatrics: Ok, This sounds doable. No old people there but... i have a toddler and when MstrD gets gastro it comes flying out of both ends with force. So instead of feeding, dressing & showering old people you have to do it for kids. Not to mention the crying and having to do procedures on scared kids looking up at you with baleful please don't hurt me eyes. Then there are the terminal kids cases. 6 year olds dying of cancer & brain tumours. No thank you.

The last one: I'm going to do Midwifery so i get to deliver babies all day long. I should note that this girl hasn't experienced labour. Thinking back to my own delivery of MstrD i felt sorry for my midwife. She had to run around appeasing my support people and the Dr. through the entire shift. water, dilation, pushing, screaming and blood. Oh yes, the blood. With the baby comes plenty of fluid and you know who's job that is. The nurse. The dr. delivers the babies. The mother holds them, bonding skin to skin while daddy coos over the top and the Nurse is between the mums legs gathering up the fluids for disposal.

Finally they asked me how i would prefer my patients. My immediate response was: Unconscious.   HEY! i could be onto something there. Maybe i can be a theatre nurse. That requires a lot of standing on your feet & keeping track of instruments. You also get to hold the sucker thing occasionally. I could do that, as long as i keep my blood pressure up.

I went home and spoke to my dad who asked why i didn't want to do his job. He's an anaesthetic technician. I'd never thought about that before. I sit on a chair in the surgeries and monitor an unconscious patients vital signs for the anaesthetist. If they go down, i tell him. if they go up, i tell him.
Intrigued i looked in to what else a tech does. They calm the patient before the operation. Help situate the patient on the operating table. monitor vital signs and assist them to wake up. Then you clean the equipment for the next patient.

This sounds better and better. The only problem is i'm doing the wrong course.  So i have booked an appointment with the careers councillor at TAFE to see if i can/should change. The appointment, however is not until wednesday and i have this assignment to write 1500 words about the older client due tomorrow.

So i keep doing the rounds, Facebook, hotmail, Candy crush, bubble witch, Iconmannia and now Blogging in a vein attempt at putting off my assignment. I think i've now written more than 1500 words about why i'm doing the wrong course instead of getting the job done and doing my course work.

If blog number 3 goes up today i'm quitting my course before i talk to any counsellor. Obviously i've already chosen which garden i want to grow and it doesn't involve text books.