Growing through Experiences

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Reflections

As my last few weeks of volunteering at Regions Hospital are coming closer, I have noticed all that I have learned throughout the last few months. Being in the Digestive Unit, most people come in for a quick procedure and recovery, and they only usually interact with the physician and a nurse. But as a volunteer, I was able to see more of the work that is put into each patient. I was able to see that lab technicians are behind the scenes to check the skin biopsies taken from the patients. They ensure that the polyps are benign or if they are cancerous. There are nurses that are not on the floor that are the ones educating discharged patients about the conditions that they have and the best ways to treat it or avoid complications. I was even surprised to see that the nurses are the ones calling the patient’s person of contact to tell them that the procedure is done and that they can be picked up. There are also translators that will help to make sure that information is communicated correctly. Then there are front desk agents to address patients questions, make sure things are on schedule, and tell the nurse when the patient has arrived. There are more staff members involved, and each one has an important role in medicine. They all work together to make sure that the patient receives the best quality of care. Even though sometimes the patient can have a negative experience, either because of a longer wait time than expected or worse news than expected, each member of the staff are there to address these concerns. The patient experience isn’t just the procedure that they are waiting for. It includes everything from as soon as they arrive at the hospital and even after they leave the hospital while they are recovering. The doctors and nurses make sure that the patients have all the resources and information they need, filing their records, so that any future physician that the patient will have can have all the correct information to treat the patient.

Through this volunteer experience, I have learned that there is still a lot of things that I have to learn about being a part of the healthcare field. Continuing to immerse myself through these opportunities will always benefit me in that I will discover new things about the system. Everyday is different, and I need to be prepared for the best and worst situations. I have learned that even in the difficult days, with uncooperative patients or patients receiving bad news, I was not deterred from pursuing a career in the medical field. I was able to see how the staff responded and helped. Seeing everyone constantly working together and helping each other with their tasks, has convinced me more that working with a team of people who are always trying to help and heal others, is something that I want to do.

I would recommend people to volunteer at Regions Hospital. With the new Neuroscience unit, I know they are looking for more volunteers. Regions Hospital is also a big facility, and it seems as though they are always taking in more volunteers. And because it is a big hospital, there are always patients. Sometimes it is slow, but because of the flexibility, there are different units you can volunteer at on a slow day. The staff truly appreciate all that you do, and you become a part of their community. They are very kind to all their volunteers, and they make sure that you don’t feel as though you are overworked. They are also open to questions and conversation when they can. You can learn a lot from them just by asking them any question you might have about working in the medical field. This would be my advice to people to get the most out of their volunteer experience. Don’t be shy about talking to the medical staff. If you have any questions regarding the tasks you are doing, or any general question, just ask them, because they will always answer. 

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Patience towards Patients

During my volunteer shift, I saw a patient being uncooperative with the nurse that was helping him. Throughout all my shifts, I have not heard a nurse raise her voice towards a patient until this shift. I was surprised, not at her, but at the patient who would not listen to the nurse’s instructions. He should be resting right after the procedure, instead, he was sitting up and trying to jump off of the bed. The reason that the nurse raised her voice was because she was scared that he would hurt himself. She finally got him to calm down and listen to her, but when she walked out of the room, I could tell that she was very frustrated. I asked her how they usually deal with uncooperative patients, and she said that if they have to, they will have to call security. A lawsuit could occur if the patient doesn’t listen to the healthcare staff and hurt themselves in the process. 

All of the nurses are very nice, and they take their job seriously. So seeing a patient undermining their authority was appalling to me. This ties into the topic of medical ethics, and what the healthcare staff should or should not do to ensure the patient’s safety and compliance. It gave me a better insight on the other difficulties I would experience while pursuing a job in the medical field. It isn’t just the obstacles of trying to find the best treatment for the patient, but there will also be patients that I will encounter that will be rude and refuse to listen. I would have to be able to stay calm and collected in those situations and still provide them with the best treatment. 

[growingthroughexperiences]

Every Little Thing Helps

This past Friday was the first shift I walked into where there was a lot of rooms to clean, soiled linen bags that needed to be changed, and beds that didn't have clean sheets on them. I am usually used to having a mild volunteer shift at an even pace. There could be a lot of down time in-between tasks/patients depending on how long the procedure takes. So walking into a lot of work surprised me, but I liked it since I like having work to do compared to just standing around waiting for the next patient.

After catching up on cleaning the rooms, making the beds, and restocking, I asked the nurse if there were more patients then usual today. She said that they had the usual amount of patients, but this morning, their usual volunteer was only there for a few minutes. So they were short on volunteers, they weren’t able to tend to their patients as well as make sure everything was in line and ready for the next patient as efficiently as usual. 

This made me realize even more how important their volunteers are to them, which ties into the core competency of Teamwork that medical schools look for. Every time I come in for my shifts, I always feel so welcomed. Nurses, doctors, and other staff are always thanking me for coming in and for helping. It isn’t an obligatory thank you, it is a genuine thank you. Even though all I am doing is changing the sheets, wiping the bed, or getting them the supplies that they need, I know that every small task I do helps them do their job 100 times better and faster. And after this past week, I saw first hand how much more difficult their job would be without the extra help from volunteers.

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Misfortune Lead to Another Opportunity

This past Friday, when I walked into the Digestive Unit to begin my volunteer shift, I noticed that all the lights in the patients’ rooms were off. I walked to the locker room and a nurse told me that there weren’t any patients, so I can go home or find a different floor to volunteer at. I was upset at first because I thought that the volunteer coordinator would have told me, but then when I did contact the coordinator, she told me to go to the surgery unit. 

Fortunately, the surgery unit did need a volunteer. I was happy to know that I was able to help in any way possible. It was almost the same tasks that I performed on the other unit: cleaning and changing the beds. Except I also made, what they called, “hat kits.” Which is a surgical cap with items wrapped in the hat that are need to prepare the patient going into surgery. 

I was welcomed just as warmly as the other floor, the nurses and other healthcare staff always voices their gratitude for the volunteers. I like knowing that, no matter how small of a task I am performing, I am making their already tough jobs a little easier. One of the nurses gave me great advice concerning my pathway to becoming a physician. She told me that she would advocate specializing in Emergency Medicine, since I told her I wanted to be a surgeon. She said that with Emergency Medicine, you are not stuck with always doing the same thing. You can be helping with broken bones one minute, then delivering a baby the next. That really did intrigue me, because at one point, I thought of being an obstetrician. I told her that I am definitely not closed off to other specialties. 

While talking to this nurse, I told her how I am worried about finances. She told me about a program that her mother was a board member of that supported women pursuing a career in the medical field, and she also told me of another one called Indian Health Services. It will provide you with a loan to help with your student debt in exchange for two-years of service in facilities that serve American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This was very helpful advice, not just because of the loan opportunity, but because of the opportunity to work in rural areas. Since once I become a physician and establish a good foundation, I want to build an organization that will help serve communities all over the world that do not have access to healthcare. Working in a rural community, especially giving back to the US in this way, is something I truly want to do. 

So even though I initially thought that my day was going to be a waste, I received more out of that volunteer shift than the other days. I learned more about the application process for Medical School, as well as alternatives. Hopefully I will be able to volunteer at this unit again.

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It is currently spring break, but since I did not go home, I decided to contact a psychiatrist that I know at Mayo Clinic. I asked her if I could shadow her for three days. So for the first half of spring break, I was at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. 

I spent those days shadowing psychiatrists, as well as medical and resident students, within the psychiatric unit. I participated in rounds and was able to observe inpatient and outpatient proceedings. 

For inpatients, rounds start at 8 am. During rounds, everyone that is part of the team will be debriefed about each patient, addressing changes from the day before. The team consists of a psychiatrist, nurse coordinators, students, a pharmacist, social workers, a nurse practitioner, and a physician’s assistant. They split the patients in half, so half of the team will see a specific number of patients. After seeing each patient, the team comes back together and presents concerns and updates about each patient during their meeting.

For outpatients, appointments are made with the psychiatrist at their office. They do not meet at the hospital, unlike inpatients. Inpatients are for people who need care for a longer period of time and often are a danger to themselves, mentally. 

I was able to shadow within the Mood Unit and the Geriatric Psych Unit. The Mood Unit tend to only have patients with mood disorders, which includes depression, personality, bipolar, anxiety disorders. Geriatrics had a variety of neurological disorders, but are patients aged 65 or older. 

I have learned that psychiatry does not have to just be the 1 on 1 typical patient-physician meeting that everyone thinks of when they hear psychiatry. When working with inpatients, there are many people on the floor that can help you reach a diagnoses and treatment. I do not know if psychiatry is the specialty that I would be most interested in, because there were scenarios that I observed that I realized I would not know how to proceed if I were the psychiatrist, mostly if a patient is refusing to communicate or accept treatment. But I am open-minded, and I know as the years progress, these can be skills that I can build on. I do know that Geriatrics is not a specialty I am interested in. While rounding, there were many patients that seemed to have many more disabilities on top of the mood disorder. I felt very sad for them, and did not know how to react to some of the patients saying that they are old and have lost hope. Older people made it more difficult to stay professional and unaffected emotionally, while with younger adults, I was able to keep a clearer mind. 

I have not had much exposure within the psychiatric field, and now I have learned more about the patient-physician relationship, as well as the system within the unit. I did not know what to expect when meeting with every patient, but during every meeting, I was able to see how the team works with one another to find the best treatment for the patient. This has been a very rewarding experience for me. 

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Complications

This past Friday during my volunteer shift, there was a patient that was deaf. And two Friday’s ago there was a patient that spoke a foreign language. I know that having a language barrier will be a common occurrence while treating patients, and it can usually go one of two ways. This ties into the “Listening to Patients” topic in my future physicians course. To ensure the best way to treat a patient, staff should do everything necessary to completely understand the information that the patient is trying to give, or there could be misunderstandings between the staff and patient. But even with translators, misunderstandings can still occur.

With the deaf patient, there weren’t any complications. They had a loved one with them that was able to help them, as well as a translator present. This made the pre and post operation run smoothly. The patient was in and out as quickly as possible. But with the foreign patient, there was an issue. They had been dropped him off, but left him. The patient had a difficult time communicating to the nurses, so the nurses brought in a video monitor with a translator on the screen. They were still unable to communicate to the patient that they needed to be picked up. When the nurses got a hold of the person that was suppose to pick him up, the person was refusing to pick up their father at that hour. The father was not able to grasp the situation, and he ended up waiting almost three hours for their son to come pick him up while a volunteer waited with the father.

Through these experiences, I was able to see the different complications that a medical staff will go through. It is not uncommon for misunderstandings to occur between the staff and patient, mostly when it comes to describing a procedure, treatment, or diagnoses. Miscommunications will occur even if there is no language barrier, so a language barrier will make it more difficult. But as a healthcare employee, it is imperative to make sure that everything that needs to be communicated is, so that the patient is as informed as possible. This will help them become less anxious, as well as make the day run smoother.

[growingthroughexperiences]

A Family

Yesterday was my fourth Friday volunteering, and when I walked into my unit, I immediately noticed that it was more noisy than usual. It wasn’t from patients or a busy afternoon, but from laughter and conversations. I asked a nurse if there was a birthday, but it was because a nurse was retiring. They threw a going away lunch party for the nurse. While another volunteer and I were completing some of our tasks, a few nurses told us to join them in the break room. We were hesitant at first since we did not know the person retiring, but they all kept insisting. 

When we entered the break room, there definitely was a lot of food. When I was walking by it before, there were a lot of people as well. But now the crowd has died down. I was able to see pictures and moments that the staff has shared with this RN. I can tell that everyone in this unit/hospital were close to one another. They not all created this potluck for her, but they all pitched in money for her as well. The RN’s family and friends were at the party too. I could tell that the staff and family members knew each other well. It showed the connections that were built within the hospital. They weren’t just employees, but they are friends as well.

Some people say they like to keep their work environment and personal relationships separate. But I believe it would be hard to do that, mostly if you are working with others for countless hours. Mostly in the healthcare field, where sometimes you have shifts that can last for 12 hours. I just talked to a nurse yesterday, and she said she’s had a 26 hour shift because she was on-call and it was a busy weekend. You share these experiences with your coworkers, that other friends wouldn’t understand. And building a relationship from these experiences is a great way to make friends. This is what I saw yesterday while volunteering, and it made me excited for whenever I will experience something like that.

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Volunteering

I finally got my first volunteer position at a hospital last week, and this past Friday was the second time that I volunteered at the Digestive Care Unit in Regions Hospital in St.Paul. They have several buildings spread throughout St. Paul. Since it is a hospital, it employs physicians and other health professionals through the different units that they have. Though I did do a job shadowing program in high school, it is weird that this is my first hospital volunteer position, since I have been wanting to be a doctor for as long as I can remember.

The commute to the hospital is about 45-60 minutes. Even though it is a long commute, I don’t mind since it gets me to do some homework while I am on the light rail. My main duties are cleaning the rooms, making the beds, helping patients in and out of the unit, and restocking the supplies. I also already enjoy volunteering at this hospital because everyone is so kind. The nurses and staff truly appreciate the work that you are doing, no matter how small it is.