As I stated earlier, I managed to get in about 78 clinical hours on semester break!
My current clinicalpreceptor is a physician in the community whom I have known for many years, who was gracious enough to help me get my final hours in, even though he had already agreed to take a UCONN NP student this semester. He has a small private practice, and he knows, intimately all his patients, their spouses, children, issues and often makes house calls. His wife is a nurse and a former instructor at UCONN and helps in the practice. Late one afternoon, an elderly woman with abdominal pain and weight loss had been added on to his schedule at the end of the day. She took a cab in with her husband, who had mild dementia that she had been caring for, and brought a suitcase packed in case he admitted her. He ordered an x-ray and labwork- and his wife drove the two of them to the local ambulatory care center for the tests. In addition to being an old fashioned doctor, he also uses an EMR, and has a desktop computer in each exam room- and has looked up and printed medication & medical information to patients with questions, and even an instructive YouTube video of how to self inject Lovenox to a patient with questions. He gives them an updated copy of their problem list and medications with every visit.
This week, I start my clinical rotation with a Wound Ostomy Continence NP in Bristol- (another drive!) I feel fortunate to have an amazing preceptor who is working in my chosen field- which is getting me thinking about the future and what I intend to do for work after graduation.
Class started on Tuesday January 18th- time is flying by!
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