Journal

September 12, 2011 I found out what my topic was going to be. I was able to start thinking about how I am going to do my project on

October 6, 2011 I started to learn more about my topic, and i was able to find out how it is one of the most common mental diseases.

October 7th 2011 I got my scrubs for clinical at the hospital so i will be able to soon begin my work in the hospital. We have also started CPR training which is another qualification that is needed to volunteer at the hospital. Mrs. Kalita is also teaching us things like how to make beds, and how to transfer patients from bed to stretcher and from bed to chair. The more things I learn, the more excited i become.

October 9, 2011 I have begun working on my annotations, I have tech later and we are learning more about the names for parts of the body. Tomorrow we are finishing our CPR training and after that I will be certified in the final thing i need to be able to volunteer at the hospital.

October 18, 2011 This Friday is the first day that we are starting our visits to Abington Memorial Hospital. We are getting our I.D. cards and then we are learning where everything is in the hospital. After Friday, we begin our rotations in our specific units. My first unit is ICU and I will be there for 3 weeks.

November 7, 2011 I have been working in the hospital twice a week for the past two weeks. I love what i have been doing and i have been learning a lot of new things i didn't know before. I get to change rotations next week and i can't wait for it. Hopefully my next rotation will be as successful as this one was. My class with Mrs. Kalita is going great, and i have been getting my grades better and better. Currently in the class i have a B average and i am very proud of it.

November 11, 2011 My last day in the ICU unit is over. I had it yesterday. Not much happened though, it was a very boring day with only six patients in the unit. Next week I start my rotation in the Gastric and OR unit. I finally got my CPR certification card, which is now with my ID card for the hospital. In class we are learning about blood and body fluids.

November 21, 2011 Last week was my first week of my new rotation. My rotation is in Gastric Procedures. I have begun to see many different things in the unit such as Endoscopies, and things of that sort. I never realized how many different types of one procedure there could be. I have seen and Endo where they stretched the esophagus out, where they cauterized blood vessels in the stomach, and also an Endo where at the end of the scope ultra sound is used to detect things such as pancriatic cysts. Working in the hospital gives me a chance to meet all different types of people, and I love the experience that I have been able to get from this. I have been learning how to and how not to talk to certain patients. It is an experience that I would not be able to get anywhere else and I am proud to say that I am able to go into the hospital on a regular basis and help people with simple tasks. My teacher is helping to make this a better experience by teaching me new things regularly and also the doctors and nurses at the hospital help to make it an enjoyable experience. Every doctor and nurse that I have come across so far is willing to teach me what they are doing, why they are doing it and what is happened to make them have to do that specific procedure.

December 11, 2011 My final mentor progress report has been handed in. My experience at the hospital has so far been a learning experience, and I have enjoyed it fully. I have learned many things about the different processes used in the hospital for things such as discharging and admitting patients, and also I have learned about how the nurses deal daily with the problems they are given. Over the past few months I have begun to fall in love with everything that I have seen in the hospital. It is a fantastic learning experience and I am excited knowing that I will have this experience throughout the rest of my senior year.