Nursing week and Orientation week report

Alright...finally the long awaited blog...hehe
Before that, please don't be alarmed if you see your name....no personal stuff in here don't worry....
Let's see...

Monday- 9 am, had PBL presentation for not one, but 2 triggers! (neoplasia and flooding). And we had only the weekend to do it. Then had the Guinea Pig Ileum lab after that. Well, I have done the actual experiment before in my 1st year of Neuroscience (over here, we only need to do computer stimulation). However, that didn't stop me from being confused! Blek, Dr. Achike was rather rude to me when I tried asking him a question 8o Went back to nap after ( as I had a very late night) and arrived late for IceBreakers. I thought that IceBreakers started at 6 pm, little did I know that it started at 4:30! Missed the fun part, which was the games. Sat with Li Cin, Zi Yun, Sue Wen and a few others while watching the juniors get ragged ( hey...why was their ragging cut down drastically compared to ours? Not fair! :p)

Tuesday- Had to hand up interview with Sister Teoh to the editorial board in the morning. Was intending to help up Yee Xuen and her group for the Signature Hunt event. But she didn't feel like following her group that day. Oh well. Oh, and apparently Caryn wanted 10 things about her before she gives out signatures. Heh. Wish I was with the group then! ;) Did some studying in the afternoon. Yee Xuen slept over at my place that night...because it would be way too late for her to drive home, and we both needed to get up early next morning.

Wednesday- yes....hospital visit day. Visited the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital, Seremban for nursing week....to observe the daily duties and routines of the nurses there. To tell the truth, I wasn't really looking forward to it at first. My first impressions of the hospital weren't very good to be honest. No aircon, the corridors looked dark and dreary, the lifts do not function effectively....the list goes on. I was assigned to Ward 7A- the male medical ward with a few other PBL groupmates. To my pleasant surprise....the patients there were all very nice and cooperative. It's like they let to do anything you want to them without uttering a single complaint. The nurses there were rather kind and patient as well, entertaining our every request and nosy questions. I got to build rapport with several patients. One patient that stood out for me was a 40 year old Malay guy suffering from Bell's Palsy. He advised me that being a good doctor is not all about results, but about experience as well. Haha, how true. My BP taking skills were still rather rusty- lucky for me that the patients were very cooperative and never complained.

That evening, right after returning from the hospital ( yep, I had that much energy left, hehe!) I decided to help out Yee Xuan and Casey's group for the Treasure Hunt event. It was fun actually, following and running with the group from station to station. (confession: I hopped into Casey's car a couple of times :p) But for the most part, I ran with them. And finally had a feel of becoming an O.O, carrying the bottles, offering the juniors drinks and stuff.And whispering names of SMs that I know to them, while trying not to get caught. And watching the juniors get ragged and downright dirty, while I myself leave unscathed after every station. (from what I observed in the previous orientation and also this present one- male O.Os are usually not that lucky). Hehe. I actually scored a bull's eye while playing darts at one of the stations ( for the very first time in my life!) Something that really shocked me was the fact that one O.O from each group had to be locked in a 'transparent coffin' ( well, that is what I call it- I forgot the exact word for it) until their group came to rescue them. Didn't really like the idea :x Wonder which one of my own O.Os would've volunteered had they implemented this last August. I almost went in there, don't wanna mention the exact details :yup

Thursday- had to wake up even earlier today, at 5:15 am. *yawn* Today we went straight up to the ward. Several of us were lucky enough to be let into the morgue to witness a fresh corpse ( an Indian guy who apparently died of multiple gunshot wounds) being washed and dissected. I walked out of the room before they started performing the post-mortem. Arrrghh...if only I had known, I would've stayed!

Friday- Slept in and studied. But more importantly...Variety Night! Decided to go and watch for fun. The group performances and IMCC performances were great, IMO. I enjoyed them. Group 10's IMCC was so thin, his bodyshape was perfect for his role that night. But I think he looks thin even for a girl. Yikes.

Saturday- yes, the dreaded CPR practical exam. In the morning, we had the CPR practical class...where the 3 examiners demonstrated to us the proper techniques of performing CPR. Then we were given a chance to practice on the maniquins before the exams began at 2pm. The wait outside the exam hall was really nervewrecking for me. ( I was one of the last to go in). I think it turned out ok on the whole....or so I hope....Adult CPR station was fine....adult choking...well, I perform the maneuvers correctly, but examiner wasn't satisfied with my answer to a question ( what is the difference between chest thrusts and abdominal thrusts), so I had to return back to answer the question. She was satisfied the 2nd time round though. As for the infant station, I was weary of the examiner- she seemed rather strict. But at the end, she just mentioned that I performed too slow to save a life in a real life situation. Eek. But she didn't ask me to repeat though. So I don't know about that station.

Anyways, that night was BBQ night- the last event of Orientation Week ( aside from Charity Home visit).

Alright, I guess that wraps it up!