Highlight Reel

This week marks the halfway point of my time here at Mayo, and I still find myself in awe of the fact that I'm actually here. What an amazing, amazing opportunity that has undoubtedly shaped my view of nursing and life in general. Here are some highlights of the first half of my summer...


1. My floor at St. Mary's Hospital.
The staff on this floor is the definition of teamwork. I LOVE that. They are 100% behind seeing each other succeed and have so much fun throughout their workday. This week, a nurse on my floor had to call the Rapid Response Team for one of her patients which was really interesting to observe, but what I loved even more was that even without her asking, the other nurses immediately jumped into to help her with this particular patient and took responsibility for her other patients as well.


2. River Tubing
I had never heard of this before coming to MN, but apparently it is THE thing to do during the summer. ((Coping strategy for living without the beach??)) I went this weekend with some of the other interns and had a blast. Basically, you rent an inner tube, a shuttle drops you off several miles upstream, then you float for a few hours back down the river back to the rental shop, and then you eat an enormous helping of ice cream. I suppose the last step is not mandatory... but highly suggested!


3. Longest Bike Ride EVER
... or at least it felt like it :) I had this crazy urge to go to Target this morning... why? I do not know. (Do you need a solid reason to go to Target? Didn't think so.) Anyway... it is about seven miles away from where we are staying, which didn't seem that bad until this thing called humidity (aka satan) kicked in. Holy smokes, I don't know how people in MN breathe from June-September. Physics be darned, I'm fairly sure it was uphill both ways. I also have exceptional skill in following a gps, so getting lost was the cherry on top of a perfect outing. After a good four hours, I arrived home with Animal Crackers and a box of Granola Bars. I had to laugh at how good that food is going to taste knowing what agony I endured to purchase it.


4. Tour of Mayowood and the Foundation House
As part of our orientation, we got to visit the homes of Dr. Charles and Dr. William Mayo. Apparently many long-time Mayo employee's never get the chance to do this, so it was really neat that they arranged this for the interns. Both were amazingly gorgeous and showcased almost all original belongings of the Mayo's. The Mayo brothers actually designed there own homes, and utilized the absolute newest technology and design. Oh, to be a genius. One of my favorite rooms was the library where Dr. Mayo "graded" every book with an A-F on the first page :) I plan to read some of the "A" books I found :) #nerdfest


5. WOUNDS!
I work on a surgical floor, which means that there is usually a grotesque wound within my reaches on any given day. As an intern, we cannot do a lot of the hands-on tasks of nursing, but dressing changes are a-okay with Minnesota state law. Soooo, even though I didn't particularly love working with wounds before this summer (yes... there are people that dedicate their career to it- takes all kinds I suppose :) ), I've come to enjoy a nice deep packing and working with wound vacuums.


6. My Patients... They Rock.
I'm certain that my experience would not be as wonderful if it were not for the inspiring, strong, and kind patients that I interact with on a daily basis. Mayo is really big on continuity of care, meaning that they try to assign the same nurses to patients throughout their hospital stay. I love that this gives you the opportunity to really get to know your patients and realize that their lives are so much more than what we see in the hospital. I've had the opportunity to take a patient outside for her first time in five weeks. I've celebrated long awaited discharges home. I've cried alongside a patient receiving a terminal diagnosis. I've seen countless pictures of kids and grandkids shown off by their proud family members. I've said to myself so many times, "THIS is why I want to be a nurse."


I start my fifth week of work tomorrow :) Stoked? YES.