my first experience with life...as an rn

i graduated and passed my boards. prior to that i was recruited to the ed as a tech. i left house orderly position to focus on the er's needs. far more exciting and easily kept me awake at the hours i was working. so when i got my license they were ready with a contract for me. now Jane, from my first experience with death, became my preceptor in my new professional career. and how knowledgeable she was. she taught me alot

well, after i got used to the mumbo jumbo bumps and scrapes. i had finally gotten my first acute patient. female, 30s SOB all day, using nebulizers and mdi albuterol at home without any relief. now cyanotic, diaphoretic, lethargic, hypertensive, tachycardic, tachypneic, spo2 high 70's and looked to be knocking on that door. well, panic mode set it for a brief moment, then kick a** mode took place and stayed.

ok, ok. it was just an asthma attack. but damn did that girl look like she was gonna die to me, and she very well may have without intervention. and that's what i realized. on the broad spectrum of things, it was my intervention that helped turn that woman's condition around and ultimately in no apparent distress, walk out of the er....against medical advice!

the neighborhood we served was not the cleanest, and drug addicts and seekers were many. Jauncey was obviously no different. even though she did a 180, because of the severity of her original condition, she was to be admitted for observation and maintenance. but she had to get to the methadone clinic before it closed, so....