Experience's & Reflections

During this experience our class met the leadership panel of Alomere Health. They talked to us about what their day to day jobs look like and what different responsibilities they partake in. I learned many interesting things from the panel, like the different roles they play within their careers, why they enjoy their careers, and even how different each of their jobs are but how they all still work together to accomplish different taks every single day. Our class had the opportunity to ask the panel many questions, we asked "how do they recongnize the values in the hospital?" & "what their day to day lives looked like?" They all responded with long and detailed answers that provided a deep understanding to us. They explained that the values are much more important to them than the skills. They said that "we can always teach the skills, but we can't teach values." Each of their day to day lives looked very differently, some worked over night, one really didn't even look into the medical parts, he was the person that hired workers to fill those roles, and one was a respiratory therapist that explained the different roles he participated in but he said everyday was different for him, their is never a day that looks the same in his career. After hearing about each of them, I can say that my biggest takeaway from this experience was how they all seem to get along and they all truly value and recognize the hard work they all do their, which is what I hope I can experience in my future career. 

During this experience I got to get an inside look at Grand Arbor. Tyler took us around and through many rooms and areas that we wouldn't get to see if we didn't live or work here. I learned that they have a movie theater, a pool, a restaurant, a big fitness room, and many more areas that the residents can go to for entertainment or to simply improve their health. A couple questions that were asked during this tour were "are these things always accessible to residents?" and the answer was, yes. Another question was "how many nurses are typically in one area?" Tyler told us "about 3-4." Overall this was a great experience and I found it very interesting to see that they had all of these different activities for the residents here. 

During this experience we got a tour of most parts of the hospital, the Radiology area, the Emergency Department, the Rehabilitation Services, the Laboratory and Pathology area, the Heartland area, the Cardiopulmonary Rehab, and the Birthplace area. Out of these seven places, my favorite area was the Birthplace. Our tour guide was Toni, she showed us around the floor. We were shown the nursery and one of the rooms that they could do a water birth or bedside. A question asked during this part of the tour was "can all nurses that work on this floor perform water birth?" and the answer was actually "only Midwife's can." As we walked through the halls, I noticed that the medical personnel actually have desks that are in between the walls and I noticed that they have signs all over the walls that give tips for moms before and after their birth. Toni explained to us that they are well known for providing some of the best care to mother's especially after birth for both the baby and mom. A question for her after she explained this to us was "how long can mom's stay after birth?" She responded "up to 48 hour's at no extra cost." Overall this was my favorite place because it looked very new, updated, and was a comfortable setting for all moms, with some of the best care they can possibly get. 

During this experience Tamara and Lizz both spoke to our class about what their day-to-day schedules look like, what they do, and what different things they deal with. I learned that social work is much different than going into psychology but they both work together for many parts of their job. I learned that the social work focuses more on many people and psychology focuses more on individuals and can require the same or more schooling. I also learned that they are both primarily based and focused on students and staff within the school district, but Tamara does a couple different jobs meeting with people outside of the school. They had spoken to us about having to send patients to the Emergency Room if necassary and a question asked during this part of the conversation was "why would you have to send a patient to the ER instead of another facility?" and the answer to this was, "because when they are sent to the ER, that means they could be dealing with a chemical imbalance or something very severe needs to be looked at in this patient." Another question asked was, "what's the craziest story you have ever had to deal with?" and the answer was from Tamara and she had said one time she had to deal with a student many years ago who was at serious risk for safety, causing him to need to be directly sent to the ER as soon as possible. The kid's father had said no to that and she ended up having to have law enforcement take it in their hands to get him to the ER. My biggest take away from this experience was how different social work and psychology really is. 

During this experience Dr. Solum and Kris came in to teach us how to suture several different ways. We got to practice suturing on a pig's foot for the majority of the time. Kris also talked about how he got into what he was going to school for and how he is actually still in the RPAP program studying. I learned that there are many different ways to suture and the different sutures are used for different types of wounds. I also learned that you can only go about 3 days after the wound had happened to get it sutured. Another thing I learned was that there are different sizes of sutures, meaning the needle and string sizes are different. A question asked was "how much studying do you have to do outside of school in med-school?" Kris answered with "about 40-60 hours, it is like a full time job." Another question asked was "do you have a life outside of med-school while being in it?" Kris answered with "yes, I played sports, had time to spend with my friends, but med-school is a big part of who you want to become." My biggest take away from this experience was that I now know how to do a basic suture, which could be helpful for me in the future if I decide to go into a career that involves this. 

During this experience several doctors and medical professionals came to the high school to both teach and demonstrate how and when to use intubation. Part of our time with them was Kris going through a presentation and explaining different methods for intubation and the other part of the time was actually going down to the CNA lab at our school to practice the intubation. Through this experience I learned several different things but a couple being that intubation correlates a lot with the things I learned and talked about in my EMR class. I also learned that how the different professions all work together, as well as how each of them use intabation. A question asked while being in the lab was "how many times do you typically do intabation in a week?" Dr. Greg Gasell answered with normally about twice a week. Another question asked was "does the intubation ever go down the wrong tube in the throat?" They all said "yes, but it only becomes a big deal when you start freaking out or not fixing it as soon as it is noticed." I really enjoyed this experience and feel that I learned a lot, but my biggest takeaway was everyone that works in the hospital works together in some way or form, even if they do completely different things, so everyone knows eachother. 

During this experience a couple of medical professionals came to the high school to teach us about casting and the technique behind it. Paul Westerberg demonstrated putting a cast on someone's lower part of the leg and foot. After we were shown he let us try casting another person in our class's wrist. Through this experience I learned that after applying the cotton, you must apply the fiber glass as quick as you can so it forms correctly. I also learned how bones function. Kris Setterstrom did a presentation on bones and showed us x-rays of bones from different ages and I learned from this that when a baby is born between every bone they just have tissue holding it. A question asked during the time Paul was taking off our casts was "does the blade ever cut anyone?" He replied with "no, the most it will leave his a small scratch." Another question asked was "what is the most common body parts that are casted?" Paul responded with "the most common body parts would be the arm's, leg's, ankle, and wrist." I really enjoyed this experience, it was my favorite by far and my biggest takeaway from this experience was that casting is not what I thought it was at all, there is much more to it. 

During this experience Sandy Lauer came into our class to speak to us about what WELL & Co. is and what they do there. She gave us a very broad explanation of many of the specialities they do their and also went into depth on certain topics. Through the experience I learned that WELL & Co. opened up about three years ago and they recently opened a WELL & Co. in Sartell. I also learned that WELL & Co. is available to everyone, even non-members they just pay a $150 fee for that appointment. A question asked for Sandy was what she thinks are the top schools to go for a nurse practioner after her four years. She responded with "NDSU, St. Ben's, St. Katherine, and U of M Twin Cities, and St. Scholastica." Another question asked for her was "is it hard to manage your life with work?" She answered with "yes it was very hard at first but now I have gotten to point where I can manage spending time with my kids, well as my work life." I really enjoyed this experience and I am glad she decided to come in to speak to us about WELL & Co. Sandy seemed very well educated and knew what she was talking about when it came to her specialities. 

During this experience several OB doctors and nurses came into talk and show a demonstration of how a baby is born. Each of us got to demonstrate what would be done during the birth, they gave us several different examples of the ways they see them born and how they handle each of them. During this experience I learned what breaching was and what shoulder dystoia is and how they deal with both of these. I also learned that after 39 weeks they are likely to induce the baby. A question asked during the Q & A with the providers after the demonstration was "have you ever dropped a baby?" They all said that they have not but Dr. Sarah Sprengeler said she had witnessed one during her residency many years ago. Another question asked was "do you allow mom's to choose if they want a c-section or not?" They answered with "normally not, unless they really want to and have a reason to other than less pain because the risk is so high with a c-section birth." My biggest takeaway from this experience was that being in this field you never know what you will come across each day and have to know how to overcome any challenges that can take place. 

During this experience three mental health service workers came into our class to talk about what their day-to-day work life looks like and what they each do. Through this experience I learned that almost all mental health services across America are very short staffed due to the amount of people wanting to go into this. I learned that many of these workers in these fields travel a lot, also due to the lack of staffing in many places. I also learned that there are many different mental health services for specific mental illness, even across Minnesota. Several questions asked during this conversation were "what would you change about this field?" and "how do you not bring your work skills to your family?" They ansered the first question with that, "the system is very broken but if I had to change anything they would try to reach the youth in preventing mental illness from the beginning" and they answered the second question with "it's really hard and sometimes they have to remind themselves they shouldn't but there families always understand when they use some of their skills." I really enjoyed this experience because I might go into something in the mental health field, so it helped me get more information on what I may do in the future. My biggest takeaway from this experience was this is not an easy field to go into but it's worth it.