First Day = Done.

Today was the first day of the quarter. My first 12 hour shift at a hospital, in a new hospital, no less. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did have lots of support from my friends Caffeine and Medications. After a tour of the hospital, we branched off to our assigned floors.
2 East Wing is one of the Med-Surg floors. My patient was on his way home, so nothing eventful happened with him, other than me spending an hour trying to figure out his labs and put it all together in my head. The nurse I was supposed to help didn't want anything to do with me. Luckily, Ali had an awesome and helpful nurse who didn't seem to mind me as a 3rd wheel.
The nurse taught us so much about wound care. We had a pitiful patient who had several pressure ulcers and burns from his waist to his feet. His story was interesting. Paraplegic after a fall. Unable to care for self and reluctant to get help outside his home. Has previously been emaciated. Had burns from a cooking accident. It took us almost 2 hours to do the care required for 7 of his 8 wounds. For the most part, he was in good spirits. I mean, he could have been much worse. I'm not a mind reader, ya know.
I had a refresher course in protein metabolism. Protein -> Ammonia -> Liver -> Urea + Nitrogen -> Kidney -> Urine. Or something very similar to that.
As soon as I got home, the phone started to ring. My Dad & Mom, wanting to know how my first day at the new hospital was. I was probably rude, but I honestly don't remember. I just kept saying, "I just got home."
My neck is stabbing jolts of pain, my hands and numb & tingling, I'm exhausted, but I survived. Ben just got home from picking up a pizza. All in all, a pretty good day.
=]