First day on the floor

So yesterday, I attended the hospital's orientation. Today, after being outfitted with a badge and a beeper (!), I was finally allowed to go up on the floors and shadow my 1st dietitian. We spent most of the day in the Rehab center here, where we saw a wide variety of cases and conditions. I got to see two patient educations: one on a fluid restriction/K+ restriction and one on a carbohydrate consistent diet (that's what a diabetic diet is called here). We also saw a Marine who ended up on Rehab with some pretty serious injuries after falling off a third-story balcony while drunk. Working in a hospital and hearing the horror stories can really make you value your safety and make you want to take good care of yourself.

I also learned that even though there is a pretty good system set up to determine who the dietitians will see each day, that system kind of falls by the wayside over the course of the day as nurses and other staff members pull the dietitians aside to ask them to do consults or assessments of other patients on the floor. So being flexible is pretty important.

I also learned how to determine the IBW for someone who is shorter than 60 inches tall (for some reason it had never even crossed my mind that I didn't know how to do that): subtract 2.5-3 lbs. (from 100) for each inch below 60.

Finally, I attended a meeting of the Carolina Coastal Dietetic Association this evening. The snacks included mini candy bars, bagels, and a chocolate chip cookie cake. Heaven.