The end of week 5!

I finished up my nephrology rotation this week. I spend some time on Thursday morning shadowing a hemodialysis nurse, and she explained the whole process to me which was very helpful. And Mrs. Holliday came to see me on Thursday afternoon, so that was exciting! I assessed one patient with her who had several issues with which I was not completely familiar with yet, but I got through it just fine! We talked about the accuracy or inaccuracy of some of the assessment measures that my hospital uses, and I've been trying to chart a little differently and a little more accurately since the visit.

Today there were 2 patients we were scheduled to see who were solely Spanish-speaking. Sometimes there are 3 way phones we can call to access a translator, but that wasn't the case today. Also, the patients' nurses were either just newly on shift or were out to lunch and someone else was covering their patients, so they weren't much help with the patients. I'll have to admit, I was a little nervous about going in to a patient's room by myself to stumble my way through a Spanish conversation without any translator present or even a Spanish dictionary that might help me come up with something to say. We assessed the patients as best we could using information listed in their charts, but I'm annoyed with myself that I don't know Spanish well enough to feel comfortable communicating. I feel like Spanish-speaking patients are at a disadvantage many times because healthcare workers feel intimidated by them and don't fully meet all of their needs. I'm bringing my Spanish dictionary with me next time, so I can at least communicate somewhat with them. It's a lot easier writing down sentences in Spanish class than actually speaking to someone about important issues! One day I will be fluent. I'm going to try my hardest.

Diabetes camp next week!!! I'm excited.