Samantha Kenney Life of A Nursing Student

      As I originally entered pediatrics clinical, I was more scared than anything due to the fact that I really did not have much experience with kids, let alone taking care of sick kids. To me after the first day of clinical I assumed that I would dread waking up every Wednesday morning, and feel like I was walking around on eggshells, however, after experiencing my last day, I am going to be upset every Wednesday I wake up and do not get to go to CHOP and take care of the children.      Though you may assume a student nurse does not get to do much on clinical at a children's hospital (as I also assumed prior) I learned so much from my opportunities at CHOP. Even on the occasional days or hours where I was left to do not much but watch, it was still one of the best experiences I have gotten. I cried in the car on the way home from my last clinical, because I was really so moved how just a simple 6 weeks could change my outlook on nursing and mak...

     At this point in the semester, we are nearly halfway through the coursework for all of the classes. For pediatrics, we have been running on a pretty consistent schedule with exams 1 and 2 being about a month apart, and there being about the same amount of content on both exams.      From the start I have taken a great interest in the coursework and topics being lecture on in pediatrics lecture. Whether it was from the first exam learning the different stages of developments of a child, or what we have been getting more in depth with, the alterations of different body systems in a pediatric child and the disorders that come with it.      Since I have taken a liking to this class. I have been inclined to study above and beyond for the course. For both of the past exams, I have ensured that I was taking the time to really read the book, the charts and photos in the book to help supplement my reading and even taking notes on the re...

     Going into my medical surgical clinical, I may have been more nervous for this clinical than my pediatrics clinical. Though I have always been unsure of kids. I am even more unsure of elderly adults. When I found out my medical surgical clinical would be in a nursing home with elderly women with end stages of dementia, or schizophrenia or other psychological illnesses, I was terrified to say the least.      However, after completing my first day of clinical, I do not feel anywhere near as bad about the experience ahead of me. Though I am nervous to adjust to a facility like this. I anticipate learning a lot from this clinical. This facility still uses paper charts, and no electronic health records. There is one computer for the unit and all of the charts are just kept behind the nurses station in binders on a shelf. The sitting room for patients has an extremely old TV looking like it dated back a long time. It also seemed that there was not really muc...

October 18, 2023       As a student experiencing clinical on the second end of the semester, it came with many worries and lots of excitement with what was to come for me as my friends have had these experiences already. For this semester I got lucky enough to have my pediatric clinical placement at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.     For me personally, the hardest thing the first day was waking up. Waking up at 5 am to ensure I am making the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the hospital to be at the hospital at 6 am has been rough. As a student who majority of the time can barely get in sleep at night from staying up studying, I am hoping this is not a continuous problem having difficulty getting up, and that it gets easier as time goes on throughout this semester.      Walking into my first clinical was a scary experience, especially at such a big hospital with all sick or injured children. However, walking into clinical I was ...

 Welcome to my blog! I hope with my blog posts, I am able to give my fellow peers and other nursing students insight into my life and balancing the day to day challenges of life, while striving my best to thrive in nursing school. I am excited to take you all along the way with me. 💗😁