Hannah 's Nursing Observation

Hannah Measuring Blood Pressure
Originally uploaded by Creation Care Study Program.

As a nursing intern at La Loma Luz hospital, I have had the opportunity to shadow several nurses in their every day duties, as well as assisting in signing in patients and taking them to appropriate doctors. I have learned how to take vital signs of patients including their temperature, pulse, respiration rate and blood pressure. Also, as it is the rainy seasons and there are constant fluctuations in temperature, there have been many children suffering from respiratory infections, so I have become quite proficient at preparing and administering nebulizer treatments. There is one little boy that spent several days in the hospital and has continued to come into the clinic for nebulizer treatments, the ER nurse began to refer to him as my patient, and I was able to measure out his mix of medication and saline solution and give it to him. I have observed and assisted with X-rays, EKGs and ultrasounds, as well as having the opportunity to watch several surgical procedures including a cystectomy and an endoscopy. In addition to the technical knowledge I have gained at La Loma Luz, I have had many conversations with the staff, and from those interactions have gained a new understanding of Belizean culture, education, and medical systems.

Hannah Serafini
Messiah College