I worked as a postpartum nurse during my internship. I worked on recovery, delivery as well as the postpartum unit where I took care of postpartum mums and newborns while they recovered. Preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and late preterm babies. This journal, however, gives a reflective of the skills I garnered during my first practice as a nurse where I was placed in the Postpartum Unit under the supervision of my mentor. During this time, I was tasked as well as assigned duties such as assessing the vital signs, educating new mums and helping them with breastfeeding, medications.

Week One

On my first day of clinical placement, I was excited, and it was nerve-wracking at the same time. I had to wake up at 5.00 am. On this day, we had a bit of orientation with the clinical educator who was responsible for our placement as well as assessment.  He gave us templates that had the hospital mission, vision as well as the organizational culture of the nurse in that hospital. The mission of the hospital was to provide quality treatment for all.

Furthermore, the templates had various leaders and their responsibilities in the nursing area that we had to report to in case of anything. All these leaders worked in collaboration. The clinical educator gave us the hierarchal procedure of how issues should be handled. The hospital was using a participative leadership style where the opinion of the staff is heard before any decision is made. He also mentioned that the field of nursing had undergone so many changes and as a nurse, it is good practice to learn how to adapt to those changes to be relevant. For instance, new leadership and new practice approach such evidence-based practice were being adopted. This technique facilitates transparency in leaders as well as employees.

Once this was done, we all went to our respective ward where we are assigned a “buddy” who is one of the registered nurse working in the hospital. She explained everything in details without me necessarily having to ask many questions right from medication, how the machines are operated, and the procedures. I followed my buddy the whole day, which is practically running the whole day since nurses are constantly on the move. She was kind enough to explain to me how to manage time using the Urgency Chart. With this, activities are divided in accordance with their priority. This week our hours were from 7.00 am to 3.30 pm which is extremely tiring but passes really quickly, and so the chart came in handy. By the end of the week, my time management skills were in control.

I later gained and comprehended the day to day terminologies used in the postpartum workplace. Later that week, I practiced talking to the patients without spewing out medical terminologies that we are taught in class.

Week two

Health care is more often than not multifaceted for one professional to achieve.  One issue may require input from experts from different fields. We were taught by our clinical educator that nurses cannot function alone. While working in this hospital, the interprofessional collaboration between nurses, bereaving counselors, physicians, social workers, chaplains, dieticians as well as pharmacists was amicable, and all were able to interact and associate with each other at a professional level.

Additionally, we learnt that nurses go through a lot of ethical challenges and it is significant to understand the ethical climate. Such issues can be maintained by consulting the ethical experts. Furthermore, patient information privacy was vital in accordance with the HIPAA law, and any violation could lead to a lot of consequences. Additionally, in accordance with health policy, patient safety was the top core of the medical institution, and the institution put a lot of emphasis on the simple procedures such as hand hygiene before handling the patient. I recall being reminded of the significance of putting the safety of the patient first.

Week Three

As much as the lecturer always emphasized that nursing was a practice field, I never knew how much involving it was. First of all, I had to throw away my textbook knowledge and my perspective on what it entailed to be a nurse

New ideas are evolved to make the childbirth process safe, easy as well as painless. Devices such as Doppler ultrasound, wireless telemetry monitors are used to detect a heartbeat. Smart pumps are used to administer oxytocin. Technology will continue to make a difference. Watching a new life come to earth was an unforgettable experience that I promised never to forget. Amidst all this excitement, I was frightened and intimidated. My first of six rotations on the obstetrics (OB) floor, I was pleasantly and shockingly surprised at how much I had fun at my first shift in the newborn nursery unit. I connected to them and went to labor. I Gave the first baby his birth and the other his first round of hepatitis B vaccine (Kronenfeld, 2009). I experienced my first C-section birth which was scheduled, and I was shocked at how all the physicians worked together cooperatively. They sew back the woman`s uterus, and by noon, she was good to go. I later experienced a vaginal delivery. Trust me, the entire shift was remarkable. Working under pressure was a thing that always challenged me, but with time, I managed to bit the odds. I recall being reminded not to forget the 24-hour newborn screening.

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