Respiratory Therapist, Changing the Life of Others
I did my clinicals today and I can say that at this point, I really enjoy it. Sure waking up at 6am really sucks but once I’m doing my rounds and finishing it 3 hours past and I think to myself.. where did the time go? I am so into it now that I feel so confident about giving treatments. I did one treatment today and the patients daughter was in the room. I did a combination of Atrovent, Xopenex and Mucomyst. That treatment is 30mins+ !! Since I’m a student it doesn’t matter because I don’t have to go around chasing the time and doing multiple treatments at the same time (which you should not do).
So I was talking to the daughter and asked me many questions.
“What is that sulfer smell?”
“Well that is the smell of this drug we are using for your mother which breaks down / thins secretions.”
“is it normal for her to feel nausea?”
The feeling is a side effect of the drug. But at this point it doesn’t seem extreme and it is probably the smell of the “rotten egg”
“Is there other drugs in that container?”
Yes there is because we always need a bronodilator when we use the mucomyst. The bronchodilator which is the xopenex + atrovent prevents the lungs from having a narrow airway.
There were so many more questions but I was able to answer each of them with a good explanation . I just have to thank my instructors for pounding this information in my head because if they havn’t done that, I would had been really stupid. The patient and daughter thanked me so much that it made my day. It feels good doing the treatments because knowning the fact that somebody is being helped and knowning the fact they are depending on you to help them makes you feel special. I’m sure everyone in the medical field feels this way. This career is so rewarding!!
Now for the EXPERIENCE that every RT will see. I had a patient with thick..i mean very thick secretions. I suction with the yanker (sp?) and OMG this was so thick it was stopping the suction. Next thing you know patient coughs and you see secretions flying across the bed up to his foot. The first time I experienced this I was so amazed and well kind of disgusted. I heard many stories but when you are in the position it is a different perspective. Thank god I was following everyones advice. Suction on the side of the bed so if the patient coughs you will not be hit with sputum.
Funny advice from an instructor
What if a patient asks “how many times have you done this ABG?”
If this is your first time do you know what to say? Just say “I HAVN’T MESSED UP YET”
Well this next thing I WILL say is
Thank you guys for reading my blogs. I’m getting some traffic and viewers. I appreciate the COMMENTS and feedbacks. I know it may not seem like it but I just can’t find the time to comment your guys’s blogs back. But I am always happy to see people posting comments. Everyone knows that if you are a RT student it is very hard to find time to do what you want to do. Once again THANK YOU FOR READING and I hope this inspires people or get a simple laugh from a blog I make. If any students or future students are reading this make sure you show others so they can figure out how much RT students go through… Signing out…..
-rtstudentblog admin, S.R.T. 
March 19th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
good job man! I am thinking about going into this field. your insight really helps.