Though I was nervous as I approached the main entrance of the hospital at 7:30 am on Monday, I was excited for what my day with Nurse Practitioner Naudia James would entail. Dressed out in a causal dress, white lab coat, and closed-toed shoes, I met Naudia on the second floor of the hospital in Same-Day surgery. Naudia's office is located on the surgical floor as her primary role is to handle pre-operative care for patients prior to them receiving anesthesia for surgery. When I met Naudia in her office on the surgical floor, I was warmly greeted by the staff and Naudia's co-workers, and Naudia began explaining her role to me. Naudia stated that her main job is to assess patients before they go under anesthesia and discuss plans with surgeons and anesthesiologists on how to proceed with the patients' care. She frequently calls the patients' surgeons or anesthesiologists to ask questions and obtain needed from those doing the patients' surgeries. Additionally, she reads and fills out charts in order to evaluate her patients and assess their health. While Naudia does work in the Anesthesiology Department, she does not administer anesthesia to any patients, but she does the pre-op care evaluations before they head back to surgery and receive anesthesia. Naudia works alongside two other nurse practitioners who work in the Anesthesiology Department; however, one of her co-workers just left for maternity leave, so she has to work extra hard in order to stay on track. Once Naudia explained her position as a nurse practitioner to me, we began our day by heading back to the Same-Day surgery area where we were to check up on her patients for the day.
|
AuthorMy name is Caroline Rogers, and I am a current rising senior at Hutchison School. This blog is dedicated to my summer internship through Hutchison Leads at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN. Because of my passion and interest for all things medicine, I decided to explore the field of nursing with Family Nurse Practitioner Naudia James who works with the Anesthesiology Department at the hospital. I aspire to attend nursing school as a college student, and I am thrilled to begin studying medicine and exploring a topic that interests me greatly. |