Last Days at Arrowhead Regional

The end of the month is soon coming and the clinical rotation at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center is coming to an end. Gina Wald and I have been there for the past four months during our second General Surgery Anesthesia rotation and we both have enjoyed being at Arrowhead - for many reasons. Now that the time has come to wind up our clinical experience there, a time of reflection is coming.

Today there is real food for thought on where we have been and where we are going in the growth process during our nurse anesthesia training. For regular general surgery cases for the normal person I am feeling that I can handle this just fine. We call these patients ASA class I or II. For these patients and the surgical procedures that are the norm both Gina and I feel that we need very little help in the management of the anesthetic. Today was a different day.

There is still a lot of growth that needs to take place for the sicker patients. The Whipple surgery that I participated in today is a good example of what I need to further learn. All of the line placements were difficult for me today. In this poor 83-year-old man with pancreatic cancer we placed a thoracic epidural catheter, central venous IV access and attempted an arterial line. They were all difficult for me. The anesthesia was not a problem but the technical skills involved in the line placement were. So you see there is always room to grow. For me there is a lot of room. I am just very glad that Dr. Enwall has chosen to put me in the difficult rooms where the cases are tough. That is a good thing because I was getting a little tired of all of the ortho cases.

I will miss Arrowhead and remember it fondly. The rest of this years clinical rotations will bring so much. I will remember Arrowhead and the people that have taught me so much about anesthesia.