Tomorrow is our first day at the hospital. This day is called “Loading Day” at Stan State. It is an all day event in which we get our orientation to our assigned hospitals. I purchased my uniform, I have my white shoes, and now I’m ready to go.
The hospital I am assigned to, Memorial Medical Center, has the longest orientation, but I think it is one of the better hospitals. It is well worth it. The day will begin at 8:00 AM (or 0800 military time) and go on until maybe 4:30pm (1630). That is a rough estimate. They will go over their policies, technology/system used, and HIPAA. HIPAA is the law protecting patient information and helps remain patient information confidential; we will get a very long lecture on this, I’m sure.
After Loading Day, we will have our health assessment final and a nursing skills simulation next week. The best thing about next week is December 8th and 9th in which we will complete our “Mentor Days” at the hospital. Mentor Days are the actual days we get to observe the RN’s, finally get to perform the skills we have learned this semester and get to interact with real patients instead of just dummies. Dummies can only tell you so much…ha ha.
