Offsite Experience 1

Offsite Experience 1
Nursing Offsite Experience Paper
Kaitlyn R. Ludwig
Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing
427 Conceptual Basis of Nursing III
March 13, 2021

Observed Nursing Roles and Experience in Interventional Radiology
During the IR observation, I observed a bilateral angioplasty as well as a nephrostomy
tube replacement. In Pre-op I watched the registered nurse start an IV and hook him up to the
pump running normal saline. The nurse asked the patient his name and date of birth, what he was
going to have done today and if she had any more questions. Then the nurse went over the pre
procedure checklist making sure the consent was signed as well as got a set of vitals and checked
his pulses in his lower extremities. After checking the patient all in, the nurse went to the pixis
and retrieved versed and fentanyl and drew them up in syringes to take into the procedure room.
Once the room was ready, we wheeled the patient to the procedure room and transferred him on
the table. Two surgical techs, the interventional radiologist as well as a medical student joined us
in the procedure room. The nurse and I got our lead on and got the patient set up on oxygen,
blood pressure cuff on as well as pulse oximetry. After everyone was in the procedure room the
nurse did a “time out” and went over what the patients name, date of birth, what he was here for
and asked what doses they wanted for him to begin. The surgical techs draped the patient to
create the sterile field and prepped the skin. They did a hibicleanse and povidone iodine to
decrease surgical site infection. The nurse then gave the patient versed and fentanyl according to
the doctor’s orders and the procedure started. The interventional radiologist made a small
incision on the patients left side to insert the wire into the patient’s femoral artery. From there
they began to work their way through the patients left lower arteries and then did the patients’
right side. The procedure lasted around three hours as the patient had numerous calcifications
and blockages and needed three stents placed. The procedure was successful, and the patient
went to post op to lay flat for 2 hours before discharge.

Observed Nursing Roles and Experience in the St. Jude Clinic
During my St. Jude Clinic experience, when I first got there, I watched a nurse go
through the schedule for the day to see who was coming and what they were coming for at this
appointment. The patient’s conditions included beta thalassemia (a type of anemia), leukemia,
osteosarcoma and neuroblastoma. Patients today received regular checkup labs, blood
transfusions and chemotherapy. I observed the nurses check in patients, I took the patients vitals
for the nurses and watched how they completed the charting. I watched the nurse start IVs to
draw blood to know what the patient’s levels were. These IVs were also used for blood
transfusions for some of the patients. One of the patients’ blood was collected from there
mediport. The nurse put lidocaine cream on the site about 20-30 minutes prior to accessing their
port. We also allowed that child to pick out a toy to keep him distracted when we accessed his
port. This patient was receiving routine chemotherapy for leukemia. There were three beta
thalassemia patients all three received either two or three bags of packed red blood cells. There
was a newly diagnosed neuroblastoma patient that received a neutrogen shot. The other two
patients were only here to get labs done and then got PET scans.
Nursing Implications
The IR learning experience gave me insight on what exactly IR was and did, going into
this offsite I was very confused on what type of procedures they did. I also was educated on the
preop and postop process and the different procedures and processes in the IR. This experience
allowed me to get an insight to another type of nursing that I was new too as well as allowed me
to be up close and watch procedures which allowed me to better understand those conditions and
how to manage surgical patients in the future. I am aware of what to expect for the patient. As
well as my grandma had bilateral angioplasties two years ago and is having another in the
upcoming months. This experience allowed me to witness at firsthand what all is involved and
now I can understand what they exactly will be doing for my grandma and other future patients
to come that may be experiencing this procedure. This experience also gave me an opportunity to
see the nursing role in the IR compared to being on the floor at the bedside. The St. Jude Clinic
experience allowed me to have the opportunity to see children and adults with blood disorders
and cancers that I was unfamiliar with. As well as see familiar faces of staff who took care of my
best friend when he was fighting his battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma. This was very educational for
me as I do know a lot about Ewing’s but not a lot about other cancers or beta thalassemia. The
nurses were very helpful in answering any questions I had regarding patients’ conditions and
treatment plans. I gathered a lot of knowledge from speaking with the patients, patient’s family
or other staff members that took care of them in the past. It was really beneficial to me to see this
side of the St. Jude staff as I was a kid when Gavin was going through his battle and I would
come with him to his appointments to keep him company. I really enjoyed the offsite experiences
as it will help me narrow down what nursing role best suits me.
Conclusion
In summary, I am thankful for the experiences I was able to be apart of. It was really
helpful to see other areas of nursing that we would not normally see in our clinicals. It allowed
me to explore other options than what I previously had believed I wanted to pursue. I had a great
time with the different nurses I had the opportuinity to work with. I will take the knowledge I
gained from this experince through my nursing career.


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Offsite Experience 1

Nursing Offsite Experience Paper

Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing

427 Conceptual Basis of Nursing III

March 13, 2021

Observed Nursing Roles and Experience in Interventional Radiology

During the IR observation, I observed a bilateral angioplasty as well as a nephrostomy

went to post op to lay flat for 2 hours before discharge.

Observed Nursing Roles and Experience in the St. Jude Clinic

gained from this experince through my nursing career.

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