Exploring the uncanny valley

Yesterday I got to see the Sim Lab. Ours looked similar to this picture I found online. It felt so real and also so artificial. The mannequins are controlled remotely by the instructor outside the room. They can talk to you like the Wizard of Oz, so you can ask the patient questions. They can control the various sounds and stats coming from the patient. There's a phone and some equipment, but a lot of it is fake, so you just say "Let's increase your oxygen 2 liters" and she types that into the computer while you feign the motions. It was awkward having three of us trying to assess the patient at once. We all had our scopes out on her chest, trying to determine whether we heard severe tachycardia, or the plastic chest vibrating from breath movement. We eventually figured out that our patient had lobar pneumonia. I think I'll do a lot better next time. I'll ask more questions instead of jumping into assessment. Because we were limited in time we were not sure what exactly we were supposed to be doing. Getting a history? Exploring her body sounds? Attempt a diagnosis? I found it very stressful from the lack of instruction. Also, our first time with a real patient will be with an instructor at our side helping us, not on the other side of the glass grading us. Now that I know what to expect I think when it's really time to use the sim lab for testing, I'll be ready and confident.

Today we had our lab for neurological assessment. I had no idea there were so many reflexes! It was pretty fun whacking my lab partner. ;-) I committed myself to learning the cranial nerves this weekend. I learned them just barely enough to pass my exam in A&P. Now that I'm doing assessments that apply to them, I want them ingrained in my memory for fast recall. No mnemonics, just know them.

I'm excited for my Weekend of No Plans. My family is visiting SLC for Andy's graduation (Go Andy!). I finished my nursing home hours (woot!). No parties or church activities. I'm going to nap and run errands and do chores and all sorts of fun stuff like that.

I'm going to grill pizzas and artichokes for dinner before going to the Walkers to watch BSG. Azalea is growing up so fast! She is seriously the cutest baby I have ever seen. Every time I see her she giggles and wags her tongue at me. Darn baby giving me baby lust.