Put your back into it.

Sorry for the hiatus (again), life gets hectic sometimes.

Other than the LP, my favorite new procedures to do are joint reductions. Something so gratifying about man-handling a limb, drenched in sweat and then all of the a sudden you hear the victorious "clunk." Yay!!

I had the awesome opportunity to attempt multiple joint reductions while the patient was under conscious sedation. Some were successful, others were not, and that's okay. The point it, I got to try. I didn't have to stand in the background and watch, I got to feel the limb and manipulate it. "Feel" the logic behind certain techniques, and learn from my mistakes. That's the whole point of learning isn't it?

I cannot say enough good things about my last rotation. It was hard, like really hard. I say that not because I couldn't handle the hours, but because I was truly challenged to step outside my comfort zone. Was I 100% ready to do LPs and joint reductions? No, but I did them and I'm so grateful to have had the chance. I was never put in situations where I could harm the patient, but I also wasn't allowed to stand back and watch. And guess what? Knowing that I can handle the ER makes me so excited and it is now officially what I want to do. :)