Today was my last day shadowing Dr. Wu at her Knightdale Pediatrics location. I got to see and experience all of the same things I did yesterday and last week but also got to shadow a nurse for a little bit and see how they draw blood and give shots. I also got to see the nurse complete a newborn check because the hospital had done the check at 7hrs when they are supposed to wait until 24 hours. Another baby was coming in later for the same problem but the hospital had done the blood test at 23 hours and 58 minutes (just 2 minutes short of the deadline) and thus Dr. Wu said the situation was annoying but the state requires it to be at or after 24 hours even if it does not make a difference.
I also got to experience the vision test with two 3 year olds that were not super cooperative but that is understandable due to their age. I then got to see a family with a dad who was African and a mom who was Thaiwanese. The mom was going to take their son out of the country to Taiwan so the dad was very nervous about sending his son away with his mother. I also got to see how different families could take different lengths of time based on how many questions they have and their circumstances.
The blood draw was interesting because the little girl that was getting her blood drawn had an artery that stopped giving the little tube blood so the nurse let it trickle for a while and then told them that it should be enough for allergy testing, which is what they were using it for. I also got to learn and see how different vaccines require different needles and different target locations on a child’s body. I also saw how the nurse prepared the blood drawing items and vaccines before she went in.
I also got to see how Dr. Wu (as well as the other nurses) distracts kids who have a hard time at the doctors. Some of the parents are helpful and some are not with this process.
I also learned that the state requires certain things like a vision test even if the kids are uncooperative and no results come out of it (typical of 3 year olds during a vision test).
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Dr. Wu and the nurses at Knightdale Pediatrics. I learned and saw so much and it definitely opened my eyes to the field!