Oh no, guys. I’m so sorry I’ve left y’all hanging YET again! I’ve felt like I’ve had absolute zero free time over he last couple weeks. I don’t know what it is!! I usually like to decompress and review my week on Saturday or Sunday, but I’ve been out of town literally every weekend for the past month, so it seems like I’m just playing catch up during the week. The good news is, is that nothing overly exciting or big happened this past week, so I’m probably going to be super lazy and just clump it all into one review, rather than breaking it down day by day. Don’t hate me!!
So, if you’re still with me, let’s jump right in.
Like I said, this last week really wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I think the most “unordinary” thing was that the RD taught the nutrition component of the Diabetes Self Management class on Tuesday. It was a 90 minute class, where she went through the basics of carb counting, meal planning, and understanding how fat, carbs, protein, and fiber all affect blood sugar. Like I said, it was a really basic class, but I still feel like even I learned something!
On Wednesday, I taught the cardiac rehab nutrition class again! We focused on meal planning, which was right up my alley! I threw together a list of 10 tips for successful meal planning, and I thought the class went really well! I had to roll with the punches a little, because many of the patients that attended were in some type of assisted living, or had their significant other cook all their meals, and did not have to cook for themselves. It was still a good experience, and kept me on my toes.
Oh! I think what totally made my week was when one patient told me that she was very proud of all that I had accomplished, and how hard of a worker I was. I’m not completely sure how she knows what all I’ve accomplished but I mean, I’ll take it! Shortly before that, she had told me I looked 15. She was the second person this week to tell me I looked 15. #childlabor
The only other “difference” about this past week was that we had our first assignment due for the didactic class part of the internship. We were responsible for picking a relevant nutrition outcome to assess and measure, and had to present the results in a short summary. I have been working on tracking intake outcomes in patients that had been diagnosed with either moderate or severe protein-calorie malnutrition (using the Malnutrition Screening Tool). I determined percent improvement in their intake from their initial encounter with the RD to their final encounter, during their current admission. I “hypothesized” that the nutrition intervention and support provided by the RD (and me, heh) would assist in a patient improving their intake and hopefully meeting their needs, and would you believe it, the numbers worked in our favor!! The report went into a little more detail than that, but quite honestly I don’t want to write it all up again here and probably bore you to tears.
Anyway, those were the highlights of the past week at the hospital. I mentioned that I’ve been out of town every weekend, and this past weekend was no different. After work on Friday, I jumped on the road down the Atlanta to celebrate my two baby cousins’ birthdays, as well as my friends birthday + GA/FL (can’t talk about it) + Halloween! I dressed up as a “lifesaver” with one of my other friends in the *healthcare* field – we wore scrubs, had “lifesaver” nametags, and handed (pelted) little lifesaver candies to anyone and everyone. It was such a perfect weekend getting to see both family and friends. I was sad to leave on Sunday afternoon after brunch, sigh. Hope y’all had a great week!!
