I absolutely loved my experience with Children's Minnesota working with my preceptors in the CVICU. I not only gained physical nursing and assessment skills but also really developed some critical thinking in cases with complicated patient presentations. I learned so much about congenital heart defects and cardiac procedures and I look forward to working with pediatric populations in the future.
What I wish was different
I would not have changed anything.
Advice
I would recommend that any student nurse intern puts in some extra time outside of work to learn about the common conditions your unit sees so that you can better support your patients. I spent lots of time going over cardiac defects, and having the base pathophysiology understanding really helped me understand the reasoning for every intervention and symptom the patient was having.
