What Geoff has been learning...

Here we are, 2 months into the summer break at Biola University and as I reflect on the past semester it feels like a year ago already!  I write with rejoicing in my heart for God's faithfulness through provisions and affirmations during this semester and as I look back upon the things I have learned this semester, I praise the Lord for the each of the days that He has provided for me to learn to serve in His kingdom as a nurse!  May He use this training for His glory in the future!

The overwhelming theme of this semester was oncology, or the study of cancer.  It is amazing how God is at the helm of our lives, it became very clear at the start of this semester that I was not going to just learn about cancer out of a textbook.  My father was diagnosed with prostate cancer just about the same time the semester began, so the introduction to oncology became personal right away.  

During the semester my hospital rotations (clinicals) were in various departments at the City of Hope, Beckman Research Hospital in Duarte, California.  We served for 5 weeks in each area of medical/surgical oncology, hematology, on a shorter stay/overflow oncology unit.  I had the opportunity to meet, talk with, pray with, and simply serve a variety of patients at a variety of stages of their cancer experience.  I had an opportunity to witness several blood transfusions, as well as several stem cell transplants.  I also witnessed extreme pain, hurt, loneliness, and several other aspects of cancer nursing that I will not soon forget.  

Each shift I tried to ask my assigned nurse what advice that they would give me as I go on into nursing.  My favorite selections were: to remember that nurses are serving patients who are real people (made in the image of God), not lab values or diagnoses, not room numbers or simply just part of my job.  The other favorite was to recognize and be grateful for the fact that Biola student nurses have excellent faculty.  

This nurse had no Biola affiliation or history whatsoever and she spoke plainly of having over the years observed the faculty from Biola teach in the clinical setting in such a way that doesn't scare, bully, or trap the student in mistakes, rather they seek to provide a learning environment that is safe for both the patient and student, that allows the student to learn along side of RN's and that challenges the student to make the most of their student clinical opportunities.  Many of my teachers have clinical experience with the material/concepts they teach or have had firsthand experience with the pathophysiologies (illnesses) that they are teaching about.  This makes the teaching so much more valuable and I, along with the aforementioned nurse both have observed that God has provided great instructors for Biola.  I am not sure how many of my instructors will ever read this, but I praise God for them, and recognize that it is no coincidence that they are where they are today, but for God's work and hand in their own lives, they serve Him, and in doing so, minister to and encourage student's and other RN's in the process.  

As a follow up, my dad just got his first blood test results back, and thus far, they indicate that his first cancer treatment was successful!  Praise the Lord with us!

I am looking forward to the coming semester!   I am working on completing some Bible classes by correspondence from Moody Bible Institute, and in the coming semester, I join my class as a Level 2 nursing student!  We will be covering theory and clinical sessions of:  Advanced Medical/Surgical nursing (trauma stuff), Mental Health Nursing, and Nursing of the Older Adult.

Thanks for your prayers!  We are making a family prayer update letter soon, and will post some pictures of our latest adventures!  

Geoff, for the family.

What is Geoff really learning?

In nursing, Geoff has learned many practical nursing skills that will now allow him to serve as a nurses aide in an hospital setting should God open up such an opportunity. Specifically Geoff learned how to take vital signs, wash his hands, make a bed (finally!), give a bed bath (in a safe and dignified manner!), assist patients to walk/ambulate, check for and prevent bed sores, how to check blood sugar levels, how to mix and administer insulin, how to administer tube feedings, how to administer injections, how to offer bowel care and collect specimens, how to administer medications, how to promote a sterile environment (minimize germ exposure), how to teach breathing and coughing, how to bandage, and most importantly learning how to offer Spiritual Care.

Geoff also learned how to give a full head to toe assessment (Leah was often his patient patient) and Abbie and Keely have often been assessed. It often does not fail that Abaigael will ask complete strangers, "would you like my daddy to assess you?" The head to toe assessment is an exam in which the patient is checked from head to toe: including their vital signs, pulses, some lymph nodes, range of motion, joints, the sounds of the heart, chest and abdomen are listened to, and the twelve cranial nerves are tested. If you are ever curious, Geoff always needs practice and he will assess you if you are willing!






Geoff's nursing theory classes focused mostly on the rationale for many of the above skills, but also included introductory lectures on nursing ethics, pharmacology, and several pathophysiological conditions including those affecting breathing, the heart, and the brain. Geoff says... "Starting nursing studies has been like learning a new language! God has made us so incredibly and each part of our bodies seemingly has three names, and each of those names seem to change when something has gone wrong! We spent most of the past semester learning to recognize what normal and healthy looks like, so that in coming semesters, we will recognize what abnormal looks like." Geoff was able to successfully complete his first semester including a day nursing clinic in Mexico, learning beginning pharmacological math, and representing his class in a student nursing club.

Nursing students at Biola immediately begin serving in local hospitals for their "clinical" time, a time in which they begin to apply their practical and theoretical skills in the hospital setting under their nursing faculty's licensure and supervision. Geoff served this past semester on a medical surgical floor at Whittier Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital. Geoff met a variety of patients, where he was immediately personally challenged by preconceptions and misconceptions, each day learning more and more about seeing people through God's eyes, and offering care regardless of where that person has come from or what they had done, or how they have lived. Geoff had numerous opportunities to sit silently with patients, to pray with them, and to offer smiles. In Geoff's semester end review, his instructor shared that often times he needs to "nudge" students to spend more time with patients, whereas with Geoff, he suggested that perhaps Geoff ought to consider spending a little more time in the coming semester outside of the room, in the charts, working on developing other nursing skills as well as communicating with patients! Geoff says... "I very much enjoyed the opportunity to talk with and pray with patients. I have witnessed the growth of my fellow nursing students, and I know that I can depend on them for help and support in any situation. I have also learned that I prefer changing children's diapers to changing adult briefs! I seem to be a bit more skilled in the former, and a patient once told me so!"

So that is what Geoff has been up to! Sorry we have been strangers, we traveled over Christmas and are now finally back into the swing of things again! More to come!