Enteral nutrition

Two weeks ago we started on our specialty rotations! My first specialty rotation is enteral nutrition. The first day was hard to adjust because I was so used to talking to patients and giving education, but during enteral nutrition, you can't really talk to the patients as most of them have altered mental status or intubated (that's why they need tube feeding). Mostly, you try to get the big picture from the notes and nurses.

I didn't enjoy the rotation at the beginning because I am so afraid making mistakes in recommending formula or saying something wrong. The more I spent in this rotation, the more I enjoyed learning about ICU setting, complicated patients and enteral formula calculations. I started with a few ICU patients, and it was crazy to see them from being unstable to stable. I followed an ICU patient since his admission and compared to when he first came with all the intubation and brain tubes, he looked so much better after a week with all the necessary medical treatments.

I am no longer afraid of speaking up and feel more confident in my recommendation. It's crazy to see how much I've improved and changed in just two weeks. So much had already committed to memory, but just more to come :)

ICU has become one of my interest now :)