This fall semester I attended Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in compliance with the Pediatric course and clinical hours. In this clinical rotation I personally attended three units: NICU, PICU, and RDC. The nurses I shadowed in those units were mostly assigned to care for infants ranging from newborn to a year old. I was in awe after my first clinical rotation in the NICU. The babies there ranged from different sizes and ages. It was similar in the PICU, however in this unit, although my nurse was taking care of infants, I was able to see the unit as a whole and the different types of children that were there as well. In my last clinical rotation, I was in the RDC and in this unit the patient's my nurse was caring for had larger age gaps: an infant of one month and two 11 year olds. Although these children were in different units for a variety of reasons they all had something in common, and no it’s not that they were sick, it was that every one of them were fighting against the clock for their lives.

 

I was especially astonished to see the tiny little two-

Week-old infant in the NICU. She was fighting every minute to get stronger inorder to breathe on her own and go home. The saddest sight was that no one was by her side to cheer her on. However, not having a single phone call or a visit stopped her from fighting.

 

The picture that I drew demonstrates the strength of each child and their desire to live. The clock represents the time that each person is given throughout their lives by God. The angel is shown pulling down on the minute hand fighting to obtain more time of life. The black rim of the clock represents the absence of family members and loneliness that some of the patients experience while fighting for their lives. The numbers on the clock represent the different ages of ​children and the different colors of the numbers symbolize their innocent and playful nature. Nevertheless, pediatrics is a beautiful unit but a very tough one as well. I don’t think that there is any way to prepare for what you may experience in each clinical rotation.