Hey there, Bloggerbuds! It's been a while since I've gotten the chance to update my blog. My last post is about Christmas and inasmuch as I want to update my site from time to time, I have been busy with my training at Philippine Heart Center. Yes, you read it right. I am now a certified Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support practitioner and I will become a Certified Renal Nurse soon. In an month's time I will become Maica Angelle E. Feraren, RN, CRN, IELTS passer (hopefully). How does that sound, huh?
Anyway, I want to share my experience at one of the most prestigious healthcare institutions in the country: the Philippine Heart Center.
I was volunteering my services to the Provincial Hospital of our Province(Oriental Mindoro) when I felt the desire to uplift my career. Well, when you're in the hospital, work becomes a routine. Hence, I wanted to get away from all the stress at work and learn something new. Then comes the Cardio-Renal Nurse Training Program at the Heart institution of the country and the rest, as they say, is history.
According to http://www.philippinenursingdirectory.com, the Cardio-Renal Nurse Training Program is a five-week Cardio-Renal Course designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide dialysis treatment and efficient care to renal patients. At the end of the course, participants should be able:
- To discuss the principles of Hemodialysis/Peritoneal dialysis/CRRT;
- To operate hemodialysis machine/cycler/reprocessing machine and water system;
- To practice infection control in dialysis setting;
- To identify the renal patient needs based on a comprehensive assessment;
- To discuss the duties and responsibilities of a dialysis nurse;
- To formulate a nursing care plan based on the needs identified.
Intended Participants: Registered Nurses
Number of Participants: 50
Registration fee: Php 20,000 (requires at least 25% down payment)
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| This is me in front of Heart Center |
As for me and my twin sister, we left our beloved hometown for a while to see what this training has in store for us. The training may have lasted for five weeks only but the learnings, experiences and the friendships gained there will forever be in our hearts.
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| H.E.A.R.T. Foundation |
At first, Mara and I thought that the training will be a serious one. Imagine, we paid P20,000.00 each just to be certified in Basic Life Support, Basic Electrocardiogram Reading, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, and Dialysis. We can not just waste resources just by being lazy beings. Hence, we had to work our way through this training.
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| 9th floor, Medical Arts Building, Philippine Heart Center |
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| Cardio-Renal Bulletin Board |
The first two weeks of the course were the most stressful weeks. Imagine, we had lectures, quizzes and return demonstrations about Electrocardiogram and Advanced Life Support compressed in two weeks. It was really hard and challenging at the same time. Every lecture seemed lengthy. Every quiz made us all nervous and every return demonstration challenged us. However, we were able to make fun out of the situation. We may have been asked to interpret 20 Electrocardiogram tracings for 20 minutes, intubate dummies, whack our brains with all the megacode data but we made it.
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| Me and Mara wearing our lab gowns for the 1st time |
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| with our Heart Colleagues |
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| picture-taking in sunset |
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| the future Certified Renal Nurses |
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| jump, jump, jump! |
Passing the Megacode return demonstration supervised by Cardiologists is the most challenging one in this training. Megacode is not just a simple topic. I mean, you have to have basic knowledge and understanding about Electrocardiogram reading, Basic Life Support, Intubation, Defibrillation, Transcutaneous Pacing and the Pulseless Arrest, Tachycardia and Bradycardia Algorithms in order to make it. In my case, I barely passed the written exam(which is a prerequisite for the Megacode return demonstration). During the code, I was able to convince the Cardiologist that I'm worthy to pass after a while. It wasn't easy but with hardwork, some amount of pressure and determination, you might just get certified in MEGACODE.
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| After the first two weeks of lecture, we all went our for a drink. |
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| Say Cheese :) |
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| strike a pose! |
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| Me and my Heart Center Colleagues after a stressful bunch of lectures, ret dems and quizzes. |
The last three weeks of the training were not so hectic. We had 16 duty hours at the Dialysis Unit and return demonstrations about Setting up of the Dialysis Machine, Intravenous Cannulation, and Access Care. It was hard and fun at the same time because we had a lot of time to chitchat during the duty and ret dems.
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| Me, Denise, Gil, Mutya and Mara at PHC Rooftop |
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| Mara, Me and Denise beside the Dialysis Machine |
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| my Dialysis groupmates |
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| at the storage room (our hangout place at the Dialysis unit) |
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| Mara, Gil, Mutya and Me at a purple PHC sign |
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| me and my groupmates at PHC |
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| Mara and Me at the Heart Center Landmark |
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| Mara, Denise, Me and Mutya striking a pose in front of PHC after a 12-hr. shift |
Well, as they say, all things come to an end. After the five-week duration of the course, we finally bid goodbye to dummies, green scrubs and lab gowns. Now, the lengthy lectures, chaotic electrocardiogram tracings, nerve-wracking defibrillators and complicated dialysis machines are all but memories away.
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| CRNTP Graduation Teaser |
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| Me and My Groupmates |
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| I graduated, Yes! |
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| handling our diplomas with pride |
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| pizza, anyone? |
Through it all, I can now say that the H.E.A.R.T. (Health Educational Advancement for Research and Training) Foundation and the Philippine Heart Center did not only help us gain more knowledge in our chosen field. They also allowed us to become nurses with hearts of gold. We may have paid some amount of money just to get ourselves into it but all the learnings, friendships formed, laughters heard and experiences made there will be with us all throughout eternity.
Let's all take care of our Hearts from now on!
Just LIVE, LOVE and LEARN =)
Lovelots,
Maica Angelle E. Feraren, RN (soon to be CRN)
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| the girls of Cardio- Renal Nurse Training Program Batch 18 |
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| Cardio-Renal Nurse Training Program Batch 18 |
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