Pap smears....one of those necessary evils that every woman should be having done. Pap smears are done to test for cancer and any other atypical cells. Sexually transmitted diseases can also be picked up during a pap smear.
No, I am not informing the world that I had a pap smear done today...but rather I got to do one at clinicals!! It was so very cool - I saw the cervix right away and was able to take a specimen under the watchful eye of the nurse practitioner that I am working with.
I think she felt I could easily do it since I do speculum exams at work already (we do spec exams in L&D to look at the cervix in preterm labor patients or to collect other types of tests). The nurse practitioner was doing one test while I was looking over her shoulder and I was asking her some questions when she says,"You want to do the next one??" I was like - "sure!"
I'm not sure why it felt so different to me. Maybe because the mom was so early in her pregnancy and I was at the clinic instead of in the hospital. It was just a neat experience. And of course, if you are not a nurse you probably don't get it but take my word for it - it was sweet. I know, it doesn't take much to excite me!
Debbie
2 comments:
Good job, Debbie, it's so cool to get something like that done well in the presence of those who are teaching you. Way to show your competence.
Funny! I just wrote a post about doing spec exams too!
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