Two weeks down and still loving it!

This past week at my internship was amazing. It started off on Monday with me having more interaction with the patients. I was a little hesitant my first week when my supervisor told me that we would talk about when I could have my own patients in my third week. Really? I would have to wait three weeks before we even talk about getting my own? Oh well. But I got to do two patient discharges and helped one of them move to our patient and family services pavilion (read: inexpensive housing).

But things started to get way better when I sat down with the Director of the Cancer Counseling Center to talk about what she does. During the course of my conversation with her, I kept getting more and mroe excited about what we were talking about. I felt like I could keep up with our discussion intellectually as we discussed Worden and Kublar-Ross and what therapy skills to use with our client population. It was all very intense and thought provoking and I could contribute! It really energized me as I felt as though I really was right where I belonged.

Then things just continued to get better. I went to a seminar Tuesday afternoon about survivorship and the emotional and psychological aspects of cancer. The speaker was Dr. Elizabeth Clark, Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers (read: really important person in the land of social workers). Before the seminar started, I was sitting towards the front minding my own business because I don't like strangers and two people were standing in the front of the room talking. One of them looked at me and started chit chatting so I asked if she was Dr. Clark. She said yes and walked over to me. So I stood up and introduced myself as Kari the Social Work Intern. She asked which school I came from and when I answered Baylor, she responded, "Oh, yes. I've heard about you." What? The ED of NASW has heard of ME??!! Turns out that she and the director of the palliative care unit that I have gotten to know and asked if I can be part of was talking to her about me. And the best part? She's invited me down to DC to meet with her at the NASW Headquarters. I really have a hard time explaining the awesomeness of this to non social workers. But, needless to say, I'm psyched!

Then on Thursday, my supervisor was off for the day. I had the whole Bone Marrow Transplant Unit to myself. And you know what? I didn't screw up. I had an amazing day. I went on rounds, attended the staff meeting, updated everyone on the patients on the floor, did an evaluation by myself, handled two discharges, and then went and met with all of the patients on the floor. Some of them didn't have anything to say, one made me leave their room (I'm perfectly okay with this), and then the others had quite a bit to say. I have learned to meet the patients where they are. Sometimes this means that we talk about cancer and what's to come while other times it means that we talk about the crime rate in Baltimore, what it's like to be a car mechanic, the proper way to shave a dog, and other random topics. I had a wonderful conversation with a pretty cool sounding man. I don't know anything about their backgrounds or who they are outside of the hospital but for the most part, people in hospitals are pretty cool. Everyone has a unique story and I enjoy taking the time to hear them. Then on the way home, I called my supervisor to update her on the unit. She told me that with her intern last year, if she was going to take a day off of work, she would have told the intern to take the day off too. But not with me. She said that she had all the confidence in the world that I was ready to handle the unit on my own. Wow, what an overwhelming compliment for me to hear. I think that most of the time, I doubt myself and my abilities. I was so nervous at the start of the day but I handled it all well. Everything went smoothly and I knew when to call other social workers for help or questions. I need to start having more confidence in myself.

What an amazing week. I truly hope my friends are having as wonderful experiences as I.