Week 1: Orientation

I am not so sure why I was so excited to start on Monday. I had to be to the hospital at 7:45 AM for New Employee Orientation. I spent two days in a classroom with about 50 other new hires learning about the hospital...it was hard to stay awake for most of it. We were welcomed by the Hospital President, Britt Berrett, who is a very funny and inspiring guy. When we went around introducing each other he mocked me when I said I was from Wisconsin. It was exciting to finally meet all the other dietetic interns and the internship director, Kristi.

On Tuesday I received my meal card. Each month $140 is loaded onto the card for me to use at the hospital cafeterias. This could be dangerous. There are a lot of good looking desserts. It is very nice that all milk, juice, pop, and water are free for staff in Nutrition Services. I didn't have to eat supper for the rest of the week because I ate so much at lunch.

Wednesday was the first day that it was just the interns together. Kristi gave us a tour of the huge kitchen, cafeterias, dietitian's offices, and other places that we will have to go to throughout the year. In the afternoon we took a pre-test. It was difficult. I realized how much I don't remember. I did pass, however, with a 76%. My goal is to get 100% when I'm done with the internship. We went over all of the policies and procedures of the internship. I got a little overwhelmed at this point because Kristi was talking about all the homework that has to be done. She compared this internship to working full-time and going to school full-time and to make sure to get enough sleep and exercise. We were assigned to read a very long article about the Nutrition Care Process and complete a bunch of computer based training modules.

On Thursday, one of the dietitians came in to give us a refresher lesson on protein and calorie assessment. Once again, this is a topic that I seemed to breeze through in school, but when we were given a worksheet of case studies I found myself struggling to get answers. I need practice! We attended a Toastmasters meeting before lunch. Toastmasters has clubs world-wide that helps its members improve on their communication, public speaking, and leadership skills. We just went there to observe, but eventually each intern is required to give a 2-3 minute introductory speech as well as a 5-7 minute speech on a different topic. In the afternoon we learned the results from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test.
My results were:

• Warm, sympathetic, and helpful
• Personable, cooperative, and tactful
• Conscientious and loyal; value security, stability, and tradition
• Focused on the present; make decisions based on experience and facts
• Uncomfortable with conflict; work hard to make sure it doesn't occur
• Focused on the needs of others; often uncomfortable with impersonal analysis
• Usually seen by others as sociable, enthusiastic, energetic, organized, and traditional

Yup, that's me.

On Friday, we took a quiz on the article from Wednesday then had several lessons from dietitians. We learned about nutrition during wound care, tube feeding, and Neonatal nutrition (NICU). The fun part of the day was when we got to taste test supplements. We tried about 15 supplements that are given to patients with specific needs such as high calorie/high protein, Diabetic, Renal, nectar thick or honey thick liquids. Some were pretty tasty, but most were not so tasty. A few of them tasted like a Popsicle stick with chalk on it.

To end the week, a couple interns and I got together to watch a movie. We watched Steel Magnolias and ate heart shaped cookies.