Today

I finally finished my mockboard patient today!  Yay!  I can honestly say that I have improved in my skills (mostly because Dr. Hanson said I had improved and I could tell I was doing better, which was pretty rewarding).  I feel good when I can get into an area and use my "twist" to get a piece of caluclus off.  Dr. Hanson reminded me to use the V of the hand grasp for certain areas.  I wish I remembered to use that more because it really helps me to stay parallel to be able to correctly remove deposit.  I still had 3 areas that Dr. Hanson had to remove because I couldn't, but that was a big accomplishment for me on that patient.

When I walked into clinic after lunch I wish I had had my camera.  Kristie would have had another priceless picture.  She was typing on her computer with her toothbrush sticking out of her mouth.  Ha ha.

In the afternoon my patient no showed so my wonderful mom came in at the last minute.  (This is where the V grasp came in handy.)  It was so cool to be able to get her all finished in a little over an hour, whereas it took me at least 2 appointments to get her done last semester.  When I think about how slow I used to be it encourages me to keep working harder because I am getting better, even when I may not realize it. 

In pod wrap we discussed what everyone had learned that day.  Some good things to remember:

* V of the hand grasp
* Bump to the back (on the explorer so you use the correct end for the area you are instrumenting)
* Use your Graceys, which I did this morning and I even sharpened them during my appointment (it made a huge difference in their effectiveness)