Wednesday, 7 July 1999

Yesterday, during Clinical Education, we learnt one of the skills that are essential for nurses when we conduct a health assessment - IAPP, which means, Inspection, Auscultation, Palpation and Percussion. Today, we had a lecture to explain the theory behind this process in greater depth. We sure had fun yesterday when a male classmate was asked to lie bare-chested on the bed while the tutor guided us on how to conduct the IAPP. She has 20 years of nursing experience behind her and we were all wowed when, just by pressing (Palpation) and tapping (Percussion) on the guy's abdominal area, she could tell if he just had his meal, if his bladder was full, etc! Wow! We were supposed to try IAPP out on our classmates but we didn't have much time yesterday during our practicals and we were all so shy about exposing our abdomens that by the time my group managed to persuade someone to lie supine on the bed as our guinea pig, it was time's-up! :P I guess we'll have more chance in future to refine our IAPP skills further.

Wednesdays are half-days for most junior colleges and polytechnics in Singapore as allowance was made for ECA (extra-curricular activities). This afternoon is Club-Crawl day when the clubs and associations in the poly set up booths and try to recruit members. I am determined that I want to be in the Internet Club, the SHS (School of Health Sciences) Club and maybe even, Campus Crusade for Christ. And hmm... I should squeeze in time for exercising too since I have to be fit and healthy myself in order to gain credibility when I educate my patients on health and fitness next time. Plus, I already have an inkling that nursing would require a lot of stamina. And, last but definitely not the least, it wouldn't hurt to lose all those extra pounds of LARD! eeeeeewwwwwwww!!!!

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