Kelsey Brown participated in the St. Gianna Catholic Health Academy program, where she completed rotations in various medical departments including radiology, labor and delivery, surgery, and the pediatric intensive care unit. She learned medical skills and terminology which helped her decide to pursue a career in nursing or as a medical professional. The program provided valuable hands-on experience and insight into potential health careers.

1. Kelsey Brown St. Gianna Catholic Health Academy

2. About Me! I graduated from Bishop Carroll Catholic High School in 2010. I participated in Boys Basketball managing, track and field, and Student Council. I enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and boyfriend, Bret.

3. My Future I am attending Newman University studying either nursing or Communications/Broadcasting/Journalism. As I said above I want to become a nurse or a newscaster or anchor lady. (ITS ANCHORMAN! NOT ANCHOR LADY!)

4. Orientation Week During this time we were able to learn about the academy this was were we were able to know where to park and the patient confidentiality forms. Another thing we were introduced to was the Via Christi core values: Community Competence Service Human Dignity Vision Learning about Black Board and how to use it. An understanding for how a normal week would be for us as students and learn what is expected of us. A tour of St. Francis and St. Joseph Campus Main point is HIPPA laws The rules of a rotation in the Operating room were instructed and mapped

5. Careers in Health and Science Profession Dr. Singh teaches a class through Newman University designed to teach students about various health careers. The class invites medical professionals in various fields in areas like nursing, forensics science, occupational therapy, optometry, veterinarian medicine, nurse anesthesia and many more. I thoroughly enjoyed the class because it gave me a clearer insight into which fields I am interested in.

6. Thank You Cards

7. Thank You Cards

8. Mentor Forms

9. Cover Letter

10. Resume Objective To obtain an entry level position in the medical field.

11. Resume

12. References

13. BLOGS Posted by Kelsey Brown at Thursday, January 28, 2010 11:02:01 AM CST My first week of rotations I was in the Radiology Department. When I first walked in, I was told that it was really slow and there were no patients to attend to so I sat in their lounge and talked with some of the ladies. Then an older woman was brought in to receive a chest xray. After that I was taken down the hallway and then lead to a room where I watched MRIs the rest of the day. This was really boring but learned that MRIs looked at tissues, ligaments, and other things besides bones, like an xray shows. The second day was much better though it started off the same, really slow. After some time passed by a man was brought in and was going to be injected with chemo. After that another man was brought in to see if he was swallowing correctly and that the food was making its way down the esphogaus correctly. This was really interesting because the speech pathologist had to come in and she gave the patient different substances to consume such as liquids, then pudding, and then a cookie. The patient was sitting up and on the left side of his bed, there was some sort of machine that showed the food traveling from the mouth down the throat. After watching this procedure I was taken to the CT section of the department. I really enjoyed the experience. I was able to watch a CT scan take place(which lasted only about 13 seconds, compared to the MRIs 13 minutes). The scan showed on the screen is read and looked at as if a person was cut in half at the waist and you were looking down into the body.(hard to explain) Next, I was taught how to somewhat read the scans. The most dense parts of the body such as bone are white, the muscles and organs are a light grey, fat and tissue are a darker grey, and then air is black. After learning this, a woman came in complaining of side pains and the CT showed little white spots which were kidney stones passing through her system. Overall, the experience was good, sometime boring. I didn't really stay with one person so have whoever you're with at the three sign your sheet. Posted by Kelsey Brown at Thursday, April 29, 2010 1:48:45 PM CDT For the 15th week of rotations for St. Gianna Catholic Heatlh Academy was in Labor and Delivery. The first day was sooooooo boring. All I saw was an epiderall(sp). The doctor who was doing the epiderall was really nice and explained to me the whole procedure and how they were able to determine where to stick the needle. The lady didn't respond well to the needle and was crying and there was blood and it was really hot and I got somewhat dizzy so I sat down and watched. The second day was a little better and I got to see a C-section. The baby was somewhat blue when they squeezed it out of the cut. It was interesting to see. They then took the baby and cleaned it up and weighed and measured her. While they were doing that the doctors were piecing the mother back together. She wasn't handling the pain well and kept moaning and moving her feet. I think she actually threw up once... Toodaloooo.

14. Blogs Continued Posted by Kelsey Brown at Monday, February 8, 2010 8:39:37 PM CST My fourth week of rotations was to General Surgery. It was a pretty boring floor but since my both of my nurses were upbeat and energetic they always found something for me to do or learn. My first day I followed around a Butler nursing student for a little bit and she showed me an elderly woman who had fallen numerous times at her nursing home and had bruises covering the majority of her back. She also had a hemotoma on her shoulder blade and it appeared to be bleeding. When my nurse showed up, it was time to distribute some of the medications to her patients. She explained to me that most of the patients received a blood thinner medication to help prevent blood clots since most of the patients couldn't get up and move since they were recovering. Since they couldn't move much, blood would begin pooling in the calves and butt. Then we went and prepared a room for a patient returning from surgery. When he arrived he was in a lot of pain and couldn't remember what he had surgery on, which was his bowels. The second day I had a very kind and energetic nurse. She walked really fast so I had to power walk to keep up. We mostly just checked up on her patients who mostly had surgeries on bladders or bowels. I really enjoyed one of her patients in particular. She was an elderly black woman who had surgery on something in the abdominal area. She was hilarious and had a funny laugh. She tried to get out of her daily walk but was unsuccessful. When I looked down the hallway she was doing a little dance in her gown. It made my day! Posted by Kelsey Brown at Thursday, February 18, 2010 1:29:40 PM CST For the fifth week of rotations, I was in the lab. It was an interesting experience and got to see all of the cool machines that help process all the different samples. The first day I went with the phlebotomists and went around the hospital and took blood from different patients for analyzing. All of them were very friendly and optimistic. The second day of rotations I was given a tour of all the lab. This included the blood section which had blood stored in refrigerators and freezers. Next I got to observe some samples in a microscope and then got to view all the machines. Next I went to pathology and got to see a gall bladder being de-stoned(if thats a word). Next I went to the micro section which smelled really nasty. Overall, it was a very informative rotation and I had fun. Posted by Kelsey Brown at Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:50:58 PM CST This week for rotations I was in the PICU. As soon as I arrived I was told a boy was getting a PICC line put in. Before I went in the room, I was given a mask to wear. When I got in there were five women around the boy, two of which were trying to navigate the line through his veins. They were doing this procedure on his left shoulder and were having some difficulties guiding it through because his veins were so tiny and he had some scar tissue which made it tougher. Next they decided to try on his right shoulder area but once again his veins were too tiny and they spilt, meaning they had a 50/50 chance it would go into the vein they wanted. They decided to abort this procedure and proceed with an alernate way. After this, I went to a room in which a very tiny little baby girl was in. She was born with half her brain, a cleft pallate, and club feet. Many tubes and what not were surronding her and assisting her in consuming food and going to the bathroom. After I heard about her from my nurse I went around room to room and read each patients charts. Some of them were pretty interesting. I wasn't here for the second day of rotations because I was in Topeka for the boys' basketball game.

15. What I’ve Learned to Use Use a stethoscope in order to check the heart valves and respiratory system. Blood pressure checks Reflex hammer to check reflexes on one another. Heimlich Maneuver CPR

16. Service Hours For the nine service hours I had to do for St. Gianna Catholic Health Academy I did the following: I gave blood for the American Red Cross, worked a blood drive, and baked dozens of cookies for the staff and volunteers of Via Christi.

17. Hand Washing Presentations Health Academy Students create and perform hand washing presentations for underprivileged schools. Some of these schools do not have a school nurse. Soap and toothbrushes are given to the students. My group’s name wash was The Hygiene Heroes. This was a great opportunity to teach children, help the community and achieve health care experience.

18. Final Reflection Overall, I really enjoyed and appreciate the opportunity I had to participate in St. Gianna Catholic Health Academy. I learned many things including the use of basic medical equipment and also medical terminology. The rotations really allow me to visualize a career in specific medical fields and ready me for my future. Thank You!!