My name is Rachel Tenpenny-Chigas. I am a Sodexo dietetic intern in region 11, based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I was fortunate to secure my clinical and foodservice rotations with the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center (CRMC). I started my clinical rotation the first week of February and unfortunately, COVID-19 made its way to Cheyenne in mid-March. This meant that students were sent home until further notice. For the next 10 weeks, I was able to complete webinars and case studies to continue obtaining some clinical, foodservice, and community hours. During that time, I was pushed outside of my comfort zone and provided my community presentations on Zoom and Facebook Live. For me, this was a really scary, yet neat experience because it allowed me to present from my own home, using my own equipment. It also required me to stay current with technology and incorporate those into my experience. Since telehealth and virtual activities seem to be a very real possibility in our future, this was a great way to gain experience and yet reach a broader audience. During those 10 weeks, the region 11 directors were very motivating, encouraging, and provided so much flexibility and variety with how we incorporated this virtual experience into our Internship.
In June, after CRMC was given the approval to allow students again, I went right back into my clinical rotation. As part of my return, a unique thing I experienced was having the opportunity to follow the RDs in their new COVID-19 routine. Since each of them work remotely several days per week to minimize how many people were in the office, I got to experience that, also. This was a unique experience because I got to see how precautions changed, how communication among the team increased, how technology can be used in the inpatient setting, and how our level of care was still outstanding.
In June, after CRMC was given the approval to allow students again, I went right back into my clinical rotation. As part of my return, a unique thing I experienced was having the opportunity to follow the RDs in their new COVID-19 routine. Since each of them work remotely several days per week to minimize how many people were in the office, I got to experience that, also. This was a unique experience because I got to see how precautions changed, how communication among the team increased, how technology can be used in the inpatient setting, and how our level of care was still outstanding.
Collectively, my clinical rotation provided me the opportunity to shadow 5 FT and 2 PT RDs throughout the hospital, inpatient and outpatient, covering the ICU, Mother/Baby, NICU, Oncology, Surgical, Telemetry, Pediatrics, Ortho/Neuro, General, Acute Rehab, Behavioral Sciences, and Cardiac Rehab Phase 2 patients. I was also able to participate and/or represent our staff in Oncology, Trauma, and ICU rounds. Since I had the opportunity to have my concentration focused on Critical Care MNT, I spent a significant amount of time with the ICU RD, practicing and honing my skills in EN and PN and dealing with high acuity patients, including COVID-19 patients. I was fortunate to have amazing preceptors who loaned me out to other units to observe a PICC placement, MBS study, PEG placement, respiratory treatments, extubations, and wound care rounds. While some of these experiences reminded me why I am not cut out to be a nurse, it really made me appreciate how crucial an interdisciplinary team is to providing quality care to each patient. More importantly, it made me appreciate the complexity and invasiveness of these necessary medical interventions and helped me understand how these procedures/events impact our nutrition recommendations.
Overall, I am very blessed to have had amazing preceptors who had patience with me, encouraged me, and challenged me to take my critical thinking skills to the next level. Sometimes that challenge happened behind the scenes, sometimes it happened on the phone with a customer, and sometimes it happened in the patient room. The important thing is I knew they always had my learning and development as a priority and were eager to see me succeed. I am in the last week of my clinical rotation with only have 2.5 weeks of foodservice and 2 days of WIC remaining (plus the remaining internship assignments). I am so grateful for the amazing preceptors, my fellow dietetic interns, and the internship directors who made this eventful year worth every bit of stress and chaos. I have never felt more challenged yet supported, encouraged, and ready to take on the RD exam!
Overall, I am very blessed to have had amazing preceptors who had patience with me, encouraged me, and challenged me to take my critical thinking skills to the next level. Sometimes that challenge happened behind the scenes, sometimes it happened on the phone with a customer, and sometimes it happened in the patient room. The important thing is I knew they always had my learning and development as a priority and were eager to see me succeed. I am in the last week of my clinical rotation with only have 2.5 weeks of foodservice and 2 days of WIC remaining (plus the remaining internship assignments). I am so grateful for the amazing preceptors, my fellow dietetic interns, and the internship directors who made this eventful year worth every bit of stress and chaos. I have never felt more challenged yet supported, encouraged, and ready to take on the RD exam!
