last night i got to participate in a flu clinic. we held it at a freshman dining hall (MUCH better than the dining hall where i ate for four years - no comparison, in fact), and we vaccinated 500 students against the seasonal flu. the steps in vaccinating are: 1. ask the patient to sit down and take off all their 45 layers that they are wearing to deal with our not-that-cold (60 degree) weather.
2. chat about something - have you ever had a flu shot before, what do you study, etc.
3. swab with alcohol
4. give the shot! - dart throw motion with wrist, aspirate to make sure you aren't injecting the vaccine into a vein, inject, and throw away the needle.
5. gauze, bandaid - comfort the patient as a large drop of blood runs down their arm (this just means that you hit a capillary - completely normal).
it was funny to see the range of people - some were nervous and wouldn't chat at all, some completely comfortable until i got out the needle, etc. i need some more practice though - if anyone is interested, let me know!
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