Brandon Reyes

Prof. Thompson

Endoscopy Clinical Paper

22 September, 2016

My first experience on the Endoscopy floor was one I will never forget. Going

into the morning, I had no idea what was to come ahead. After talking to all the

nurses on the floor, I had a rough mental picture of what was going to happen. They

told me that Thursday’s are one of the busiest days on the endoscopy floor, but it

was a slow start to the morning because the first appointment wasn’t until 8:30am.

After we got the first patient in, I knew things were about to get really intense. From

there on out, it was nonstop with patients, which made the day go bye a lot quicker.

I had to ask permission from every patient if it was okay to watch the procedure in

the room, which all agreed that it was.

The first procedure I saw was a colonoscopy and everything went well with

no abnormalities as the lady came in for her first screening. The next patient

however was a little different. She came in for a screening also with no symptoms

pre-op, but the doctors found diverticulosis in her sigmoid colon along with an

inflamed appendicile orifice. I got a picture of all these abnormalities to take home

which was an awesome experience to see and differentiate the normal from the

abnormal. After seeing three colonoscopies in a row, I got to see my first EGD/RFA

(Esophagogastroduodenoscopy / Radiofrequency ablation), which was used to kill off

the ladies Barrett’s esophagus by a superficial burn from a special balloon. More
colonoscopies followed after this procedure, and then came an Esop/Bravo, which

involved placement of a bravo chip on the esophageal wall during an upper

endoscopy. This capsule measures the pH levels in the esophagus and transmits

readings by radio telecommunications to a receiver worn on your belt or

waisteband over a 48-hour span. The last test I seen of the day was a EGD/Bal. Dil.

or Esophagogastroduodenoscopy / Balloon Dilation which is used to help prevent

achalasia or “difficulty swallowing.” As they worked down the esophagus, the doctor

dilated the balloon more and more. It was the most intense procedure I seen of the day

because the patient was gagging and making sounds the whole time.

Overall, my first experience in the endoscopy was a time that changed my clinical

outlook on nursing. Getting to experience all these different tests were awesome. I had no

idea what to expect going in there, but by the end of the day I was a lot more

knowledgeable on the subject and learned a lot of new and useful information. Getting to

see abnormalities compared to the normal made me apply what I learned to see how

doing different things earlier in life can impact your bodies overall health in the future.