Maddison Ranney

Major: Kinesiology and Health
Minor/option/emphasis: Exercise Science
Company/Organization: Boone County Hospital - Cardiopulmonary Rehab
Destination: Boone, IA
Timeframe: Spring
Advisor/Coordinator Email: dpower@iastate.edu

Responsibilities

During my internship at Boone County Hospital, I was fortunate to work with an amazing team that shared their skills and provided me with a great experience. Each day I would obtain patient vital signs before, during, and after exercise, being aware of what was normal for that specific patient. I designed an education board for the patients as well as attended their education classes. I also was able to work one on one with a few patients doing exercise prescription consultation. I came in each day delivering high quality care and compassion, getting to know each patient on a personal level.

Accomplishments

I have had a few accomplishments that stick out to me. The first one is achieving my SMART goals, especially being comfortable taking patient's blood pressures during exercise. I started out taking resting blood pressures until I was comfortable enough to take patient's blood pressures on the Nu-step. The final step was taking patient's blood pressures on the treadmill. This was the most difficult because I had to determine the sound of their blood pressure versus the sound of movement from the treadmill. Another accomplishment was when a graduating patient came up and thanked us for where his health and quality of life was. It was amazing hearing how much we helped in the recovery process after a heart attack and that they would not be where they are today if it wasn't for us. Increasing the quality of life of someone that doubts they can become better is an amazing accomplishment for them and for us.

What advice would you give?

Don't wait to get your internship locked down. The sooner you reach out the better luck you will have!

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