So, after class today, which was only 2 hours and 15 minutes, I came home, took a well needed nap and then got up around 2ish. I was exhausted. Big news huh? I hopped on the computer to check my pharm test grade because I knew the staff had a huge meeting today. Instead of a 67.5 or whatever my grade was I got a 70. O_O I know that's not amazing. It's a D, but I'm soooooo happy right now. 70s are love in pharmacolgy. I now have a 81.6 in Pharm which is a B, so I'm doing well. :) I can't complain is all I'm saying. XD
Yay for me. Now to study for HA some more.
Later
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Last Day of Clinicals
Today was the last day of clinicals. I'm very relieved though this isn't the last day of clinical for my clinical group. Two professors had to cancel clinical days so we must make those days up. Can't say I'm too happy about that, but it is what it is.
Today I got to do more than I've done all year. I D/C a foley, hemovac and I changed a knee dressing. The thing was wrapped up in so much cotton, gauze and ace bandage it took at least 2 minutes to get it all off without hurting the patient. O_O The hemovac was pretty disgusting. I'm not as comfortable around blood as I thought, especially when it's clotted blood. I've drained hemovacs and JP drains before, but I've never D/C one so that was new.
This clinical I felt like a real nurse. I did head to toe assessments, vitals, assisted with ambulation, passed meds, charted, made beds, assisted RNs. It was truly an experience and I'm sure I'll have tons more before I graduate.
Um, lets see, over the past week I've gotten 100s on papers, but I made a failing grade on a pharmacology exam. A 67.5 or something along those lines. I can't remember, but I know I failed it. I wasn't all that shocked. There was so much material on that test. I thought I knew everything, but it seems I did not. :( Drugs are very hard to memorize and when they're placed in scenarios and you must choose the priority way to treat a patient taking those meds it just makes it ten times more difficult. For me at least. I'm studying cardiovascular now and so far I've memorized 8 pages of slides which is 48 slides altogether. There are 20 pages so that is 120 in all. O_O If you're thinking about going to nursing school THIS is what you'll have to look forward to. LMAO Lots and lots of studying, but it's all worth it when you get to clinicals and actually know WHY you're doing the tasks you're doing.
My clinical instructor says I'm very smart, that I know lots of information and that I have the potential to be a leader one day. I believe her. I can do this if I put my mind to it.
Thanksgiving is next week. I'll be studying for tests, doing modules and writing papers, but the hard part is over. ^_^ Yay for me.
P.S If you're interested in seeing what I'm studying I'm making online flashcards for the next Pharm exam. You can find those notes in the side bar. ----->
Me
Today I got to do more than I've done all year. I D/C a foley, hemovac and I changed a knee dressing. The thing was wrapped up in so much cotton, gauze and ace bandage it took at least 2 minutes to get it all off without hurting the patient. O_O The hemovac was pretty disgusting. I'm not as comfortable around blood as I thought, especially when it's clotted blood. I've drained hemovacs and JP drains before, but I've never D/C one so that was new.
This clinical I felt like a real nurse. I did head to toe assessments, vitals, assisted with ambulation, passed meds, charted, made beds, assisted RNs. It was truly an experience and I'm sure I'll have tons more before I graduate.
Um, lets see, over the past week I've gotten 100s on papers, but I made a failing grade on a pharmacology exam. A 67.5 or something along those lines. I can't remember, but I know I failed it. I wasn't all that shocked. There was so much material on that test. I thought I knew everything, but it seems I did not. :( Drugs are very hard to memorize and when they're placed in scenarios and you must choose the priority way to treat a patient taking those meds it just makes it ten times more difficult. For me at least. I'm studying cardiovascular now and so far I've memorized 8 pages of slides which is 48 slides altogether. There are 20 pages so that is 120 in all. O_O If you're thinking about going to nursing school THIS is what you'll have to look forward to. LMAO Lots and lots of studying, but it's all worth it when you get to clinicals and actually know WHY you're doing the tasks you're doing.
My clinical instructor says I'm very smart, that I know lots of information and that I have the potential to be a leader one day. I believe her. I can do this if I put my mind to it.
Thanksgiving is next week. I'll be studying for tests, doing modules and writing papers, but the hard part is over. ^_^ Yay for me.
P.S If you're interested in seeing what I'm studying I'm making online flashcards for the next Pharm exam. You can find those notes in the side bar. ----->
Me
Monday, October 26, 2009
First Clinical Rotation
One day left. Yep, that's it. Working in this nursing home has had its ups and downs. I've enjoyed working with my patient, but I feel as if I haven't been able to get through to her or help her in any mind blowing way. Having only worked with her for 3 days I didn't have much time to sit down and get to know her. It sucks, but I guess that is how clinicals work. It doesn't help that when I got to clinicals the CNAs had already done all of my work for me. :( There was no bonding over AM care because baths/grooming etc was already finished.
Also, she was at other facilities half the time I was there so I spent that time helping the people in my group with their patients. Because of this I knew more about their patient than my own and I grew closer to them. O_O It's weird, but that's how it was. The people I met are sooooo nice. This one lady's husband comes to visit her and the way he treats her makes me envious. You can tell they are in love even after all of these years. That's just one of the reasons why going to clinicals every morning has been enjoyable. Other people there are very nice. I've only been there 3 days but I feel like I've learned so much from these people in such a very short time. <3
Well, 2nd rotation starts on Wednesday so I'm off to the hospital to do wound care, etc. Hopefully I'll do better here. Can't say right now if the people within this hospital will be as nice as the residents within the nursing home. I can hope, right? XD
Me
Also, she was at other facilities half the time I was there so I spent that time helping the people in my group with their patients. Because of this I knew more about their patient than my own and I grew closer to them. O_O It's weird, but that's how it was. The people I met are sooooo nice. This one lady's husband comes to visit her and the way he treats her makes me envious. You can tell they are in love even after all of these years. That's just one of the reasons why going to clinicals every morning has been enjoyable. Other people there are very nice. I've only been there 3 days but I feel like I've learned so much from these people in such a very short time. <3
Well, 2nd rotation starts on Wednesday so I'm off to the hospital to do wound care, etc. Hopefully I'll do better here. Can't say right now if the people within this hospital will be as nice as the residents within the nursing home. I can hope, right? XD
Me
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Clinical Orientation and Exhaustion
Today was clinical orientation. I woke up at 5 thinking that I had to be at my clinical site at 7. Hahaha. I checked my planner and realized I had to be there at 8. Oops. I stayed up instead of grabbing another hour of sleep because I was too excited to go to sleep anyway. 6 a.m. rolled around and I started pulling myself together which consisted of a long shower. My scrubs looked nice, my hair looked great so everything was fine with the world.
Umm, lets see. I arrived at my clinical site at 7:35ish. Traffic was horrid, but okay for the most part. I didn't know if I was parked in the right place because I never received an email about parking from my professor. That was my own fault because I emailed the wrong woman three days ago and didn't realize my mistake until this morning. >.<
So I sat around in my car and waited until I saw some classmates. One showed up and I flagged her down. A few more showed up. Around this time I was beginning to feel a bit better about myself. Then we all realized we had parked in the wrong place (another student went and asked) so we had to climb back into our cars and move. We ran into our clinical instructor and she led us inside the nursing home.
The 4 hour orientation was a bit overwhelming. We played a scavenger hunt where we had to find where everything in the place was. This building was huge so it took me a while to find everything even WITH 6 other girls there to help me. He got trained how to use a gait belt and then after a talk with the other clinical instructor about how we'd be graded we got our patient assignments. I got to look at my first chart today. It was amazing and overwhelming at the same time. I never knew a chart could hold that much information about a person. The thing weighed about 8 lbs. LOL. We found out why our patient was there, what meds they were on etc. All in all it was very eye opening. I'll never complain about a mild headache again. These people are very, very sick. It's really sad, but it's my job to take care of them and I will. XD
So, yeah. That's my first day at clinical. It wasn't really eventful. Afterward I had another skills lab to get to, so after lunch at my sister's I went to that. When I finally got home I attempted to study, but instead I slept for 5 hours straight. I've never been so tired in my life. Nursing school is wearing me out. I literally fell asleep with my face pressed against my pharmacology book. I'm about to go study a bit more now so I won't fall behind more than I already am. Tomorrow I don't have class so I'll be catching up on all the web stuff I need to finish and these papers I need to write. This semester is almost over. I can see the light.
ONLY 3 MORE SEMESTERS TO GO!!
Me! XD
Umm, lets see. I arrived at my clinical site at 7:35ish. Traffic was horrid, but okay for the most part. I didn't know if I was parked in the right place because I never received an email about parking from my professor. That was my own fault because I emailed the wrong woman three days ago and didn't realize my mistake until this morning. >.<
So I sat around in my car and waited until I saw some classmates. One showed up and I flagged her down. A few more showed up. Around this time I was beginning to feel a bit better about myself. Then we all realized we had parked in the wrong place (another student went and asked) so we had to climb back into our cars and move. We ran into our clinical instructor and she led us inside the nursing home.
The 4 hour orientation was a bit overwhelming. We played a scavenger hunt where we had to find where everything in the place was. This building was huge so it took me a while to find everything even WITH 6 other girls there to help me. He got trained how to use a gait belt and then after a talk with the other clinical instructor about how we'd be graded we got our patient assignments. I got to look at my first chart today. It was amazing and overwhelming at the same time. I never knew a chart could hold that much information about a person. The thing weighed about 8 lbs. LOL. We found out why our patient was there, what meds they were on etc. All in all it was very eye opening. I'll never complain about a mild headache again. These people are very, very sick. It's really sad, but it's my job to take care of them and I will. XD
So, yeah. That's my first day at clinical. It wasn't really eventful. Afterward I had another skills lab to get to, so after lunch at my sister's I went to that. When I finally got home I attempted to study, but instead I slept for 5 hours straight. I've never been so tired in my life. Nursing school is wearing me out. I literally fell asleep with my face pressed against my pharmacology book. I'm about to go study a bit more now so I won't fall behind more than I already am. Tomorrow I don't have class so I'll be catching up on all the web stuff I need to finish and these papers I need to write. This semester is almost over. I can see the light.
ONLY 3 MORE SEMESTERS TO GO!!
Me! XD
Sunday, October 4, 2009
It's about to begin. XD
Hmm, playing catch up...
So, I've been passing all of my tests which is awesomely amazing. I passed all of my Professional Clinical Nursing skills test so I'm done with that until the spring. XD Doing the urinary catheter and the enteral feeding wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be, but that was on a dummy. I'm sure the real thing will be a lot different. >.<
So this Friday I picked up my scrubs, which were $84.96 for 2 by the way. I got my nursing student ID so I'm all set for tomorrow. We have to wear our scrubs to show the professors what we'll look like on Tuesday. That's the day we actually start clinicals. I can't wait. XD
I'm trying not to let the nervousness get to me, but it is. I wonder what my first patient will be like. I'll be responsible for them for the next 3 weeks. Will I be able to take care of them the way I should? I hope so. We'll see.
Well I'm off to straighten my fly away hair. I have to look my best this week.
Me
So, I've been passing all of my tests which is awesomely amazing. I passed all of my Professional Clinical Nursing skills test so I'm done with that until the spring. XD Doing the urinary catheter and the enteral feeding wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be, but that was on a dummy. I'm sure the real thing will be a lot different. >.<
So this Friday I picked up my scrubs, which were $84.96 for 2 by the way. I got my nursing student ID so I'm all set for tomorrow. We have to wear our scrubs to show the professors what we'll look like on Tuesday. That's the day we actually start clinicals. I can't wait. XD
I'm trying not to let the nervousness get to me, but it is. I wonder what my first patient will be like. I'll be responsible for them for the next 3 weeks. Will I be able to take care of them the way I should? I hope so. We'll see.
Well I'm off to straighten my fly away hair. I have to look my best this week.
Me
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Cardiovascular and Lung Assessment
I'm not going to say much about this. I did well for the most part, but I didn't cover the top edges of the lungs during auscultation, I was 2 inches from the mitral valve (though I did hear a pulse) and because I'm not a liar and wanted to actually find the pulses in my partner's feet, I have to redo pedal pulses. Everything else I did correctly including:
Overriders
Check wall symmetry
Checking for carotid bruits
Edema
Capillary refill
The Sounds Tutor (I had wheezes)
Exiting Overriders
I heard the aortic, pulmonic, Erbs Point, and Tricuspid valves of the heart, I listened to all areas of the lungs except the top portion along the shoulders. And I correctly located carotid, brachial, radial, and popliteal pulses. I did everything right, except that I didn't include an inch of lung:
The circled part O_O
I was less than 2 inches from the mitral valve and I was honest about not being able to feel a pulse on my partners swollen feet... FROM NOW ON I'M GOING TO LIE. >_> That's what everyone else was doing. I guess I have to suffer for being honest. :(
Oh well. Back to the skills lab to redo what I already know.
Overriders
Check wall symmetry
Checking for carotid bruits
Edema
Capillary refill
The Sounds Tutor (I had wheezes)
Exiting Overriders
I heard the aortic, pulmonic, Erbs Point, and Tricuspid valves of the heart, I listened to all areas of the lungs except the top portion along the shoulders. And I correctly located carotid, brachial, radial, and popliteal pulses. I did everything right, except that I didn't include an inch of lung:
The circled part O_O
I was less than 2 inches from the mitral valve and I was honest about not being able to feel a pulse on my partners swollen feet... FROM NOW ON I'M GOING TO LIE. >_> That's what everyone else was doing. I guess I have to suffer for being honest. :(
Oh well. Back to the skills lab to redo what I already know.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Blood Pressure Follow up and Issues
So after failing the BP portion of my vital signs check off I went back at 4 and practiced with three people, got helped by the professors two more times and then retook the test and passed. It wasn't that I didn't know what I was doing, but that I was nervous as hell when I first got in there. So yeah, that's over and done with and I can breathe.
Now I have to focus on the Thorax and Lung Assessment as well as the heart and vascular assessment which shouldn't be that difficult either, but the partner that I have is a pain in the ass and I feel like she's making fun of me more than helping me pass this fucking skills check off. And the thing is that she doesn't know what she's doing either so when I try to help her she says "no, don't tell me how to do it," and I'm sitting there like "but you've fucked this practice lab up five fucking times already. Obviously you don't know what in the hell you're doing or you would have fixed the problem by now!" Urghh, I need to find someone else to work with. There are so many people that I can choose from, but I believe that they all have partners already and I'm stuck with this bimbo who'd rather laugh and joke and kid her way through these assessments than actually practice. Gawd. I'm just tired of these people. I'm so freaking quiet because I don't like the people that I have to work with and the people I would REALLY like to work with are in another lab hour altogether and I can't partner them I don't believe. If I can than I will, but we'll see. I may just have to touch this hairy girl, pass this lab and let her ass fail when she tries to check off.
I'm done trying to help people. When I have questions they laugh like I'm the dumb one here. I understand the material, but I need to find someone to work with that is just as dedicated to passing this class as I am. :( I'm tired. I'm exhausted and I just want these practice labs to be over. I know this isn't the end. I'm only a junior, but lord I can NOT WAIT until senior year. Three more semesters to go!! Please let them pass quickly!!!!!!!!!!!
Me
Now I have to focus on the Thorax and Lung Assessment as well as the heart and vascular assessment which shouldn't be that difficult either, but the partner that I have is a pain in the ass and I feel like she's making fun of me more than helping me pass this fucking skills check off. And the thing is that she doesn't know what she's doing either so when I try to help her she says "no, don't tell me how to do it," and I'm sitting there like "but you've fucked this practice lab up five fucking times already. Obviously you don't know what in the hell you're doing or you would have fixed the problem by now!" Urghh, I need to find someone else to work with. There are so many people that I can choose from, but I believe that they all have partners already and I'm stuck with this bimbo who'd rather laugh and joke and kid her way through these assessments than actually practice. Gawd. I'm just tired of these people. I'm so freaking quiet because I don't like the people that I have to work with and the people I would REALLY like to work with are in another lab hour altogether and I can't partner them I don't believe. If I can than I will, but we'll see. I may just have to touch this hairy girl, pass this lab and let her ass fail when she tries to check off.
I'm done trying to help people. When I have questions they laugh like I'm the dumb one here. I understand the material, but I need to find someone to work with that is just as dedicated to passing this class as I am. :( I'm tired. I'm exhausted and I just want these practice labs to be over. I know this isn't the end. I'm only a junior, but lord I can NOT WAIT until senior year. Three more semesters to go!! Please let them pass quickly!!!!!!!!!!!
Me
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