Nov. 24, 2011

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!   HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!!

My stomach could not have picked a better day to feel better, because I had a Thanksgiving FEAST thanks to the Cracker Barrel!  I just didn't feel like cooking for just myself, so I had someone else do it... it was really nice.

And, at the same time, very lonely.  I was really sad not to be able to go home for Thanksgiving, but thankfully my boyfriend is a sweetheart and called me frequently today to make sure I was doing okay and so I wouldn't have to feel quite so lonely.


I have shared so many things that I am thankful for--material things, things about myself, and the most important people in my life.  So today, I will bring it all full circle and say that I am very grateful for the life I have, with everyone and everything in it.  It has not always been easy, but there is so much to be happy about and grateful for, that I cannot help but feel happiness in my life, and look forward to a lifetime of such happiness and fulfillment!


Happy Turkey Day, everyone!  Here are the fun turkey lights my mom sent me!  Hooray!!

And tonight, I am off to do some crazy Black Friday shopping.  Can you believe there are places opening up at 2100 tonight?  I am against this--imagine the people who have to work, and what about those crazy folks who probably skipped Thanksgiving meals with their families to camp out in front of those stores.  Quite sad that, although here I am participating in it also.  I will be heading out to Best Buy around 2230 or so for their 0001 opening (that's one minute after midnight!).  Wish me luck!!  I hope I survive!!

Nov. 23, 2011

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH to sleep in!!!  I really needed it.

I had some stomach pains yesterday that I kind of figured was food poisoning from maybe Chinese food or carrots, but when I had eggs this morning, I still had pain.  So, maybe a stomach bug?  Most of the day was spent just relaxing and trying to rest and recover.

I finally caught up on some of the shows I have been watching, which was nice, and I am definitely looking forward to the holiday!!


Today, I am grateful for my boyfriend.  I feel very blessed and lucky to have him in my life.  He is incredibly supportive and is always just a phone call away.  I love that he takes care of me and lets me take care of him.  We are a great team together, and I feel such peace and joy within our relationship.  I love him very much, more than I am able to express in words.  I am sad that I cannot be spending this holiday with him, but look forward to the many holidays in the future that we will be able to spend together.

Happy Almost Thanksgiving, everyone!  I hope you are all able to be with the ones you love the most at this special time of year!

Nov. 22, 2011

Last day of school stuffs before break!!  And--last community health clinical ever!!

Realistically, though, it was just a day of presentations.  And, since our instructor is pretty cool, it was super laid back.  Each of us brought in something to contribute for breakfast, and then we did our presentations.  There were four group presentations on community resources, and then we each did our 5-minute presentation on current events, which turned into an introduction by the presenter, and then a 15-20 minute group discussion.  It was a great way to end before the break.

I spent the rest of my afternoon wrapping Christmas presents (yes, I know it's early; but it's actually fairly late for me...).  No Christmas music, though.  Not allowed until AFTER Thanksgiving.  One holiday at a time.  Yeah, I'm crazy, I know.


Today, I am thankful for my Dad.  My dad is an amazing man, and I am so grateful for the good relationship we have.  It wasn't always so, but I am so happy that our relationship has developed to where I can call my dad anytime to talk about anything.  He is always there for me and has such great wisdom and advice that he is willing to share. I am truly grateful to have such a great friend who also happens to be my dad.

Nov. 21, 2011

Exam day in Community Health.  I went into it feeling pretty good, felt semi-good afterwards, and felt awful by the time we got through the group exam.  The wording of the questions were kind of awkward, and the answers were worded kind of awkward, too, so that made it kind of difficult to pick the best answer.  Oh that, and there was a bank of 45 questions, but the test was only 40, so when we did the group exam, each of us had different questions.  Then, when we had some disagreements among us and we asked our instructor to advise us on how to think about each question, all she would say was, "Well, we talked about that in class".  Not so, actually.  There was a lot of information she skipped over and said we could read on our own.  As awful as it sounds, I am losing faith in her as an instructor.

Overall, though, the scores came back pretty decent, which was surprising.  The instructor didn't really seem thrilled about some suggestions to read the questions from the test bank BEFORE putting the test together, to make sure they make sense and aren't difficult to understand.  Oh well.

I spent my lunch watching the wound care videos and reading the transcripts on how to do each wound care activity, and then took a quiz after lunch.  Not too difficult--for the most part pretty straight forward.  Then, we really didn't have much to do for lab--practice removing sutures and staples, and get fitted for sterile gloves.  So, it was nice to get out of there early.

I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up my current event presentation note card and relaxing, which was very nice.

We're winding down on time before Thanksgiving, so I am shifting gears into the people in my life I care most about.  Truly, I am thankful for these people everyday, but today I would like to share my gratitude for my siblings.  We don't get to talk very often, but when we do talk, we talk for a long time and just sort of pick up where we left off--as if not very much time has passed.  It's so interesting to have a relationship like that.  But, I am grateful I have that with my brother and my sister, both of whom are amazing people that I can always count on no matter what.

Nov. 20, 2011

Yeah, yeah, I've been horrible about keeping caught up.  Not that I haven't had the time--I've just kind of let it build up, once again, and then get too lazy to get caught up.  But, for now, I am all caught up with my life here up until now, so this is very good.  Hopefully I can actually get my backside in gear to STAY caught up.

So today marked the four-week, exactly 28-day mark for when I will be on a plane on my way home for Christmas!!  Needless to say, I am VERY excited about this!

I spent most of my day on chores--doing laundry and dishes.  I had some more pie filling that needed to get baked, so I made up two pies for the girl in my class whose parent's house burned down last week.  I was actually going to spend Thanksgiving with her, but seeing as how family will absolutely take precedence, I will still send her with some pies for her family to enjoy.

And, as if I wasn't having enough fun with pumpkin pies, I had 9 cups of pureed pumpkin left that didn't have all the other ingredients added, so I went ahead and prepared all of that today also.  It turns out I have the fixings for four pies, so all of that is divvied up into four separate Tupperware containers and is in the freezer.  I plan to make a pumpkin pie for Christmas, and then leave the other three things of filling with my boyfriend so he can make a pie whenever he wants to if I'm not there.  Probably we will have at least one left over for next year, though, so I will have to learn another type of pie for next year.... Hmmm...

Aside from that, I worked some on my current event, talked to my loved ones, and am now catching up on my blog before going to bed.  I like days like this--very laid back, with very little pressure to get things done.  Although, I have been feeling the need to get caught up on my blog, especially since I wanted to get my clinical stuff caught up before I forgot all the amazing things I got to do!

Today, I am grateful for windows.  Yes, windows.  It's strange to say, but hear me out.  This morning, and the past couple of mornings, I have woken up feeling like I was having a fever for how ridiculously warm my room gets.  So, when I say I woke up this morning, partly because of this apparent hot flash and also because I went to bed so early, I mean I woke up at 0430.  I did get back to sleep, but only because of my window.  I was happy to be able to crack it to let in some cool air to counteract the heat, which helped me sleep comfortably and not wake up feeling ill.  Huzzah!

Nov. 19, 2011

So the whole gang was here today, and I had a partner down my wing.  Weekends are always low key, and with my particularly low-key patient, it was even slower than yesterday.  It probably didn't help that I am Speedy Gonzalez when it comes to assessing my patient--probably because she was so easy to work with, and had her meds, I&Os, and assessment all taken care of before 10.  I even got her up for a walk shortly thereafter.

I felt like I spent most of the day just twiddling my thumbs.  Until my instructor told me she was going to have me pull a central line!  How exciting!!  A central line is a catheter of sorts that is usually placed in your right subclavian vein and fed to your superior vena cava--right above your heart.  It is used for medication administration (which hits the body really fast since it's right there at your heart) and quick blood draws.  I was disappointed, though, when it was time to pull it--because she promised it to another student AFTER she had promised it to me and my partner.  Bummer.  And, the other group she promised it to were kind of snotty about getting to do it, so I just let it be.  I was grateful, though, that the patient was cool enough to let me come in and watch.  I think she had five of us in there, haha.  She was a retired nurse, though, and understood the importance of us all being in there to watch.

Almost as if to make up for the central line thing--my instructor had me pull an IV and put in a new one!  I am just recently checked-off for this skill, and will be the first in our group to put in an IV!  YAY!!

I was pretty nervous, because it is different doing it on an elderly lady instead of a plastic mannequin arm.  And I had two of my group-mates come in to watch, but that didn't actually make me that nervous.  I was more worried about doing it wrong.  But the nurse came in to watch and assist, and she said I did really good, and the patient said it didn't hurt at all!!  It will still take some getting used to, for sure, but I am excited to have the first one out of the way.  Oh, and I learned later that she was a pretty difficult "stick" (if you'll pardon the medical jargon) because she is on prednisone, which apparently makes veins more difficult to access.  Even more pride being felt on my part here!

This very exciting experience actually pretty much ended my day.  I took my patient out for a walk after this, right before post-conference, which was nice.  Post conference was nice--I got to hear about everyone else's experiences for the weekend, the surgical experiences, and we each talked about a different medication, which I like because I get to hear it from my classmates!

I went home to relax and have a nice dinner, only to fall asleep quite early around 1930.  I didn't call my boyfriend because I knew he would be calling me and I wanted to catch a few Z's before he did.  Bad idea. Apparently, I psycho-babble when I'm really tired and get woken up.  My poor boyfriend had to deal with a barely coherent, barely cogent, babbling girlfriend.  There are parts of that conversation that I don't even remember.  Apparently, after the parts I do remember, I kind of fell into that half-asleep state and went into nurse mode, asked him if there was anything else I could do for him before I took off.  Wow.  I am thoroughly embarrassed by this.  Yes, I surely am.  The good thing I can pull from this is that the nurse in me is apparently becoming second-nature, since it comes out when I am half-asleep.



Today, I am thankful for my friends.  I seem to have made quite a few friends within this class, and I am so thankful to have them.  I have received a few invitations to spend the holiday with them and their families, and even though I think I will turn them down (for the sake of staying in town to relax, do homework, and catch some Black Friday sales), it warms my heart to have been the recipient of such kindness.

Nov. 18, 2011

Wow, it was definitely strange being back to the hospital for clinicals.  I was all by myself down one of the wings--the girl who was supposed to be down that wing with me didn't show up today.  I am absolutely fine with being by myself, though.  Forces me to learn more quickly and doesn't give me an excuse to NOT be busy.  I was disappointed, though, that my instructor gave me an easy patient--she said I had a rough week the last time and she thought I could use an easier time.  Honestly, I would have preferred someone more difficult--or two patients, even, just so I could stay busy and not be bored.

Fortunate for me, though, my patient was a doll--such a pleasure to work with.  She and I laughed so much today, just telling stories and learning from each other.  It was really refreshing.  My nurse, on the other hand, seemed like she was none too happy to have a student.  I understand, I really do--we can be such a burden, because we can't really do anything without someone else being in the room, it seems.  Or at least the bigger things--like giving meds.  I know she was really busy, and the last thing she probably wanted was a student who needed to have her observe medication administration.

I was able to go with her, though, to do a bladder scan, which was interesting.  What was most interesting, though, was being able to see the distention from the bladder being very full.  It amazes me that some disease processes take that feeling of fullness away from you--so you don't know you need to go and therefore don't go and end up building up a ridiculous amount of urine!

I then had the opportunity to accompany my patient to occupational therapy, which was different than I thought it was.  It was great to get to see, though.  For those who don't know what it is--it is the therapy that helps you get back to normal daily activities.  I saw the therapists working with other patients on how to dress themselves, and what they did with my patient was encourage her to stand while doing a puzzle to simulate standing in front of the stove or bathroom sink--helping her build up tolerance to standing for longer periods of time.

After I got back down to the floor, I was called in to do a staple removal.  Coolest thing ever!!  The little pair of scissors for removing staples have one prong on the top leg and two prongs on the bottom leg that crimp together to crimp the staple and bend it out of the wound (the staples are in the skin, wrapped under very much like a staple is in paper).  I will put in a picture, so hopefully it makes more sense (kind of hard to describe without hand gestures, haha).

So, the one girl in our clinical group was an athletic trainer and had lots of experience with staple removal and steri-strip application, so she was a great teacher for me.  I think I pulled out something like 12 staples, and put on a lot of steri-strips.  Yay!!  Oh--and the patient had hiccups, so I am even more of an expert, because I was working with moving targets, hahaha!

So these are the scissors... you can't really see but there are two prongs on the bottom leg....

This shows a little better how the crimping action works to pull out the staples -- really cool

And this kind of shows the scissors and the staples.  This is not my patient -- this is from google images!

Right, so that was pretty much my entire day.  I gave a lot of meds, figured out how to put on a gait belt (harder than it looks, apparently--probably just me), walked with my patient a few times, and learned how to use the IV pump.  OH!!!  I also helped a physical therapist apply lymphedema bandages to my patient.  Not that she has lymphedema, but the principles that help with lymphedema also help with general edema.  Of which my patient had quite a bit in her legs.  It was interesting to hear the therapist talk about the cotton bandages she uses versus Ace wraps.  Ace wraps have elastic in them, which allow it to stretch up to 200%--which isn't very helpful with edema.  But, just plain cotton bandages don't allow that great of a give, and so are much better for helping with edema.  Also, she made a point to say that we don't have to wrap the patients up tight--the multiple layers actually create a tightness in themselves, making tight wrappings unnecessary.

So, today, I am thankful for laughter.  It really is the best medicine, and it really can bring people together.  I felt I really connected with my patient today, and mostly because she and I were both able to laugh and did laugh at every occasion we had.  And it just feels good to laugh--you're smiling, happy, and filled with nothing but good feelings.  Huzzah!!

Nov. 17, 2011

It seems like we just had an exam in med/surg theory, but we had another today.  It went even better than last week, I think.  I am feeling more confident in my critical thinking skills in terms of nursing, although I've still a bit of work to go.

After the exam, we usually do a group exam to work through some questions with our peers and logic it out with each other.  There were two that I had the right answer, but nobody believed me.  I was quite proud to have gotten those right, because my one friend usually is right--so I'm glad I remembered correctly, although I wish I would have fought more to put my answers down on the group test.

The one I am exceptionally proud of is the antidote of Coumadin.  She and I even talked about it before the test--she just took the notes wrong.  I had protamine sulfate down as the antidote for heparin and low-molecular weight heparin (although it's not as strong of an antidote for the low-molecular weight stuff), and vitamin K down as the antidote for Coumadin.  She had the not as strong bit for coumadin, instead of the low-molecular weight stuff.  So, when we came to the question about what you should have on-hand on the unit for the Coumadin antidote, she argued for protamine sulfate, but I absolutely didn't budge on the Vitamin K.  Bwahahaha!!  I am obviously a gracious winner, hahaha!

Lecture today was on neuromuscular disease, which, as interesting as it is, I couldn't entirely focus on.  I can't really explain why I am so tired lately--although it probably does have something to do with sleep deprivation and stress, or some combination of those.  In any case, we finished up lecture about 2 hours earlier than anticipated--our professor is awesome in this way--and I got to go home for a nap.

Well, at least I intended to have a nap.  I told myself that I would nap until I got a call from my boyfriend, which, on a normal day, would have given me maybe an hour or so.  Well, I ended up working on other things, getting ready for clinicals the next morning.  I started to get worried when I hadn't heard from him, and like any rational-minded girlfriend, called him a bunch.  I then monitored the news to see if a car accident had been reported, and wondered if I should call the ER or police.  In my head, I knew this was irrational--that he was likely just at work.  But I hate when I don't hear from him.  I finally did get a phone call at 2130, and he had just gotten in, having left his cell at home.  He had an emergency case added to the case he was already working on that day, so it was a long, rough day for him.  Probably didn't help to have a concerned, upset girlfriend on the phone at the end of the day.... Ooops....

Oh well -- Clinicals in the morning.  It will be strange going back after a weekend off.  I hope I remember everything....

Today, I am thankful for my cell phone, and in particular, the communication abilities it provides me.  Without it, I would have no immediate way to get in touch with the people I love (I am without a landline, and my loved ones aren't ALWAYS at their computers).

Nov. 16, 2011

Pharm quiz!!  I feel really good about it, although there were a few I wasn't 100% sure on.  And, of course, looking into one of the ones I could remember later, I got it wrong.  Darn those drug classes confusing me!!

Oh well.  Overall, though, I feel I did pretty well.

Lecture was fun, with lots of professorisms.  Some of the best from today include:

1. Dice-Rhythm-Mirrors = dysrhythmias
2. Die-Gocks-In = Digoxin (said dih-jocks-in)
3. Excise Tolerance = Exercise Tolerance
4. Excursional angina = Exertional angina (although I think I like the sound of excursional angina more!)
5. Nitro-Gly-Side = Nitroglycerin
6. Ween = Vein
7. Vig-Rah = Viagra
8. Shortness of Breast = Shortness of Breath

I love this class, and I really like our professor.  I am not trying to be unkind or rude or make fun in any way--just trying to share some of the interesting pronunciations I have been trying to translate at the same time as learning the material.  

Over lunch, we had our potluck, which was awesome, although I think it would be better to have half the class bring stuff rather than all 40 of us.  Yeah, there was a LOT of food.  And I only got rid of a pie and a half.  So the other half went home with someone who said she doesn't like it so doesn't make it for her boyfriend who LIVES for pumpkin pie.  I'm happy it went to a good home!  I also got rid of another full pie to a girl who said she was thinking about buying one at Wal-Mart, and I talked her into taking one of mine instead.  Huzzah--only three more pies....

After lunch, we had presentations.  Ours went well, I think, although it didn't have pictures.  I didn't think to look for any for the subject of HIV/AIDS & Hep C in Prisons.... Yeah.. probably best to go without.  One of the other groups was also presenting on HIV/AIDS, but in a much more general sense.  They did a good job, but the jerk in their group (who has been losing all my respect in the last few months) got up and said, "Well, we're also presenting on AIDS, but our presentation will be shorter and hopefully a lot more fun".  I don't know if he realizes how much of a jerk he is.  

So, for today, I am thankful for self-control.  And kindness.  I am happy that I, for the most part, am able to think before I speak, and most especially to re-think before saying something unkind.  I am happy that I didn't shout out to call him an ass.  Nobody needs to point that out--he does a good enough job of it for himself.  

In any case, it was frustrating, but overall a good day.  Now, if only I could figure a way to get rid of these pies....

Nov. 15, 2011

Today was nice.  It was another day I had the opportunity to sleep in, which was especially nice.  This afternoon, my clinical group had our last actual community health clinical experience at an adult day-care.  It was so much fun!  We got to participate in chair Zumba, listen to healing music, and spent some time sitting and chatting with the participants.  We also had to take some vital signs and weights, as well as administer a geriatric depression test and mini-mental status exam.  Since there were only three mini-mentals/depression tests to give, we broke into three groups.  Our group had the sweetest, most upbeat little lady ever.  It was hard to keep her on task, though, because for nearly every question, she would say, "Well that's an interesting question," or "Well, that's tough to answer," and then go off on a long tangent, often unrelated to the question.  

I will say, though, that she had a very tough life, of which she shared so much with us.  I was left speechless from her stories and I nearly cried to hear how much this woman endured.  It was difficult to let her tell her story while try to keep her on task with the questions.  None of us wanted to interject or cut her off while she was talking, because she probably doesn't often get to tell her story, but at the same time, we didn't have all day to talk to her and get this information.  It was a difficult balancing act.  

In the end, she gave us all hugs and went on her merry way.  

Today, I actually have two things I am grateful for.  First, I am grateful for how relatively easy my life has been. I have had difficult times, as everyone does; but after hearing this remarkable lady's story, I feel so grateful for how good I have had it.  

And, one of the people responsible for how good I've had it--I am grateful for my MOM!  I was actually planning to say my thanks for her later on in this gratitude thing, closer to Thanksgiving, but seeing as how it is the day of her birth, I will give my thanks for her now!  She is such an amazing woman, and I look up to her very much.  She is a shining example to me of what a woman, a mother can be--strong, smart, kind, wise, and the list could go on forever.  She has always been there for me, even at times when, looking back, I probably didn't deserve her kindness and love.  I miss being able to spend time with her, although I am glad I get to talk to her as often as I do.  I love you, mom, and today and every day, I am grateful to have such an awesome woman to call "mom".  

Nov. 14, 2011

Today's Community lecture was about culture.  It was absolutely a repeat of the culture lecture from last term in Communication.  From the same professor.  Awesome.  The only difference was we added on something about rural health.  It's interesting to think about what is considered rural health and to think about an area like ours, that is very much an agricultural area, where most of the state is considered rural and how few health clinics must be serving large rural areas.  The catch phrase of the day was, "when you're it, you're it".  I think the professor said this at least 10 times, trying to illustrate just how important decision-making and critical thinking skills are to rural health nurses, who will usually be by themselves no matter what comes through the door.

Then, we had a crazy speaker.  No joke, I think this woman was on something, which is perhaps not nice to say, but you'll see what I mean as I explain.  The speaker started out by asking our majors, as each student already has a bachelor's degree in something.  I shouted out "sociology," and she looked up, nodded, and replied, "Oh, sociology.  Good."  I have grown rather fond of my previous major, so I was a bit disheartened by her lack of enthusiasm, but figured perhaps she didn't know what it was.  The next major shouted out was horticulture.  Yes, we have two horticulture majors in our class.  I kid you not--the speaker went off for ten minutes, at least, about how important horticulture is to nursing, and how you can especially apply it in women's health to help women understand the ebb and flow, the cycles of their life just like the cycles of a plant.  Seriously?!  Because horticulture has a much better application to nursing than sociology.

At this point, I was already tired of listening to her.  But, I continued on anyways.  I never really got what her point was, or what it is that she actually DOES for a living.  Something about working in a women's clinic and being very opposed to having male patients come in.

The last bit of her presentation had something to do with quantum physics.  This sort of came out of left field, but I sort of got her point.  She had us watch a snippet of a movie called, "What the Bleep do we Know Anyway?!" or something to that effect.  We watched the part about Masaru Emoto's apparently famous study about water crystals and the effect of words on them.  Mean words, like "Adolf Hitler" and "I hate you" taped to a bottle of this water made the crystals look ugly, where kind words taped to the bottle of water or a Buddhist monk prayer make the water crystallize into perfect-looking crystals.  Then, she told us that if it could do that to water, imagine what happy energy and positive thoughts could do to people--because we are mostly water anyways.

Sooo.... if I think happy thoughts and say kind words to my patient, all the water in his or her body is going to crystallize into snowflakes?  Sounds painful, if you ask me.

But then I had to wonder--was she serious?  Because quantum physics and this water crap had so much more science and reality and application to nursing than sociology, right?  Sorry, still a bit sore about that.

To close, let me just say I believe in positivity and having a good attitude and that it can work wonders when working with people.  If you're happy and upbeat, your patient will be a lot easier to work with, I think, than if you have a bad attitude.  So yes, happy energy has power--but not enough power to make the water "pretty".  Also, let me say that Masaru Emoto's study was proven false--he was never able to reproduce the same effects in a controlled environment.

Water Exposed to a prayer from a Buddhist monk

So, all in all, today I am thankful for short class days, especially after a lecture and presentation like that.  Wow.  I am glad I have extra time for all that to sink in, as well as more time to devote to mixing and baking my pies for Wednesday, AND to study for pharmacology quiz on Wednesday.  Wahooo!!!

Nov. 13, 2011

My partner and I were finally able to meet to put together our presentation and she was able to look over our paper and brochure to see what else needed to be done.  Overall, we are pretty much ready for the presnetation now, with just a few tweaks here and there, and our paper will be ready to turn in in a few days, which is well before the 11/21 deadline.  Awesome.

After we sat and got that all put together, I invited her out to lunch, and we went to Cracker Barrel.  I LOVE that place.  Not only is the food amazing for super cheap, but their little store is so adorable.  If ever I had a financial downfall, it would be there.  I did, however, buy our second special ornament for this year.  My boyfriend and I are collecting two special ornaments each year until further notice, so one day we can have a Christmas tree with JUST the special ones.  We got the first when we went on a train, and it actually looks like a train lamp, which is awesome.  The one I just got is a sock monkey with a Santa hat.  I really like sock monkeys, so this was just perfect!

Today, I am thankful for my background in Sociology.  I think I have done more reading and ripping articles apart in that major than ever before in any setting.  Over this weekend, I have been ripping apart articles, pulling out important information, and applying it to my projects.  Also, I am grateful for a particular Sociology professor, who I first met in Classical Sociological Theory; this remarkable woman's particular style of teaching and testing forced me to think critically, which has been an invaluable asset in nursing.  Thank you!

Nov. 12, 2011

Not much to report for today.  Did some more homework -- I started working on my patient database, but didn't get very far on that.  I spent most of the day relaxing and reviewing what I had put together already on my homework.  Again, neither of us felt particularly well, so we will just meet up tomorrow.

Today, though, I am grateful for my laptop.  Sounds silly, I know, but I am grateful for this incredible piece of machinery that I do my homework on, I can communicate with my family with, and I can get my entertainment on in the form of movies and TV shows online.  Love it.  I am so thankful that I get so much all wrapped up in one thing!!

Nov. 11, 2011

It was such a lovely day to sleep in.  After this week, I really need to catch up on sleep.  It has been a very stressful, very sleep-deprived kind of week, so sleeping in on this great holiday was fantastic.  Even though I woke up not feeling very well.  Stress cold, methinks.

Luckily for me, my partner also woke up feeling ill, so I had more time to work on our presentation and our paper and brochure, which looks amazing now, by the way.  Since my partner had some issues with finding information about TB in prison populations in the US (lots of info for Russia; our presentation is on Communicable Disease in Correctional Facilities), we switched gears to HIV/AIDS for me and Hepatitis C for my partner.  So, I began right away, and it took me the better part of the day to gather information, read the articles, and put it all together into slides.  Then, I decided I would try to work on my part of the emphysema info paper, and ended up writing all of it, excepting the part about epidemiology (mostly because I wasn't really sure what to include on that) and the conclusion.  Hey--I had to leave something for my partner to do!  And, I finished up the night with putting all that info into a brochure, as if I was going to give it to a patient.  It looks awesome, if I do say so myself.  

So, not much to report for the day besides doing homework and relaxing a bit.  

Gratitude for today is fairly obvious, but I am thankful for veterans.  I am grateful for their service to our country, so we can have the freedoms we do have.  I am grateful these men and women have the courage to stand up for America. 

Nov. 10, 2011

This morning began with a med/surg theory examination.  These tests are kind of hard, because they are the NCLEX-style questions that have more than one right answer and you have to choose the BEST right answer. And, I still feel like I don't like any of the answers sometimes.  It's kind of a weird place to be in, because sometimes, too, there are three answers that I like bits and pieces of OR that I would do all at the same time (i.e. assess a patient's respiratory status AND level of consciousness).

In any case, I feel like this examination went far better than the first.  In fact, I thought it was pretty easy.  Although my classmates seem to disagree... Most were saying this test was too hard.  Perhaps at the end of a very long, trying week, it should have seemed harder to me, also.

Oh well.  Lecture was fun today, although for the most part, it still feels like a review of pathophysiology, with a bit more added on in terms of how to care for a person with specific issues.

Hmm.. something I forgot to mention about yesterday -- I had my check-offs for placing an IV.  Serves me right for not staying right on top of my blogging every day!

Overall, the check-off went really well.  I had the crazy professor that I am just sort of starting to like.  Again.  She's kind of growing on me, although I couldn't really tell you why.  She said I did really well, and I only missed half a point for not filling the drip chamber BEFORE I primed the line.  And, instead of just getting one critical thinking question, I ended up getting four.  How fun for me.  I suppose she just asks me so many questions because she knows I know stuff.  Maybe.  Who knows.

Overall, though, it has been a great week.  I will be spending my weekend working on homework--I've got a presentation next week that I am not really looking forward to, and since my partner and I will be working on that, we will also spend some time working on our professional paper.  I am hoping to work some on my database/concept map/care plan/teaching plan (yes, that's all one assignment) and my current event presentation.  But, we shall see.  I think maybe I will bake pies for my class on Monday now, seeing as how we have a pot luck on Wednesday.  That is a much better opportunity to take in my home-made pumpkin pies!!

And, in keeping with my gratitude thingie, today I am thankful that my IV check-off is, in fact, finished and I don't have that hanging over me until Monday afternoon.  Huzzah!!

Nov. 9, 2011 -- PART II

So today was interesting.  Pharmacology exam in the morning, which I thought went pretty well.  I only spent forever studying for it!  Seems like some of my classmates didn't feel as good about it as I did, though.

After the exam, we had some lecturing.  As always, somewhat difficult to understand at times.  I think my favorite professorism of the day... well, actually I have two.  The first was about diuretics, the most common of course being "hydrochloro-cyanide" (supposed to be hydrochlorothiazide).  That is one way, I suppose, to solve edema.  Although, I am sure there are better options...  The other was in speaking about the adverse effects of diuretics.  One of these, apparently, makes you have goat (supposed to be gout).  I feel bad, because as much as I'm trying to stay serious, it's really hard NOT to laugh sometimes.

Interestingly, one of our nursing professors sat in for the first hour of lecture, and then took off.  We found out after lunch that she was getting first-hand experience, because there have been some concerns raised to her about the difficulty of understanding our professor in Pharmacology.  Also, after lunch, this professor had the program coordinator come in to listen to some of the concerns we had.

It was very professional and nothing was said directly about any one person, just situational things.  i'm not sure I ever said what happened with that girl calling me the other day.  She and five others were failed on the IV check-off because they grabbed the wrong type of fluid.  Now, she and I understand why she had to be failed--medication errors are very serious.  However, I also understand where she's coming from--I was in the same group that was taught by a different lab instructor, and we never went over where the bags of fluid were OR that there were different types.  Now, from my transcription experience, I did know about different fluids.  But, unless you are taught, you probably don't know that 0.9% sodium chloride is Normal Saline.

The program coordinator insisted that if we had a concern, we present a solution.  So, along with presenting this concern, my classmate suggested that there be a unified presentation given by the main lab instructor with all the other instructors there, so that everyone can be on the same page and everyone is getting the same instruction.  I threw in that something else to consider is not assuming we know things; many of us come into the program without any medical experience, so assuming we know something and NOT teaching it to us can be detrimental.

Emotions were running high during this open forum. Several people were crying.  I think the stress is catching up with everyone, and the difficulties of inconsistency in teaching and a professor who is hard to understand is no doubt complicating the issue.

After the program coordinator left, our professor took some time to talk to us more candidly and to kind of ease us back into lecture-mode.  There were still a lot of emotion, and one girl took it upon herself to tell everyone to suck it up and quit complaining--we are the elite of the elite, since we are in the accelerated program, we were told this term was going to be tough, and we should all just deal with it.  And, if we are so concerned about pharmacology, just do what she does--read all the chapters, do all the review questions, and pay attention in lecture--because she is doing "fine" in that class.  Now, I get where she was coming from, but the way she would about saying it was all wrong.  In fact, one classmate turned around to her and said, "You know, I am doing all those same things as you, and I am NOT doing fine.  So what you just said is a personal attack to me".  And he nearly started crying as he was saying it.

After this, nobody was able to focus and the professor only lectured for maybe an hour.  I was glad of that, because the animosity in that room was making me feel sick and like I needed to cry.  Which I did as I was driving home.  I know that I am stressed, but I don't really feel stressed or act on it.  I just buckle down and do what I need to do.  The worst part for me is knowing and feeling the tension and bad feelings between my classmates.  I feel like we are a family--some are the cousins we don't see or talk to all that often, and others are the brothers and sisters we hang out with all the time.  But, no matter if we talk much or not, we are all family and when there is tension and hurt feelings, I feel that.

All things considered, I feel better knowing that we were listened to today by someone who can bring about change.

So, I am thankful for a professor who initiated the process, who has sympathetic ears, and is sensitive and understanding to the needs of her students.

Nov. 9, 2011 -- PART I

So, I know it's really late for me here, and I have been up studying and will be going to bed shortly.  But I have been seeing a lot of folks doing a Thank-A-Thon or something like that.  Anyways, each day, a person is meant to post on their respective social media something they are thankful for.  I'm more than a week behind in starting, so I will hopefully be able to make up for that here, using my experiences from each day to hopefully formulate something relevant to be thankful for (so it is something that I would have said on that particular day) and then continue right on through Thanksgiving.

Nov. 1 -- I am thankful for how my parents raised me.  I am grateful I understand accountability for my actions and respect for others, among many other valuable lessons.  On this day, I taught health promotion to K-5-aged children, and some of them were just plain rude.  I am happy my parents taught me NOT to be that way, but to instead show regard for those around me and especially those in authority positions.  I probably didn't make it easy on them, but I am so happy my parents were able to teach me these things.

Nov. 2 -- I am thankful for education.  Not just the education I have already received, but my future education as well.  I am grateful that I have the opportunity and access to education to be able to further my knowledge and experiences.

Nov. 3 -- I am thankful for a working vehicle.  I know I sometimes complain about my car--although probably mostly to the car itself.  But, I am truly glad I have a car and especially a reliable car that runs very well.  It has been about 7 years now that I have had this vehicle, which is more than half of its 13 years.  And it is amazing and runs very well with very few problems.  It is able to transport me from point A to point B, with probably a few stops in-between sometimes.  And, while I appreciate the importance of public transportation, I am grateful that it is not something I am required to take advantage of.

Nov. 4 -- I am grateful for my background in medical transcription.  I feel it has been advantageous for me in so many ways--even though many people have written it off because it is not clinical experience.  I cannot tell you how many things I seem to know (from having picked it up during transcription and while looking up weird terms I didn't know) that some of my instructors and nurses don't know.  Okay, I guess it's really not an exorbitant amount, but still--it shocks me that I have knowledge that they seem not to have, and my knowledge comes from "worthless" non-clinical experience.  So yes, I am grateful for what my background has done for me and will continue to do for me.

Nov. 5 -- I am grateful for being confident enough to speak up.  Today I had the opportunity to advocate for a patient who otherwise would have missed out on a dressing change because of a nurse being either lazy or ignorant.  Perhaps it didn't make a huge difference--perhaps that dressing would have been changed the next day.  But, not changing it would have risked further infection and breakdown, especially if it was given another three days to wait.  In any case, even if it didn't make a huge difference, I feel more confident for having spoken up and advocating, and I feel empowered to continue being a patient advocate--because who else will advocate for them if they can't do it for themselves?  That is the calling of a nurse.

Nov. 6 -- I am thankful for sleep.  It is so rejuvenating and refreshing and I love it.  And on this day, we got an extra hour--or so it seems with the "fall back".  It is a simple thing to be grateful for, but I find myself glad that it is something that gives me a break from school AND makes me feel better AND allows time for the learning to sink in and process.  Yeah--amazing.

Nov. 7 -- Blankets.  I am grateful for blankets.  And sweatpants.  There is just something about, at the end of the day, taking a shower and getting bundled up in sweatpants and a blanket (and other articles of clothing, obviously) that is very comforting.  Perhaps it is the warmth of it, or just being able to be comfortable in pajama-type clothes.  I guess I don't really care -- it just feels very good, and I am grateful that I get to do this routine after my obligations of the day.

Nov. 8 -- I am thankful for music, and in conjunction with this, for the ability to hear it and feel it.  Music is such a big part of my life, although I'm not sure I could tell you why.  I hear the beauty of it and feel the emotions it conveys, and I am so grateful for this.  I'm also glad music makes such a good backdrop for studying and how certain types of music can help me focus and retain information.


Yes, so that brings us up to today.  I know I have put some minor things up here, but I feel it is the minor things that sometimes get overlooked--as the things we take for granted.  Now, for my loved ones -- not to worry, you will be mentioned as we get closer to the actual day of thanks.  You have not been forgotten!!


TO BE CONTINUED.....

Nov. 8, 2011

The health screens went so well!  What amazing kids!  I loved them all!!

We just did vision screens, which went fine until the last kid I screened... he was doing so poorly and I struggled to know which line he was reading off of, because what he was indicating was so drastically different from what the answers actually were.  I wondered why he was doing so poorly and thought that surely he would have been caught in screens before.... and then I realized I forgot to remove the blurry thingy... Yeah, apparently I'm kind of an idiot.

After this and helping the school nurse clean up a bit, I took off to go study some more for pharmacology before heading back to school for the guest speakers from a refugee placement association.  It was pretty interesting to hear the extent of this program and how many refugees are taken into the US each year (which is apparently only 1% of the number of refugees worldwide).  Then, a woman spoke, who is an employment advocate (she helps find jobs for refugees and makes sure they are trained adequately), and she told her story as a refugee from Sudan and her journey through the system to where she is now.  Amazing.  This might sound insensitive or just not the most appropriate thing to say--but hearing her story with all the hardships she faced really put things into perspective for me that my life, no matter how hard I might perceive it to be, has really been very easy.

She was 7 when her village was attacked, and in one night, 6 of her siblings were murdered.  She was separated from her family, and ended up with a distant relative who took her along to a refugee camp in Kenya.  She didn't know it until many years later, but her parents, 2 sisters, and 1 brother lived and went to a refugee camp in Uganda.  Her family assumed she was also murdered.  She spent ten years in the refugee camp in Kenya before she was able to come to the United States.  She was unable to find work because she was not yet 18; after she turned 18, she applied and immediately got a job, but realized it was not something she wanted to do forever.  She pursued education, and at the age of 21, graduated from high school.  She then attended college and graduated in 5 years.  Oh--and before attending high school here, she had never learned to read or write; so she was learning the ABCs when she was 18.  She is able to read and write in English, but cannot in her native language.

After she was here in the US for about 10 years or so, she found out about her parents being alive and took a trip to see her family.  It had been 20 years since her mother had seen her, and each had thought the other was dead.  I cannot imagine how awkward (perhaps) and disconnected things might feel after that assumption and length of time.

So yes--I have had a very privileged and easy life, especially when compared with the hardships that this remarkable woman--and many millions like her--endured.

Just amazing.

Nov. 7, 2011

Exam this morninig, which was fun and interesting.  I came out of it with an 87%, which isn't too bad, considering how dreadful the quizzes seemed to go, haha.  Community Health lecture after that, which was really boring.  I have a hard time connecting to the material, because it honestly doesn't feel applicable with where I'm at and where I see myself in the future.  And, it's hard to sit and be lectured by someone who has no experience in public / community health nursing--I just can't see her as an expert.  Now, I know she's just teaching us the concepts, but still.

Ahh well.  After class got out a smidge early, I connected with my presentation partner for a bit to review a few things, and then I left early, which was a nice change of pace.  There was no lab that day--just open lab and check-offs for IV placement.  More time to devote to studying pharmacology!!

I spent most of the rest of the day making up notecards like a mad woman to get ready for the exam on Wednesday.

I then got a strange phone-call from a number in the area.  I figured it had to be either an instructor or a class-mate, so I answered.  Sure enough, it was someone in my clinical group who wanted to know if I was re-doing my check-off on Wednesday and if I had failed for the same reason she did.  Instant panic attack--did I accidentally sign up for a lab check-off time today in addition to my open lab and check-off time on Wednesday?  Is that why she called--because she saw my name up there for check-offs twice?!  ZOMG!!!!

Couldn't really focus after that.  I told her that it was my initial check-off, but that I was sorry to hear it didn't go well for her.  She said she would explain more in class on Tuesday.

So, for this evening, I did some studying and some panicking, and not really much else.  Some prep for school health screens tomorrow, which I'm not sure if I'm excited about or not.  Should be interesting, if nothing else.  I don't really remember much about the screening when I was in elementary school.  Perhaps this will bring back some memories!

Nov. 5, 2011

Clinical weekend 2, day 2.

This morning, my instructor assigned me two patients.  I was told to keep the same patient I had from yesterday and to follow up on my patient from last week, who was still in the hospital.  She said I was only required to do one assessment on a patient of my choosing.

So, I looked at what was going on with my patient who had the ICD placement, and he was due to be discharged but didn't need his medications until 0900.  So, I checked in with my nurse and then went to the other wing to check in with my patient from last week.  The nurse was different, which was somewhat disappointing; I was hoping to have the RN who graduated from our program a few years ago.

In any case, I was able to assist with wound dressing changes and medication administration for this patient, as well as do my assessment on her.  It was interesting to me that the RN I was with didn't know how to do a dressing change on her; at least, that's what he said.  So, I showed him what was shown to me last week for changing the silver-nitrate infused foam with the spray wound cleanser.  I felt glad that I was able to advocate for the patient in this way; otherwise, I'm afraid the dressing would have stayed on for another few days, which would have made her more prone to infection.

After this, I checked back in with my "actual" patient for the day.  I gave him his medications, pulled one of his IV sites, disconnected him from the bag that was hanging and saline locked that IV site, and then went back to assist with my other patient.  During this time, I had to ask her a few more questions, and my "actual" assigned nurse for the day hunted me down to find out why I hadn't done an assessment on her patient.  I told her my instructor said I only had to do one assessment, then asked if she wanted me to go do an assessment.  She replied with, "Well, it depends on how much you want to learn."  Wow, gee thanks for that.  I was really learning a lot from doing an assessment on a patient who was about to be discharged and didn't have much in the way of abnormal assessment findings.

At this point in the day, though, it was nearly lunch time, so I finished up what I was working on with my patient from last week, and as I was just about to leave the room, she began sobbing.  So, I stayed to sit with her for some time until she had calmed down, and then informed the nurse that she was upset and asked if there was anything we could do for her.  There really wasn't much, but it was noted.  I then went to lunch.

After lunch, I followed up with my "actual" patient and did a brief assessment on him, took out his other IV site, changed the dressing on his ICD incision site, took the dressing off his groin access site, put a band-aid on his radial access site, and helped him dress for going home.  After this, I charted the assessment and then assisted with discharge teaching and saw him to the elevator.

With my last 15 minutes or so before post-clinical conference, I did my journaling, and the nurse who had hunted me down looked over my assessment and added a few things to my notes.  NOW I get why she was so desperate for me to do that assessment--she wasn't doing her OWN assessment and was relying strictly on mine.  I didn't take vitals on my patient this morning, and neither had she, but thankfully I'm awesome and took his BP and HR before giving him his blood pressure medications, so she had that to chart.  It was kind of upsetting, but I am grateful that I was able to see what half of a patient load is like.  Right now, it's kind of tough because I'm still not really sure what to do sometimes, and some patients require more time.  But, I'm happy to say that I still love what I am doing and look forward to when I will do more of it!

Nov. 4, 2011

Weekend 2 of clinicals and it was an amazing day!

When I arrived this morning, the instructor had a list of patient assignments to hand out, but hadn't made any specific assignments to us.  The first thing she read off was for a patient who would be getting an EP study and possibly an ICD placement that morning.  I took this patient, and then went to the right nurse's station.  I introduced myself to the nurse I was going to be working with that day, and then learned my patient was already gone.  They took him really early at 0530, so I was rushed down to the cath lab, so I could maybe catch the tail-end of the procedure.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the EP study, which is too bad.  But, I was in time to catch the ICD placement.  It was really interesting to see everything on the monitors (for most of the case, my view was blocked by the surgical tech).  I think the most unnerving part wasn't when they did the ICD testing (they induce an irregular rhythm and check that the ICD picks it up and delivers a shock to get the patient back to normal sinus rhythm), but was in fact after the shock was delivered and the monitor wasn't reflecting a return of heart beat.  It turns out the monitor was just slow, but still.  I had about 15 seconds of near-anxiety wondering what was going to happen if the ICD wasn't working properly.

After the procedure, I helped transport the patient back to his room, and then took over the post-anesthesia monitoring (vital signs every 15 minutes x4, then every 30 minutes x2, and then every 4 hours x6).  At this time, I was also able to do an assessment on him, and spent the rest of my day working on giving cares for him, speaking with his family, and then taking notes on another patient for my care plan/concept map.

After the EP study, it was a pretty quiet day, which was kind of nice.  Nap time shortly after getting home, having lunch, and taking a shower!  Hooray for afternoon naps!!

Nov. 3, 2011

Today was an all-day lecture about the respiratory system.  I didn't think we could lecture that long about it.  Three hours in the morning, and hour for lunch, and then another two hours.  We finished up early, which was nice.  What made it much better was that we got to bump up open lab time, although later we found out that we really shouldn't have.  Our regular lab instructor wasn't going to be down to monitor for until 1600, but we started anyways at 1400.  However, the lab manager was kind enough to allow us to go.  And, even better, she gave us an unscheduled, unplanned teaching session on how to use the extension sets (on the IV, the part that connects from the catheter in the arm to the IV tubing to the back).  There are four different kinds available to us, and nobody really showed us how to use each kind.  She spent about 5 minutes of her time showing us each type, which connections we need for each, and explainning some of the common uses for each.  It really would have been nice to have had that teaching session when we first started doing IVs.

In any case, my partner and I were practicing the full check-off from start to finish, which was really beneficial.  I still feel like I am forgetting a few things here and there, but I think just getting to practice more and using the skill more will be beneficial to getting rid of that, "I'm forgetting something here" feeling.

After lab, which I got done really early, it was off to home to get rested up for clinicals.  Woo!!

Nov. 2, 2011

Let me just say that I am grateful for only having Pharmacology today.  Exam was interesting, although I think I focused on studying the wrong things and then put some really dumb answers.  Blach, I hate days like that.

It will be a few days before we can see what our scores were.  Oh, and she pulled a quiz on us that had drugs we didn't know we were to study.  What we were told to study were the prototype drugs, ones that represent the particular drug class.  What was on the quiz were none of the prototype drugs.

Oh well.  It was good day to relax afterwards and focus on catching up on sleep to get ready for clinicals.  Clinicals in a two days!  Woo, I am excited!!

Nov. 1, 2011

FIRST DAY OF NOVEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really love Autumn.... Have I mentioned this before?  Probably.

Anyways, today was school teaching.  I'm so glad because I got to sleep in and take my time getting ready through the day.  We actually taught in an afterschool program to about 100 K-5 kids.  The older group was actually more receptive to us and paid better attention.  Perhaps because they were the smaller group?  The K-3-graders were really rowdy and didn't really pay attention.

Anyways, our topic for presentation was handwashing.  We used some Glo-Gel, which is a special lotion that shows up under UV light.  The older kids thought it was pretty awesome, and we could really see where they needed more practice washing their hands.

The younger kids, though, thought we were showing them real germs and panicked a bit to know if they had any more germs on them and wanted me to check their food, too.  It was kind of a tough concept to explain that they were "pretend" germs we were showing them, and that what they were seeing came from the lotion.  The point, I said, was that just because we can't see germs doesn't mean they aren't there.  The kids were then upset that we had "tricked" them, haha.  It was really a no-win situation at that point.  Although I am glad that i didn't create seriously anal-retentive, germophobic children!

Pharm exam tomorrow.  Not really sure what to expect, to be honest.  I am worried that it will be intense and scary, haha.

Oct. 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!!!!  Perhaps one of my favorite holidays!  I just love the fall-type decorations and the mix of spooky halloween decor that goes along with it.  Not to mention how adorable children are in their costumes and how excited they all get about dressing up and going trick-or-treating!

I am sad to say, though, that I didn't dress up.  I was too busy being in school and I figured it wasn't entirely appropriate.  I think I've passed the cut-off age for dressing up for Halloween to school and/or work.  But, lucky for me, I have teddy bears that I CAN dress up.  I just dressed them up not too long ago, and they look adorable in matching Kimonos!

In terms of school, it was a yucky, 0800 morning for Community Health theory lecture... which finished up at 1100 including the time spent with a guest-speaker.  I am still unclear as to why we start this class so stinking early and ALWAYS get done early.

After this, it was on-campus lab time for med/surg.  It's strange, though, because we had to sign up for what time we wanted class, instead of the professor having to do some organizing to make sure everybody got through.  I spent most of my time working on hanging the IV bags.  I am feeling pretty confident about putting in the IV, but I haven't had much in the way of practice on hanging the bag and connecting all the tubing.  After this, I went right on home and looked over some Community Health clinical paperwork.  I finished up my research for Bhutan, the country I had to prepare a clinical packet of paperwork for, and finalized the community resource presentation we have to give in a few weeks. I am grateful for having these things done this early, because I know this term will only get more difficult.

School teaching tomorrow.... I've already heard horror stories from the other groups.  Unfortunately, they are having us teach the same group of kids the same information.  Yeah, they are really going to pay attention for us.  Oh well -- we have a cool presentation, so hopefully it works well for us!

So here are Pookie and Baby in their costumes!  Happy Halloween!!!!

Oct. 29, 2011

Med/Surg clinical day 2.  I was assigned a different patient, seeing as how my patient from yesterday got discharged.  My instructor gave me a somewhat complicated patient, with several things going on.  The nurse I was assigned with actually graduated from the same program I'm in two years ago, so she was a great resource to have to ask questions.  She also had another student with her who is in the standard, 2.5-year program, and she is set to graduate this December.  She also was a great resource.  The nurse encouraged me to follow her through the day and really pushed me to get involved and do things.  She had me pull IVs, give a flu shot, give some insulin and other medications (oral route only), and do assessment workups.  It was really cool to get to follow them around to see what a normal day in the life of a nurse would be like.  I still wish there was more I could do with the patients besides do an assessment, chart I&O, and give parenteral and non-parenteral meds. But, I know that we are building up to it all, and I will be able to do more before I know it!

I think the most interesting part of my day was getting to do a wound dressing change.  VEnous stasis ulcers are nasty looking things.  The one I assisted with was 5 x 14 cms, which is pretty good-sized.  I have never seen the foam pads that have silver-nitrate in them, which helps promote healing.  Pretty cool, and you can see the healing process better because you don't have to add creams or anything that can block visualization.

Oh, another amazing thing I got to see was an echocardiogram, transthoracic.  The ultrasound technician was really cool and had so much information to give to us.  She showed us how difficult it can be to get good images, because the images are taken between ribs, and then if the patient takes a deep breath, the view can be obscured that way, too.  She described how vegetation and calcifications would appear on the ultrasound.  She also told us about her course of schooling and how it's a lot of physics.  Getting to see the valves was pretty neat.  They moved differently than I imagined they would.

It was a pretty great experience today, so I am excited for next week and what other great opportunities will be opened to me.

Oct. 28, 2011

So, this was clinical day 1 in the med/surg setting.  I was very excited, because I'm at a different hospital than last time, and as if that wasn't exciting enough, I am on the telemetry floor!  That means, I am in the right place to be able to see an open heart surgery (although I realize the likelihood of this is very slim).

By the end of the day, I was exhausted.  I hate that feeling, because it really isn't that I'm doing anything that is extremely physical or anything.

Most of the day today was spent listening to our instructor tell us everything we needed to know and more.  We spent 2 hours in an empty patient room reviewing how to move the bed, how to set a bed alarm, what is in the medication drawers in the patient rooms, and lots of other things.  If I'm being honest, it felt like it was clinical day 1 in term 1... or at least how it should have felt.  Lots of hand-holding by this particular instructor.

It probably would have been nice to have had someone walk us through everything at the very first clinical of the year, but at this point in the game, I'm pretty sure I know most of the equipment in the med drawer (i.e. needles, cups, gauze, etc.). Also, I think I did pretty well last term with just being thrown into it and being forced to learn, so perhaps because it was what I was used to, it was what I was expecting.

Oh, and I should mention that she made us watch some of the patient education videos that are available in the rooms for the patients.  Wow.

In any case, after the two hours we spent in a rapidly warming patient room, we took a tour of this particularly huge hospital, with our instructor telling us about areas that are, for now, irrelevant to us.  We eventually made our way to the learning center.  And sat for another 2 hours or so discussing her expectations for the term from us and telling us about herself and the hospital network.  We were then excused for lunch for an hour, and then reconvened to received patient assignments for the last hour and a half of the day.

The instructor then advised us to log on at our respective nurse's stations to make sure we could get into the computer systems.  With the last hour, the instructor accompanied me and one other student for doing patient assessments.  I had to go first, because the patient I was assigned was getting discharged that afternoon.

And then I went home and took a nap.