Slow and Steady Wins The Race!

So it’s a wrap! At times I wasn’t sure that I would be able to do it (or that I even wanted to anymore), but I made it through my first semester of nursing school! I also got my first B in about eight years—damn philosophy/ethics! It was a high B at that—like an 88.5—so close and yet not close enough. But I’m actually okay with it. My primary focus was on nursing and I did extremely well. Finals were not as bad as I expected them to be; neither was the dreaded HESI. For anyone planning/needing to take it, what I found to be really helpful were the case studies and practice quizzes/tests on Evolve. I also liked that they gave you the rationales for the correct and incorrect answers—it really helps you learn to critically think through the scenarios. I’m not saying the HESI was a breeze because it wasn’t, but it was manageable. Some of my classmates may not agree with me seeing as though the class average on the exam was a 613. But I got a 1033—not too shabby. So I’m feeling pretty good—and it was comforting to know that all of the stress, the meltdowns, and the hair loss were actually turning out to be worth it.

But now when I get home from work I find myself totally stupefied. No chapters to read, no care plans or concept maps to develop, no exams to study for—what in the world am I supposed to do with myself for an entire month? And has cable always been this crappy?—there isn’t anything good to watch that I haven’t seen enough times to be able to recite the script on my own. I will get to spend more quality time with my family though. It gets so hectic during the semester that sometimes I feel like I’m just a family member visiting from out of town. Even my son has said a couple times—“it seems like I haven’t seen you for three days!” Between getting up at the butt crack of dawn to go to work, not getting home from class until after they’re asleep, and then tiptoeing out to clinical like a thief in the night on the weekends—sadly, sometimes that’s almost true. In order to pull this off everyone is making a few sacrifices—not just me.

During the break I’ll also have a little time to work on a few scholarship applications (times is hard, lol)—I know for one the deadline for the FNSNA scholarship is coming up in mid-January. Join me for a little friendly competition?  

But before I know it I’ll be bored out of my mind and ready to go back to school (and back to bedlam). Spring semester I’ll be taking Health Assessment and Maternity—maybe I’ll get to catch a baby or something 🙂

Happy Holidays and New Year to all—I’ll see you in 2010!

Finally—Patients With A Pulse!

So we are finally out of the lab and in the hospital—woohoo for making it through all the exams, math tests, and lab practicum that made it possible. For a minute there I was becoming a little unraveled and thought I wasn’t going to make it. Our first day we had hospital orientation—which of course was boring as all hell. Videos upon videos we watched—fire safety, restraints, Accu-Cheks—ancient VHS tapes (do they still make those?) that they’ve probably been using for decades. And since watching TV has become such a rarity in my life these days, having to sit there and actually watch those videos for hours was just pure torture. Afterward we took a tour of our unit and the staff rolled their eyes at us with this “OH GAWD–we’re being invaded by nursing students” look on their faces. But whatever—never mind them. On my way home I stopped at Barnes and Noble to pick up a care plan book—Ackley’s Nursing Diagnosis Handbook—I LOVE that thing and highly recommend it. That along with my Medical-Surgical Nursing textbook (which at 2016 pages is more like a nursing bible) helps me crank out care plans with no problem.

Day 2 of clinical we were actually assigned a patient. The nurses were still less than enthusiastic at our presence, but none of them were downright nasty—though there were a couple that were a little more snappish than I would usually tolerate. But since this wasn’t my turf I had to fall back. I was assigned a sweet, older woman who basically had surgery but was discharged from the hospital too soon (imagine that—damn insurance pressure). So she had a fall, which landed her right back where she didn’t want to be. Acute pain, impaired mobility, and risk for peripheral neurovascular dysfunction were my nursing diagnoses for her. Probably should throw risk for impaired skin integrity in there as well. But basically all I did all day was vitals, hygiene/toileting, and meals. I didn’t get to give meds even though my patient was on plenty of them. I must admit I was bored out of my mind. The downtime at least gave me a chance to get a head start on my care plan. But even that was difficult given how cumbersome the nursing station had become with all the extra bodies—the only place left to sit was probably the bathroom!

And last but not least, we took our Fundamentals midterm last night (NCLEX-style questions of course)—I didn’t think it was so bad. You can usually narrow each question down to just two possible answers anyway. Both might even be right answers, but you have to determine which one is more right. Ah, the joys of nursing school…