Hard Work

Being completely honest here, I have never in my life worked so hard for my grades. I so proud to say that it paid off! I just finished the finals for first semester, I have gotten my grades and couldn’t be more ecstatic. I got 5 A’s and 1 B, well I would be happier if they were all A’s but I am still excited about my grades.

The last few weeks have been really hard on the class.We started out with 37 students and are down to 33. A couple left a few weeks into clinicals, and a couple the last few days as grades were being finalized. It’s really sad to see people leave, we have all gotten so close to each other. I see these people more than I see my family. We had a dosage calculations competency exam that you have to make a 90% or better in order to go to the next semester and you have two tries. Thankfully I passed but a couple of my closest friends failed it the first attempt. It is really scary to have to take that 2nd test because it’s your last chance. The day of the second test we all went to lunch and had drinks while they waited for their tests to be graded. Thankfully every one who failed the first one, passed the second one. I also passed med pass check offs, its a big important check off and I was really relieved that I passed it the first time. You also get two tries on the check off but the second try you can only get a 50%.

Well I have a week off before the second semester starts so hopefully I can update my blog again. I have given up on trying to keep it updated and even thought about deleting it but I do like to posts sometimes so I think I will keep it going for a little while longer. For now I have to go get groceries before it starts raining and come home and start cleaning up and getting organized for next semester

Mess from finals

Baby Fever

This is day 2 of spring break and it is awesome!

Lately my baby fever has jumped up an notch, or several notches to tell the truth. And then I decide to tackle the 138 unread blog posts on my Google Reader and find out that one of my favorite bloggers, HGR is prego! I am so excited for her and at the same time so jealous. She is not the only news of pregnancy I have gotten in the last few days. Seems like something is in the water. Pass some this way, please. My husband is finally ready just as I start nursing school. What luck. Oh well it will happen, and soon enough I though I would share some cute Pinterest baby stuff.

This will be how we let everyone know.

Source: beinthemomentphoto.com via Kenda on Pinterest

I will get the hubbs this <3

Source: etsy.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Some cute pregnancy pictures:

Source: Uploaded by user via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: picasaweb.google.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: dandelionwishesphotography.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: spearmintbaby.com via Kenda on Pinterest

I can’t wait to steal these picture ideas…

Source: iheartfaces.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: skyejohansen.com via Kenda on Pinterest

or:

Source: amyrobertsonphotography.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via Kenda on Pinterest

And I cannot wait to own these products

Source: etsy.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: designer.inktastic.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Source: wanelo.com via Kenda on Pinterest

Pinterest just makes it so easy to obsess over things like this. I think the clouds are so cute, I want to make them for my room :p

Maybe there will be a special announcement by the end of the year… hmmm

It’s Been Seven Weeks

Wow, how things have changed in the last seven weeks of nursing school. I have already grown and learned so much. And man, I never imagined it being so hard. I work my butt off and sometimes barely pass. It’s not like other classes I have taken in college, the test questions are not black and white, you can’t just look up this answer in the book. On the tests, there are usually multiple correct answers but you have to choose the best one. I have luckily passes everything except my last check-off, which was vital signs check off. That one really made me upset because I failed the blood pressure part of it. Our instructors have a double earpiece stethoscope so that they can hear the same thing you are and you both watch the gauge. While practicing I got it perfect with all three of our instructors, so it was really frustrating that I failed that part. I believe re-checks are next week so I can still get a 50% on that one

Speaking of next week, I start clinicals!!! I am so excited, scared, nervous, proud, happy, stressed about it that it makes me want to cry when I think about it! So many emotions lol. I am excited we are finally going to be able to put all this book work to use. Scared that I will hate it or suck at it. Nervous I will do something wrong, hurt a patient, or disappoint my clinical instructor. Proud that I made it this far. Happy that it’s finally happening. Stressed because I have clinicals, my first care plan, vital sign re-checks, and two tests next week (not even to mention the 3 tests I just got done studying my butt off for). Oh my, deep breath.

For the next 8 weeks we will be in a nursing home. I worked in a chiropractic office before and the geriatric patients were actually my favorite. We saw these people sometimes three times a week, and once you get to know them and get them out of pain, they become less grouchy and most of the time they are way more nice than the younger patients. It’s really cool to get them talking about their life events. So I am excited to be in the nursing home. On the other hand, I am assigned to the same hospital memaw died at last year. It will be sad but I am at peace with the fact that she is in heaven and free of pain now.

I am excited that we will be required to keep a journal of our clinical experience. I love journals, I just get busy with life and forget I have one. Kind of like this blog…. Since it is for a grade though, I will keep up with it and it will be a really cool thing for me to keep for always.

On another note, we moved into a house! We didn’t buy one but we are renting one. It is nice to be in a house instead of an apartment. The walls were so thin in the last apartment we could hear our upstairs neighbors doing it. No joke, it was gross. Couldn’t even look them in the eye after that. We just hated it there. We are loving the house so far. It has two bedrooms and a “study area”, all hard wood floors, a storage shed in the back yard. The only down side is that it only has one bathroom. James loves working in the yard and is out there everyday doing something. I love the hardwood floors. The floors are loud and cold, but Riley threw up this morning and it was much easier to clean than carpet.

But I have to go buy a nursing diagnosis book to do my first care plan! So I will leave you with a picture of my flashcards I have made to help me with my tests so far I started cutting the index cards in half to save money haha.

For The Last 3 Weeks

Nursing student represent!

Time is flying! I cannot believe I have completed 3 weeks of school and that it has been that long since I wrote a post. I feel like my whole life has changed. All I do is retain and regurgitate information. I even dream about school! I really am having a blast though. There have been moments where I question my decision about nursing school but at the end of the day I know I am where I am supposed to be and I am so grateful for this opportunity.
This last week has been the most intense and the most exciting so far. We had our first skill check-off (G-tube feeding) and I got a 100%. Grading is a little different on check-offs. You get 2 tries for a grade. If you pass the first time you get 100%. If you don’t pass you have to try again but if you do the skill correctly you only get 50%. If you fail the second time you get a big fat zero. I tried to upload a video of me doing the G-tube feeding on a dummy but every time I try it freezes on me
I got an 88% on my first major exam. Truthfully I was hoping for an A but that is passing and it’s kinda close to an A so I will take it. Speaking of grades the grading scale is a little different for nursing, a 74% will get you kicked out.

Also, we have a drug calculations test that we have to make 90% on this semester. We will have another one next semester that we have to make a 95% on. If we make less than that we will me kicked out from the program. It is nerve racking that one test can do that to us but I completely understand why it is that way. A drug dosage mistake can injure or be fatal to a patient. So it is very important.

We also found out our clinical assignments this week! I got an instructor that seems pretty strict but so far I am glad I got her and I am determined to use her strictness to make me a better nurse. For the first 6 weeks I will be at a nursing home here in the town where I live. For the second semester I will be at a hospital doing rotations in different departments. The hospital is about 45 min – an hour away. We will have to be there by 6:15 so that morning drive is going to suck, but we have been told that it is a great facility so that might make it worth it. I am really excited about clinicals and can’t wait to get started! We will have orientation on February 27th and our first day on March 5th

Hopefully I can be more consistent about posting, and I will be back later for some updates

Last Day of Work and Nursing School

Yesterday was my last day of work. It pretty much consisted of wrapping up loose ends, having a surprise luncheon, and sad good-byes. The night before I was so worried about my last day that I couldn’t sleep. I have a hard time with not working. I’m not real sure why. I know that we will be fine financially, it just scares me to not have a job. On my way to work I saw a shooting star! It was so bright and obvious that it had to be a sign. I believe it is a sign that I am on the right track. It made me instantly feel better about what I am doing.

Shortly after I got to work, my husband sent me this cute picture of our kitty Thumper. Before work he kept following me around meowing at me to pet him. He is so super sweet.

School starts in five days! I can’t believe it is so close. It is extremely exciting yet extremely scary. I have wanted this so badly and it is scary that so many people flunk out every year. I don’t know the exact statistics but I think it is safe to say that about half of students who start nursing school flunk out in the first semester. I worry that I wont be good at it or I wont love it as much as I think I will. It also scares me that I have six classes. I have not had to manage studying for six classes since middle school.  Throughout high school I only had four a semester. It’s been 14 years since middle school so this is going to be a huge change for me.

What else scares me is this:

Thats just for the first semester…

I know I will just have to work hard and it’s achievable. I will be that half that graduates from nursing school, and I’m going to do it on the deans list

WIAW

These are my meals from Saturday. I was into cooking I don’t cook 3 meals a day so I feel proud. We get eggs from my husbands dads place. He doesn’t really have a farm but he has a chicken coup. They are SO good and fresh!

What to do?

When I first told everyone that I was going to nursing school, almost everyones first question was “What kind of nurse do you want to be?”. Well you know the kind that takes temperatures, gives meds, helps people…. Hadn’t even thought about it. I am not sure if that is a bad thing – that I haven’t even thought about what kind of nurse I wanted to be.

So I thought it was time to put some serious thought into the different specialties. THERE ARE SO MANY. I thought about what made me want to become a nurse, and here are some points I came up with:

• I like building a relationship with patients.
• I love the heart.
• I enjoy working with older people.

I used to work at a chiropractic clinic and we would see the same patients 2-3 times a week for around 6 weeks. I liked getting to know the patients. I would work with them and help them while they were doing their exercises, and I would end up building relationships with them. I got to know them on a personal level, like where they worked, all about their kids, personal interests, and stuff like that.

Also at the clinic, a lot of older people would come in. At first they intimidated me. A lot of them seemed to always have a scowl on their faces. Which I don’t blame them, they were in pain. After working with these patients I started to enjoy them. Besides a lot of them have cool stories from when they were young.

And well you can read here for my story on the heart.

So I just did a search of different nursing specialties and what I found.

Drumroll please…..

Cardiology rehab nursing!

• It has to do with helping the heart.
• There will probably not be many kids.
• I think it will be a profession where the nurse sees the patients for many days and are able to build a better relationship with them.

The runner up is home health.

And I am pretty sure that the one area that I do not want to be in is mental health.

I know as I start clinicals and start getting to experience all the different areas of nursing I could very well change my mind. So I am still going to keep an open mind because I know I do not have to choose anything just yet.

**When I am thinking about the different departments I would like to work in, I am thinking about right after I get my LVN or ADN. I do plan on working my way up to the BDN before I turn 36 so that I can join the air force as an officer to work as a nurse.**