I've finally reached the point of just wanting the nursing school experience to be a thing of the past. Still loving the classes, but getting really sick of the politics. Just a few more months....

Clinicals start again next week. I'm not ready for the early morning, but excited to get practicing again!

For now- back to the textbooks, I have many many chapters to read!

I saw this on another blog and thought it might be kinda fun.

layer one
name: Crystal
birth date: Aug 30th
birthplace: AK
current location: WA
eye color: blue
hair color: red
height: 5’2"
righty or lefty: lefty
zodiac sign: Virgo

layer two
your heritage: I'm a heinz 57 mix, but my largest heritage is Norwegian
the shoes you wore today: Dansko clogs
your weakness: Oh so many. I let those that I love take advantage of me.
your fears: Losing everything
your perfect pizza: pepperoni, pineapple, and black olives

layer three
your most overused phrase: seriously?
your first waking thoughts: Please no... just a little more sleep!
your best physical feature: Eyes, they are a very striking shade of blue
your favorite memory: I have lots of good memories, but one of my favorites was watching the sunrise with my hours old firstborn baby and husband.

layer four
pepsi or coke: Depends, usually coke
mcdonald’s or burger king: McDonald's, can't stand Burger King
single or group dates: single before marriage, now couples dates are fun sometimes.
adidas or nike: adidas
lipton ice tea or nestea: Neither would be my first choice, but if they were the only option, lipton
cappuccino or coffee: coffee

layer five
smoke: no
cuss: oh yeah!
sing: when I'm driving
do you think you’ve been in love: yes, I know I am.
want to go to college: Currently a college student
liked high school: yes, I had a good group of friends
want to get married: Already am
believe in yourself: more every day
get motion sickness: never
think you’re attractive: yes.. and no. I think my confidence makes others think I'm attractive, but deep down I don't think I am.
think you’re a health freak: I have certain things I'm picky about, but for the most part I'm not a health freak
get along with your parents: yes
like thunderstorms: YES
play an instrument: yes, several

layer six
in the past month…
drank alcohol: yes
smoked: no
done a drug: no
made out: Well, I am married, what do you think?
gone on a date: no, it's been a crazy summer, plus we are broke college students
gone to the mall: No
eaten an entire box of oreos: no
eaten sushi: no. HATE IT.
been on stage: No, thankfully
been dumped: no
gone skating: no
made homemade cookies:yes
gone skinny dipping: no
dyed your hair: no, not in the last month
stolen anything: no
you sound boring: Ha, people who know me say I have the least boring life of anyone they know.
Remember this is only in the past month

layer seven
ever…
played a game that required removal of clothing: yes.
if so, was it mixed company: yes.
been trashed or extremely intoxicated: yes
been caught “doing something”: yes
been called a tease: yes
gotten beaten up: not as an adult
shoplifted: not intentionally, I did once find that something hadn't been rung up... I don't think that counts
changed who you were to fit in: yes

layer eight
age you hope to be married: Already done
numbers and names of children: 3, boy, girl, boy.
describe your dream wedding: We did it... married on the beach at sunset.
how do you want to die: in my sleep, unexpectedly
where do you want to go to college: currently in nursing school, YAY!!
what do you want to be when you grow up: NICU nurse
what country would you most like to visit: Europe

layer nine
number of drugs taken illegally: 0
number of people i could trust with my life: Not sure. More than 2, less than 10
number of cds that i own: I have no idea. Since they are all on the computer, the disks themselves are in storage
number of piercings: three, lower ear, one in upper ear, and nose
number of tattoos: one so far, can't wait for more!
number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: A few, I never really paid attention
number of scars on my body: Lots
number of things in my past that i regret: Well, everything has brought me to this point, and I'm right where I need/want to be. That said, I do carry some scars on my heart that I wish I could go back and change.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he picked up a very large, empty mayonnaise jar and began to fill it with golf balls.
With all of the golf balls in the jar, he asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of small pebbles and poured them into the jar.

He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled in between the golf balls and pebbles.
Again, he asked if the jar was full.
The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the grains of sand.
The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - Family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else -- The small stuff.
'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.”
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.

Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.
'I'm glad you asked'.

“It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

It's always a good thing to take some time to ponder how priorities stack up in your life and if you are remembering to pay attention to the golf balls and letting the sand fill in the rest instead of the other way around. I would also point out that without sometimes making room for the coffee you may lose a golf ball that could leave a very big hole.

The calendar is already filling up for the remainder of our break from class... and for the rest of the year! I wasn't too surprised at how many things are planned for the rest of this month, but was quite surprised at how many things are already on the books for October and November.

At least I can say with confidence that there's never a dull moment around here.

Gosh, I've been gone for so long! As life in nursing school goes, we've been busy. And then there are the things that were important... but not things that could be shared. There has been a pretty severe attitude taken towards those that share things from inside our program with those outside the program. Sort of a 'don't bite the hand that feeds you' thing. And, I get that, I really do; however, sometimes I think it can go a bit overboard.

So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going to happen with this blog. Should it disappear, never to be seen again? I don't know. Yes, I hope some people will read about the path that I've taken, I hope that someone learns something or it gives someone the inspiration to take that leap and go back to school or maybe just has a good laugh on a bad day. The ultimate purpose of this blog is selfish. I wanted a journal that I could read back through someday and see just how far I've come. Something to memorialize some of what I've gone through; cause I know in a few years, some of the experiences I've had are going to be stories I want to remember. And then, the longer it went since I last wrote... the bigger deal the absence became. It just doesn't seem right to wander back in with no explanation as though I've been here the whole time. When I wrote next it had to be something of substance... and the pressure was on.

But I am limited. There are many joys and heartaches that have occurred since I was here last that can't be shared for one reason or another. So now it's becoming an incomplete memoir of my journey through nursing school and that's not what I had hoped originally. But maybe it's enough. Maybe I'm not being superficial by keeping deep hurts and fabulous joys private. I guess that's where we go from here. So, all drama aside:

I'm back! And I promise to try to be more reliable.

Third quarter of nursing school is over. Halfway through the program and still loving it. Fourth quarter is when they say they really put the pressure on. I've seen the schedule, I don't think they're kidding. But really, I wake up almost every morning excited to be going to class, or lab, or clinicals! Ok, I don't wake up excited that my alarm is going off hours before the sun will peek over the horizon on clinical mornings, but I do really love going to clinicals and feeling more and more confident every day.

But, we're halfway?!?! I don't feel halfway ready to be responsible for these patients all by myself!

This last round of clinicals allowed us to really start performing nursing skills and that felt great! Sure we practice for hours in lab, but it's not quite the same as experiencing it with a patient. I was relieved to find that as much as I don't like needles and really don't like IV's, I'm actually quite good with them. I enjoy the high that comes from placing an IV successfully and with minimal discomfort for the patient. I have been lucky so far that the nurses I've been paired with have been kind to me and patient teachers. Attitude matters.

So I'll leave you with some parting tips:

• Sometimes it's better to go into a clinical experience with the attitude that you are there to do anything and everything. I've found this makes most of the nurses extra happy to see you, and more likely to reward you by taking you under their wing.
• "I'm an intermediate level nursing student" may get you less opportunities than "I'm a baby nurse, I'd like all the experience you can provide me."
  
• Food can and does warm the heart of busy nurses. Our program has a tradition of providing snacks for the departments that are so generous as to take on us students. When you walk in with a big bag of snack size chocolates and a smile... the nurses often smile too!

Back to enjoying summer break!

It goes without saying that missing any of your clinical time is a bad idea. My program has no clinical make up time built into the schedule, and our instructors have advised us not to miss clinicals, period. But, one cannot control when they get sick. And, we really should not be continuing the line of thought that we should go to work/school/clinicals no matter how sick we are. It isn't good for the person who is sick... and it isn't sick for those they are exposing to their illness.

So, as luck would have it, last Sunday I woke up sick. I took some tylenol to try to bring my fever down and put myself back to bed for the day. I was hoping to sleep it off and be able to go in to my clinical Monday morning. By late Sunday afternoon it was obvious that was not going to happen. I e-mailed my instructor and let her know I would be heading to the doctor instead.

Yes, I was worried about how I was going to make up my clinical time, or even if I may have been kicked out of the program for missing time. But, I was too sick to go in, and my elderly patients did not need whatever illness I had. I'm a young, fairly healthy adult with a good immune system; most of the residents of LTC facilities are not. What is a uncomfortable, inconvient illness can be deadly for them.

As luck would have it, there were three of us sick and unable to make clinicals last week. We all went to our doctors, and were all diagnosed with the same illness. The incubation period would be accurate for us to have picked this up the week before in the LTC center. Maybe we did, maybe we didn't. We all spent a very uncomfortable week at home and (hopefully) will all be back in class and clinicals this week.

Our program has been kind enough to schedule us a time to make up the hours we have missed.

We are coming to the end of our second quarter! I can't wait for the week long break between classes!!

It's hard to believe how quickly this is all going. It seems like just last week I was starting nursing school; now here I am, almost finished with my second quarter! The pace of lecture and assignments is intense. We are constantly juggling multiple projects and homework assignments and seem to be always getting ready for the next test.

We took another ATI predictor test and according to the results, both my husband and my self have a 99% chance of passing the NCLEX. Wow! I'm in disbelief that I could have even a 10th of the knowledge necessary to perform as a RN.

Last week was our first week of second quarter clinicals. We are in the LTC setting again, I believe this is the last time we will be in LTC as we move to the hospital in summer quarter. This time we are being allowed to perform more nurse like duties. We can change dressings, insert or discontinue foley catheters, take blood glucose readings and give insulin and we get to do one med pass. I was challenged to work as a team with another classmate, and our assignment was 2 very heavy care residents and one fairly easy resident. By the end of this assignment, we were both exhausted and feeling much more nurse-like. And, although I went home both days completely worn out, I really loved every minute of it. This week helped silence the little voice in the back of my head that wondered if I was really headed into the correct career.

Today I head back to the LTC facility to pick out new residents for the rest of my second quarter clinical experience. I'm passing meds on Monday, so I was instructed to pick one resident with a nice long list of meds! I'll be spending the rest of the weekend looking up that long list of meds in my drug guide, and trying to get my project due this week finished so I don't have to work on it after clinicals.

"If you have time to read a book or enjoy an afternoon with family or friends, we aren't doing our jobs!"

True quote from one of our instructors. No joke.

Is it just me, or does that seem unreasonable? Yes it's a lot of material to cover, and we need to study a lot. But, are we just setting ourselves up for a miserable career if we don't teach ourselves to take time for ourselves? We are no good for anyone if we don't take a little bit of time to enjoy something other than our med-surg book.

Speaking of the med-surg book.... it's just no right! Books, even textbooks, should not be this thick and heavy! And we are assigned to read at least 150 pages a week in this book....

Still loving nursing school... the drama that comes with having that many women together for such a long period of time, not so much. Oh well, I have my happy little group that knows and loves me and I'm choosing not to entertain the rest of the nonsense.

Mid-terms are coming up quickly! It's a great excuse to spend lots of time together "studying."

It's been so long since I've been able to take the time to sit and write. Nursing school gets really busy, life gets really busy, and before you know it a whole month has flown by.

To make a long story shorter, my husband and I had our first round of clinicals. I was in morning, his was in the evening. And then I got sick on top of it all. So, I would be at the clinical location by 6:30 am, leave again at 2:30 pm, pick my youngest up from my babysitter where my husband had left him at 2 to go to his clinicals. Next it was off to pick the older kids up from the after school program and home for the evening routine. Dinner, homework, manage the house. All sporting a fever of 103, my husband would get home from his clinicals around 112 pm. I wanted to cry. I did cry. Our program does not allow you to miss any clinical time, so staying home was not an option.

After clinicals we had an ATI test, still no time to get to the doctor so went to that sick too. Somehow I tied for the highest score in the class, not sure how that happened. Finally made it to the doctor and got antibiotics. It took days to feel human again. Then we were running straight into finals week.

Finals were last week, and I did well. I wish I would have had more time to study, but thus is the life of a married/mothering nursing student. After our last final exam we went out as a group to celebrate the end of our first quarter. It's fun to get to hand out with the class outside of the classroom. For the most part, we are a really fun group of students that get along really well.

We also had a class picnic at a local park. Great fun! Got to meet a lot of the spouses and kids of class mates and it was nice to put some faces to names. The next day I left town with a group of girlfriends to have my very first spring break. Spending 4 days worrying about nothing and no one but myself was fabulous!

So, now I'm back and spring break is almost over. Another field trip with some of my class mates is scheduled for tomorrow, and I need to finish my assigned reading. Second quarter, here I come!

Oh, and first quarter grades have been posted. I earned two 3.9's, a 4.0, and a pass in my lab/clinical.

You dream of range of motion exercises at night.... and wake up actually doing range of motion exercises!

Yup, that was me. Our first clinical skills check off was this week, and though this was the most basic of the skill check offs we will ever have, we were all a little nervous. I enjoyed a late study group the night before and fell into bed exhausted. As I frequently do the night before a test, I dreamed of the material I needed to know the next day and awoke in the middle of raising my arm over my head, 'exercising' my shoulder.

Passed my first set of clinical skills!

In every group there seems to always be one person who can't help but try to stir up some drama. Is it from boredom? Does it make them feel more important, or noticed? As the person who prefers to sit in the back corner and be noticed as little as possible, I can't answer these questions.

We have one in our class. At first I thought it was going to be horrible sharing class with this person for the next 18 months. But then I realized that most others in our class seemed to share in my frustration with this person. And then, it was almost as though they realized that they weren't making any friends with their abrasive nature. They started being a bit quieter, less apt to force their way into every lecture and finding fewer nasty comments to throw out about our fellow class mates. It was really nice while it lasted.

The quiet is over.

Instead we are having to endure more and more harsh comments. Cutting down of more students. It just makes the whole class roll their eyes as this person interjects yet again. Some class mates seem to be more sensitive to this than others. More than a few students have received e-mails letting them know that the class as a whole did no agree with this person, and trying to smooth any hurt feelings that may have been caused.

A friend went to one of our instructors to get their opinion on what was going on and to ask if maybe an effort should be made to try to get the rest of the class to not be so frustrated by our pot stirrer. The conversation didn't mention names or identifying statements but the instructor did interject that she had seen the behaviors that were frustrating us, and asking my friend not to try to calm the class down, but to allow this person to dig whatever hole they were going to dig and live with the consequences.

Fair enough.

I'm so glad that I genuinely enjoy the company of the majority of my class mates.

Yesterday was our first clinical orientation. It felt a little weird, the group of us in uniform, touring the facility as though we belonged there. As is typical with many nursing programs, the organization is patchy at best. The head of the facility was asking our clinical instructor what we hoped to experience while in their facility... and our instructor had no idea. It all feels very fly by the seat of their pants. Surprisingly, I'm one of the students having the easiest time just going with the flow. Getting worked up about it wont make them any more organized, so it just isn't worth getting upset. So, in two weeks, my clinical group will head in and experience clinicals for the first time!

Our first few test scores are coming in, and so far I'm doing well. Really well! I'm not worried about failing out of my first quarter of nursing school anymore, and it feels good!

One of the questions I hear asked a lot... and a question I had myself is: How different is the nursing program from pre-reqs? Is the work load a lot more?

My answer: It's nearly impossible to explain to someone just what being in the nursing program is like. For us, the work load is intense. I compare it to your worst, most crazy, hell week from A&P... that would be your coasting week in nursing school. There is this whole new level of homework to do, projects to collaborate on, and tests to study for. One of the big differences between pre-reqs and nursing school is that in my pre-reqs the instructor tried to balance the work. We generally did not have a big test, and big paper or project all due at the same time. In my nursing classes we frequently have a few major things due all at once, and for multiple classes. An example of this would be coming up in 3 weeks. We have a major paper due Wednesday, as well as a test for that class. The class later in the day has the ATI test. The next day we have another major project and presentation. And we have 2 clinical days, 8 hours each, on Monday and Tuesday, so we can't plan to have any time to study on those days.

We are learning to lean on each other to get through. This is something that our instructors have noticed, and are thrilled with. The 2 classes preceding ours have not been nearly as cohesive as our group has already become. We have a group e-mail list that is in nearly constant use. study groups, help with a homework question, proofing of papers... cheering each other on. I like this very much about our group!

There is no quicker way to make a bad impression to your clinical instructor than to show up to orientation at your clinical location over 30 monutes late, not in uniform and your only excuse was not knowing where the facility was.

Thankfully, I made no such error and can now feel fairly confident that I'm not the most dislilked student.

It's hard to believe we've completed a month already! On the other hand, I can't believe it's only been a month!

Last week was a quadruple stress, with 3 tests and a research paper, plus our normal weekly homework. The stress was palpable in class Wednesday morning, and there was crying in the hall after the test. Not me, thankfully. I didn't do as well on that first test as I had hoped, but it was enough to pass with room to spare.

So, even though we have another midterm this week, we are all feeling like we have less of an impossible task in front of us. Just our normal homework, reading and studying for one test... doable!

I think things are about to take a turn towards slightly more challenging in our clinical labs. We've gone over washing our hands, throwing our paper towel away, making the beds (with mitered corners!), bed baths, range of motion and vital signs. Next lab will show us how to do a head to toe assessment, and the week after we will be clinical skills checkoffs.

Why, yes I am! This paper has sucked every last drop of motivation out of me. I only have my conclusion, a little revision, and my references page left to do. Logically, I know I could finish in less than 2 hours.... but I'd much rather not.

Kids are fighting, must go play mom!

As with any nursing school (I hope!) our work load is getting heavier as the quarter progresses. This coming up week has a research paper due (our first in APA format, which is enough to make any nursing student want to cry), as well as 2 tests and a midterm. This is on top of our normal homework, and we have a lab also.

As a group, we are coming closer together. Group e-mails are hitting my in-box several times a day as we all do the best we can to help each other through this craziness. This is what I've been waiting for... the great group effort vs the aggressive competition.

Instead of working on my research paper, I went with my daughter, my best friend and her daughter to a dance class at the local high school. The girls were dropped off at 11 am to work on learning a dance routine in 5 hours. We picked them back up again at 4pm, fed them dinner and rested (us, they played) until heading back to the school at 7pm so the group could perform during half time of the high school basketball game.

A big treat for my friend and I... we were not allowed to stay with the girls as they learned the new dance routine. And since we had told our families that we would be with the young girls, we found ourselves with a few hours to use as we wanted! We didn't tell the men about our new freedom, we just snuck off to enjoy the afternoon! It was great! And I think we came back refreshed and ready to tackle our family responsibilities again.

Tomorrow I must finish my research paper!

Just looked ahead to next weeks schedule. Eeek! 3 tests and a major research paper due, plus whatever homework is assigned this week!

I've always been a lover of school supplies. I loved getting new pencils and pens and binders and a new backpack at the beginning of the school year. Being an adult college student hasn't changed that. What I am finding, though, is that over the years I have found some tried and true supplies that I love. These are the supplies that I always come back to after trying the newest fad and finding it not to my satisfaction...

My husband bought this bag for me from amazon.com last year for Christmas.


It all started when my husband decided he wanted a messenger bag to carry his laptop in. I spent days searching amazon.com for just the right bag. I kept coming back to this bag, and attempted to convince my husband that this was the bag he wanted. He didn't agree and I ended up buying a different bag for him, but was sad that this perfect bag would not be coming to my house. I know my husband, and he never sticks with anything for very long. I had figured that if I could get him to want this bag I could use it once he was on to something new. Instead he bought me the bag as a surprise.

I love this bag. It does everything I need my bag to do with style. The craftsmanship is fantastic, it still looks new after a year of abuse. On the inside there is a laptop compartment lined with corduroy fabric and great padding. I don't have to worry that my laptop is going to be abused while in my bag. There is also just the right amount of organizing pockets on the inside. Two pen holders and 3 larger pockets that fit my graphing calculator perfectly! Under the front flap are two zippered compartments. I find them to be the perfect size to toss in a book, or a can of pop and snack, or my day planner! They seem to be slightly padded also, and this works well when I have a can of pop of yogurt... my snack is still cold when I'm ready to eat! Next, the outside of the flap; there are 3 pockets, one with a grommet that allows you to put your MP3 player inside and have your earbuds threaded out the grommet. This zippered pocket often has my wallet and keys for quick, but protected, access. On the sides of the bag are 2 pockets. One has a gusset and is designed to carry your water bottle. The other does not have a gusset, but smaller water bottles would be fine. On the back of the bag is one last zippered pocket, perfect for a folder or some papers. There is also ample padding on the back of the bag so you aren't beating yourself up with your heavy bag on your way to class.

I see this bag taking me through nursing school and well beyond, I have no disappointments what so ever.

So now you've gotten to class and it's time to take notes. I have one preferred pen, and one mechanical pencil.


I'm sure everyone has seen the RSVP pens. I've used them since high school. It never fails that I am in some store and see a new pen that promises to be everything you've ever dreamed about in a pen. I buy the new shiny pen, take it home and decide this new pen was not worth the money I paid for it. And then I'm very happy that I have my trusty RSVP pens waiting for me. I find the ink quality to be great, not skipping and refusing to wright every other letter but not flooding the paper and leaving streaks. I'm left handed, so I have trouble with pens smearing onto my hand and then smudging across my paper. These come in colors also, which I really loved in Chemistry. My instructor would color code our chemical equations and I would copy it down in full color. They are cheap too... bonus!


These pencils have saved my hands. Having an autoimmune disease, the joints in my fingers can become swollen and painful. This pencil is the right mix of not too heavy, nice wide barrel and comfortable cushion grip. The thing that seals the deal for me is the metal tip on this pencil. I had another pencil that I was quite fond of, however by the end of one quarter I had broken the plastic tips on two. I have had the same sumo grip pencil for over a year now, and no breaking! I have purchased two more to carry in my bag in case the unthinkable happens and I lose one somewhere, or the manufacturer decides not to sell these wonderful things anymore. Also, they come in three different lead sizes; 0.9, 0.7 and 0.5. I like to use 0.5 lead as I like the small precise line I get. Others prefer the silkier line of the 0.9, everyone loves this pencil after they pick it up.

One more and then I'll let your eyes (and credit card!) rest.


I see I've already lost most of you, but wait! I too am a coffee snob. I live in Washington, love of coffee is a requirement. My husband and I have gone through not a small number of coffee pots in search of the perfect one. For us, for everyday coffee, this is it.

I can't say a lot about the K-cups that come all ready to be tossed in this machine and made into coffee, we use the filter that came with, and freshly grind our own beans. But, the convenience of this little machine means that I never have to whine about the coffee being 'old' and 'yucky!' which was anytime the coffee had sat more than 30 minutes. The tricks to great coffee (beyond working as a barista and knowing what it takes to make good coffee) is good beans, freshly ground, served and drank immediately. No really, it's imperative.

The younger members of the family also love this machine. Since the water reservoir is keeps the water ready all the time, there is much more cocoa and tea for them.

The one downside we have found is that since coffee is always an option, we find ourselves drinking considerably more coffee than before.

If anyone is still reading... I need suggestions for the perfect highlighter. I hate highlighters that smear the ink all over your page. Anyone?

Today was our first test in Therapeutic Communications. It went better, and worse!, than anticipated. Most of the questions it was easy to pick the right answer. There were 2 short answer questions, and one of them was a fairly detailed question from a chapter we didn't cover and had been told to just skim the basics when studying. Drat! Both my husband and I had 3 multiple choice questions that we waffled back and forth between two answers (same 3 questions out of the whole test) and funny enough... we picked the opposite answer on all 3. It will be interesting to see if one of us gets all three right or it it's a mixed bag.

In Pharmacology we went over some sample NCLEX questions, lectured a little bit on mechanism of action of medications, and then got out of class nearly 2 hours early! And, she doesn't feel like grading homework next week so she told us no homework!

Another class tomorrow and then we are done with week 3... man this is flying by!

Sorry I haven't updated! I was putting together a post about my favorite things for school... and then put that off while I studied. Then I wanted to update about how class was going, but again I ended up studying instead. And then I had the worst weekend I've had in a long time... and then I was studying again. You get the idea.

So..

School is still going pretty well, I think. The one common theme of nursing schools seems to be the mass confusion and lack or organization. It's not as bad as some programs I've heard of, but we are all still walking around in a daze trying to figure everything out.

Our first test is on Wednesday morning. In Therapeutic Communications. She gave us a quick list of what to study, but there are still many e-mails traveling between us students trying to figure out what she meant by nursing theory, the basics. She also told us not to study too much. Half of me hopes this is her way of assuring us that this first test wont be any big deal. The other half cynically feels that we have been thrown to the wolves.

Must go study more!

I have a lot of reading that I need to complete for my Therapeutic Communications class, and I'm struggling with it. It's not that I don't want to be a compassionate nurse, I absolutely do. But, the reading for this class is the quickest way to get me to fall asleep... the text is very dry and dull. I'm a bit nervous about this, as I don't know what the exams for this class are going to look like. It would be easier if I knew that reading through it quickly would give me enough of the information that I could do well on the tests. Also, if I really do need to study each and every word, it would be nice to know that now.

One other complaint. I wish we had been given an idea of what classes we are taking and when. I like to look ahead and see what is coming next. And, when there is a class that just doesn't flip your skirt up... it would be nice to know if you have another round of it next quarter or if the end is in sight.

Now on to the good things.

My lab group had our first clinical lab today. It was neat to see us all gathered together in our uniforms and as much as I wanted to complain about the uniform, it did make me feel part of a team instead of just a lone student. I chatted with a few people I hadn't gotten to know before, and also had the opportunity to rub elbows with the second year students. Funny how they look all calm and relaxed and we (the first years) look like we are waiting for the fire alarm to go off!

Today's important lesson was how to wash our hands... and throw our paper towel away! Hey, at least I have one skill checked off!

Today was our first day of Therapeutic Communications and Pharmacology. Therapeutic Communications scares me. There seems to be a lot of busy work mixed in with a lot of heavy work and group projects. This will be the class that attempts to make us all as culturally compassionate as possible. Very important, I know... and also not terribly exciting for me. I'm already dreading the long research papers... and writing in APA format!

Pharmacology is really interesting. It helps that our instructor does not necessarily follow the "pills and doctors are the only way" mentality. Mixed in with learning about generic drug names vs trade names was discussion on herbal medicine and other non-western medicine approaches. She also talked with us about medication errors, and personal flaws of some past nursing cohorts. Not in a bad way, but letting us know that some nurses will go to great lengths to divert medications, and you are often shocked that nurses you really thought were completely upstanding may have dark secrets.

I felt that both instructors really wanted us to succeed, and enjoy teaching. And, they made it all seem not so scary. Which is sort of scary.

Yay! I made it!

Today was our final orientation into the nursing program. There has been much printing of pages and other preparations going on at my house. We were instructed to print and bring both the student handbook and clinical handbooks, to the tune of 70 pages each. The classroom was a-buzz with excitement. People introducing themselves, comparing stories and wondering about just what kind of adventure we had signed ourselves up for.

We were scheduled for 2 hours, but ended up finishing in just over an hour. It was really nice to reconnect with classmates, and my work study people. We also managed to spend some time with the year two nursing students and let them reassure us that we would survive this.

My husband has noticed that now that we are nursing students instead of general students, we all kind of group together and almost seem not to notice the non-nursing students anymore. I know this is more obvious for him than it is for me, as my work study position doesn't have me interacting with the students a whole lot anyway, and his is very student oriented. I think, for the most part, this banding together is normal. For over a year we have all been competing for slots in the nursing program. Now, we have made it, the competition is over. Now, we can focus on working together to get through these next 18 months. The last 2 graduating classes haven't lost a single student. I hope our class can achieve the same.

Today was not done with the completion of orientation. Next was the long wait in the Financial Aid line, all of us hoping that this quarter our grants and scholarships and loans had been processed correctly and there would be a check waiting. My luck was better than my husbands. I'm not sure we would know what to do if both of our checks was correct on the first day of class, how could we miss out on our quarterly visit with our favorite Financial Aid person?

The next order of business was finishing up getting the kids paperwork for their before and after school care program filled out and turned in. Another 30 pages from the printer, and one hand cramp later; I can't help but think there has to be a more efficient way to do this? Why do we need paperwork in triplicate for each of my 3 children?

Paperwork complete, I headed in to visit my doctor and rolled up my sleeve for my third, and last!, Hepatitis vaccine. I'm so glad to have that over with! Now, with luck, I can stay out of the doctors office long enough for people to not know my name and birthday by heart.

Upon arriving home I found e-mails from my instructors, providing syllabuses for our classes... Again, please print out and bring to the next class. Another 50 pages each, for myself and hubby puked forth from the tired printer. the printer had now informed me that I need new ink.

At least I have my financial aid check so I can afford printer ink!

Tomorrow morning we have our orientation! I should be sleeping, but I'm a bit too worked up. Not really nervous, or anxious... and not entirely excited, I can't really describe it. Whatever it is, I've been up folding laundry and puttering around the house.

Ready or not, here we go!

I wonder just how many blog posts have that title today? Probably a huge majority.

The last two days of the year were spent tying up lose ends in preparation for starting school on Monday. We managed to get everything done, with one small exception that I hope to finish up with on Monday.

On the 30th Mike and I drove in to Seattle to complete our CPR for health care providers. I had not previously taken the health care provider specific course, but had heard quite a bit about it from friends. The general consensus was that in many ways the health care provider course was easier than the basic CPR course. It is assumed that you know how to perform CPR, and that most likely you will be performing CPR in a hospital setting which is quite different than CPR in the field.

The instructor for this course did not follow that plan. It was the same old dummy on the floor. Everyone else has said that in their class the dummies were on the tables, as in the hospital you wont be coding people on the floor.

I tried my best, but despite a stellar performance, my dummy was still in the plastic and dead category when I left.

On the 31st we ordered our text books. I think we saved about $200 by ordering from amazon.com instead of buying from the college bookstore. We are also trying out amazon prime, so shipping was free! And, since we saved so much we treated ourselves to a couple things we thought might be helpful. We got a student nurse planner that had many great reviews, and a care plan/nursing diagnosis book that was also highly spoke of.

So, now we just have to get the house ready to be neglected and write up a meal plan for the first couple weeks.

We had a nice quiet evening at home with the kids. We ordered take out Chinese, and had root beer floats for dessert. Then we gathered around the TV to watch a movie and play wii. We received a couple fun family games for Christmas, and the kids had fun playing into the wee hours of the morning.

Just a couple days until we start classes!