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!

This book was on our required textbook list for Winter Quarter, and since it isn't a textbook at all I figured it was reasonable to assume that at some point we would be required to read it and possibly write some sort of book report. Who knows how much time I will have to spend a leisurely afternoon reading, so I decided to go ahead and get it out of the way before the quarter starts.

One funny thing about me: I love to read until a book becomes assigned reading. I'm betting if I had found this book on my own I would be tucked into the papasan chair reading while my children destroyed the house around me. Once I am required to read something... it's suddenly much less appealing. As such, I am two pages in to the second chapter.

Is anyone reading anything interesting over the holidays? I have a fun book to reward myself with as soon as I finish this. I'll be sure to let you know my thoughts when I finish.

Yesterday was one of those days where very little went as planned. Originally on the schedule was Santa pictures in the morning, followed by a nap, Christmas crafts with the kids. Concluding the evening with a drive with my best friend and our children, sipping hot cocoa and looking at Christmas lights.

Instead, after doing Santa pictures with the kids I went in to check on the elderly family member we are caring for. I intended to get her all tucked in for a nap and then head in to lay down for awhile myself. When I got to her room, I found that she was not well. I knew right away that we were heading to the hospital, but called her home health care nurse anyway. She also wanted us to seek medical care. It was decided that she was feeling poorly enough that transporting her in one of our vehicles would be very uncomfortable, and possibly dangerous, so we called for an ambulance transport. And then I called to cancel our evening plans.

I have come to the point that I generally don't mention my pending nursing school, preferring instead to be a 'commoner', but my medical speak that is so second nature gave me away. The medics that came to transport us to the hospital took down my quick report and in the next quiet moment asked if I had medical training. We explained that we were both accepted into the nursing program, and that my husband had worked for this very ambulance company previously. They were thrilled that I had her current medications all laid out for them to easily copy down and we were ready to go in just a few short minutes.

I opted to ride with my father instead of in the ambulance and we followed them in. When the ambulance pulled to the side of the road with it's flashers on I watched for a moment and then let my worried father know that since the driver wasn't leaving the drivers seat to assist in the back it was likely that they were just pulled over while the medic placed an IV line. Better to place them while the rig is still if you have the luxury.

Thankfully, our hospital stay was short... she was discharged again 8 hours later. And, as we could not have given the required treatment at home, it was a necessary visit. I feel good about making the call to transport, we didn't waste their time with something that could have been handled elsewhere and we didn't wait too long and thus prolong her stay.

I was impressed with the level of compassion and care we received. It was obvious that there were many patients to be seen, and yet the time we spent with doctors, nurses and techs didn't feel rushed. The nurse was very surprised when I offered to glove up and help her get the patient cleaned up and ready to go home.

I couldn't help but feel caught in limbo while I was there. I've not yet received any nursing training so I'm not one of them... but I know more than the normal family member in the ER with a patient. Also, although it would seem like being with a patient in the hospital would be easy, I came home exhausted and with one of the worst headaches of my life. Just another experience to carry with me as I learn to be a compassionate nurse not just for my patients, but also for those with them.

We went to get santa pictures taken of the kids today. After waiting in line for just over an hour, and being told that the estimated wait was another 3 hours we decided to call it a day. I'm going back with them in the morning, planning to arrive an hour before the pictures start in order to get a good place in line. Yeah, we'll still be sitting there for an hour, but hopefully we can just sit and wait instead of taking a step forward every five minutes.

We could go somewhere else, but this place does a really great job... and they are free! The free part makes the wait almost worth it, especially since the local mall charges $25 now. I had hoped to pic up one of the required reading books for one of my classes, but after visiting with family all afternoon we had a nice quiet evening. I guess I'll be reading for fun while waiting in line instead... and having coffee!

I think we finished our Christmas shopping in record time this year! We didn't start until last Saturday, and Friday morning we finished! It's nice to have it done and out of the way before the kids were out of school for winter break. I've got a bunch of wrapping to do, but I really don't mind.

Just a couple more weeks and we'll be in nursing school!