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!