Things are crazy busy and I think that's going to be the general theme until Thanksgiving (clinicals will end). Not sure I'll be writing much here due to needing to stick to priorities.
On the good side. I've remained sick-free despite a house guest who got strep while she was with me, AND last week the twins of my artist boss were home sick with the vomits. However, I did accidentally tear/rip off fingernail right at the top near cuticle. It's red and sore! Thank goodness my mom gave me some antibiotic ointment for it (that expired in 2008). Hopefully my finger won't fall off.
My second Nurse-Client Interaction is due this Monday (Psych clinical). HATE writing these up. Then Psych Test on Tuesday. And on Tuesday, I'll be prepping for not one, but two patients for Wednesday's clinical. Think it will be good to have two patients. Challenging for sure! But the paperwork might just kill me, if we have to do double paperwork. It already takes me 8-9 hours to prep for one patient (believe me, it's a ton of work), but how do you find another 8 hours and still get sleep? Bleh. Not looking forward to Tuesday.
And in other news... right now it's snowing about an hour from here. Tonight driving home from campus, I'm pretty sure that I saw flakes mixed in with the rain. Crazy early to be having snow! Wow. But I love the idea...even if we aren't getting any accumulations. I'm hoping for a lot of snow this winter, but only during my holiday break!!!
Cheers.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Neuro-tastic!
After weeks and weeks of neuro lectures, we are finally being tested on it!
As I write, I'm having an episode of my intermittent "flash headaches" -- which are MY term for these strange little quick bursts of pain in my skull that come and go intermittently with no explanation. Often will have several "flashes" within an hour and then they disappear for weeks. Maybe it's linked to my hormones. Hmm? Well, after studying neuro and all things brain-oriented, I'm a bit more paranoid. Granted I'll be paranoid after the renal section too! It's just the nature of the nursing school beast. I'm actually very grateful for how healthy I've been while in school. I've never missed a clinical day due to being ill. I think my very first clinical day ever, I was coming down with a cold. But NOTHING since then. Um, maybe I should not have said anything. Don't want to be jinxing that! I think largely my healthy status has been thanks to living alone. No one else to drag home germs and leave them in dubious places for me to pick up. I also think kissing is also probably linked to germ transmission (ya think?)...and I'm not kissing any cute little faces or a handsome masculine one... So being single certainly does have its perks.
Like I said, Med-Surg neuro test tomorrow. I spent all of Fall Break getting my lecture notes typed up and completing my 4-part study guide and going back and reading the text when my lecture notes weren't making any sense. On Monday, I spent about 90 minutes at the gym studying. And tonight, I spent another 120 minutes. As mentioned in a previous post, I'm not only able to stay awake while studying, but I'm burning calories too. Win-win. But I'm also in this silly contest at my gym to lose 8 lbs in 8 weeks (the 8 weeks prior to Thanksgiving). Sadly, I had a big weekly loss right before the start of the contest, so my body is not really all that interesting in losing. Only 0.9 lbs in 2 weeks is rough when I need to be averaging a pound a week. Oh well, I'm keeping at it and not giving up. Maybe I'll have another couple big losses to carry me? So the timing of my tests over the next few weeks, might be what I need--especially if I still with the gym-study method. haha.
Oh, Simulation Day wasn't that big of a deal. It was fun, helpful and I wish we could it more often. In clinicals (our real-life experience) 99% of the time we've got stable patients that we are assigned to. It's nice to be thrown into some complicated, de-sating patient scenarios to get us thinking! I'm not saying that today was easy content, but learning from our peers and from the scenario is helpful for embedding information into our brains. I understand that the nursing program also has a pregnant "dummy" that gives birth. How cool. I hope we get to utilize this next semester.
Tomorrow after lecture (and test) I'll be spending some time with a First Year Nursing Student in the same program I'm in. They've started a mentoring program for anyone wishing to be mentored. I of course was wishing for this last year, so it's good to be a part of the solution. So tomorrow is a "get to know you" and a chance for her to ask some burning questions. Our plan is to head out on a beautiful, local walking path near the campus. Chance to de-stress after my exam, get some exercise (again!) and help a fellow nursing student out! Win-win-win! I'm hoping the sun will come out and dry up all the rain we've had. I'm expecting the colors will be beautiful along the trail! Yay!
Well, I need to get my stuff together for tomorrow, do a final look through of notes and head for bed.
Cheers.
As I write, I'm having an episode of my intermittent "flash headaches" -- which are MY term for these strange little quick bursts of pain in my skull that come and go intermittently with no explanation. Often will have several "flashes" within an hour and then they disappear for weeks. Maybe it's linked to my hormones. Hmm? Well, after studying neuro and all things brain-oriented, I'm a bit more paranoid. Granted I'll be paranoid after the renal section too! It's just the nature of the nursing school beast. I'm actually very grateful for how healthy I've been while in school. I've never missed a clinical day due to being ill. I think my very first clinical day ever, I was coming down with a cold. But NOTHING since then. Um, maybe I should not have said anything. Don't want to be jinxing that! I think largely my healthy status has been thanks to living alone. No one else to drag home germs and leave them in dubious places for me to pick up. I also think kissing is also probably linked to germ transmission (ya think?)...and I'm not kissing any cute little faces or a handsome masculine one... So being single certainly does have its perks.
Like I said, Med-Surg neuro test tomorrow. I spent all of Fall Break getting my lecture notes typed up and completing my 4-part study guide and going back and reading the text when my lecture notes weren't making any sense. On Monday, I spent about 90 minutes at the gym studying. And tonight, I spent another 120 minutes. As mentioned in a previous post, I'm not only able to stay awake while studying, but I'm burning calories too. Win-win. But I'm also in this silly contest at my gym to lose 8 lbs in 8 weeks (the 8 weeks prior to Thanksgiving). Sadly, I had a big weekly loss right before the start of the contest, so my body is not really all that interesting in losing. Only 0.9 lbs in 2 weeks is rough when I need to be averaging a pound a week. Oh well, I'm keeping at it and not giving up. Maybe I'll have another couple big losses to carry me? So the timing of my tests over the next few weeks, might be what I need--especially if I still with the gym-study method. haha.
Oh, Simulation Day wasn't that big of a deal. It was fun, helpful and I wish we could it more often. In clinicals (our real-life experience) 99% of the time we've got stable patients that we are assigned to. It's nice to be thrown into some complicated, de-sating patient scenarios to get us thinking! I'm not saying that today was easy content, but learning from our peers and from the scenario is helpful for embedding information into our brains. I understand that the nursing program also has a pregnant "dummy" that gives birth. How cool. I hope we get to utilize this next semester.
Tomorrow after lecture (and test) I'll be spending some time with a First Year Nursing Student in the same program I'm in. They've started a mentoring program for anyone wishing to be mentored. I of course was wishing for this last year, so it's good to be a part of the solution. So tomorrow is a "get to know you" and a chance for her to ask some burning questions. Our plan is to head out on a beautiful, local walking path near the campus. Chance to de-stress after my exam, get some exercise (again!) and help a fellow nursing student out! Win-win-win! I'm hoping the sun will come out and dry up all the rain we've had. I'm expecting the colors will be beautiful along the trail! Yay!
Well, I need to get my stuff together for tomorrow, do a final look through of notes and head for bed.
Cheers.
Monday, October 17, 2011
It's Fall Break!
...but that doesn't really mean much when you've got Test 2 in Med-Surg coming up this week. Neuro is the topic of choice this time.
But Fall Break always signals that we've made it half way through fall semester, which does bring a little joy. My clinical mates and I have been counting down clinical prep days for weeks now. The semester doesn't end until mid-December when we have exams, but clinicals end before Thanksgiving! So we are definitely past the half-way mark in terms of clinicals. Let's see... 5 Psych clinical days left and four Med-Surg clinical days and prep days left. This week, due to Fall Break, we won't have a clinical day at the hospital on Wednesday. Instead we'll be heading to campus for a Simulation Day. The instructors have designed "stations" for us to rotate through with scenarios. Sounds fun, but a little nerve wracking too (and certainly opportunities for embarrassment). From my understanding, each clinical group (nine nursing students) will work through each station/scenario with our clinical instructor. Sounds like a bad episode of Grey's Anatomy. Thank goodness we aren't surgeons! :D
Well, it looks like I will be working for the same business over Christmas that I did last year. And because there are some changes to the family gathering and when Christmas actually falls this year, it looks like I will be able to work more hours. More hours means more money earned, which will certainly come in handy next semester. It's a very tiring job where I'm walking and bending/climbing ladders for 8 hours straight in a warehouse (okay, not during lunch), but at least it pays double digits per hour. So now I just need to work out what days and shift I want to work. Last year I worked 7 to 3, Monday through Wednesday. This year I think I'm going to switch to working 9 to 5 and try to get to the gym before work. That way, I can spend my evenings Christmas shopping or hanging out with friends--neither of which I can do at 6am. But the other question is how many days will I work? I'm not sure yet if the artist will need me over the holidays. It's so iffy with her sometimes. I can carve out one morning a week for her, but she might email me the day before and cancel...which is annoying when I COULD've been scheduled to work at the warehouse. However, if I do work for her, I'd earn $5 more/hour than I would at the warehouse. So.... decisions, decisions. I've emailed the artist so she could think about whether she'd want/need me over Christmas (when her kids are off school), so guess I'll wait and see what she's thinking. But it's just really nice to know that I've got a job for a few weeks over break. Not much time for myself, but it's probably a good thing that I'll be keeping busy with no time to get used to being lazy. It would be nice to possibly get some reading done for next semester, but I think that's highly unlikely!
For weeks I've known that over Fall Break I would need to resupply my stock of soup in the freezer. So far, I've made up two batches of soup - Butternut Squash and a Harvest Soup (lentils, rice, veggies and chicken). I still need to make up several batches of my favorite White Turkey Chili - which is my preferred soup to carry to clinicals. It's also a "comfort" food for me too...great for exam week! But I'm kinda running out of time...I'm hoping to get through bulk of my test-studying today and that will leave me time to make soup tomorrow. I might have some time this coming weekend too, but really don't want to count on that.
Okay, back to studying...
But Fall Break always signals that we've made it half way through fall semester, which does bring a little joy. My clinical mates and I have been counting down clinical prep days for weeks now. The semester doesn't end until mid-December when we have exams, but clinicals end before Thanksgiving! So we are definitely past the half-way mark in terms of clinicals. Let's see... 5 Psych clinical days left and four Med-Surg clinical days and prep days left. This week, due to Fall Break, we won't have a clinical day at the hospital on Wednesday. Instead we'll be heading to campus for a Simulation Day. The instructors have designed "stations" for us to rotate through with scenarios. Sounds fun, but a little nerve wracking too (and certainly opportunities for embarrassment). From my understanding, each clinical group (nine nursing students) will work through each station/scenario with our clinical instructor. Sounds like a bad episode of Grey's Anatomy. Thank goodness we aren't surgeons! :D
Well, it looks like I will be working for the same business over Christmas that I did last year. And because there are some changes to the family gathering and when Christmas actually falls this year, it looks like I will be able to work more hours. More hours means more money earned, which will certainly come in handy next semester. It's a very tiring job where I'm walking and bending/climbing ladders for 8 hours straight in a warehouse (okay, not during lunch), but at least it pays double digits per hour. So now I just need to work out what days and shift I want to work. Last year I worked 7 to 3, Monday through Wednesday. This year I think I'm going to switch to working 9 to 5 and try to get to the gym before work. That way, I can spend my evenings Christmas shopping or hanging out with friends--neither of which I can do at 6am. But the other question is how many days will I work? I'm not sure yet if the artist will need me over the holidays. It's so iffy with her sometimes. I can carve out one morning a week for her, but she might email me the day before and cancel...which is annoying when I COULD've been scheduled to work at the warehouse. However, if I do work for her, I'd earn $5 more/hour than I would at the warehouse. So.... decisions, decisions. I've emailed the artist so she could think about whether she'd want/need me over Christmas (when her kids are off school), so guess I'll wait and see what she's thinking. But it's just really nice to know that I've got a job for a few weeks over break. Not much time for myself, but it's probably a good thing that I'll be keeping busy with no time to get used to being lazy. It would be nice to possibly get some reading done for next semester, but I think that's highly unlikely!
For weeks I've known that over Fall Break I would need to resupply my stock of soup in the freezer. So far, I've made up two batches of soup - Butternut Squash and a Harvest Soup (lentils, rice, veggies and chicken). I still need to make up several batches of my favorite White Turkey Chili - which is my preferred soup to carry to clinicals. It's also a "comfort" food for me too...great for exam week! But I'm kinda running out of time...I'm hoping to get through bulk of my test-studying today and that will leave me time to make soup tomorrow. I might have some time this coming weekend too, but really don't want to count on that.
Okay, back to studying...
Monday, October 10, 2011
Unexpected
For the past two weeks in my psych clinic, I have been talking with a woman who has been homeless since 2004. "According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness. In comparison, only 6% of Americans are severely mentally ill." (Link to data here). So far this semester, I have struggled in my psych clinicals to feel any sense of calling to that population in an intentional way. We have been reminded several times that wherever we go as nurses, in whatever field we chose, there will ALWAYS be patients that we will come across with mental health disorders... OB/GYN, Peds, Surgical, General Medicine, Cardiac, Home Health, Schools, Public Health, etc... So it IS important for nursing students to have this experience. It's usually the least favorite clinical, but I think for me, it has served it's purpose of opening my eyes to the plight of those who suffer from mental illness. And it makes me especially grateful for my stress and trauma-free childhood and adolescence years and for my parent's loving attention as they taught me how to live and cope with what life throws my way.
Today, my client's story really got to me. While her mental illness does significantly complicate things for her, I was struck by the plight of the homeless...and even more so, the homeless with mental illness. Imagine losing your home. Imagine not having any family or friends that can provide shelter or assistance. Imagine sleeping on park benches in DC. Imagine having your belongings stolen as you sleep. Imagine having your ID lost or stolen. Imagine not being able to change your circumstances (with a job or schooling) because you don't have any way of proving your identity or education. Imagine being physically and sexually assaulted. Imagine living on the streets alone having hallucinations or delusions or paranoia due to a psychiatric disorder. Imagine not having any personal means to feed yourself, buy medicines, or get a shower. Imagine not having a mailing address (which is important for any paperwork or government assistance - most of which require proof of domicile).
Today I asked my client to list out some positives of staying at the psychiatric hospital (most of them want to leave!). While she does not want to be there, she listed the following as positives, in order of importance to her):
- Soft bed!!!
- Inside protected from elements and extreme temperatures.
- BINGO (chance to win good, useful prizes - like calling cards, personal care items, snacks...)
- Three solid meals a day
- Getting a chance to talk to people (other patients) and freedom to voice my opinion
- Safe.
- Fresh air (occasionally going outside--not common at the jail where she came from)
- Access to medications.
Telling huh? Certainly all things that I take for granted on a daily basis!
Anyways, her story left me wondering what I could do as a nurse for the homeless population? What would it look like to be a nurse that primarily serves that population? Would it be something I could do full-time? or is it more as a volunteer? What programs exist in the major cities (with large numbers of the homeless) that utilize RNs in their list of services/programs?
I was kinda shocked when I started having thoughts like this while talking to her. Does this mean I should be considering psychiatric nursing as a field to pursue? I'm not sure. I still don't feel called to psychiatric nursing in general, but perhaps there's something here that I need to continue thinking about and researching. There are certainly opportunities to work with the homeless in my community now. And while I can't really add volunteer work during the semester, perhaps I can do some shadowing or exploring of opportunities over Christmas break. I always have lofty goals of shadowing, but they rarely seem to come to fruition. I still haven't gotten to the jail/detention center yet or to the funeral home to witness embalming. :( However, EVENTUALLY, it will happen! Maybe I am just am too optimistic when it comes to my time?
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Random Thoughts
Twenty pounds down! Have lost inches all over. Down a little over a size and half. I feel so much better physically and emotionally. I am very hopeful that I will meet my Thanksgiving and Christmas goals...and ultimately my graduation weight goals. Hard to know how that will translate in terms of size/appearance, but it will be what it will be. Just need to stay healthy! In the past, colds have usually taken me off track of my exercise regime. I'm hopeful that even if I do get sick that this time I will be able to jump back in quickly since my school and gym schedules sync so nicely. Right now I'm soooo craving pumpkin cookies. I've got mixes here that I refuse to make up for fear that I will just consume them all in a few days. I'm scared to bake them up...but I REALLY want one. I'm thinking I might make a batch for my clinical group in the coming weeks...that way I can enjoy a few without consuming all 2 dozen! ack.
My back has been doing well too. I discontinued my weekly adjustments when school started and it's only been this past week that I've thought about scheduling an appointment with my chiropractor for a "tune up". My neck feels like I've lost a little ROM with side to side rotation. And yesterday my lower back was screaming at me during the 30 minutes I spent planting pansies for my boss [bending at the waist :( ]. I wish I could afford a weekly massage or bi-monthly massage, but that will have to wait until I'm employed full-time.
This is my FAVORITE time of year. I love fall. I love autumn. I love the sights, smells, and romance of autumn. I love the nostalgia that comes with it of past autumns. And I just love the types of things and events that are planned for this time of year: corn mazes, apple festivals, bonfires, etc.. Sadly, it already feels like it's racing by, but in actuality the leaves have just barely started to change in places. I think I'm just feeling left out as school keeps me busy and makes it difficult to get out and enjoying the local festivals and events with friends. Plus I'm just feeling disconnected from my friends in general. However, I did get to join in a birthday celebration last night which was desperately needed, but I long for the day when I will be able to do things a bit more spontaneously and not worry about school deadlines, time, money, etc.
I'm not in any mood to write about school. It's going fine, but nothing really to write about. The question I get most often these days is "Do you know what field or type of nursing you want to do?" Yeh, kinda, but that's another post all together.
I'm also thinking about where I want to be and live after I graduate. I have a GREAT place to live rent-free right now and the homeowners are not expected to return back for at least a year, perhaps two. Their daughter is returning from overseas in December I think, so that adds a bit of uncertainty into the mix. But in general, I need to decide if I want to stay here in Charlottesville or if I'm ready to re-launch in another city/state. Returning to South Carolina is appealing on some levels, but other than that, I have no idea where I'd want to go. I just know that Charlottesville is soooo transient and many of my very dear friends have moved away over the past ten years. My personality is also such that I am a "here and now" kind of girl and despite my desire/intentions to follow-up with people and be a good friend, I am just lousy at being a persistent and consistent. Living overseas for a year unfortunately allowed for several friendships to fizzle while I was gone - they moved on to more fulfilling friendships and/or boyfriends/spouses. And now returning to school has made it difficult to be available - even when there are invitations out there. Unfortunately for my friends, I need to be pursued, otherwise the here and now gets to me. And sadly because I'm such a lousy pursuer myself, it's pretty like that my friends feel unloved, unsupported and abandoned. Everyone wants to be pursued in some measure to know that they are valuable to the other person. Being a friend is a huge weakness in my character and personality. I'm not sure why I'm wired this way, but I have theories that it's something from my past that continues to haunt me. It's something I'm aware of and want to change, but my circumstances right now feel so challenging, that it seems like it would be worse to try and end up disappointing people. Plus putting myself out there, is scary! I don't know about you, but I avoid situations where I might be rejected. So for now, it's easier to just not try. I can't be disappointed in myself or others this way. Bad reasoning I know. I have FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), fear of failure and also have fear of rejection. No wonder I've never been good at dating or had few opportunities. So I think the appeal of moving to a new community is the idea of starting over. Granted I will be forever linked with Charlottesville now that I've been here 14 years and the fact the my parents live nearby. However, moving and starting over is scary too. Thankfully I've got plenty of time to sort this out. I have to be here to complete school. I might as well stay until this house-sitting gig runs out...and perhaps by then I will have fought to overcome my weaknesses and will have learned to be a better friend. It sucks that I'm 37 and still need to figure out how to be a good friend. Isn't this something you learn in elementary school? middle school? high school? college? Man, I'm a slow learner.
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