This past week I finished up my Health Assessment course with an A on my final demo! yeah! and then turned in my "take-home" Test 2 and the Final Exam for my Dosage Calc class. We left the class without a clue of our grades on Test 1, Quizzes 2-4 and 4 case studies. I know the Dimensional Analysis method, I know how to do the conversions...I'm pretty sure I did all the problems correctly...so I will be very angry if I do not make an A in the class. The teacher "says" she less worried about correct answer, but more that we set the problems up correctly. But all the students in the class turn to each other and say..."well our patients will want to make sure we got the right answer!" Just very frustrating. I have the same instructor in the fall for 2 of the 3 parts of Nursing 108 (Nursing skills). This 5 week class was just so frustrating on many fronts...mostly just the communication aspects of the class! Well, I should be getting my grade next week sometime...but I've got to much else going on to be a worry-wort about the class/grade.
I'm in the final stretch at work. They've hired someone who I think will do a great job, it's just unfortunate that the overlap in insufficient to connect all the dots for him before I leave. He's brand new to the church and so everything will be brand new. But I just have to let it go...and trust that the Lord will provide and cover what I cannot. Once you've LEFT the job, usually it's not a big deal...but when you work at a church and still expect to worship there...it is hard to let go. So I am taking a 2 month sabbatical from worshiping at Trinity and will enjoy the chance to visit some other area churches. This time off will allow the new guy to assume and establish his authority. Plus it will give me the time I need to separate myself from the job. Soon, Trinity will be where I will worship--not work --on Sundays. Unfortunately Sundays have not been very worshipful this past year as Sunday became a required work day. I'm too much of a detail freak...I notice every little thing and try to fix things before they are noticeable by others. It's the hardship of a being control freak that serves a population with leaders with high expectations...
Okay, back to detailing my car. I promised myself I would detail my car at 200K...but that was in May and I haven't had time until now.
Cheers.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Confession
I'll admit it. Dimensional Analysis (DA) is cool. Way cool.
But it's not so cool that I will quit nursing school to take up math. No thanks. I'll leave that to my little sister who is a high school math teacher. So rather, I'll get my DA kicks from calculating drug dosages. (And yes, things are improving since the last time I commented on NUR 135).
Cheers.
P.S. Today in my Health Assessment class I was accused of being an over-achiever by my peers (who sit near me). I've NEVER been an over-achiever. And since they were laughing when they said that...I can assume that I can't take it to the bank. ha-ha. I SO enjoy that class. I guess that's a good sign. I really enjoy my instructor too! She tells us funny stories (related to what we are studying) which helps to alleviate some of the low-level stress we are all feeling. She's just so pleasant to be around. Rumor has it that that's NOT common. So I'm grateful!
But it's not so cool that I will quit nursing school to take up math. No thanks. I'll leave that to my little sister who is a high school math teacher. So rather, I'll get my DA kicks from calculating drug dosages. (And yes, things are improving since the last time I commented on NUR 135).
Cheers.
P.S. Today in my Health Assessment class I was accused of being an over-achiever by my peers (who sit near me). I've NEVER been an over-achiever. And since they were laughing when they said that...I can assume that I can't take it to the bank. ha-ha. I SO enjoy that class. I guess that's a good sign. I really enjoy my instructor too! She tells us funny stories (related to what we are studying) which helps to alleviate some of the low-level stress we are all feeling. She's just so pleasant to be around. Rumor has it that that's NOT common. So I'm grateful!
Assessing 12 Cranial Nerves
In NUR 226 (Health Assessment), we have to assess the 12 cranial nerves... in order to do that, we must know:
1. name of the nerve
2. what number it is (this would be for charting I think)
3. what it innervates (what functions expected)
4. what to ask patient to do (stick out tongue, shrug shoulders, identify flavor, etc...)
What are the 12 CRANIAL NERVES?
I. Olfactory
II. Optic
There are common mnemonics that are helpful to remember names/order for tests...but for the actual assessment/demo for class, we can't rely upon a mnemonic to remember the cranial nerves...so I found a few YouTube videos that get to more than just the names.
Since we use a song to learn the ABC's...why not songs for cranial nerves? enjoy!
1. name of the nerve
2. what number it is (this would be for charting I think)
3. what it innervates (what functions expected)
4. what to ask patient to do (stick out tongue, shrug shoulders, identify flavor, etc...)
What are the 12 CRANIAL NERVES?
I. Olfactory
II. Optic
III. Oculomotor
IV. Trochlear
V. Trigeminal
VI. Abducens
VII. Facial
VIII. Auditory (Vestibulocochlear)
IX. Glossopharyngeal
X. Vagus
XI. Spinal Accessory
XII. Hypoglossal
There are common mnemonics that are helpful to remember names/order for tests...but for the actual assessment/demo for class, we can't rely upon a mnemonic to remember the cranial nerves...so I found a few YouTube videos that get to more than just the names.
Since we use a song to learn the ABC's...why not songs for cranial nerves? enjoy!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Just a Few More Weeks...
First nursing class (NUR 100: Intro to Nursing) is finished... My first A of official nursing school. whew!
I am still taking NUR 226: Health Assessment and that will end in a few weeks (end of July). Enjoying the class but the final demo/exam is freaking us all out. In an ideal world we'd be doing a full head-to-toe exam to prove we know our stuff, but that would take us AT LEAST an hour and of course the faculty does not want to endure that for each student. I don't blame them. So it will be a lottery draw and my lab partner and I will each draw a different assessment to do. Unlike the tests up to this point, we won't be doing write-ups, we'll be verbalizing what we see and do (and what we are looking for) WHILE we do it. If we forget something but remember it later, we can still get full credit for it. So it's not like we have to be absolutely perfect. We just have to remember everything and what we are looking for. I've made 100's on all the assignments to date and hoping I can do the same for test 3...so that if I completely come unglued for the final demo--I will still hopefully get an A in the class.
Just started NUR 135: Dosage Calculations. Interesting. I hope I'm learning what I need to learn. It's a five week class and we only meet once/week. So far it's just been very confusing and lots of time wasted in a classroom of 20-25 students. It's amusing how there can be 3 conversations going on at one time--a lot like high school. I can do the problems in the textbook and can do most of the problems on the worksheets we are given...but I keep wondering what it is that I might not be understanding. Problem is that we don't get the answers for the worksheets...so we don't have a way to check ourselves to know if we know what we are doing. It's i.n.t.e.r.e.s.t.i.n.g.
I have registered for my fall NUR 108 (Nursing I) and its 3 components (lecture, skill lab, clinical). I have clinical on Wednesdays (prep will be on Tuesdays, I think), skills lab will be on Thursday afternoons and lecture/theory will be on Friday mornings. All the day nursing students will be together for lecture--so I'll get to see who all is in my cohort. Did find out that one gal from my church is in the day program with me. We are in the Dosage class together. Nice to have a friendly face.
And then there's the stress of finishing things out at the church. My last day is August 11. And no replacement confirmed. I had hoped that he/she would be decided upon and able to start observing/working by August 18...so I'm freak'n from time to time. The last thing is for me to be all stressed out during my last week or two of the semester. argh.
I am still taking NUR 226: Health Assessment and that will end in a few weeks (end of July). Enjoying the class but the final demo/exam is freaking us all out. In an ideal world we'd be doing a full head-to-toe exam to prove we know our stuff, but that would take us AT LEAST an hour and of course the faculty does not want to endure that for each student. I don't blame them. So it will be a lottery draw and my lab partner and I will each draw a different assessment to do. Unlike the tests up to this point, we won't be doing write-ups, we'll be verbalizing what we see and do (and what we are looking for) WHILE we do it. If we forget something but remember it later, we can still get full credit for it. So it's not like we have to be absolutely perfect. We just have to remember everything and what we are looking for. I've made 100's on all the assignments to date and hoping I can do the same for test 3...so that if I completely come unglued for the final demo--I will still hopefully get an A in the class.
Just started NUR 135: Dosage Calculations. Interesting. I hope I'm learning what I need to learn. It's a five week class and we only meet once/week. So far it's just been very confusing and lots of time wasted in a classroom of 20-25 students. It's amusing how there can be 3 conversations going on at one time--a lot like high school. I can do the problems in the textbook and can do most of the problems on the worksheets we are given...but I keep wondering what it is that I might not be understanding. Problem is that we don't get the answers for the worksheets...so we don't have a way to check ourselves to know if we know what we are doing. It's i.n.t.e.r.e.s.t.i.n.g.
I have registered for my fall NUR 108 (Nursing I) and its 3 components (lecture, skill lab, clinical). I have clinical on Wednesdays (prep will be on Tuesdays, I think), skills lab will be on Thursday afternoons and lecture/theory will be on Friday mornings. All the day nursing students will be together for lecture--so I'll get to see who all is in my cohort. Did find out that one gal from my church is in the day program with me. We are in the Dosage class together. Nice to have a friendly face.
And then there's the stress of finishing things out at the church. My last day is August 11. And no replacement confirmed. I had hoped that he/she would be decided upon and able to start observing/working by August 18...so I'm freak'n from time to time. The last thing is for me to be all stressed out during my last week or two of the semester. argh.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Three Weeks In
I've managed to get through 3 weeks of nursing school without quitting. My first nursing course will be done a week from today. Hard to believe! I thought it was going to be okay working while doing summer school. But there are days when I think I should've quit work sooner. My Intro to Nursing course, while it should be an easy A, is really overwelming most of the time because it's crammed into 5 weeks. I'll be okay and I'll survive the summer...but I cannot wait to be unemployed and be able to focus on school full-time and possibly get a bit of a social life back. I need balance! There are folks in my cohort who are planning to work full-time while going to school. I have a pretty good idea that they won't be successful at it. I'm thankful for a scholarship, my savings account, a place to live that is "free" and that my parents can loan me money if I drain the barrels dry.
I took my first Health Assessment test and somehow managed to score a 100. Everyone did really well--with everyone scoring 95 or higher. How's that for encouraging? Yes. Very. We are all relieved and excited. Health Assessment is fun as we are learning how to take focused assessments and write them up. Everything we see on our lab partners is "normal" or close to it. As close as we've gotten to feeling like nurses. :)
I'd love to write more, but there's school work to do and of course, work cometh in the morning.
Cheers.
I took my first Health Assessment test and somehow managed to score a 100. Everyone did really well--with everyone scoring 95 or higher. How's that for encouraging? Yes. Very. We are all relieved and excited. Health Assessment is fun as we are learning how to take focused assessments and write them up. Everything we see on our lab partners is "normal" or close to it. As close as we've gotten to feeling like nurses. :)
I'd love to write more, but there's school work to do and of course, work cometh in the morning.
Cheers.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
No holiday for me.
I'm so glad that tomorrow is a holiday. If I had to work 8 hours tomorrow...I'd cry.
Before Tuesday, I have to read three more Health Assessment (HA) chapters...totaling about 103 pages. The last chapter I will be quizzed on. (It's been a REALLY long time since I've had to read that much in a day!). I've already read and taken notes on 3 chapters (over 50 pages). Not sure how I can manage 100 pages in a few hours. Need to learn to speed-read/memorize overnight tonight. ha! Plus I have 2 partial and 1 full system assessment to complete (and at least one write up)--I think I'll be heading to my parents house for those.
And then I have a 2 page rough draft (plus references) due at midnight tomorrow night for my Intro to Nursing course. I'm pretty sure it's going to be REALLY rough--I haven't even decided what ethics situation I want to write about. And I'm possibly not very clear on the assignment. Just need to dig in and do it.
So no trips to beach, no picnicking or barbecuing for me this Memorial Day. I may not even make it out of my pajamas tomorrow. Well, okay, maybe I will since I have to go to my parents house and do those assessments.
Before Tuesday, I have to read three more Health Assessment (HA) chapters...totaling about 103 pages. The last chapter I will be quizzed on. (It's been a REALLY long time since I've had to read that much in a day!). I've already read and taken notes on 3 chapters (over 50 pages). Not sure how I can manage 100 pages in a few hours. Need to learn to speed-read/memorize overnight tonight. ha! Plus I have 2 partial and 1 full system assessment to complete (and at least one write up)--I think I'll be heading to my parents house for those.
And then I have a 2 page rough draft (plus references) due at midnight tomorrow night for my Intro to Nursing course. I'm pretty sure it's going to be REALLY rough--I haven't even decided what ethics situation I want to write about. And I'm possibly not very clear on the assignment. Just need to dig in and do it.
So no trips to beach, no picnicking or barbecuing for me this Memorial Day. I may not even make it out of my pajamas tomorrow. Well, okay, maybe I will since I have to go to my parents house and do those assessments.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
25 May 2010
Today it begins in earnest. No more talk. It's real. It's GO time.
Today I attended my first nursing classes, met a few of my cohort and it was a good day over all. This semester I'm taking:
NUR 100: Introduction to Nursing. This is a 1.0 credit hour class that lasts for only five weeks--which means it will be over before I know it! We will only meet for class a total of 3x. We sit in a lecture hall. Today we went over syllabus, learned basics of the nursing curriculum for the next two years) and then went to campus library for a presentation on how to use library resources for the paper we have to write about ethics and nursing (rough draft is due next Tuesday). At first I thought, "Really? A visit to the library? Um, I graduated from highschool and college, I think I know how to use the library". But afterwards, I was totally grateful for the virtual tour of the online resources that are available to us for research. Helpful for more than just this class...helpful for the coming two years! Times certainly have changed for library sciences. And a lot of the online library resources will save us money in the long run (so we aren't required to get PDAs with special software). The class is designed to give us an overview of the nursing program. We'll be taking some learning assessment tests (to understand our strengths and weaknesses) which I'm also looking forward to. We'll have online discussion requirements about textbook readings and have to write a short paper about ethics/nursing.
NUR 226: Health Assessment. This is a 2.0 credit hour class that lasts for the full 10 weeks of the summer semester. Our instructor told us that at other schools this is sometimes a 5.0 credit hour class! Oh my. This meets in the nursing lab (beds, dummies, etc) and we sit at round tables for lecture portion. The classroom is freezing...and apparently the temperature is constant at 66 degrees. So I'll be packing my fleece jacket all summer. LOL. Today we reviewed the syllabi and due dates for assignments. We asked a few questions and then were dismissed early. She's cancelled class on Thursday, so we have a load of stuff to due for next Tuesday. This class is going to be fun because we are learning something new and applying it each week, every week building on skills. By the end of the semester we'll be able to take a history and do a physical assessment and do write-ups! I must say that I am very grateful to have been a standardized patient/mock patient for first year medical students at UVA and get to observe (as the patient) this assessement. I learned so much about it from the patient side of things (and being asked to give feedback)...and now I can incorporate the patient and nurse side of things. I'm really looking forward to this class.
I'll be taking a Dosage Calc class (1.0 credit hour) for the 2nd five weeks of the summer semester (after NUR 100 is finished). Not required, but recommended if math skills are rusty.
Now I'm going to go watch a Neflix movie and relax. Never fear, on June 6th I'll be putting my Netflix subscription "on vacation" for the semester. There's always Redbox.com and Hulu.com for when I need some diversions...but Netflix is too expensive if I'm not going to use it.
Today I attended my first nursing classes, met a few of my cohort and it was a good day over all. This semester I'm taking:
NUR 100: Introduction to Nursing. This is a 1.0 credit hour class that lasts for only five weeks--which means it will be over before I know it! We will only meet for class a total of 3x. We sit in a lecture hall. Today we went over syllabus, learned basics of the nursing curriculum for the next two years) and then went to campus library for a presentation on how to use library resources for the paper we have to write about ethics and nursing (rough draft is due next Tuesday). At first I thought, "Really? A visit to the library? Um, I graduated from highschool and college, I think I know how to use the library". But afterwards, I was totally grateful for the virtual tour of the online resources that are available to us for research. Helpful for more than just this class...helpful for the coming two years! Times certainly have changed for library sciences. And a lot of the online library resources will save us money in the long run (so we aren't required to get PDAs with special software). The class is designed to give us an overview of the nursing program. We'll be taking some learning assessment tests (to understand our strengths and weaknesses) which I'm also looking forward to. We'll have online discussion requirements about textbook readings and have to write a short paper about ethics/nursing.
NUR 226: Health Assessment. This is a 2.0 credit hour class that lasts for the full 10 weeks of the summer semester. Our instructor told us that at other schools this is sometimes a 5.0 credit hour class! Oh my. This meets in the nursing lab (beds, dummies, etc) and we sit at round tables for lecture portion. The classroom is freezing...and apparently the temperature is constant at 66 degrees. So I'll be packing my fleece jacket all summer. LOL. Today we reviewed the syllabi and due dates for assignments. We asked a few questions and then were dismissed early. She's cancelled class on Thursday, so we have a load of stuff to due for next Tuesday. This class is going to be fun because we are learning something new and applying it each week, every week building on skills. By the end of the semester we'll be able to take a history and do a physical assessment and do write-ups! I must say that I am very grateful to have been a standardized patient/mock patient for first year medical students at UVA and get to observe (as the patient) this assessement. I learned so much about it from the patient side of things (and being asked to give feedback)...and now I can incorporate the patient and nurse side of things. I'm really looking forward to this class.
I'll be taking a Dosage Calc class (1.0 credit hour) for the 2nd five weeks of the summer semester (after NUR 100 is finished). Not required, but recommended if math skills are rusty.
Now I'm going to go watch a Neflix movie and relax. Never fear, on June 6th I'll be putting my Netflix subscription "on vacation" for the semester. There's always Redbox.com and Hulu.com for when I need some diversions...but Netflix is too expensive if I'm not going to use it.
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