1st Semester Clinical...Check!

From the title you can see that I have checked my 1st Semester Clinical off of my list! Today I had my last clinical day. The last clinical day where I only have one patient. My last clinical day at Riverview (at least until possibly March). My last Clinical day with this group of women. My last Clinical day with 3 different instructors (or I hope to God it is!) The day I got to do my first real Saline Lock! The day I actually knew all the meds I was administering and what they did (minus one) when I was asked about them! The day I didn't want to be at clinical but I was glad I went cuz I need all the Clinical hours I can get! The Semester is winding down and with that my work load (thank God!)

• Skills Lab is over! That actually makes me really sad. I love skills lab. I'm gonna miss my skills classmates, we were like the perfect group together. I'm gonna miss my instructor, cuz she was awesome! I learned so much in there as well as had many scary moments, especially when I had to test out on stuff. 
• On my last day of skills lab I tested out of my last two skills. Those were IV Piggyback Meds (crazy name, right?) and regulating an IV Pump. I passed with flying colors! I also took my last Skills quiz and it was harder than hell. I got an 87%, whew!! I thought I bombed that one!
• Even though class is over for Skills Lab, I still have my Physical Assessment. I'm taking my little brother Cory with me and I get to assess him. I'm hoping I do alright on that. It would be nice to put one last good grade in my gradebook for that class. I do that on Wednesday, practice, practice, practice!
• If you couldn't tell, Clinical is over!! However, I still have to do Simulations or Sims for short where there is a practice dummy that talks and has a heart beat, breathes, throws up, etc. I am given a scenario and I have to go in there and act like I'm his nurse and in essence make him better. I'm nervous as hell! 15 minutes of sweating and heart pounding fun, that's on Thursday. I also have to take a Pharmacology ATI test Thursday morning. That will suck major balls!!
• Speaking of ATI, I took the Fundamentals exam on Wednesday and all my practice ones were really good, then I take the real one. I felt like a dumbass, cuz it was harder than hell. I passed it but just barely with an 82%.  Which is awesome cuz otherwise I'd have to retake it until I pass it.
• I also took another pharmacology exam in Clinical and our instructor gave us a review which she said if we knew the information she presented in the reveiw, we'd be golden for our exam.  And then I got the test and yea, I felt really ill prepared. I don't know how I did it, but I managed a 95%, one wrong. I guessed right on about 6 or so questions. Glad that one's over.
• I got my graded care plan back and like a dumbass, never attached my bibliography. So I lost 3 points on that, and with the other couple of errors, I got a 93% on it. Oh well, when I did that thing at 3:30am, I was just glad to have it over.
• Oh and I got my 23 page Physical Assessment paper back. I knew it was graded and I could've looked at my grade online but I didn't want to on account of my brain coming up with 2 nightmares while I slept that I bombed that thing. So I just waited until I got the actual paper back. I got (drum roll please.............................) 98%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I almost crapped my pants! I WIN!!!!!
• Last weekend I was lazy lazy lazy. Kassandra and I also went to see Breaking Dawn Part 2. It was awesome cuz what I wanted to happen in the book actually happened! Everyone started fighting and most of them died!!! Of course it was just one of Alice's visions, but it was like YES!!! Something is actually happening!! The movie was a nice break and got my mind off of school. This weekend I will be busting my ass off learning my physical assessment stuff, sims and pharm practice. It will be a fun time. NOT!!

I now have, my friends, 15 weeks completed. I have 2 weeks (well actually 5 actual class days) and 3 Semesters to go!!

Thanksgiving!!!

Whoever was the ass that decided to extend the semester past thanksgiving is an ass. With that said, I did enjoy my short week of classes!

• Thanksgiving is early this year. It is screwing with me. I feel like I have either no time left in the semester or Thanksgiving wasn't supposed to happen yet. Well it's happened and made me really lazy with school especially since I had off of work this weekend.
• I had to take a pharmacology quiz on Friday, that was fun. Not! haha, no it was fine I just hate quizzes. I was supposed to take a fundamentals one too, but something screwed up when the prof posted it, so I get to take it late!
• I only had 2 days of classes, and no clinical. It was a nice break!
• I finished testing out of trach stuff this week and we started IV's, I can take out IV's and spike/regulate them. I took a quiz too but I don't remember what I got on it. Oh well.
• Not much to report this week, since it was short. Sorry!

14 weeks down. 3 weeks and 3 semesters to go!!!!!!!!

There's a Light at the End of This Tunnel...

As you can tell the end is near. I can't believe I've made it this far. I'm very close but the pressure of the 1st Semester is starting to move in with all the crap that I still have to do!

• Clinical was kinda mellow this week. I did however get to administer insulin! I did it right this time!!! I WIN!!! Friday was the first day I did not give an injection at clinical. Oh well, my patient left right after 10am so I had the rest of the morning to accumulate my information for my big paper.
• Oh Lord, the BIG PAPER! Which I totally slacked on, pulled an almost all nighter on. It ended up being 23 pages long. I don't think it was longer than my exegesis I did for PBS II, but it ranked among the top. I have no idea what my grade will be but I'm hoping at least an 85%. That concluded my papers for the semester! Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
• I had another quiz in skills lab. An 80% for me. Either I'm getting stupider or they're getting harder. I think they are getting harder. I tested out flushing nasogastric tubes and giving meds in them. I also tested out on tracheotomy suctioning and replacing the dressing on them. Those were supposed to be scary skills but they weren't that bad.
• That's all I have to say about that.

13 weeks down! 4 weeks and 3 semesters to go!!

Slacking on the Blogging...

I'll admit it, I'm blogging a little late. I will try to remember the key elements from the last week!

• This was the week that killed me. Literally. I was so ready to die. Over the weekend I had a sore throat and a stuffy nose. At first I thought that it was allergies but oh no! I got the full blown flu! Flu shot my ass! If anything, that GAVE me the flu. Nursing majors have been dropping like flies and I was one of them. I worked the weekend then Monday. Monday night I was working on my Pharmacology Worksheet and I pretty much passed out. My bones were cold, everything hurt. I ended up staying home on Tuesday. I missed skills lab and pharmacology. I missed a quiz and testing out of skills. It sucked. Needless to say, Wednesday I went back to school but felt so much better cuz I NEEDED sleep.
• So in skills lab I retook my quiz from Tuesday on Wednesday and got a 79%. That quiz was really hard. Then I had a second one that I took and got a 95% on it, whew! I also tested out of skills for irrigating a urinary catheter, obtaining a urine specimen from a catheter, irrigating a colostomy and placing a new colostomy device. Lots of stuff but I got it all done!!
• Clinical meant giving 2 more subq's of Lovenox! I am getting to be a shot expert, well, in the stomach.
• I also had my process recording to write for clinical. I have to admit that that was the most retarded paper I've ever written. I had to have a conversation with a resident from long term care then write it out verbatim and comment on the non verbal language. Then I had to write what I did well in my communicating and what I needed to improve it. It was beyond stupid and I got a 92% on it. Thank God that's over!
  
  12 weeks down, 5 weeks and 3 semesters to go!

Sterile Technique Gets Me Everytime!

I still can't believe I'm on the downward slope of the hill! And what I can't believe about that is I'm so far passing all my classes! There are so few weeks left, however those few weeks pack a HUGE punch. I have more assignments, tests, papers, test outs and craziness than all of the 11 completed weeks combined! Just one day at a time!

•  The best thing that happened this week happened in Fundamentals.  We got our Midterms back, as in we got to see the test and look at which ones we got right and wrong and not just a percentage.  As I looked it over I realized that one of my answers that I had right on the hard copy of the test was marked wrong on the scantron. Either I messed up filling in the bubbles or the scantron messed up. I told my prof that I'm mad at myself for screwing up, and she said, "I'll give it to you!" I was like "Seriously?! I PASSED!!!!" So I bumped my score from a 78% to an 80%. I passed the midterm! I was very pleased!
• I had a paper due on a case study for Fundamentals. I didn't get it back yet, but according to the grade book I got a 97%. I'm happy about that!
• I didn't have any quizzes in Sills Lab this week. PTL!
•  In clinical I got to give my first Subcutaneous Injection!!! (or 3!) Everyone else in my clinical group only gave oral meds. I also got to watch an MRI and a GI Endoscopy. So I had a great clinical week!
• I finished my week off by writing my entire Cultural Assessment Paper, a Care Plan, and Journal. It takes sooooo long to do these clinical busy work assignments and when you add working the entire weekend to the mix, you are ready to die!  Mostly because I'm sick so it just makes everything 10 times worse.
• Now the worst part of me week: We tested off on inserting and removing catheters! I failed this skill. Skill wise, it was flawless, however I touched the outside of the carton with my sterile glove, twice. I knew I did it, and if I would've said something like "I touched the carton, I need to change my gloves" I would've passed. But dummy me didn't say anything and I failed. That meant I had to go into skills lab and retest out and I did fine. All three skills so far with Sterile Technique, I've flubbed somewhere, but this time it got me. Now I'll never screw up on sterile technique again.

11 weeks down, 6 weeks and 3 semesters to go!

Midterms & Acute Care Clinical!!

Well, kids! I have made it through Midterms. I have learned a few things and I have a few things to share.

• First and foremost, I need to learn how to not favor studying for one over the other. I have always had this problem and since pharmacology makes more sense, I spent the better part of my time studying for this one. 
• I got a heads up that the pharm midterm was basically verbatim from the midterm worksheet. I studied off of that one alot but I also didn't want her to change the test when it got to us so I also studied other stuff too. That test was on a computer so we got instant results. It was pretty much verbatim off the worksheet give or take 5 questions. I got a 98%. Not to brag, but I was happy (I say that with a big grin on my face.)
• My first Skills Lab quiz went well on the eyes and ears assessment. I got a 94%. The second one was on Medication Administration. I got an 87%. Not my best test but it was a hard one. So I was pleased.
•  I got to test off on 3 skills this week. IM Injection, Injection Sites and Mixing Insulin. I got 100% on the IM, 95% on the Sites cuz I stumbled over a few things (I blame Midterms, my head wasn't on Skills) and 95% on Insulin cuz dummy me, said I had to have a 34 unit total and then only pulled back to 24 units. I'm lucky I didn't fail that one.
• My Fundamentals Midterm, uh that wasn't so good. Like I said I favored studying for Pharm over this one so that was issue #1. Then the first round of students took it. The prof had to hand grade them cuz she thought the scantron did it wrong. Either it did or everyone bombed it! I still don't know. From what I heard, many of the students ended up with a score in the 70 percentile range.  Remember, for Nursing classes, a solid 80.00% is passing and it has to be on exam/quiz grades alone. A 79.99% is failing. No rounding up. Now my classes turn! Since it was paper we had to wait to the evening to see our grades. I worked up the courage to look at it (this coming from the girl who waited over a year to look at her final grades one semester). I got a 78%. FML!!!! One wrong too many. I failed it. My test/quiz grade is an 80.55% meaning I'm passing by 0.55% which is passing but I have to step it up.
• Now on to Clinical!!! Acute Care!!! Hospital!!!
• Orientation on Thursday was a lot of information especially since we do all the charting on a computer program that looks circa 1993. Takes me back to Plover/Whiting Computer Lab days!
• Unfortunately our instructor became ill so our orientation was cut short. 
• Friday we had a sub instructor and she was really cool! My first patient was awesome and very eager to cooperate. She said that I could be her nurse any day and that since she didn't have a daughter she was adopting me. 
• Clinical ended with a lot of shock. We have a huge paper and exam at the end that our instructor never told us about! So I became a bit overwhelmed, but as one of my classmates says, one day at a time. It's true, I just work one day at a time and chug my way through.

So my week started crazy and ended crazy. I'm just glad to be over midterms cuz they were insane!!!
Now I have 10 weeks down and only 7 weeks and 3 semesters to go!!! Next week is November, there is a light at the end of this tunnel!!!

2nd Semester? Already???

This week was a very different week. I only had one day of classes!  This is because we had advising and registration. It's like, really? Already? I don't even know if I'm going to make it to 2nd Semester! 

• Tuesday we had a regular day of classes. So skills and pharmacology.
• Wednesday was advising!
• We found out a little better what 2nd semester is all about. First of all it is divided into two separate eight week sections.  Why? Because 2nd semester has the pediatric clinical rotation.  Only one of the hospitals in the area has pediatrics so the goal is to get 48 students through that rotation in a 16 week period.  Each clinical has 8 students in it for 6 total groups. Since we can't do peds all at once we're all split up. Alas, 2 different groups.  Makes sense? Don't worry, I'm still confused too!
• So we found out which of the two groups we were in. I was hoping we could choose, but of course they choose for you. I got placed into group ABC. Which means I have pediatrics first. I'm PISSED!!! Cuz that means I have to drive all the way to Marshfield in the dead of winter. Thank you! I really don't believe their whole "we take into consideration where you live to place you in clinicals" philosophy. Cuz if they did, I'd have that rotation 2nd time around in March.
• So I talked to an adviser and shared my concerns about the January driving and she said to email the head instructor requesting a group switch because she agrees with my logic. All I got for a reply was "everyone has to drive and I can't make any promises" So I took that as toughen up or ship out!
• The second 8 week period is med-surg so that should be interesting. Word on the street is that the current 2nd semester students that just got done with it had 7 fails. Peds had 3 fails. Those are not good odds. 
• The rest of my week consisted of studying, studying, studying! Why? Because this next week is Midterms!!! Comprehensive Midterms! 1 of those in each Pharm & Fundamentals. Then I also have 2 quizzes in lab, one on each day. So I'm going crazy (hence the lateness of this entry).

This week, my friends, has brought us to the half way point and beyond.  I'm officially half way done with 1st Semester! I am in shock that I have made it this far and am so far not failing. I'm very impressed with myself.  I really believe it has something to do with the sister I asked for prayers from along with the sisters she works with and the children she minsters to in Peru. I also have countless others praying for me. It's definitely God's grace which is helping me through, cuz He knows there's no way I would be doing this on my own.

9 weeks down, 8 weeks and 3 semesters to go. I'm an eighth of the way through!!! HUZZAH!!!!