Today I had a check off for administering meds and assessment report.  Fortunately, because of the weather the assessment report has been pushed back to Thursday.  Normally, check-offs are done in pairs.  Since I was the only student early to clinic I had the opportunity to go into check off alone.  For this skill, we were given a list of 6 meds for a patient and then had to spew off the mechanisms, interventions, side effects, calculate doses, etc.  I didn't spend a lot of time in preparation, partly because I knew the general information already, and partly because I was exhausted with tests and whatnot.  I walked into the exam room and sat down with the prof. and started in.  I knew the information and had cards prepared but I didn't want to read off the cards so I did a lot of mumbling and talking-it-out.  The prof was really great about everything and we even had some aside conversations about the drugs, real life experiences, etc.  In the end I received an "O" (outstanding) on the skills check-off.  I earned an "S" (satisfactory) in hand washing and somehow I got an "O" in medication administration?!   I certainly would not have given myself an "O".  At one point during the check off I wanted to stop and tell the prof. to mark me as "U" (unsatisfactory) and I would attempt the skill a second time.  I'm frustrated that I didn't preform as well as I think I should have.
Thursday is orientation at the clinical site and afterwards, we have our last skills checkoff; independent skills and systems assessment.  It's about to get crazy...