Jan-June

January

I thought that my last semester of school would be a cake walk and I couldn't have been more wrong. The amount of work required this last semester was unlike any other.  I know I spent the first two three no, four weeks of the spring semester filled with an inhuman amount of anxiety and no matter how I sliced it I couldn't figure out how to control what needed to be done when or where I was supposed to be and what I should have been doing.  The key, looking back, was taking one day at a time and meeting with classmates who understood my current (at the time) life situation.  My classes included Leadership and Management (L&M), Community Health (CH), Overseas Missions Class (Haiti), and Sociology.  The material in L&M and CH required a different type of learning.  It's not like memorizing lab values or a disease process; something I actually would have preferred.

Toward the end of January a police officer in the city was shot and killed in the line of duty.  This hit especially close to home since I have a family member who is an officer.  I sat and watched the ceremony weeping for the officer's family, friends, and co-workers.  I was thankful that it wasn't my family member but also reminded that a traffic stop is never just a traffic stop.

February

Group photo- Say "You complete me!"

By this time I needed a break so I hosted a Valentine's Day Party at my friend's house. I called my friend and asked "What are you doing on Sat.?"  She replied, "Nothing" Me: "Can I have a party at your house?"  It was a much needed time to laugh and relax with our cohort without worrying about school.

                                                

                                                                    Part of the spread for the evening festivities

Raiding Alyson's closet and dressing up in random clothes

The fun only lasted for a little bit, it was welcomed and of course, too short.  It was back to the grind with projects, papers, clinicals and exams.  Soon the pressure and stress of school and home life got to be too much. Grades began to slip, I was sick more often than not and I wondered if I would even finish the semester.  At the end of the month a wonderful friend of mine lost a battle against lung cancer.  I was fortunate enough to be able to visit with him two days before he died.  I will forever hold onto the memories of him.  (btw, cancer sucks) The medical trip to Haiti was just around the corner and I had no interest in going.  I remember telling someone that I was "tired of taking care of other people."  Selfish?  Maybe.

March

I don't remember how, but I got to the airport and along with 10 other nursing students and faculty.  We made our way to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The week in Haiti was filled with adventures, new friends, and service.  

After our 5-2 victory against the Haitian girls. 

    

         One of the many mountainous views  we were treated to in Haiti.

  

        Our host missionary, Betty and myself in Belladere

Our nursing group settling in for the night in the church
of one of the villages we traveled to.  We all crammed into this cement room to sleep.
Then there was a  HUGE spider and I slept in the chairs in the room behind us.

April

April was filled with putting finishing last touches on projects and papers, presentations, more exams, volunteering, interviews (which never led to anything) and having dinner with Chuck and Jess at their home with both sets of parents. At the end of the month, I was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International, International Honor Society of Nursing.

A few of my classmates and I posing for the camera.

                                                

                                                                 My self decorated Easter cupcake.
                                                              scary looking...

                             

                                            Family portrait.  This may be our Christmas card. Typical. 

May

The finished dish!  Bon appetite!

The first week of May was made up of final exams and ended with the nursing pinning ceremony and graduation.  The rest of May was composed of preparing and registering for the NCLEX, which I will take in the middle of June.  This month I also started going vegetarian!  At first it was all vegan, but after a few days I realized I had done too much too soon.  So, I'm definitely not eating meat and I am cutting back on dairy and eggs.  In the first week I noticed a change in myself and it wasn't long after that others began commenting on my appearance. It was welcomed, for sure, but it wasn't my primary purpose for changing my habits.  The first point came from after taking a personal inventory and concluding that I couldn't tell my future patients what they should be doing if I wasn't doing it.  "It" being moderation, lifestyle changes, etc. The second point was genetics.  My family health history wasn't pleasing to the eyes and I decided to start now on attacking those modifiable risk factors.  This led me to take a closer look at the types of foods I consume and how they are prepared.  My first home-cooked vegan meal was Mediterranean Vegetable Wraps with Quinoa and dessert was a chocolate moose. The wraps had mushrooms, eggplant, peppers, hummus, and tabouli.  Overall, I thought it was pretty tasty!  My favorite grocery store to shop at is Trader Joes and Kroger.  They have a great selection of foods and are reasonably priced.  Even the barista at Sbux knows now that I order a soy mocha :)  My family is still getting used to me bringing home "strange fruits and vegetables" as they call it. I am hoping that some of this rubs off on them.  Also, if you've never read The Omnivore's Dilemma I recommend it.  I had to read it as part of graduation requirements and despised it at the time, but now I find it fairly interesting.

So, now I am preparing to take the NCLEX and looking to become a productive member of society again. I am going to try to be better with updates, but you know how that goes...

Innteruption

I am in the process of editing an update about the last 6 months and what I've been up to. 

 Check back later!

Unfulfilled Expectations=Dissapointment

Originally written: January 22, 2011

I've been having some negative inner dialogue with myself the past few weeks revolving around returning to school. I'm beginning to think it was a waste. I've been thinking that maybe I went back to school just to go back to school and I went without really thinking it through.  Like what I would do after school.  I thought that I would cross off my list of rotations that didn't suit me and at the end whatever area/rotation that was not crossed off would be the area of nursing that I would want to go into.  The problem is that all of those rotations are crossed off.  Now I don't know what I want to do or where I want to do it.

Congrats!

This past weekend was exciting, exhausting, and filled with anticipation.  Saturday began with lunch at the hospital cafeteria with a former co-worker in honor of her birthday.  Her husband contacted me earlier in the week and wanted to send her on a scavenger hunt.  I was to be the messenger and to casually ask her to lunch at our favorite hospital, cause we're crazy like that.  I loved seeing her open her gifts and tears roll down her face as she read the card and the events for the day from her hubby.  After lunch I crammed some studying in for finals that were on Monday.  Later on Saturday I watch my niece and nephew while their parents went to a company Christmas party and I worked on a video for my little brother that he used to propose to his girlfriend :)  I got a call at 12:05am on Sunday from my brother asking me "watcha doin'?" and I heard Jess screaming in the background "we're engaged!"  2011 is going to be an exciting year!  Sunday was spent doing a few more hours of studying and going to an engagement party in honor of  Chuck and Jess.   I still can't believe that my little brother is going to get married!

A cup of cocoa

On a cold, rainy, November morning my little brother and I ran some errands around town.  After walking out of one store with bell ringers at each entrance we commented on the weariness of the weather and the dedication of these volunteers to be standing in bone-cold rain raising funds for an integral organization in the community.  At once, we both had the same idea.  We drove to the closest gas station and fixed two large hot chocolates.  We returned to the store we had just left and were on the lookout for the two men we saw earlier ringing the bells.  As I pulled up to the curb my brother got out with the first cup of piping hot, hot chocolate and handed it to the man.  Even though I could not hear their dialogue, I could read the man’s lips.  He said to my brother as he took his hands out of the warmth of his pocket “ Thank you!  Oh, this is hot!”  His smile, however, said much more.  We circled the lot once more to look for the other bell ringer, who had no doubt stepped inside to warm up a bit and as he emerged, my brother once again got out of the car and presented a cup of hot chocolate to the man.  I share this story not to boast about our good deed, but to share the smiles of two people who made my day much warmer and brighter. 

What can you do today to bring a smile to someone?

Psych Rotation-8 weeks

Daily Schedule: Mon. --> Lecture  Tuesday --> Clinical day from 0645-1315

Actual Schedule: meet at 0655 to get assignments and then report.  

What to wear: Polo and khakis

What's in my pockets:  keys for the locked units

Patient notes you'll be asked to write: GAD score, reason for admission, past history, meds

What to study: Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar 

A few unforgettables along the way:  This rotation has taught me to look for themes in conversations and to bring up those themes to the patient as a way to learn more about the patient and what it is they think is going on.    I like to think of it as acknowledging the "elephant in the room" and discussing whatever it may be.  There have been some interesting stories as to why patients were admitted, suicidal ideation, PTSD, psychotic breaks, etc. This rotation has forced me to be the one to initiate conversation, which as uncomfortable as it is, has been a learning experience for me.

Critical Care-12 weeks

I realized that I had not been keeping up a log of my rotations.  Here is the low-down on critical care...

Daily Schedule: Mon. & Wed. --> Lecture  Thursday --> Clinical day from 0645-1530

Actual Schedule: meet at 0645 to get assignments and then report.  Fortunately we did not have to research our patient the day before.  This was really great considering I live 45 minutes from this particular hospital.

What to wear: Scrubs

What's in my pockets:  Report sheet, med book, scissors, alcohol swabs, stethoscope, pens, snack

Patient notes you'll be asked to write: Pathophysiology of disease, VS, I&O, Careplans

What to study: Mostly cardiology since this rotation took place at a heart hospital.  Diabetes and renal issues also deserve a good look through.

A few unforgettables along the way:  I appreciated the opportunity to float to the ED, burn unit, wound clinic, etc.  What I will remember most about this rotation is how on the second day my preceptor assigned me two patients (a big deal for the second day and the first time I had more than one patient)  One patient was a talkative baptist minister and the second was a patient with early onset Alzheimer's who wanted to call home but couldn't remember the home phone number.  It was a mentally and emotionally heavy load.  I didn't have time to review meds. before my preceptor came around and I was blamed for something I didn't do.  The ten weeks that followed were filled with anxiety and fear that each clinical day would be a repeat of this day.  It was for sure traumatic to say the least.  I was so glad to finish this rotation.

Another unforgettable is that I actually saw a PA wearing one of these