Friday, January 30, 2009

Week Four DONE!

Ah the culmination of a month of Nursing School...

The much dreaded Dosage and Calculations test is over with unexpected, but hard earned results. We have a medication practicum in a few weeks. We introduced foley and straight cath insertion, and wound care. Today we went more in-depth on assessments. I bought a tool to help me with the assessment walk through. We have to do head-to-toe assessment which is a lot of stuff. My tool's Name is Assess a Ho!I will post pictures of her when I am done. I thought it'd be an unusual way to learn to landmark and be ablee to practice my skills for check off. I'll use real people when I need to hear the difference between regular sounds.

Ok well I am tired and want to go to bed now.

BTW. Daughter is fine! Her labs came back normal. She does need to make sure she gets more Iodine in her diet and maintains her fluid and electrolyte balance a bit better. But no Thyroid problems indicated.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Math test

100%!!!!!


Came home to celebrate and we played with some of my toys.


He already has a surgeon's attitude. HEHE!!


Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Enlarged Thyroid?

Thats what the doctor said. He ran blood tests. So we'll see. She's sick again so she went to bed before I even got back from picking hubby up. Kinda freaky!!!

Getting Ready for Tomorrow

Ahh a day off from school, of course filled with all of those things that are put off until the free day. Daughter has a doctor appt. Then I have to pick son up from school then head out to pick hubby up from work. This one car thing really sucks!

So anyway, I have 5 chapters to read and review for tomorrow and a careplan to work on as a group project. We are starting Foley caths, wound care, and working more on medication administration before our practicum which is in two weeks. Not to mention tomorrow is THE BIG DOSAGE TEST. The one I need a 100% on.

I am freaking out and really stressed. By BP yesterday was 158/100 P was 108... I think I have a problem! Maybe I need Xanex? LOL

Ok well off to finish another chapter, (I'm bringing my book with me to her doctor appt)

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

2nd Test

Test #2 is in the bag and I must say they really stepped it up a notch. I didn't do as well as I had hoped. 17/20 But hey it's a B so I'll take it.

Have you ever known an answer and written it down, but just could not process the acronym? I mean the answer was staring me in the face and I could NOT put two and two together.

CBE? What the hell is CBE... I kept saying. I wrote down Chart By Exception. Except when I looked at CBE I kept seeig CVE... AHHHHHHHH!!!!! Of course the question had SOAP, POMR, DARE and CBE. I colored in the wrong dang box!!! And it kept talking about only charting the problems or new findings. URGH!!!!

Why is it the simple questions that trip me up?

Of course I was wayyyy above the class average so I feel good, the people I was supposed to study with yesterday got 5 or 6 questions wrong each. 5 is failing.

Pat self on back, medicate BP back down to normal and move on to the next test. I'm still scared to death!

Double labs start this week and clinical is getting closer.

Monday, January 26, 2009

They Story of us Part 2

The next day Boy-man showed up at school to bring Girl a Christmas present. They didn't speak much. But Girl slipped a note to Boyfriend, making him finally ex-Boyfriend. He seemed apathetic until later the next day.

The next day much to Girl's surprise Red called her and invited her to a party. So she went and Boy-man was there. Red was upset, but Girl had eyes only for Boy-man.

That night there were quite a few messages from ex-Boyfriend when she got home. It was nice payback since, early in their relationship, Boyfriend had decided he wanted to date Girl's best friend too.

Well, Girl and Boy-man spent the next two weeks inseparable and on New Year's Day he had to return to Georgia, then off to California, then off to Iraq. Phone calls and letters and 1 visit over the next year, was not enough to hold them together. Boy-man was turning 20 and a lot was happening to him, Girl was only 15.

They drifted apart and time moved on. He travelled the world with the Army. She grew and started a family. But they never truly forgot each other.

Time moved on, and a few Christmas's later Girl was working at the Mall when Dickhead walked in. Dickhead walked up to her register and he had a jacket on that was the name of a local bar in her town. "Was he from there?" she asked. Sometimes she really was too flirty for her own good.
" No. " Dickhead said, " My ex-fiancee lives there."
" Oh really what's her name?" When Dickhead told her, it was as if irony was playing a trick on fate.
" Oh, she dated my ex. Boy-Man" I said.
" When?" Dickhead asked. Kind of flustered at this point. When I told him he freaked. Ha! She had been cheating on Dickhead with Boy-man. Boy-man stole his fiancee. He hates Boy-man.
" Wow since our ex's got together, maybe we should date." Dickhead suggested.

I must have been seriously brain damaged because I agreed.

A few months later Daughter was on the way, and marriage was soon to follow. Son came a year later and divorce a few short years there after. Really I don't recommend getting married to someone you aren't really in love with just because you are pregnant. I also don't recommend keeping a picture of your first love next to your bed either. ( LOL )

A few months later, Girl is walking by Boy-man's parent's house. It seemed that her parent's had moved next doorish from them.

With courage she knocked on the door. His mother answered. They chatted for a while and she found out that Boy-man was getting divorced and living in Texas.

Girl decided to send Boy-man a birthday card. They hadn't spoken in 7 years at this point.

A week later the phone rang. It was Boy-man!! Her heart skipped a beat. He had actually been looking for her too.

He flew home a few months later on Valentine's Day and it was as if they had never been apart. He proposed to her. She accepted.

He came home for good in April and a year later, nearly 10 years from the day they met, Boy-man and Girl were married. Dickhead was furious when he found out that Boy-man and Girl were getting married. Not only had he lost a fiancee to Boy-man, now he had lost his wife and children. Damn old irony and fate!

BTW Boyfriend was Bestman at wedding! Except he thought it a good idea to HIT on Girl, so Boyfriend, was no longer bestfriend anymore.

It's been 10 years and we are still going strong. So the moral of the story is, you can look all around the world, but the Girl you were meant for, actually was the Girl Next Door!

Just another Manic Monday

Ok so its really not manic. Right now Monday is pretty much the easier of the days. I can't wait to get another car though, because the carpooling thing is slowing my roll... lol. So yeah I am waiting for my Pharm class to start and realized that I have not even opened my book since the last class, which was 2 weeks ago. Next week we have the class in a Hybrid Version so I don't have to drive here. Of course I do have to email her an assigment as required.

I was supposed to meet with some people to study for tomorrow's test, but I had to park in the middle of nowhere and hike over to admissions to drop off yet another financial aide form, and then decided to just go sit in the library and pretend to study. I did study alot this weekend even though it may not have seemed it. But overall, a little more review tonight and I think I grasp the concepts of the data that we need to be able to apply on the quiz on Tuesday. Documentation, Assessment tools, Legal and Ethical Issues in Nursing, Nursing Process aka intro to careplans. Not in-depth or creating one just yet, just the steps ADPIE and all that. So I feel good about it. Maslow & Erickson too. Of course I have had Psy101 and DevPsy Life Span so these are not brand new concepts, so the info comes out of my head in the multiple choice format. I honestly don't know if I really do learn in the group study session forum.

How about you guys?

Sunday, January 25, 2009

25 Things

Well since everyone else it doing it. Here are 25 things people may or may not know about me. I have no idea how to link people to this but since I stole it from many of the sites I visit...


1. I have lived in Massachusetts, Oklahoma, & Arizona for extended periods of time.

2. My Dad is from a family of 18 (so there Duggars), and my Mom is from a family of 10 I have so many cousins I don't know half of them.

3. I had a miscarriage when I was 16.

4. I am a very judgemental person, with a built in lie detector.

5. I once had this guy drive from NJ to MA to meet me, that I had talked to on an Internet chat site, and when he got to where we were meeting down the street from my house. He was so ugly I left.

6. I had cancer when I was 27.

7. I had sex at Old Sturbridge Village behind the barn in the center of town. With a guy that turned out to be a one night stand. http://www.osv.org/

8. I still want more children. But I want to adopt older children.

10. I HATE being in the same place for too long. So I move alot.

11. I've driven across country at least 5 times.

12. I wish I was a tavern wench in the 1600's in the British Isles.

13. I used to write alot. Someday I hope to finish and publish a novel.

15. Other than my eyes I hate everything else about me

16. I LOVE Patron Tequila shots, yet I only drink once a year.

17. I am a spur of the moment person with bipolar tendencies

18. I am horrible with money

19. I used to play house with chickens and goats as my kids.

20. I crack people up with one liners

21. I used to keep a picture of my first love next to my bed, under my bedside lamp, when I was married to my first husband.

22. I hate to shop

23. I love the ocean but I hate the sand.

24. I read ALOT and fast

25. I invented chicken-encha-tacos with leftover fried chicken, taco seasoning, cheese and salsa because we didn't have any food in the house except that.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Study break... Story of Us Part 1

In my profile I hinted that there was a long story I'd write about later. I figured this would be a good time as I have been thinking about it lately.


Once upon a time there was a Girl. She lived in a small town in the Northeast region of these United States. It was Christmas and Girl was singing in a school concert. It was upon the stage that Boy-man noticed Girl. Boy-man was home from being all he could be, on a short break for the holiday.
There was a party after the concert and Girl and Boy-man went. Each with separate people. Boy-man spotted girl there among a group of people he knew and with the help of some friends got the courage up to go over and talk to her.
"Hello" he said.
She smiled back. Those eyes, that dimple. She thought. She knew who he was. She had been expecting him.
He flirted, she flirted.
" Who are you here with?" he asked
"Him" she said pointing to someone he knew.
" My best friend!" he laughed.
Girl smiled, those eyes, that dimple.
He was called away, she chatted with his long forgotten courage friend he had dragged with him. Red crushed on her. She didn't care. Later, with late 80's corniness, if there is such a word, Boyfriend and Boy-man made their way back over to her. Those eyes, that dimple, her heart skipped a beat. Apparently She'd Lost That Loving Feeling,and these Top Guns decided to serenade. Boyfriend was Goose however, and Maverick won the spoils. She played along. She'd seen that movie too. Their eyes met. Her heart skipped a beat.
Music began to play, Boyfriend dragged Girl onto the dance floor. Boy-man drifted into the crowd. She smiled when Boy-man returned to their side before the next song. On his arm was, Other girl who hates Girl to this day, and with a scheme on his mind Boy-man suggested a trade.
" Let's switch." Boy-man said to Boyfriend. Laughing Boyfriend agreed, not a clue to the scheme in his best friends mind.
Girl smiled, her heart skipped a beat. Other girl who hates Girl to this day's eyes fell sharply, all the while shooting killer daggers at Girl. She had been scheming on her own. Reluctantly she let Boyfriend pull her into his arms. Girl folded into the arms of Boy-man as he wrapped her close they floated away from Boyfriend and his new partner. They didn't talk, they just danced. The night flew by, it was time for Girl to leave. Girl didn't want to, Boy-man didn't want her to. Boyfriend had to leave early for a family emergency. He was a jerk anyway, yet he never did return after that song ended to find either Boy-man, his bestfriend after all, or Girl, to tell them he was leaving. Other girl who hates Girl to this day, was long forgotten. Red hung around in the background keeping a close eye on Girl, yet she did not know it at the time.

Laptop update

Good news is the laptop was under warranty and hopefully should be covered for all the repairs and recovery. I will get it back in 2-4 weeks. Bad news is I prob. lost everything that was on there, including my software and downloads and passwords for programs. I have a zip drive you'd think I would have thought to save that crap... hindsight and all that! BLAH!!

Friday, January 23, 2009

My laptop died somewhere between 5:30 when I left school and 7 pm when I got home! First no screen, then no operating system. Gonna try and go to Best Buy and see if its still under the warranty.... but I kinda think I didn't get one, but I can't remember. WTF!!

PHOTO TAG GAME

Thought I'd add to the mix:

To play you go to your photo files, choose the fourth file, and then choose the fourth photo in that file and tell it's story. Easy! and fun!



It was the only picture in that folder so it won. This is Sasha, she has to be with me where ever I go when I am at home. I had her place at the bottom of the bed loaded down with studying and had kicked her off my notes a few times so she settled into the pillows. Her sad eyes were just so touching that I had to snap a picture of her cozy place. The little white box you see on the dresser in the left hand corner is the urn and ashes of our dog Pepper. She was so special to us. She was 9 and died nearly two years ago Feb of a massive seizure. It was horrific!! I miss her alot!

Week Three DONE!!

So why don't I feel good? Ummm because I only got a 90 on my math quiz today!!! URGH!!! I misread a question and didn't think they meant dose= weight so when it asked for the weight I rounded to the nearest 10th... of course all you nursing student know that if its a pedi pt then you around to the nearest 100th. So yeah when it said round all pedi doses to the nearest 100th I was like OK. Except the question only said what is the weight in Kg of 3 year old blah blah if it were so and so pound and so and so ounces? Didn't see the magic word dose so I was like well weight round to the 10th... nope in passing somewhere they must have said they meant the same.

So yeah whatever!! I really hope I get that freaking 100 on the one on Thursday. I mean to not get it only because I didn't round. My math was all correct otherwise so yeah at least I get the math... I just need to understand what that dose and weight are the same things.

OK I am just pissy... although I do feel good about myself because everyone is freaking out about the test on Tuesday and although I too am freaking out, there were ALOT of people who failed it and I did pretty damn good. With that being said I am not going to get confident or cocky. My ass will be cracking the books all weekend and joining in on the study group ( although it started to grow too much- and I am not big with lots of people during study) some voices grate on me and they throw off my concentration, so yeah that will have to be nixed. But a few of us can break off into a smaller group if need be.

OK on a weird note I have insomnia. I am so tired but when I lay down my mind races and races. So yeah I am gonna try advil pm and then move on from there. I do know lunesta sucks!!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Days of our Nursing Education

OK so this next week is going to be pretty busy it seems. Test number two is on Tuesday,The Big Dosage and Calculations test is on Thursday!!

Tomorrow we start Medication Administration and injections!! Yeah we finally get to use our toys! Should I be this excited about injections? Hell yeah!! OK so I am a pro at giving injections actually, giving them to myself for over a year was lots of practice and I learned how to give to others through a flu clinic I worked at. It was fun. But this is the real thing. This is graded. This is all those words like, sub-q, IM, intradermal, z-track... to name but a few.

Tomorrow we have to present a group project on the application of creams, lotions, and ointment. OK so we lucked out and got really easy basic ones. But then again, its not only about slapping the crap on someone either. We have to do it the "right" way. Explain all the rationals etc. I got this nasty picture of incontinence dermatitis for my presentation on the importance of barrier creams.

We have planned the first official study groups now. Of course with carpooling right now I have to spend a bit of extra time waiting around before and after class a few days a week so hey, meeting at the cafe on campus is easy for me.

Oh we also have a math quiz tomorrow although it only counts for 1 point if we get a 100%, but hey that's 1 point toward that pass or fail so it all counts.

Hum.. lets see. I think that's about it for the week. Lots to learn and HUGE stress coming this week. A friend sent me this pic and I think it fits perfectly into this weeks overall feel.



OK off to work on dosage calculations.

FIRST TEST GRADE FINALLY

18.75/20 possible points = A

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Is Organization a four letter word???

What a novel concept, to be organized.

I, myself am a very organized person when it comes to paperwork. Maybe it comes from those 3 years of shuffling papers from one side of my desk to the other (eh Wendy)? wink. Or maybe it's because there is just so much we are expected to know? So much to keep track of, and so much is expected of us.
Me? I need to have everything in order so I know where it is, how to get to it, and how to look it up. I need to do this all with the click of a mouse or the flip of a page.

Now tell me what is so intimidating to others about a binder that is.... well....




Perfect. My classmates seem to think I'm crazy and wonder where I have the time. To those I say... have you seen the bags under my eyes? I'm freaking tired!! but hey its Nursing School! I signed up for this shit!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Random


Me: What day is today?

Daughter: Tuesday

Me: Hummm, I want a Sunday!

Daughter: I have $5

Me: I have $5

Son.. Sunday!?! I have $5


It was good!!!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Weekend Ranting

Well I've spent the weekend reading and out lining chapters. Of course so far I have only managed to concur 3 of the 8 I need to do for Theory and Lab. I still have to outline 5 for Pharm and work on my MAR sheets for our mini careplan in lab and I have to work through some more practice dosage and calculation problems as well prior to Tuesday's class.

The weather has been perfect here. Low to mid 70's and I have managed to drag my laptop out with me to sit on the patio to catch some much needed Vitamin D from the glorious rays!

Well back to the grind.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Yeah week two DONE!!...long

Ahhh so relieved I got a 100 on today's math quiz. Gearing up for that BIG dosage and calc. test on the 29th. Those math problems are starting to make more and more sense. We get 1 try for a 100 or we get put on warning, we have a week to remediate then 1 more shot and if we don't get a 100 on that then we FAIL OUT! So yeah that would suck!!

Today was soooo much information thrown at us and I have never seen an assessment the likes of that video. A doctor has yet to do a physical on me as detailed as that assessment.

You know what gets me is this program is a zero pre-req program, other than a CNA, as we all know most programs with the CNA are pretty much here's how to do the basics and if anything is above the normal tell the Nurse... YIKES now we are the Nurse and are expected to know why... except its expected that we already know why and we are just reviewing what we should already know... of course I do have all my pre-reqs done for the RN program... except Algebra and Chem... but I digress, its just crazy and people are all pretty freaked out.

I spend alot of time hand writing my notes when I outline the chapters and transcribe the lecture notes instead of highlight/copy & paste from the online version, I find that helps me retain the information better so. Although we had a pop quiz today, which is the reason for this rant, and cuz I was so stressed about the math, I forgot to read the chapters, thank God it wasn't a quiz that counted cuz I could not remember the route a blood drop takes through the body from the superior vena cava all the way back to the aorta. Of course by Monday you know I sure will.
Bonus points for me is when I was asked the pace maker of the heart I did know the SA Node when she called on me. However, on that quiz I had a ton of blanks or half answers.

Whew.. ok so yeah thats it for week two! Long weekend to get caught back up and get a little bit ahead again. Of course within my side of the class I am the "organized" one... almost anal to a T about my notes and binder. But hey I'm old and my brain has been fried with too much anestheia from all those surguries and well thats what I need to stay in the game. Back in the day I was a straight A student.. I'd settle for just passing at this point... ok no... I really want A's too.

Gotta love free Wi-Fi

6am Sitting in the parking lot waiting for class to start. Two hours early due to carpooling. But you can never be too early when it comes to traffic around here, as the people last Friday who got socked points found out. So this archaic laptop of mine comes in handy!

Math test today. I tried to study the conversions yesterday and worked on the basic dosage calculations but I can't self teach this subject. The 250mg/30ml so how much is this dose in ml if you add such and such amount of solution to the power... etc Throws me off!

So on to review my notes for the big day... we start assessments today!! The family will now become the guinea pigs.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

First Test

First test went very well over all.
My study techniques, chapter outlines, and organizing my notes based on the objectives of the chapters worked nicely. Also transcribing the lectures into notes later instead of during class helped alot. However, she threw in some abbreviations that I had never seen before. So off that question ( which was writing out an order that was written in med term.) I missed two abbreviations which were OD- and ac. As did most of the class. I knew ac had to do with meals but I forgot if it were before after or with and I had no idea what OD was. Other than that I got 1 question wrong.

You know how they say go with your gut, don't change your answer? Well 9 times out of 10 that works, but this was that % where I was going back and forth between the two answers and decided to not change my answer. SUCKS!!

So the grading scale is:
92-100 = A
84-91 = B
76-83 = C

Anything lower is failing so it doesn't matter.

So depending on how she scores the last question I either got an A or a B. I'm thinking since it was a long order I'll get like a 93 on the paper test. Which would be awesome!! We shall see on Tuesday at the next class.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009


Why I am not studying at the moment. Sasha... my other baby, is feeling a bit neglected I think.

Studying... with help


I just love this kid. He can take any subject and make it into a stand up comedy... even the evolution of nursing. I always ask him to quiz me when I complete my notes, and he is so smart months later he can even tell me what things were. I had him help me with the respiratory system in A&P and to this day he tells everyone about the ravioli and the broccoli... LOL


We did this ekg tutorial... he had all the rhythms memorized and he when time ran out he was like, " Sorry there is nothing more we could do for him." in that Doctor tone. Here's the link if you want to try your luck http://www.skillstat.com/Flash/ECGSim531.html


Now if only he would do HIS school work... but that's a whole other blog.

Just cuz its digital doesn't mean its better...

ARGHHH!!! Remind me the next time my husband says this one is digital to run!

Freaking recorder!! So yeah I have been sitting here transcribing the lecture into organized notes (aka studying) and I hit the wrong freaking button and it went all the way back to the beginning. No big deal you say... just fast forward. Nope! Does not fast forward it just advances. Freaking 4 hour lecture, I was on hour 2!!! OK so now I know maybe I should split them once it a while so I don't have to listen to the whole thing again!

Damn I miss the old fashioned rewind, fast forward buttons of the tape recorder era!! Progress sucks! LOL

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Welcome to Nursing School

Wow I am exhausted! Today was the welcome to Nursing school moment I have been waiting for.

Quick pace, lots of information thrown at us, verbal quizzing and surprise... a test on Thursday on Chapters 1-6, remember to know all the nursing theorist and their contributions as well as all the women of nursing history who have made it what it is today, as well as when certain aspect of nursing started showing up in history anytime from 500BC till present. Plus any or all parts of chapters related to the skills in 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18... Plus we have to document 8 skills correctly. This is all covered within a 20 question exam fill in the blank and multiple choice plus the documenting of the skills on the flow sheets she passed out today. So yeah WOW.

So needless to say now I'm going to be freaking busy. She popped quizzed us today, I knew a lot of the answers in theory, I got my question right. So that's all that matters. She gave us some additional resources and said remember there is also a dosage and calculations quiz on Friday before lab.

Well gotta get cracking. Lots to learn and no time to do it!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Sometimes I am amazed at the creatures I have created...


It amazes me that such smart, perceptive, compassionate, empathetic & gifted children I have created.


My daughter so fascinates me as she grows into a woman. She reminds me so much of me at that age. She sounds like me, she writes like me, she feels like me... but she is so much more than me already.

Its sad that people who are important to her in her life don't understand her as well as I do. Don't accept her as well as I do... and don't know her true inner being as well as I do.
I guess a DNA relationship is not all its cracked up to be.

She is interested in Psychology and Forensics... she wants to become a Forensic Psychologist on the Police Department or within the FBI. She is amazing and beautiful.


I hope she continues to dream big and lives to her potential!


Saturday, January 10, 2009

Have you ever...

Have you ever dreamed a dream as if you were reading it like a book?

Friday, January 9, 2009

Week One Done!

OK.... I am so exhausted!!! Of course to start off its totally all my fault because of staying up till midnight ( after finishing what I had to do for school ), to complete the 4th Book in the Twilight Saga. I have to say that I LOVED it. Breaking Dawn is my favorite hands down. So I read what over 1900 pages in a little under 4 days... NOT BAD!!!

Of course with that being said all the reading for Nursing School is probably the same, so I can't complain right? YEAH RIGHT!!

Its totally weird to be in a program that is just off and running so fast. So much has been covered already, so much we have done, and it still has only been 1 day of class and 1 day of lab.

I have to say that I almost had a heart attack when after leaving the house nearly 1 1/2 hours before class was due to start today that I covered the distance of the 33 miles with 10 minutes to spare. Thank God for carpool today as it was the only lane moving. They don't mess around here, you can not even be 1 second late because you get docked for it... no ifs ands or buts about it. You have to have so many class hours and so many clinical hours according to state mandate so we can't miss more than one day of class time total and zero of clinical time! I will leave at 5am for my 8am classes just in case there is a traffic SNAFU. Hey I can always read or study while I wait for class to start... we all know there is TONS of that to do.

OK so after the traffic, we sit down she closes the door and its, " Clear your desk for a Math quiz." OH crap!! So yeah I didn't do so bad, I forgot the formula for converting inches to centimeters and went the wrong way on the 2400 hr clock counting for my next dosage due time on a q8 dose, but over all for day 2 that's not so bad.

OK so then we got to go through our lab kits, so much fun stuff in there. The instructor was like, " I get so excited! Don't you!" Of course when we were splitting the stuff and taking inventory, all the really cool stuff is for next semester.

So a quick review of how to put on PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), wish I had a camera! then off to a Dosage and Calculations Lecture with advisement that there will be a test next Friday and we had better know ALL of our metric conversions and ratio and proportions.

We were given our clinical assignments for the duration of the semester, Nursing Home of course, then we went over all of our check off sheets and how we were to fill them out.

At that time we were introduced to the dreaded Care Plan, or as PN students call them Case Study, duh same thing every First Year Nursing student has to do either way. We were given two MAR sheets (medication administration) with injection and oral medications on them , 17 meds total and sent off to get the info= make drug card, find the nursing implications, interactions etc.

We were advised there would be a test on Tuesday on the NA Skills we will cover and those on the assigned reading we are of course already expected to know ( everyone has to be at least CNA certified to get into the program) So then we were also assigned a few more chapters to read and outline, then it was 45 min for lunch!

Back from lunch and into the lab for the remainder of the day. At this time my group and I had to present our Skills to the class that we were given. We were group two and had 20 minutes to present 6 skills and all of their rationals ( besides just )ADL's, but why they were done such and such way, what health considerations were effected...

So Pharmacology on Monday... tons of studying to do... but so far I am loving it.

I love my instructor! She is TOUGH, but she has such a range of information and she presents everything in a way that immediately demands your critical thinking skills to jump into action. She teaches across the entire spectrum of Nursing from the NA level through to the RN level. With an NCLEX pass rate of 100% I feel like I am in the right place.

Now I hope I don't blow it!!! We have a couple of weeks until the Med Math Test on which of course we have to score a 100% with which to continue in the program. We get 1 more chance to pass it, but with a penalty of being on probation if we don't pass it the first time.

Well off to listen to the lecture recordings and re-write my notes and start on those med cards for the 17 meds I have to look up. Reading and outlining tomorrow!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Twilight Update

Yeah so books 2 and 3 went pretty fast and now I am just about done with book 4. I'm actually going to finish reading it now. I'm on Page 4something out of 7somenthing. I have to say its my favorite so far!! Hard to put down & an easy read.

Now I get the hype.

First Day of School!!

Wow! So much going on, so much to organize so much to do already.

Well we hit the ground running in class that's for sure.

We has a quiz today on the concepts discussed in Orientation from the student handbook, I didn't do so well on that. We have a project due tomorrow that we have to present in class on the basic nursing skills that a CNA would do. I have shaving, dressing, nail & hair care & documentation. So pretty easy batch.

We were assigned a few chapters to read and a lot of papers to bring in for tomorrow, plus went over a TON on information on what to expect.

I am very happy I am in the program I am in that's for sure, so far I am very pleased with the support the instructors offer and the style of teaching.

I have:

Mon- Pharmacology
Tue & Thur - Nursing Process & Critical Thinking 1
Dosage and Calculations
Tue- Nursing Success Strategies

Wed- Off

Fri- Nursing Science Lab

Gotta do some reading now!!!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

To Do List

Order Uniforms--- check
Drug Test --- check
Finish book 3 of the Twilight series -- check
Stuff my backpack with new books & supplies--- check


Buy a new car for hubby---- wtf?

Just when I have NO money, not to mention now I have some place to be that conflicts with my son and my husbands scheduales that is NOT flexible... we are down to 1 car!!

His blew up on his way to work and cracked the engine block. D. E. A. D ... dead. But hey it lasted over 200,000 miles. Just wish it could have held out 1 more friggin month!!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

back

Ok back from orientation. So really didn't fnd out too much. But I met the Instructors and they really seemed nice... of course that it so far. But they made a lot of jokes and were not bitchy sounding so thats a good sign.

Drug test tomorrow... gotta go online and do some background check and pay for the test $75
Got to go tomorrow and order the uniforms. Hunter Green Tops with white scrub pants. I have to have them printed with the school logo. $100
Bought my books and lab kit ( Yeah Toys !!) LOL Books are for the whole program so that was $550.


I did find out that after the PN program I can roll into the RN program. They like to give to their own above other applicants so... yeah!! I have to take my last pre-req for that program then over the summer semester.

First actual class is Thursday am. Funny thing is my lecture instructor is the ex wife of my former Boss.

Off to Orientation

Well I am just about to head out to orientation. Thursday is the first actual day of class!! I have a few stops to make before it starts tho. The bank being a big one to drain whats left in my account as I'll be picking up books and finding out about the million other things that are going to cost me this term.


To be continued...

Monday, January 5, 2009

Well enough alone....

Why oh why couldn't I have just left well enough alone? I did it. I caved.

I sent hubby on a side trip to the bookstore on his way home last night.

New Moon down... two more to go.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Twilight

Ok so I caved into the hype and watched the movie for Twilight. I have yet to read the books so at the risk of being drawn and quartered...

I actually really liked the movie. It was cute in that kitchie tween movie way. You could feel the connection between the two, however, the actor for Jacob and Emmit are the CUTE ones (My 15 year old daughter agrees). Now if you did not know that this was a set of books and there is more to the story, I feel that it ended pretty great in a nice neat tidy package with a bow at the end... happily ever after...with the ominous sign that it was going to be anything but a boring ever after.

I love the line, " Isn't a long life with me enough?" In that smokey bedroom voice... All that teen angst and first love. However, as the mother of a 15 year old girl, I need not watch a movie to achieve the angst and drama of first love. We are living it... sigh.

So with that being said, a bit about me. I am the type of person who has to know what comes next. That happened to me with the Harry Potter series. I had never even heard of the books until my son, gosh he was 5 or 6 at the time, said he wanted to go see the movie. So we went then I was hooked. To my joy there were three other books... than the rug was pulled out from under me when I found out I had to wait to find out what came next. Yuck! I hate waiting... LOL

So at the risk of sounding stupid... because I haven't looked into this yet... but in my world the movie had a great ending... doesn't keep me wondering, as a duped moviegoer it is nicely implied that They lived happily ever after." End of story. I am weary to start a set in a series if it is not completed yet! Although if it is...in March during spring break I may get the books to read.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Under Construction

As you may have noticed new things keep popping up everyday. Don't be alarmed... lol . I'm pretty new to blogging and have yet to decide exactly what my page should look like.

****I added tunes.... I deleted them but they were here *****

These are "special" songs to me for one reason or another. The first song my husband and I ever danced to, " When I see you smile", a just because, my husband was in the Army when we met and this was a very special song to us, Soldier Boy, and the song that made him decide that," What if its you ", although he had searched the world, the girl he dreamt about was the one next door the whole time!

Friday, January 2, 2009

School Shopping & Addicted to Bejeweled Twist

Yup I admit it I am addicted to Bejeweled Twist. I bought it for my Mom for Christmas and have become obsessed with it. I have a touch of insomnia right now and my carpel tunnel is killing me because of this game. I have TOP SCORE... lol, that can tell you I have an issue, I may need a 12 step.

I did manage to tear myself away from my obsession and head out to Wal-Mart and get some stuff for school. Post It flags, pens and this crazy awsome pencil that is just like a #2 except you never have to sharpen it or add lead?!? I have no idea how that works but I had to buy it either way. 3 pencils for like $3 so hey if its a forever pencil thats a damn good deal!!

I also bought a label maker machine!!! Hehe... watch out house cuz those things can be dangerous in the wrong hands. No idea why I bought it only that it was next to the Post It's and was only $10.

Well only just about 3 more days till school starts... I'm going to enjoy my free time as much as I can while I have it!! Laterz!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year

Happy New Year... it promisses to be one of the hardest years I have ever been through and I have been through some hard years.

Divorced in 1997
Cancer in 2002

Yeah I can handle broke and in Nursing School in 2009! Woot!

Ok on to the dreaded resolutions:

1.) I will not procrastinate ( as much ) lol
2.) Drop some weight ( yeah everyone says this) 10% of my current body weight is a start.
3.) Exercise more. ( Stationary bike is a great place to read Text Books!)
4.) Get a stationary bike for objective number 3 & 2


Once again Happy New Year All! Hope it is Blessed.