Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Psych clinical + odds and ends

My first day of psych clinical was a great day actually. There wasn't a bed to be made in sight! I enjoyed talking to the Vets and getting their insight on their conditions, their hospitalization and finding out about their history.

The Vets are my second favorite patient population, I like ante/postpartum the best of course,but if given the choice to work at any facility PostGrad I have and would always choose the VA. (Especially if offered the OR)

As luck would have it our Psych clinical instructor is also our Psych lecture instructor... and she is AWESOME in clinical!!

Overall great day and the first exam wasn't so bad either. If only I would have read one of the damn questions correctly I would have pulled off a 100%. Urgh!

So I also found out today that those that did not have a B at the time of the Preceptorship draft were all put in Med/Surg sites... except there are also those that have the option this term to forgo hospital Preceptorship in place of SIM Preceptorships. What that means is that they will spend their 6-9 shifts using the SIM lab, running scenarios, codes, and such... but they also get the chance to take the EKG class as well as get their ACLS certification out of the way.

Now I think I like that idea too... except... if I actually did get my first choice in preceptorship there is no way in hell I would give it up. Because I was one of the lucky ones that DID have a B at the time the selection was done and none of the options were changed. So....


Now they just need to tell us what we got already!!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Psych Review and EKG strips

In the midst of studying for the first Psych quiz. Make or break right as there are only two?

We also were introduced to the world of mcg/kg/per min and reading EKG strips... (baby boxes and big boxes, PR intervals, ST segments, QRS complexes.... what?

I have no idea what she was talking about and she talks FAST!!

So do you think I have a procrastination problem, if I spent a few hours cleaning the house from top to bottom and the housekeepers are supposed to come tomorrow?

LOL Ok... I did do a lot of studying, but sometimes your brain just screams.."DO SOMETHING ELSE."

Looks good and smells good in here... now I have to run to the grocery store. I am really trying to work on my defense mechanisms and response to anxiety and stress... yup that's Psych studying for ya!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

No pressure but...

I was informed by my son and husband that I have to pass Block 4! Like I didn't know this, but they both said everything rides on this, we need you to be done with school already.

Them and me both right?!?

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Week 1 Block 4

Was pretty mixed up, felt weird because we lost so many people, changed seating arrangements and have new teachers with totally different styles.

Psych lecture is up first and she is pretty laid back overall, but lectures in monotone so it's hard to concentrate on the content sometimes, but I have decided to physically write my notes with this class in hopes of doing some long term memory conversion that has worked for me in the past.

Today we had pre-clinical lab for Critical Care, which was pretty much just 5 hours of lecture on EKG... she is funny and really informative but speaks very fast!

I need to work on learning to measure and time the PR, QRS, and ST segments and memorizing the descriptors for the rhythms, but the good news is the ones she will test on I recognize on the strips :-)

First test in Psych is next week of course and clinical also starts then as well.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Loss of 12

Block 3 is a killer apparently... although I am pretty sure 4 will be as well. So yeah 12 people missing from last block. 3 new faces added to the mix. The girl that I sat next to today transferred into our group from the night class and she said they lost 9 from their group as well. There is also 1 other cohort that is the traditional day program and I have no idea if they lost anyone, but wow, just wow. That was way more than I had expected.

It was also weird because despite being in the same room this semester, half of the group decided to change up their seating, subsequently I had to change my seat.

It was all kinds of weird!

Have I mentioned this semester is going to suck!

Full Concentration on NS

This is it and it's all about this semester. I am trying to avoid further distractions and get these next 4 months over and be successful so I can finally achieve that RN... I mean I have been looking forward to this since I was probably 4 years old.

I am not worried about weight loss and working out right now, because with school and work, there doesn't seem to be much time left over. Of course I won't break all the rules and pig out and stuff, but I will try not to obsess about the weight loss or exercise part, that might actually defeat the purpose and be causing more harm anyway.

So onward to Block 4- Senior year. Psych tomorrow, 12pm WOOT!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Comment moderation

Just so everyone is aware I have started to moderate comments on this site because of SPAM comments only. I had been receiving quite a few, oh and it makes it easier to see when I get a comment, so I can reply to your posts as well. I have missed a few when people comment against an old post of mine, and it makes me feel bad :-)

Friday, August 17, 2012

...gonna B a nurse...

Block 1 B
Block 2 B
Block 3 B

Block 4 B


** updated 12/6/12**

:-)

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Final Grade SNAFU

Yesterday was just a day from hell and it got worse when at about 1100pm I checked to see if they had posted the final grades yet and lo and behold they had.

To what to my wondering eyes did appear? A huge fucking shock is what was there.


It was a big fat ...... C???

I immediately pulled out the syllabus, calculated my total points again and wow were they wrong! I tossed off an email to the lead teacher and pretty much fumed over it the rest of the night and since I was working at the time, it was a long night.

The good thing was they fixed it to the B it should have been this morning, no problem,but the lesson I took away from this... a C would KILL my GPA and ladies and gents I worked pretty dang hard and had too many sleepless days to see it tank!

So C may = degree but NEVER in my book does that make it OK.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Do over

So I am heading out soon to retake my Peds Math Practicum that I failed liked a big dog earlier in the month. It's the last step to actually officially passing Block 3. So last night I reviewed all the formulas, the steps, and such... and they actually just slid right into my head like butter.

When I tried to do this the week before it was like NOTHING would stick and the simplest things felt like I was running into a brick wall over and over again.

Was it emotional stress that was blocking me or lack of sleep and rest?

I hope I can get all of this new semester's information to sink in just as easily.

***update**

That's done and passed. Nothing in front of me except Block 4!!
Now to get that final grade posted so I can submit it to work and get some frigging money!!!
!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

The big crash

Emotionally speaking that is. It seems I am in the midst of my annual emotional meltdown and anxiety/panic ridden bottom out after riding the stress train that is school.

It seems to happen after every stress filled class is over. After LPN graduation it happened. After that Chemistry class from hell ended it happened, and once again it has happened.

I guess the good news is the let down will not be long until the stress builds up again next week.

But this sucks!!!

Anyone that has dealt with depression before will know, but this sudden low low makes it nearly impossible to concentrate and I feel this weird feeling of despair mixed with overwhelming anxiety and panic.

I wonder if the stressed out feeling and the reason I am getting through, what others seem to think is impossible, is because the stress comes with an emotional high that propels me through the lack of sleep related to working full-time and school full-time?

Hummm... sounds a little Bipolar doesn't it? Well whatever it is, I am breaking down and hitting up the doctor and perhaps getting on some meds to help avoid the crash next time.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Randomness

How do you put your mind at ease and concentrate on what needs to be done, when it isn't at ease and it's impossible to concentrate? Because despite what people say...it's what they don't say that drives you crazy and makes your heart hurt!!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

I'm a Senior!

It's official.. Block 4 starts 8/20. Last semester!

On the agenda

Block 3 FINAL and OB Practicum retake/remediation.

Turns out instead of passing 2/3, I failed 2/3 Practicums. I guess that will teach me to NOT let personal marital problems into my brain no matter what, until the end of Block 4.

But anyway needless to say I only missed .25 from passing the OB one, maybe it'll be an oral retake today, instead of a remediation and make-up at another time? She definitely seems like the type to do that.

Expecting to hear from the Peds math one later this afternoon, so after the final and OB meeting, it will be home to tackle the math packet with a vengeance so I can do those problems like a pro.


Ok off to get this party started... Starbucks here I come!


*** update***

OB retake done and passed. Peds instructor said after the final is graded she will tell us the retake date. We probably won't find out the grades until late tomorrow or Monday. Which will suck since Block 4 starts on the 20th.

However, I did some math to work out what I would need to pass. 219 is the cut off... currently I have 155 with 108 up for grabs on the final (proctored points) So that comes out to needing to get at least a 59% or 64 points. Ummm... I had f'ing do better than that!!!!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

T minus two...



Days and counting till the final. Then I find out about the retake of that practicum stuff and hopefully move on to Block 4! OK back to studying.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

NICU

Last OB rotation today was spent in the NICU, although I loved my nurse and had a great experience overall, this is not a field for me. Spending the day changing diapers, listening to crying babies and feeds q3... nawww.. BORING!!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Easier said than Done

Well Lab practicum was today. Very sad face. I passed 2 out of the 3 sections. I totally blanked on the Peds math section and missed the pass by 2 points. Which means I have to remediate next week and retake the math section after the final. Which is OK... at least I know that if I go over it again with her than I will get it like I did the first time we went over it and it'll be fresh for the retest :-)

Good news is she said NO ONE has failed to move forward in the program because of failing the Peds math section.

Also, I ran out of time. We were supposed to have 60 minutes to complete it but at 30 she said times up. WTF was with that?

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

HESI news

94% 1087!! Woot! If I had stuck with my first answer on at least 4 I would have gotten only 1 wrong! But I changed the answer on 3 and the other 1 I was not sure between two and the 1 I had no idea and was just straight up wrong.


But I'll take that!