three patients

Today I took THREE patients. We're only supposed to have two, but it just worked out this way. In fact, today went incredibly smooth. I thought I would feel overwheled, but it was awesome. I went in, look at their charts, did their assessments,charted, gave their meds, and then spent the rest of the day helping/doing whatever that had to be done.
I feel like it is all starting to come together--it is much better now that we can pass meds; we're actually learning the role of nurse. I like it a lot.
The night before clinicals I always feel nervous/anxious, which makes no sense because it is always good, but for the past few weeks, I've secretly been excited to go because I can feel myself getting better! However, when that alarm goes off at 4:10am, I don't exactly share the same sentiments:)
I never talked about my patients all that much--maybe I should give an overview of them or something. First, I'm on a telemetry/MS floor that focuses on strokes.
Patient 1-CC=dyspnea
Patient 2-CC=pulmonary embolism/rectal bleed/lung CA
Patient 3-CC=Afib with RVR

I hate psych clinicals

Today I had psych clinicals and we left early because my friend was attacked by a patient! argh, it was horrible. I don't feel like typing out the entire story again, so I am just going to copy and paste an AIM convo I had, minus the screennames, so I'm sorry if the story isn't grammatically correct or sounds dumb.


oh man it was horrible..soo it was me, L, T, and A on the adult floor, which i have yet to be on. i felt weird as soon as i got on the floor bc the nurses and techs were just weird in general..then we were doing vitals and this tall black man kept coming over and talking to tammy and i..he seemed ok, then he would grab his penis and be like.."you want this, you want this!" we just moved until he was told to go into his room..so we were kind of freaked out from that. then the patients went to breakfast so we sat in the tv room. well, we were at the table and lindsey was to my left and then tammy was at the end of the table. then this guy in a wheelchair who apparently is retarded wheeled in. he was gross. he had food all over himself and on his hands and he would talk very weird..he'd be like, "I AM GOING HOME TODAY!!" but it was very hard to understand him...anyway, he wheeled in and he sat between L and T.
He was like HI I AM ROB and he shook their hands, then he tried to kiss them and they were liek NO, we cannot do that, no touching, etc. he was like "YA WE CANT TOUCH, I KNOWWW, I WANT TO HUG, BUT I KNOW WE CANT." he seemed harmless you know..then lindsey got up to wash her hands since he had just kissed it and he was gross. then he was just sitting there for a few minutes with a smile on his face, he reached his arm behind tammy to like put it around her shoulder or pat her, i dunno and then he fucking SNAPPED and he fucking grabbed her hair with all his might and he pulled her down, then he was trying to bite her and he was biting the air making this horrible noise like AARGG ARGGGH, like an animal
I jumped up so quick and i was screaming STOP IT STOP IT and i was trying to pulled his hand off the death grip he had on her hair, but he tried to bite me!! so i started screaming HELP HELP, you know.then like 6-7 nurses/techs came in and they were all over him, on the table, etc trying to pry him off and he is just like biting at the air and screaming like an animal! Then they finally got him off. oh and the whole time the otehr patients are like yelling PUNCH HIM OUT, HIT HIM IN THE FACE!!!!
I was so shocked. it felt unreal. when it was happening i was just like what the hell..is this for real!!
It was scary as hell. he turned into like an animal!
I am not going back on that floor, i dont care
--did anyone actually get bitten?
yeah supposedly this tech got bit through his gloves
but i didnt see it
--but none of you guys?
it took them forever to get him off
no thank god
--good
but T had a huge welt on her head bc he was pulling her hair so hard
---how old was this person?
if she hadnt been holding her hair at the root then he would have ripped it out of her scalp, no doubt
i dont know, it was hard to tell bc he was so weird..maybe 30-40
i was so scared! i was shaking so hard. i thought i was going to cry lol

then we remembered how earlier they were watching the movie blade, about vampires, so maybe he was being a vampire

and we werent even on the floor long at all..this all happened before 9am

am seriously going to have nightmares lol..especially with the noise and look that he made
he was biting the air going AR AR AR i dont know how to type it out lol..but animalistic..like nawing

IV

My day in clinical was pretty good. I took two patients, did all of the charting, assessments, and the MEDS.
Today I did my first SQ injection for insulin! woo go me. I did it and then I was like, "You were my first injection-EVER!" And everyone laughed and said, "oh yeah tell him after the fact!!" haha.
THEN this male travel nurse on my floor asked if I wanted to start an IV! I was like YES! Friday was the first time we ever even learned how, but that was on a rubber arm. This nurse rocks so much. He didn't make me nervous at all. He sat down with me and walked me through it. It helped that my patient was totally disoriented and old, so he had like no clue what was going on. I got it in really good, but he said to bring it a little LEFT, so I did, but I could never get a flash. Then he pushed it to the RIGHT and got it. He was like, "I'm sorry! I kept saying go left, but I meant right!!" So I ALMOST got it on my first try. I think it is way easier on a real human and not those dumb arms. Anyway, IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! He told me that I did great and that my approach was PERFECT!

wow.

Today was boring for the most past because I was in the ER intake and there were no psych patients, so I basically sat around and talked to the psych RN who was a male. This guy was either burnt out or did not think of nursing very highly. He kept saying things like, "I'm JUST a nurse," how nurses have no power, etc. I was like...what the freakin' hell?! THEN he was like, "you're young, don't do JUST nursing. I would seriously think about medical school or masters program--become a physician!"

WHAT THE HELL?!
First of all--I am not JUST going to be a nurse and it pisses me off when people put down their own profession. We need to advocate for our profession, we need respect. Putting it down does not help the matter. Also, if we can't feel respect for our profession and realize how important our role is then obviously this will not translate well to the public--no one will give us respect and therefore, people will not want to be nurses. THIS WILL NOT HELP THE SHORTAGE.
And to suggest that being a nurse is somehow like being a lower level doctor---what?? It's not even the same profession. GEE, maybe I am proud of the fact that I want to be a nurse, not JUST a nurse either. Be a doctor? Ugh, no thank you.
Some people just shock me.

pharm

I got a 96 on my first pharm exam!
woo.

my mind.

Lately I've been experiencing an influx of emotions. One second I am so pumped to study and do whatever it takes to be the best nurse I can be...and then the next--I just want to do NOTHING. Last night I felt pretty low, but then in class today I got another one of my surges of : okay, I must do this. I will work hard, I am motivated, dun dun dun!!

I came home and finished all of my notecards for pharm. NOW I have Tuesday and Wednesday to actually study (and not just prepare for studying). Although, making notecards really helps the info stick in my brain. I'm one of those people who has to DO IT to learn it, so writing definitely works for me.
We've had lectures on fluid and electrolytes/ABG all of last week and then today in every class. Wow, I never want to see the word fluid and electrolyte again...oh wait, I'm in nursing school, so that is impossible!!

I definitely want to work as a tech during the summer at a hospital, but I am kind of worried about the committment. For summer, I'm pretty much open (besides summer courses), but once school starts, I don't want to work at all, so I don't know what to tell a possible employee if they ask. I guess I could be PRN, but I'm not sure.

A problem I've been dealing with lately involves negativity. However, it is not even my own negativity--I feel like everyone around me is negative. I am not better than all of them because I am easily drawn into the negativity. But sometimes I just want to be positive and not complain about every little thing or get sucked into drama, but it is soooo easy to get wrapped up in it!! How do I always end up around people who are just as sarcastic as me? I need a change of scenery.

School has been good, but I've been exhausted from waking up two days in a row at 4am for clinicals. Besides that, I rock. Why do I rock? Well, I have been managing to read ahead, which is a miracle.
I passed my med calculations exam, so now all I have is the motor exam and then I am free to pass meds in the hospital. Watch out everyone.
My first real exam is next week--Pharm on Thursday. I'm getting ready right now to drive to the library, study for about 3 hours, and then hang out with the boyfriend.

I love 3 day weekends! Especially when they fall right after the first week of school.

The first week went well, to say the least. I already know it is going to be a rough semester. However, I feel incredibly motivated to study, learn, and be the best nurse I can be!
My goal for the semester is to truly LEARN and understand what the hell is going on. I plan to read all assigned readings for the week during the weekend. This way, I can focus on studying during the week and listening more intently during class time. I'm almost done with the reading for this upcoming week. I will say--7 more hours and I'll be done. By then, it will be time to sleep since I wake up at 4am for my second clinical day.

NERVOUS!! Last week my regular preceptor was not around, so I had a floating nurse. She was nice and helpful, but I feel like our personalities will not mesh well. I hope my real preceptor is there tomorrow and I hope she is willing to show and teach me all the things she knows, ha.
Even though we're supposed to have our own patients, etc. I feel like if someone handed me a chart and said, "Go," that I would have no idea where to even start. I can't even read half of the stuff in the chart because of poor handwriting. So, I guess that is what's bothering/worrying me the most for right now. I go into clinicals with a dreadful feeling, but once I am there--everything is fine.

Time to begin reading.

first day of MS clinical

I had a good first day. I like this other hospital (it is technically the same hospital, but a separate facility in a different city). I am on telemetry, which is cool because I am interested in that stuff. Finally, male patients!
My preceptor wasn't working today, so I was stuck with some floating nurse who was kind of weird. She seemed angry, but she was cool for the most part. She kind of quizzed me about why we were doing certain things, which was helpful.
Tomorrow we have psych orientation at the same hospital from first semester. I'm excited because we don't have to be there until 9! Also, it just seems like a fun rotation.

1st day of second semester

Tomorrow is the first day of semester 2 of 5! I'm excited.
I finished my drug calculations book, but I haven't began reading for any classes.

alright, I don't really have much to say, except for this, sooo yep. Pretty pointless entry.

school and soup stuff

HAPPY 2007!!!

There's only about 4-5 days until the first day of second semester. I'm excited, stressed, and nervous.
I still haven't worked on my med. calculations book. We have to do the entire thing--it is loooong! I will begin today once I clean, shower, and make sure everything is in order. I wish they would post the syllabus for MS1 and Pharm. Psych is up. I have about 10 chapters to read, but fortunately that class isn't until Friday 1:00, so I am not stressing about it too much.

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday break.
Yesterday I made some apricot lentil soup. It sounds pretty odd, but trust me, it is good. AND 16 GRAMS OF FIBER! WOO.
Here's the recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apricot-Lentil-Soup/Detail.aspx

Scrapbook

What does everyone think of starting a scrapbook for nursing school?
I've never made one before, so it would be a new hobby. The only thing is that I don't have a lot of pictures from this past semester, so I don't know. Suggestions?

FINISHED!!!

Final grades:
Fundamentals: 92.4% B
Clinicals: Satisfactory
Physical exam/assessment: 95% A
Pathophysiology: 97%A

WOOOOOOO

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL TODAY (AFTER TWO FINALS OF COURSE)!!!!!!!!!

You're know you're in nursing school when/if...

The other week during our presentation, something really made me look around and laugh.
We were all eating pizza, with various toppings while watching a powerpoint presentation on cervical cancer. It was filled with pictures of the cervix, cancer, and other images that no normal person in their right mind would want to see when eating pizza, but damnit--I looked around and everyone was chowing down like it was no big deal.
It was awesome.
Gotta love nursing school.

After yesterday's HESI, I feel like I need to step it up a bit even more for next semester. I mean, I did study extremely hard this semester, but I can't even imagine what the MS-HESI will be like if Fundamentals was that torturous.
I plan on buying my books for Spring on Friday. This way, I'll have them all Christmas break and when I have nothing to do, like when Mirza is working or practicing, I will knock out some chapters. They already posted the psych chapters for the first two days of class. Everyone says that Pharm sucks too, so I better get a start on that as well!
blaaaa
I should really be studying for Patho and Physical assessment right now.
I am just bummed that my 92.4% is staying as it is and my final grade for Fundamentals is a B. 0.6% away from an A.
If I get A's in the rest of my classes though, my GPA will stay the same as it was before nursing school--a solid 3.7.

HESI

I don't give a shit what anyone says, that HESI exam was hard.
First of all, it had questions about the size of needles and shit, which we never ever covered--it sucked!!

I got an 899, which is a 78%. I got the highest out of my group, which is good, I guess. People were getting like 50% and shit.
It says that an acceptable score is 850 and a recommended score is 900, so I was one point away from "recommended."
The average score last semester for Fund was 821. And the average score for the nation was 826, so I did better than 62% of the nation's nursing students, while only 38% of the nation's students had higher scores than me.

THIS BLOWS though because my grade in fundamentals is a 92.37 and I need a 93% for an A!:(
I hope they can somehow throw out questions or something!

Finals week

I have been studying like a mad woman for this Fundamentals HESI. I am going insane. It is now almost 10pm (despite what the dumb time says on my this blog) and I don't know how I feel. I am nervous. The information isn't even hard really, it is just the way they word the questions so DUMB and confusing! arghhhh.
I started studying around 10:30 this morning once I noticed a professor posted an outline of "what to know," which took me until almost 4 to go over . Then at 6 I went to a study group.
I don't know what else to do!?
AAH.
I think I will do a super quick review of all 40+ chapters and then go to bed, wake up at 6:30, review all morning and finally take the dumb thing at 12:00.
I need an 85% to get an A (93%) in the class, which means I can miss 8 out of 55.
Watch me miss 9!

Elder Abuse

Did anyone watch Primetime the other night on ABC ?
They had this thing where they would have someone talk really loud on the phone in a restaurant to see how people would react, or have children be realllly annoying.
One scenario involved a 90 year old man in a wheeelchair with his caregiver (one in scrubs and then one in regular clothes, like a family member) in the park. Then they had the caregiver abuse the old man physically and verbally when someone walked by (he would smack his hands when someone looked away or push the old man in the wheelchair).
Holy crap. It made me really sad. Even though it was fake, I still felt so bad for the old man because you know this type of thing happens all of the time. It made me want to go out and be a gerontologic nurse, haha.
They said out of 100 people, 75 people walked by and only 15 people actually did something, either telling the man to stop or calling 911. Isn't that horrible? I know people can say, "oh yeah, I would do something," but when you get in the situation, it's difficult because for one--the caregiver was a man, so if you're a woman, you might be intimidated. Also, people do not like to get involved with conflict. However, I honestly think I would have done SOMETHING. I mean, GOSH!! It was horrible!!!
As far as the cell phone thing, I probably wouldn't have done anything, except sit there and be annoyed, but for this, I can honestly say something would have been done on my part.

From abc.com: What do the experts say?


The experts agree: Do something. Anything.

"If you're uncomfortable, call police officers or get involved," Gelles says. "Go up to the person on the receiving end of the abuse and say, 'I'm uncomfortable with how you're being treated. … Can I help you?'


If the victim responds, Gelles adds, follow his lead. If he's not capable of responding, turn to the caregiver. Tell the caregiver you're really uncomfortable with his or her behavior and ask for the name of the caregiver's employer.

The caregiver may not recognize that his or her behavior is abusive, Keating says. She suggests approaching the recipient of the abuse first.

"Smile and try to defuse the situation, or direct conversation toward the elderly person. Make the elderly person. … A person," she says.

"If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem," Gelles says. "If you walk away from social injustice, you become part of the social injustice."

I'm bringin' nursing back!

Today felt SOOOOO long.
I got 100% on my patho quiz! That means I will have an A if I can make a 74 on the final, which should be pretty easy, so I am almost guaranteed an A.
I came home around 7 and hung out with Mirza for awhile. Now it is 1:35 and I should sleep. The weekend will be full of studying...oi.
I am thinking I will sleep in a little though because if I start too early then I burn out later and I feel guilty when it's evening time and I am not studying.
For my own self, tomorrow I will:
-Finish physical exam notecards so I have them for next week
-Order all my patho cards to coorelate for the 40 chapters, pick out the ones he chose.
-Organize a study plan for Fundamentals for the next 3 days by chapter and questions, etc.
-Take out chicken to defrost.
Weeeeee!