T.E.S.T.I.N.G.

Sorry this post is so late in the week. What can I say I have been busy. We have had so much testing this week it was kind of overwhelming but at the same time it seemed like the week was much easier. Tuesday we had a medication calculation test which we had to get 100% on to pass, which I did as well as everyone else in my lab. We also had our theory class on caring for the postpartum woman (the woman who has just given birth). These past couple of lectures have been really interesting. Who knows why, I guess the material is just interesting in itself, and I do have to say the prof who has been lecturing makes the three hour class quite fun. Wednesday I passed out sterile technique testing which was really nerve racking. Standing in room with just you and a professor demonstrating your skills without any mistakes so you pass...yeah felt like i was going to throw up. But I did well and passed that too. Thursday we had a practice testing for medication administration which included injections. I thought I had this one down better than sterile technique but I guess I was wrong. I was so thankful it was only a practice. We had 20 minutes to do everything that was required of us (checking the MAR, identify the patient, asking all the right questions, doing the med checks three times on all the medications, drawing up the injection, administering the injection, and doing the followup and teaching). Well I ran out of time so I wouldn't have passed if it was the real test, but I couldn't get the bubbles out of the syringe when I preparing the injection and it took me like 10 minutes. They taught us all these little tricks to help get the bubbles out but none of them worked. I was ready to put down the syringe and run out of the run yelling "I can't do this, I can't do this." So I know what I need to practice and my final real testing is on Wednesday so say a prayer for me, that would be great! We also have our first theory test on Tuesday and I'm real nervous about that too because I don't know how hard the questions will be and that sort of stuff, plus its the first test. So testing

Baby in my pants!...and playing with needles.

Fun week! Tuesday in our theory class we had a lecture on labor and delivery given by one of our professors who has had a lot of experience in that area. I think it was one of the most interesting 3 hour lectures I have ever listened to. She had so many stories to tell. The professor was telling us how many women experience very different labor. Some take a long time to deliver the baby and other occur quickly. She told of a story in which one woman had her baby so quickly she had pushed the call button to tell the nurse "there's a baby in my pants." I also learned that if a woman in labor feels like they have to poop, check to see that it's not the baby first because usually poop = baby! And I learned that when the baby comes out they look like little aliens.

In lab we have been doing a lot of practice on sterile technique and medication administration. Thursday we learned how to give injections. (We got to play with needles!) Well, I wouldn't actually call it playing. It was more like learning through hands on experience. We learned about all the different sites and different types of injections and then we practiced drawing up sterile water from ampules and vials. We got to inject into this fake section of a leg for practice. We practiced with long needles (1 1/2 inches) and smaller needs and big gauges and smaller gauges. I don't know, there was something cool about being on the other side of the needle for once!

After Week 1.

Let me tell you right now, its the end of the week and I feel much more comfortable about the upcoming rest of the semester than I did on the first day. I'm not completely sure why that is, probably cause I jumped right in and told myself that I keep worrying about everything I'm not going to get anywhere. So Lab on Wednesday was interesting...the computer in our lab class wasn't working so we joined the other lab....OLD LAB 101 BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!!! (-2).....and we discussed documentation and calculating medication. So then yesterday we got to lab knowing we were going to learn sterile technique and we played JEOPARDY from the reading we were suppose to do. Then we watched the professor demonstrate sterile technique with gloving and preparing to change a dressing, and then we got to practice. There are so many tiny little things you need to make sure you do correct to not contaminate the sterile field. The hardest part for me is remember to keep my hands above my elbows. Then today we took our med calc pretest and practiced sterile technique some more. So now I get to read 4 chapters from my gigantic textbook about giving birth for Tuesday...at least it's interesting!

Hi students....welcome to a semester of Hell.

Yesterday was the very first day of the spring/summer semester for my nursing 320/321 classes. The day was long and on Tuesdays I am at school from 8:30 to 5:30, in which I have three classes. For each class I was in, and each new professor I listened to, I felt like they kept placing heavy bricks on my chest making it harder for me to breathe. Yes that was how overwhelming my day was. Let me explain to you some aspects of my day. (oh and by the way, I still have a hard time keeping my schedule straight, so if you get confused you know how I feel.) The start of my day was at 8:30 for my theory class. This class contains all 64 nursing students who entered the program the same time I did. This class is three hours long. And get this, the class has five different professors, and each one teaches about a certain topic. So now the issue of trying to figure out a professor, how they teach, how they test, and what they are like is multiplied by five. In this class the professors did an introduction and then we discussed sexuality, STIs and contraception. Then we had a short break and headed to our Lab class which is another 3 hours. If you thought 5 professors was bad we have been told that lab is taught by seven or eight different professors (not all at the same time). And to make things more difficult this part of class is split into about 4 weeks of work in lab, another 4 week in a primary care clinical rotation, and another 4 week in OB clinical rotation. For now we have learning labs four days a week and each class period is 3 hours long. Today we got out early so that was nice but we will be learning things such as documentation, some medical calculations, preparing a sterile field, med administration and injections. Then finally on Tuesday from about 3:30 to 5:30 we had a seminar class (in this class I think for the most part our professor stays the same, key words "I think"). So I have Lab four days a week and my theory and seminar are only one day a week.

To make all of this even worse is the way blackboard is set up. Blackboard is a online site that professors can use to post announcements, information to read and print, post quizzes, ect. Well the info for these nursing class is all over the place and in like a thousands of different folders (yeah I exaggerated at little bit). But it is extremely confusing and some info you need to have seems hidden within these folders. I spent an hour and a half the other day just printing off material that I would need to try to get it organized and I didn't even print everything.

All in all info is all over the place, there are numerous professors, and classes I can't keep straight. Within all the negative thoughts and complaining I can be make one positive statement....I know I have a big God that will help me get through it all!