New semester,,,,Hello nursing 420/421

On Monday I started a new semester at GVSU. This semester includes Nursing 420 and 421 and also an elective nursing class 354 called Death and Dying. I know what you must be thinking. Why in the world would you take a class on death and dying? Well first I needed to take the class to have enough credits, and considering being a nurse I think that the knowledge from this class could be extremely beneficial.

Nursing 420 is our theory class (which is like a lecture class) that I have on Monday and Tuesday for a few hours each. This class is focused on chronic illnesses. It seems like it is going to be really interesting and I am actually looking forward to it. However, it is also a class with a lot of writing and I am not looking forward to that part of the class very much.

Nursing 421 is composed of three parts: seminar, clinical, and lab. For this class we only have one lab in which we get to learn and then practice IV and EKG stuff. Seminar we have some weeks and some weeks we don't have it, or we have a different assignment (such as a quiz) to do in it's place. Seminar is like a lecture that is more practical and we have it on Tuesdays before theory class.

We have two clinical placements this semester. My first clinical placement which we started this week and is pretty much all day on Wednesdays and Thursdays is at Herkimer Apartments for 6 weeks. This is for my psych rotation. This rotation is different than all the other clinicals I have been in because it is not at a hospital. Herkimer Apartments is the old Herkimer Hotel building and houses those with mental issues and a low socioeconomic status that can still function in the community. So far we have kind of had on orientation day and have met some of the residents and talked and played games with them. Looks like we are going to be playing a lot of Yahtzee! I love the fact that this rotation is not so structured, it kind of gives me a break to breathe while still being in school.