I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... for this semester at least. One more week left of classes, and then finals week, and then I'm DONE for the summer! Granted it will be August... but I will appreciate any summer break that I can enjoy. And I will be taking full advantage of the time off, planning trips up the coast to New York and possibly Philadelphia, and maybe making my way to Bethany Beach in Delaware or down to Virginia or North Carolina. Why not?? That's the beauty of living on the east coast - freedom to drive and explore different states. I love adventures and I plan to make the most of my time while I'm living here! But let's focus on the past couple weeks... I'm not sure I can even remember what happened, everything seems to blur together these days...
Classes have been tapering off a bit, finally... it has been quite the grind the past month - constant stream of papers and projects and skill assessments and exams. Every night I come home and find myself at my desk reading or studying one thing or another. But the beauty is that through it all, I have not felt the slightest hint of bitterness or frustration that I am spending my entire summer confined to the inside of the Pinkard building or to my study nook in my bedroom. I find myself lost in the pages of my notes and books, learning about the neurological system assessment, then switching gears to review how to install and monitor central line medication and nutrition, and then find myself preparing for a professional poster presentation discussing the importance of appropriate verification technique when administering medications. Each class presents such intriguing and crucial issues and topics for discussion, and I have learned to appreciate the various perspectives and input from the diverse group of my classmates. The classes are all focused on the foundations of nursing, and we have gained critical knowledge and skills that we will carry with us throughout our careers. And I am keeping that in mind as I study - this information, albeit basic, is what I will have to refer to and implement into my regular patient care. That is what is making learning so much easier - I WANT to understand the material, so that I will have more confidence in my abilities when I am thrown into clinicals this fall and transitions rotations next summer. Our professors are wonderful as well - they are truly passionate about teaching us this information, and it is conveyed in their teaching styles. I love sitting in class and listening to their lectures, even when we are into our 6th hour of class on a Friday afternoon. Let me think... I have already told you about my course enrollment for this fall, but this past week I learned about another elective that I have chosen to take: Faith and Health. It focuses on the various world religions and how these religions view health care, and we will also learn certain important aspects of care for patients that practice different religions. I am quite excited for this course, as I do love studying religions. I hope I'm not taking on too much... but there is just so much that I want to learn about!! I feel that if I am interested in learning the information, rather than just taking the course for elective credit, that I will make time for studying. We'll see what happens though.. This fall will be intense material-wise, as we are taking both Pathophysiology and Pharmacology. But I have a basic understanding of these subjects, and I am hoping that they will be more manageable than students are making them out to be. The information will definitely be complex, but again, I am excited to know and understand it all, so I am happy and willing to put the time in to studying. I will say that more than anything, I am extremely excited for clinical rotations! We find out at the end of August where we will be placed for Psych, and I am hoping to have exposure to patients with substance abuse... possibly in a community setting. Could be quite the experience, learning how to interact and work with patients who have been managing a lifestyle centered around substances for the past 10+ years. If placed at this site, we will be working on patient education and running groups with these individuals to discuss various health care topics, and I think this type of experience could be an invaluable opportunity to prepare me for dealing with a wide array of patients in the future.
Aside from school, life in Baltimore has been moderately low-key. Amy and I went to an Orioles game last week with some people from church, and it was a true Balmer experience. The O's aren't that great... but it was fun to go to a good old-fashioned baseball game. I can't wait for Ravens games this fall! Baltimore locals are CRAZY about their Ravens... they bleed purple out here. haha. Amy and I did survive quite a difficult change over the past couple weeks... we decided to move from our previous living situation into an adorable row house in Fells Point. It has been a huge stress in both of our lives dealing with this upheavel over the past month, but we are so much happier now that we have moved. Our new house was built in 1857, so it is part of the Maryland Historic Society (or something like that) that recognizes various neighborhoods in the city that were founded in the 1800s. I am excited to have a little bit of a "yard" as well -- our landlord has promised us a gas grill for our little deck! And some pots to plant flowers! I feel like such a nerd. But I am so happy with our new location, and I want it to feel more like our own little sanctuary. It's a work in progress :) We are about a block from the water as well, and we actually have a boat slip for the marina - so we can head over to the club and use the pool and the gym facilities there! Quite exciting. Amy and I are looking into the possibility of getting bikes to ride along the waterfront -- it's a nice 3 or so mile ride around the harbor. And we now have the good fortune to walk to school, a 20-minute jaunt through the tiny streets and past the quaint row houses of Fells Point and Butcher's Hill. I love connecting with the city in this way - I feel much more at home now that I live in this area. We have decided to throw a little "house warming" party next weekend, and also to celebrate Amy's birthday - our little group of friends share a general sense of understanding and balance in our lives that keep us sane throughout the rigorous schedule we've been enduring. And I can't wait for our new arrival to get here -- Amanda is moving to Baltimore, and she will be here tomorrow (FINALLY)! From California to Utah to Maryland... what a journey our friendship has made. And we have so many adventures left ahead of us....
Amy and I are in DC again this weekend to dogsit for her brother, and we made a trip up to the rooftop pool in his complex to lay out today and soak up some sunshine -- my first time actually experiencing "summer" so far. Ridiculous I tell you! haha. But I will be making up for lost time when I land in Athens in 3 weeks... cannot wait!! Well, I guess I shall leave you now... we are trying to fit in some studying while we are here, to lessen our load once we get back to Baltimore... so, until next time.... xxL
Friday, July 24, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
passing the half-way point!
Well, well, well... I've made it. Half-way at least. Actually, more than half way... we are a week into JULY! I have 3 weeks left of classes then one week of finals and I'm done with my first semester of nursing school! WOW. It really has flown by... I know it's been a few weeks since my last post, so I won't bore you with extensive detail of my experiences, but I'll give you a bit of an overview.
The last weeks of June and into the beginning of July were quite a stressful time for me... I won't go into great detail, but life was a bit overwhelming, and school was very intense - midterm exam and paper time - so I am quite grateful to feel like I have climbed my way up and over the summit of this semester and now have more freedom to actually breathe and catch up on much needed sleep this past week. Through it all, however, I have found myself loving the hours spent studying because I do love the information that I'm learning. For example, we learned that when a patient goes into asystole ("flat line") you CANNOT shock the patient -- something that TV and movies lead us to believe is possible. Asystole indicates that there is no cardiac electrical impulse, and using an AED to shock a patient can only be done if there is electrical activity to shock back into a working rhythm. Interesting, right? I am looking forward to the day that I can sit through Grey's Anatomy and rattle off all the different things that they are doing/saying incorrectly. So overall, my classes have been very integrative and intriguing, and I really do appreciate the knowledge that we are gaining. Labs have also been a great experience, and the past week has been spent on learning how to properly and accurately administer medication -- a crucial aspect of our role on the health care team. We learned how to draw up medication in various syringes, and practiced giving our dummies shots. I even got to give myself a subcutaneous shot -- a TB shot for those who have ever had one (but I gave myself a shot of saline) -- and I did it successfully on the first try! I was so proud of my little wheal (the bubble of solution that you are supposed to see underneath the skin). We also have been learning how to calculate and administer IV medications, but unfortunately we won't learn how to actually insert an IV needle until the end of the year. Our clinical experiences have been great too - I have worked with the same gentleman the past couple weeks and have really loved getting to know him. He has been very patient with me and has allowed me to practice my new skills that I'm learning in lab on him (although he laughs at me and gives me a hard time with it!) including listening to heart, lung, and bowel sounds. Never thought I'd get so excited about listening for and hearing bowel sounds! haha. Clinical really has been a great opportunity for me, and I feel very comfortable on the unit, and am gaining more and more confidence with my knowledge base and my objective and subjective opinions as the weeks progress. I have to put together a care plan this coming week for my patient, and it's a very detailed process... going through all his nursing diagnoses (NOT medical diagnoses -- we can only state what human responses our patients are having to their actual diagnosis) and then analyzing his status and selecting appropriate outcomes and interventions that we would implement if we were his nurse. Many people don't realize how much autonomy nurses really have... yes, there are things we must obtain doctor's orders for in order to treat our patients, but there are many things we can do independently using our own critical thinking skills to care for our patients. I have gained so much more respect for RNs these past 6 weeks that I've been in classes and clinical. And this is only the beginning! I just enrolled in classes for this fall, and I'm really looking forward to them. I am taking Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, clinical rotations first in Mental Health Nursing and then in Labor&Delivery. I'm also taking an elective - Community Outreach in Urban Baltimore, where we will have the opportunity to work in outpatient clinics in the community and learn more about working in underserved populations, which I am really looking forward to. There is great need in Baltimore for greater access to health care, so I am grateful for the opporunity to help in any way I can. I'm also applying to be a mentor at a local residential treatment center - reminiscent of my time back in Salt Lake - that I am really looking forward to.
Amidst all the craziness of school, I was so happy to have my dad in town to visit last weekend! He came in to spend the 4th of July with me, and we had a great time. Friday I had off from school, so we toured around Baltimore and visited Fort McHenry - the location of the original "Star-Spangled Banner" that inspired our national anthem. Then we took a beautiful drive up through Maryland to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and visited the battlegrounds. It was actually quite an experience - we happened to be there on the anniversary of the 3rd day of battle, so there were many people there taking "battle walks" and touring the grounds, learning all the details of the battle. I'm not a battle enthusiast by any means, but I definitely gained a greater appreciation for the significance of the battle and appreciated our time spent there. We then had our first Maryland experience of eating steamed crabs! It was quite a sight. It wasn't pretty, but we did find a way to crack the shells open eat the delicious meat hiding inside. Saturday we spent touring Washington DC and enjoyed a spectacular fireworks show that night. Thousands of people had gathered for the holiday celebration, so it was a bit chaotic, but we managed to find a great place in the mall to sit and watch the most intense display of fireworks I have ever seen. What a sight. And what a memory. Here are a few photos from our day spent in DC:
[The Washington Monument]
[The Lincoln Memorial]
[The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers]
So... 3 more weeks until the end of this semester, and then it's a MUCH needed (and may I say deserved?) break! We have the majority of August off, and I've decided to take a little vacation to GREECE with one of my closest friends from home. I'm SO excited -- it's been a dream of mine to walk through the Acropolis and relax on the beach in Mykonos and explore the narrow streets of Santorini! But until then, school will have my full and complete attention... so hopefully I'll have time to post soon! Until then, take care all!
The last weeks of June and into the beginning of July were quite a stressful time for me... I won't go into great detail, but life was a bit overwhelming, and school was very intense - midterm exam and paper time - so I am quite grateful to feel like I have climbed my way up and over the summit of this semester and now have more freedom to actually breathe and catch up on much needed sleep this past week. Through it all, however, I have found myself loving the hours spent studying because I do love the information that I'm learning. For example, we learned that when a patient goes into asystole ("flat line") you CANNOT shock the patient -- something that TV and movies lead us to believe is possible. Asystole indicates that there is no cardiac electrical impulse, and using an AED to shock a patient can only be done if there is electrical activity to shock back into a working rhythm. Interesting, right? I am looking forward to the day that I can sit through Grey's Anatomy and rattle off all the different things that they are doing/saying incorrectly. So overall, my classes have been very integrative and intriguing, and I really do appreciate the knowledge that we are gaining. Labs have also been a great experience, and the past week has been spent on learning how to properly and accurately administer medication -- a crucial aspect of our role on the health care team. We learned how to draw up medication in various syringes, and practiced giving our dummies shots. I even got to give myself a subcutaneous shot -- a TB shot for those who have ever had one (but I gave myself a shot of saline) -- and I did it successfully on the first try! I was so proud of my little wheal (the bubble of solution that you are supposed to see underneath the skin). We also have been learning how to calculate and administer IV medications, but unfortunately we won't learn how to actually insert an IV needle until the end of the year. Our clinical experiences have been great too - I have worked with the same gentleman the past couple weeks and have really loved getting to know him. He has been very patient with me and has allowed me to practice my new skills that I'm learning in lab on him (although he laughs at me and gives me a hard time with it!) including listening to heart, lung, and bowel sounds. Never thought I'd get so excited about listening for and hearing bowel sounds! haha. Clinical really has been a great opportunity for me, and I feel very comfortable on the unit, and am gaining more and more confidence with my knowledge base and my objective and subjective opinions as the weeks progress. I have to put together a care plan this coming week for my patient, and it's a very detailed process... going through all his nursing diagnoses (NOT medical diagnoses -- we can only state what human responses our patients are having to their actual diagnosis) and then analyzing his status and selecting appropriate outcomes and interventions that we would implement if we were his nurse. Many people don't realize how much autonomy nurses really have... yes, there are things we must obtain doctor's orders for in order to treat our patients, but there are many things we can do independently using our own critical thinking skills to care for our patients. I have gained so much more respect for RNs these past 6 weeks that I've been in classes and clinical. And this is only the beginning! I just enrolled in classes for this fall, and I'm really looking forward to them. I am taking Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, clinical rotations first in Mental Health Nursing and then in Labor&Delivery. I'm also taking an elective - Community Outreach in Urban Baltimore, where we will have the opportunity to work in outpatient clinics in the community and learn more about working in underserved populations, which I am really looking forward to. There is great need in Baltimore for greater access to health care, so I am grateful for the opporunity to help in any way I can. I'm also applying to be a mentor at a local residential treatment center - reminiscent of my time back in Salt Lake - that I am really looking forward to.
Amidst all the craziness of school, I was so happy to have my dad in town to visit last weekend! He came in to spend the 4th of July with me, and we had a great time. Friday I had off from school, so we toured around Baltimore and visited Fort McHenry - the location of the original "Star-Spangled Banner" that inspired our national anthem. Then we took a beautiful drive up through Maryland to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and visited the battlegrounds. It was actually quite an experience - we happened to be there on the anniversary of the 3rd day of battle, so there were many people there taking "battle walks" and touring the grounds, learning all the details of the battle. I'm not a battle enthusiast by any means, but I definitely gained a greater appreciation for the significance of the battle and appreciated our time spent there. We then had our first Maryland experience of eating steamed crabs! It was quite a sight. It wasn't pretty, but we did find a way to crack the shells open eat the delicious meat hiding inside. Saturday we spent touring Washington DC and enjoyed a spectacular fireworks show that night. Thousands of people had gathered for the holiday celebration, so it was a bit chaotic, but we managed to find a great place in the mall to sit and watch the most intense display of fireworks I have ever seen. What a sight. And what a memory. Here are a few photos from our day spent in DC:
[The Washington Monument]
[The Lincoln Memorial]
[The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers]So... 3 more weeks until the end of this semester, and then it's a MUCH needed (and may I say deserved?) break! We have the majority of August off, and I've decided to take a little vacation to GREECE with one of my closest friends from home. I'm SO excited -- it's been a dream of mine to walk through the Acropolis and relax on the beach in Mykonos and explore the narrow streets of Santorini! But until then, school will have my full and complete attention... so hopefully I'll have time to post soon! Until then, take care all!
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