RN Someday

No an rnsomeday Anymore!!!!!

2008-10-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

I passed! I'm a licensed registered nurse! I'm overwhelmed and relieved. I'm grateful and a little sad. School was my life. Now, onto the real world. It's about time!

NCLEX - Check!

2008-10-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

I took the NCLEX yesterday. I thought it was hard. I got 75 questions and like everybody else, I feel like I failed. I check the state department of health website every hour on the hour to see if I have a license number although I know it's too soon. Tomorrow I can check my results online. I wish I had something more exciting to say but I'm freaking out right now.

Sorry dear readers

2008-09-24T10:48:00.001-07:00

I've been away far too long. The last semester took the wind from me. I promise to catch you up - but for now - I must prepare myself for the mighty NCLEX which I am taking on October 7th! I'm terrified.

Shocking episode at work!

2008-05-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

Nursing is a field where you really need to put your biases aside. You see and deal with all types of people and it is really important not to let your own personal beliefs get in the way of the care that you give to your patients. I saw some serious bias the other night and I was so shocked by this nurses behavior.

The patient was very large and edematous from a non functioning liver. An alcoholic, the patient had end stage liver disease and some serious electrolyte issues. The patient was coughing up blood and having black diarrhea and a GI bleed. Not a pretty picture. This patient had so much excess fluid they had blisters on their feet. I Have never seen anything like it in my life. Going through withdrawal from alcohol, the patient was nearly impossible to understand. Well, this patient required a lot of care and assistance was needed by many to be able to turn them to clean them up about every hour on the hour. I really like the nurse that was taking care of this patient. I witness this nurse giving excellent care on every shift I have ever worked with her. There were two of us assisting her in cleaning the patient up when the patient became combative. Oh I forgot to mention his scrotum, which was the size of a cantalope (no lie!) biggest scrotum I have ever seen. I'm not sure why but he had some skin tears on his scrotum (ouch). He was in a lot of pain and confused from the withdrawal. Well, the nurse smacked him on the leg and yelled, "stop it!" then - she proceeded to say "I hate alcoholics, they are just going to go back and start drinking when they leave!" Man, I was shocked and thought about what I should do about this. I wanted to tell the charge nurse but she was the charge nurse. What the hell - I felt bad for the guy.

I hope and pray I never do anything like that.

14 weeks

2008-05-13T08:21:00.001-07:00

I just started my last semester of nursing school! 14 weeks to go. I am scared and excited. I am overwhelmed. We are starting the semester out with psych, although we have no clinical in psych and then onto critical care. This is goign to be a busy semester as there are numerous tests and we should all be doing NCLEX questions to get ready for the big test in the end. Wish me luck!

Recap Spring 2008

2008-04-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

I have done a bad job of keeping up with this blog this semester. The semester of OB Peds seemed like kind of a vacation but I spent an awful lot of it feeling guilty about the work that I did not do. I tried really hard to do the readings but they were really unrealistic. I scathed by with a 89.47 - ridiculous - 3/100th away from an A-. I'm embarrassed. I made the worst grade ever on a final for me - 84 - spring fever had been hitting hard and I have been unable to turn down the allure of the outside for studying (although I would usually have my books with me, just got distracted by the lovely spring). Done now! Some highlights of the semester -

Live birth witnessed!
Awesome Pedi clinical instructor!
Got to play with darling babes!
Bonded with my nursing friends! Friends for life!
Lost 20 pounds and started exercising and liking it!
Feeling confident as a nurse (some of the time)

So much more. I am off for a little vaca and will be back for the last and final fling of this thing called nursing school!

ALIVE and KICKING

2008-04-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

Like the 80's song!

Tomorrow is the final and I am ready to kick the finals ass! One more semester to go. I'll do a semester wrap up later this week when all is said and done. Hope everyone out there in blogland is having a great semester!

Beginning life or ending life

2008-03-28T15:10:00.000-07:00

Next semester I have my clinical on an oncology floor. I picked it. I still don't know what draws me that way. Maybe because my stepfather died of cancer. It will be an incredible experience.

Anyway, the title of the post. I am trying to decide what kind of nursing to do. I like the idea of the ED because I love change. I get bored easily. I like the idea of oncology and L and D as well. I love the newborns. I guess I can do it all. Who knows where I will end up. I was just thinking of it earlier in the context of life beginning or ending and helping people die with dignity and respect. We'll see. There are a lot of possibilities out there.

Pedis and parents

2008-03-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

My pedi rotation is going O.K. I don't think peds is for me. The style of nursing is very different than caring for the adult population. Sure, kids are cute and sweet and all and I adore the infants, but... the parents. The parents are there taking care of their kiddos. The nurses administer meds and treatments and that's about all. For the most part. I had an interesting kiddo last night. In for dehydration but had a history of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and ended up with an ostomy. Not fun for a youngster. Not fun for anyone. Anyway, this kid also needs a liver transplant. The situation just blows big time. I had to give the child some meds by mouth and he had already fallen asleep. Well lets just say that he does not like to wake up. His dad screaming and yelling at him, in front of me, loudly so others come in the room. Uncomfortable. And I feel bad for the sick child. I did'nt know how to handle the situation. It was my first of the kind and I don't find it right for a student nurse to try to tell the child's parent what to do. Next time I have to though, it was not right. I know dad and child are stressed but no need in yelling at him because he would not wake up and swallow the meds. For those of you wondering where my instructor was, he was not with me. He checked the meds and told me I could go in the room and give them. I love the little kids but yeah, not for me.

IV Meds

2008-03-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

Why, oh why do IV meds freak me out so? I get to my first pedi clinical yesterday and have a patient on IV meds. My guess is a lot of the pedi kids in the hospitals need IV meds. They are sick after all. I have not given a lot of IV meds and the fact that it has been at least 4 monthes since I have given IV meds makes me so green. I need to do something repetitively to get it and I just have not gotten that in clinicals. I think I might get my chance to get proficient this semester. I hope so anyway. I don't get what my hangup is with it. I guess I'm afraid I'll get air in the line or something. Got to find a way to get over it.

I did OK with it. My instructor is cool and said I did fine except when I shot some of the flush on the mom because I was shaking so bad trying to flush the line. It was comic relief. I'm so retarded I forgot to make sure there was no air in the flush before I flushed the line before I administered the med. The air thing scares me see? I'm really not retarded but it was funny.

*UPDATE* I worked with a nurse tonight at work who let me hang some fluids for more practice. Feeling better now.

Stress Test!

2008-03-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

The OB test is in the past and the first NLN testing experience is behind us. It was crazee and stressful! We were all freaking out! I got a 91 and for now, I am so glad it is over.

Exams, Papers, Presentations, Irritations...

2008-02-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

Warning - Rant following -

I will be so glad when nursing school is Fini. I've said this before, I enjoy learning, but being put thru the ringer by the nursing school administration is irritating as hell. What I mean is our school is always changing the rules so they can improve their NCLEX pass rate and make themselves look better. I get it but come on, change your rules with the next class and let us keep on the way we are keepin on for now. The latest rule change has been to drop the HESI and institute NLN testing. Even with the HESI, the individual instructors used to administer their own exams and students would just take the HESI as an exit exam. Now, our exams our standardized NLN and administered on the computer and our instructor cannot even confirm for us if the exam is timed. We asked our instructor the other night if the exam will be timed and she said she did not know. She did not say, "I will find out and let you know." I find that to be bullshit. Really.

Oh yeah, did I mention I have to write an 8 page paper in APA format with 6 sources that counts 5%! Yes, you read it right, 5%. Complete and utter bullshit. We have to do a powerpoint presentation also to teach the class about a childhood disease that also counts 5%. It comes with its own very specific set of instructions: "You must include three nursing diagnoses prioritized with 2 short term goals and 1 long term goal with 4 interventions......" A care plan within a presentation.

No wonder there is a nursing shortage.

Almost 1/2 way there (then last semester!!)

2008-02-15T14:38:00.000-08:00

The semester is almost 1/2 way done! Two more weeks of OB and then on to the children's hospital for Pedis. I like OB, it is nice and calm for the most part. Our instructor is a cute little lady who does not give us a hard time. It's not challenging, but at this point, it's nice for a break from "challenging". There will be plenty of that next semester.

As for lecture, we have only had quizzes so far. We have a final which is 30 % of our grade. I'm doing OK in class. I don't really care at this point. Sometimes your brain just gets tired of trying to get the best grade. I have an 86 average at this point and that is just fine with me. My good friend and study partner (a guy) is getting better grades than me. I'm happy for him. It's all good. As long as I pass the OB final - I'm golden for now.

Birth!

2008-02-06T13:03:00.000-08:00

Last night I got to witness my first ever birth! It was so amazing.

A little update on the semester. We are on a labor and delivery unit right now at a small community hospital. It is a wonderful unit and a great experience. The nurses are awesome and the patients are great letting us observe their births and so forth. The past few weeks I have had the opportunity to take care of post c section moms and their newborns. It's been quite the learning curve for me since I have never given birth and am not a mom. But, a positive experience and I am surprised at how much I am liking it. I thought as a nurse, I wanted to take care of "sick" people but it is actually more fun caring for "well", happy people. I'm not saying I want to be a L and D nurse, I'm just saying it is now a possibility that I had not previously considered.

OK - so about the birth. Oh My God! It was unbelievable. The mom came in in active labor. It was her 2nd or 3rd child and when the nurses got her all set up, she was 8 cm! and I'm not sure about the effacement and station and all that but her contractions were coming quickly, less than 2 minutes apart. She was close to delivery! By luck of the draw and a coin toss between me and another classmate, I got to go in. It's hard to explain what it looks like to see another human being coming out of the vagina. Painful, excrutiating, horrible, beautiful, amazing - every emotion. The mom did so good, she had no pain meds! ouch! Once the head was delivered, the rest of the body just slid out onto the table. It was so wild! I still can't believe it. The nurses called me over to the baby and asked me if I wanted to give it its Vitamin K shot! YES! How awesome and I measured the baby's head!

OK, so now about the really bad part. TMI follows. Mom looked so beaten up in her vaginal area. I have never seen something so awful. It was swollen and bruised and distorted! I can't imagine the pain!

I had some serious anxiety during the birth. I had to stand in the back and keep my mouth closed. The mom was yelling and screaming and it was intense. So intense at one point I thought about leaving the room. I was half scared that something would be wrong with the baby. I don't know why those kinds of things go through my head. When the baby came out, the coloring was more blue than I thought normal but what the hell do I know? Most all babies are born with what is called acrocyanosis, meaning their extremities are blue when they are first delivered. The baby did not spontaneously cry for probably 6 or 7 seconds. (it seems like more but it was probably less) I was holding my breath waiting to hear the cry. It came and everyone was smiling. It was a really awesome night!

We have a few more nights left on the unit and I hope to see a section. We'll see.

From Martin Luther King, Jr.

2008-01-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."

New year, New Semester

2008-01-21T10:29:00.000-08:00

Hi all - Happy New Year. We enjoyed our holidays but they were very busy and now school is back in session.

I started class last Tuesday. 4th semester out of 5! I am almost there! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am certainly excited about the possibility of completing my nursing degree but this semester is shaping up to be very busy. The first 7 weeks will be focused on OB and the second half on Pedis. So far, things seem great with instructors etc.., the only problem is the workload. We have a lot of projects and papers this semester. Ugh, I hate papers. I see no point in them. I'd rather do a presentation to the class. Oh wait, I have to do one of those too. The reading is crazy as well. I will do my best but I see no way possible to get all of the reading done. Also, our school has just switched over to testing us via the NLN (National League for Nursing). Our instructors used to formulate the exams but now they are coming from the NLN. Does anybody out there have any experience with this at their school? They are always changing things in our program to increase their NCLEX pass rate.

I hope everyone is enjoying the new year and a new semester or chapter in their life.

New York and the holidays

2007-12-28T08:13:00.001-08:00

We live close enough to Manhattan that it is an easy 1 and a half hour drive or train ride away. One of the highlights this holiday was a day we spent in the city just seeing the sights. The store windows were incredible.

Semester Post Mortem

2007-12-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

It's been 10 days since the end of the semester and I still do not feel like I am caught up. Ugh, I struggle to get out of bed by 10 am, I am just so beat up. My job does not make matters any better. More on that later.

The test. was HARD. Some of my fellow classmates did not think the test as hard as I did. When I am testing, I go through the entire test the first time and answer the questions I am absolutely sure of. The I go back through and start to work on the ones I cannot figure out between the 2 best answers. I leave the really impossible questions for the end since I am just going to be guessing the answer anyway. I always put a star by the questions that I am not sure I picked the correct answer. On this exam, I had about 25 stars which is a lot for me. So basically, I was unsure of my answer for at least 25 questions. Obviously, I got a lot of them correct since I passed with a 90. But, regardless, it was a challenging exam. Thank God I do not have to take this class over. As I said in previous posts, the instructor is a drill sargeant and I am so glad to be done with her.

Unfortunately, a few of my friends did not pass and have to repeat the class. I feel kind of guilty over this although I can reason in my mind that I worked damn hard and deserve the grade I got. It's just hard to see them have to stay back and we go on without them.

My text came for next semester and it's 2000 pages that we have to cover in 15 weeks. I thought maybe women and babies would be easier but now I am not so sure. I realized that I know very little about this subject whereas in previous semesters, I had some prior knowledge of some of the diseases we were covering.

Good news, I got my clinical changed! Now I have an evening clinical closer to home. It should be no more than a 30 minute drive and it's only for 7 weeks. I also got my pedi clinical changed to the local children's hospital so that should be interesting.

That's all I can think of for right now. I am trying to enjoy my time away from school and resist the urge to start reading my new text. I need to enjoy my break through January 15. Happy New Year all!

Advertisers on my blog

2007-12-27T08:05:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that I have accepted an advertiser who approached me about placing an ad on my blog. The link is to the right. It's a very nice scrub store. Have fun.

90 People 90

2007-12-21T19:38:00.000-08:00

I did it! I passed the final and the class with a 90 and a B plus respectively. Such a weight off. I just wanted to let my readers know. I'll post more about the testing experience soon.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Good vibrations

2007-12-17T14:55:00.001-08:00

Study group today for 7 hours - study 4 more hours in the morning. Put a fork in me I'm done. Give me the test. I can do this. I know I can.

73

2007-12-16T10:16:00.000-08:00

I have to get a 73 on my final exam Tuesday in order to progress. The exam is cumulative from the beginning of nursing school in January. Ouch. I am stressed and scared. I am trying to study but how do you study for a years worth of stuff? I'm going back and forth between NCLEX review books and CD's to powerpoints and trying to stay focused on the major diseases.

Just thought I'd let you know what's going on in my own personal hell.

The Unluck of the Draw

2007-11-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

Guess who got picked NEXT TO LAST for the clinical draw for next semester? Why you are so smart, yes, that would be correct, ME. In fact, I did not even get a choice of what I wanted as I had to take what was left because the only thing left is a hospital an hour away from my house, in January, at the crack of dawn. Well, well, well, this should be fun. Southern girl driving an hour away from home in the dark in January. I can't think of many better things at this moment. Oh, it's on Saturday too, did I mention that? This presents many problems for me. One of the big ones being my J-O-B at which I am required to work every other weekend, including Saturday. Not sure what I am going to do yet. I've e-mailed the instructor asking for an evening clinical if one opens up since half of the people who got to pick a clinical site are FAILING. It is doubtful they will be around next semester because they will be repeating 3rd semester. BUT, I have to turn my work schedule in by mid December for my schedule from Mid January thru the beginning of March so that could cause some problems if I have not gotten the clinical switched by that time. The final exam is not until December 18 so the likelihood of me getting the clinical changed before my schedule is next to nil. I'm just unlucky I guess. I'm still trying to find some positive in this situation.

What does your school do for clinical? I've heard that most schools do not let you choose like ours does.

Untitled

2007-11-15T07:57:00.001-08:00

Sorry - can't think of a title and this post is going to be a mish mash of all things.

First and foremost, the semester is coming to a close. 5 more weeks people. Yes!!! Next semester is all OB/Maternity/Geri, 7 weeks clinical OB and 7 weeks clinical peds. I still have no idea where I will be yet but it won't be the same hospital where I currently attend clinical and work. This I am not happy about as it will entail driving somewhere, which I do not want to do. Especially in the winter but hopefully we can get a carpool going. I'll know more about my schedule next week. I'm not terribly thrilled about the content of next semester. Since I have never given birth, I feel at a slight disadvantage to most of my peers who have. (Many moms and dads in my class). I also don't feel as though it is an area of nursing that I am interested in working in. I think it will be a very cool thing to watch a live birth but that's about the extent of the excitement I have about next semester. Maybe I will be surprised. I hope so.

Clinical is still moving along but I have to say, it has been disappointing. There are a lot of graduate nurses on the floor, and as student nurses, we cannot be co-assigned with them. My CI seems to have not a clue regarding certain course requirements, mainly our care plans and tells us they are wrong the second time we turn them in. I can't figure out any other reason other than the fact that she did not know the first time around. Then she tells one of my peers that if we do not score perfectly on the last and final care plan, we will not pass clinical. I think that is a little extreme and late to be making such an announcement. Welcome to my hell called nursing school.

Lecture drones on incessantly. Our next exam encompasses all the hormones (a lot) and kidneys. I am struggling with all the content but I keep telling myself that I'll be alright. I've got a good average right now at an 87 and I secretely hope to get an A in the class. It will be difficult to do but not impossible. I feel like I deserve it I have worked so hard. I don't want this instructor to defeat me. She is so rigid. Won't throw out any questions no matter how many people get it wrong. It's quite ridiculous but now I think she is feeling bad because so many are failing. I want to show her some people can make an A in her impossible class.

I have a lot more to write about but I should get back to the books if I am going to secure that A.

Thanks for stopping by.

Torture

2007-11-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

Writing a care plan with three nursing diagnoses, 15 goals and 8 interventions is some of the worst torture I have ever experienced. Add to the pile the 15 page clinical worksheet and the ethical/legal journal - all due on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Someone kill me now.

This is the reason you have not heard from me and probably won't until the dust settles.