Our final clinical is in a long term “critical care” facility that is making most of us absolutely nuts.  The old school nurses out there will probably laugh at us, but I’ll tell you what, it’s a pain in the rump to get a good grasp on paper charting.  Especially when every nurse you work with wants the charting to be a specific way.  Kinda frustrating.

Classroom work is going well.  It’s not easy, but it does help that this is our third med-surg class, so we have a pretty good understanding of the systems that we’re covering again.  The thing that’s making me most disappointed in the whole final semester is that we are unfortunately having some drama surrounding our pinning ceremony.  No details to share, but lets just say that I’m going to be very glad when it’s all behind me.

Our sights are firmly fixed on finishing this semester successfully and getting on to taking our NCLEX exam.  We are going to start having reviews regularly soon, and many people are plowing through as many NCLEX style questions as they can to begin preparing.  It’ll all be over soon!!!

Technorati Tags: Education, Graduation, NCLEX, Pinning

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Shock and Awe is a  ” term for a military strategy based on achieving rapid dominance over an adversary by the initial imposition of overwhelming force and firepower.”  Although there was no force or firepower in the technical sense, our instructor (who happens to teach both lecture and clinical) apparently adheres to the belief that we will either sink or swim as “expert nursing students” by becoming fully immersed in our clinical education.

Our first lecture began with a comprehensive tutorial on the paper based charting system used by the clinical facility.  As she began to explain the system to us, I took a glance around at the class.  Normally I sit up front in class, but I apparently got there late (I was only 20 minutes early) and had to sit in the back of the class.  This vantage point actually gave me a new perspective on my class.  As I mentioned, I glanced around at the class and saw many different expressions.  Some were in shock, some completely bewildered, others were frantically scribbling down every word that the instructor spoke.  I had to chuckle.  Here we were about to begin our last semester and there was an air of panic in the room.  It was as if we were starting all over again.

I attribute this feeling to two different factors.  First, this particular instructor has a reputation for being very demanding.  Not in a bad way, mind you.  She expects you to be at a point in your education where you can start putting together the knowledge that was gained and start using some critical thinking skills.  Again, not a bad thing.  I think that the way our class began last Monday really gave people (myself included) a bit of a wake up call.  We were not first year nursing students.  We were supposed to be moving beyond fundamentals and into our roles as novice nurses.

The second factor was the fact that the way or program was designed (and for upcoming students this has been fixed) we had about 8 months of classes and clinicals that did not require us to do regular physical assessments or “traditional” med/surg care plans.  We’re all a bit rusty in our clinical skills and we’re expected to hit the ground running.  Many of us found that we were lacking in our clinical evaluation skills on our first clinical day this past week.  We’ve decided to take advantage of some lab time and have our own review sessions over the next several days.

The thing that I found most frustrating and surprising during our clinical this past week was that I was an absolute nervous wreck!  How could that be?  I thought that all of the time I spent in my externship would have prepared me to be able to handle the day.  I was, apparently, wrong.  I think I let our instructor get into my head and throw me off my game.  I was not one of the lucky people who actually had a patient on our clinical day – I actually shadowed RT – but I’m going to get my head back in the game and not let myself get freaked out for our next clinical.  I can do this!

I guess I’m just used to doing things the “externship” way now, not the “student” way anymore.  I have to back myself up and remember that some of the things that I’m expected to do at the externship are not things that I’m able to do right away in clinicals without observation.  It’s strange to think that I’ve done 4 in and out caths in one day during my externship, but I have to be checked off on them for my clinicals.  Should be easy, right?  Not when you are being graded on it!  That’s what I mean…I can’t let the instructor get into my head.

So, it’s already the middle of January and we have about three and a half months until we are done.  It’s going to be a fast and furious semester.  Anyone else in the same boat?  Are you nearing the end of your nursing school journey?  Do you find the idea of being done and starting a job intimidating?  I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Technorati Tags: Clinicals, Education, Externship, Hospital, ICU, Ivy Tech, Nursing School, Nursing Student, Student

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I find myself a bit torn between my “student” experience and my “extern” experience.  It almost seems like being a student is a bit of a fantasy compared to working in the hospital.  Like the expectations are different.  We’ll see if that feeling continues once our final clinical begins on Thursday.  This is supposed to be a very tough clinical, but I wonder just how difficult it will be considering all the experience that I’ve had at the externship.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’ll be easy by any means.  I just think that having had the opportunity to work around real patients so much over the last several months is certainly going to work in my favor.

I’m actually a bit nervous going in to this first class today.  Like I said, I can see the finish line, but honestly, that’s a bit frightening.  The “student” experience is almost over and the safety net will soon be gone.  At some point by the middle of this year, I’ll be (hopefully) working as a nurse.  It’s so exciting and terrifying at the same time.

Sadly, that’s about all I can say about this right now.  My class starts in about 30 minutes, so I have to finish getting ready and head to class.  Wish me luck!

Any other “last semester” students reading this?  I’d love to hear what you have to say.  Feel free to leave a comment or a link to your blog so we can share the experience together.

Technorati Tags: Clinicals, Education, Externship, Nursing School, Nursing Student

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On the upside, I finished my Fitness & Wellness course with an A, but more importantly, I finished it with a healthy new way of living.  Instead of just blowing through the class to get the credit, I actually took the time and energy to do all of the fitness labs and create a fitness plan for myself.  I wasn’t too easy on myself, and I wasn’t too hard…I found a great balance and I’ve been able to keep up with the plan for the last two months.  I’ve made fitness a priority in my life, and for the first time, I’m finding that I actually enjoy spending time doing physical activity, especially since I get to spend the time with my wife, who is busting her butt in the gym with me.

I’ve lost 20 pounds in the last 2 months, and I’ve been doing some weight training in addition to cardio work.  When I started this plan, I could barely walk faster than 3 mph on the treadmill without my shins feeling like they would explode.  Now I can do 4pm for 30 minutes and barely break a sweat.  I’ve started ramping up the incline on the treadmill to keep me sweating.

The weight training is going well too.  I’ve actually started to develop muscles that I’ve never developed before.  I’m not saying I’m into body building or anything, but I’m kinda liking feeling some muscles in my arms and chest.  It’s interesting how easy it is to become addicted to the gym.  I find myself missing it if my schedule doesn’t allow for me to be there for a couple of days.  Wish me luck!

I’m very glad that my online chemistry class is over.  It was just way too much work to tackle at the same time as the nursing classes.  I finished up with a B in the class…I probably could have pulled out the A if I had actually studied for my final, but I was over it and I wanted to focus on the courses that really mattered.

As always, I pulled Bs in the nursing lecture classes, and As in the clinicals.  Time to move forward.

Next semester is one class, one clinical.  Med/Surg III.  This is where we put it all together.  This is the end of the road.  In preparation for the end of this journey, I actually applied for graduation yesterday.  Graduation day is May 6. Let the countdown begin.  Actually, that’s not a bad idea.  Guess I’ll throw a countdown up in the sidebar of the blog to help us all keep an eye on how little time there is until graduation.

Christmas is in a few days, and New Years is right around the corner.  I’m picking up as many shifts as I can at the hospital to make some money and get some more experience.  I’m sure I’ll take some time to read ahead for the next semester.  Our instructor was kind enough to send along the syllabus for the class, so I know what to start looking at.  I’m hoping to spend some quality time with the family as well.  That’s so important.  If anyone wants some advice about going to nursing school, it would be to remember that your family and your spouse are more important than exams and projects.  School takes a great deal of dedication and focus, but so does your family.  Make time for what’s important.

Happy Holidays, and best wishes to all of you in the new year!

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Next semester will be interesting.  We will be taking one class and one clinical.  The clinical counts for more than the class does.  We’ll be in Med/Surg III and doing our clinicals in a long term critical care facility.  Although it’s not exactly a capstone project, the goal is very similar.  We will be caring for critically ill patients and behaving much like a working nurse as opposed to just a student.  From what I understand, there are vents and trachs galore in this place.  The one thing I have working in my favor is the fact that I’ve been externing in an ICU, so I don’t feel so uncomfortable around those things.

For now, however, I’m going to have to keep my focus on what I’m doing right now.  I can’t move on to the last semester unless I pass all my classes this semester.  The one that I’m looking forward to finishing most is the online chemistry course I’ve been taking.  Ugh!  I hate it.  I finished up the last of my online homework and labs last night and I won’t miss them.  The stupid online labs drove me up the wall, and I hated doing 50 to 100 problems on the online homework site only to receive a maximum of 15 points.  That kinda sucked.

My finals are spaced out enough that I can focus on one class at a time while studying.  That should make life a bit easier for me.  Wish me luck!  I’ll take all the help I can get.

Are you studying for final exams?  Do you have any study tips or techniques that you would like to share?  Are you a working nurse just laughing at the student stressing over a test?  Feel free to post any comments below.  I’d love to hear what you have to say.

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We “officially” wrapped up our Complex Family clinical yesterday with a visit back to the psych facility that we went to earlier in the semester.  We spent some time with the residents, who were very happy to see us again, and gave them some brand new winter hats and gloves.  They all loved their gifts…it made us all so happy to see them all try them on.  Unfortunately some of them got to put their new winter gear to work.  As we were there, snow began to fall and it started to accumulate quickly.  By the time we left, there was a good inch of snow on top of some very wet roads.  Some of the residents were more than happy to grab a shovel and dig us a path to our vehicles!

Our clinical instructor for Complex Family was wonderful.  If you will recall, I was a bit hesitant early in the clinical because we were going to be back in OB again.  Fortunately, our instructor went out of her way to arrange some other clinical experiences for us that would allow us to do more “community” based nursing.  The trip back to the psych facility was one, and we spent an afternoon teaching diet, exercise, and hygiene to middle school kids.  I’m scheduled to go to spend a day in surgery tomorrow, and earlier in the month, I got to spend a day with a wound care specialist.  That was an awesome day!

I think everyone in my class is getting a bit anxious because we are just a few weeks away from finishing this semester and starting our final one.  The end is in sight and we can all see ourselves crossing the finish line.  I know I’m ready!

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Link: http://jparadisirn.com/2011/10/24/the-meaning-of-success-is-in-the-squiggles/

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Kind of interesting to see how different circumstances require completely different uniform arrangements. I never carry a stethoscope during the externship. There’s at least one in every room right near the head of the bed, and wearing one around my neck all day would be pointless and unnecessary. All those alcohols swabs I carry, however, are absolutely necessary.

Do you wear multiple hats? Do you have different uniforms depending upon your daily assignments? Feel free to leave a comment with your thougts. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

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Have you ever spent time trying to force something to work only to find out in the end that there was a good reason why it wasn’t happening?  I certainly have. I don’t mean simply working on something difficult.  My nursing program is difficult…very difficult, but it’s not wrong.  Everything I do in the program is tough, but I keep building towards my final goal.  When you are messing with something, you seem to keep going down the wrong path only to try another “fix” that doesn’t work, and another, and another, until you’ve done a million things and you are no closer to your goal.

That’s what it was like for me running my photography business.  I tried and tried, and retried, and reinvented, and spent tons of time and money trying to make it work, but it was a fight the whole time.  Not just difficult, mind you.  I mean impossible.  No matter what I did and how hard I tried, I never found the right mix that would lead to success.

The worst part was how difficult it was to see that I was spending too much time messing with something that wasn’t going to work no matter how hard I tried.  When the veil was lifted from my eyes, I saw what my family could see so well…it was just wrong.

The funny thing is, when you come to that realization, you think it’s the end of the world.  I felt that way for sure, but I had no idea that one ending is always the beginning of something else.  I was able to find a career path that I absolutely love, and I’ve made so many wonderful friends (both in person and online) in the process.  I love going back to school, and I know I’ll love working as a nurse.  I have plans and dreams for my future that just weren’t there when I was working for myself.

Trust your gut.  When you have that feeling that something isn’t quite right, fix it.  Don’t talk yourself out taking action.  If you have to keep messing with it, it’s not right.  Find out what needs to change to make it right.

What do you have to say about Nurse Jo’s motto?  Do you agree or disagree with her position?  Have you ever been stuck trying to make something work that wasn’t meant to be?  I’d love to hear what you have to say.

http://scrubsmag.com/jos-motto-or-the-only-nursing-mnemonic-youll-ever-need/

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I’m a bit mixed about this clinical rotation.  I’m willing to do what needs done, but I must confess that I’m a bit disappointed to be back in OB.  It’s just not my thing.  Yes, typical male here.  Not interested in working with moms and babies.  This does not mean that I don’t get why we’re back there.  There is a lot to learn, and I’ll gladly absorb as much as I can, but to be honest, I’m hoping I won’t have to spend too much time in that department.  Fortunately, the hospital will only allow 5 students in any single department at a time, so there should be plenty of opportunities to visit other departments.  Hopefully I can get a turn in the ED or ICU.  I think I’m more comfortable in those departments.

One thing that I’ve learned is that every experience is an opportunity to learn something new.  Even though I’ll never work on an OB floor (yeah, I know…never say never), spending some clinical time in that department will provide plenty of lessons.  It may not be OB related, but I’m sure to learn something about therapeutic, communication, priority setting, or any one of a million other things.  I think the mistake that some people make is thinking that there is nothing to learn just because they are in an area that they aren’t interested in. Coming in to a situation with a closed mind will just prevent you from gleaning the nuggets of information from even the most undesirable situation.  Don’t be so quick to shut down in a less than ideal situation.  There’s always something to learn if you allow yourself to be open to the experience.

What do you think?  Are some things just a waste of time with nothing to learn, or is there a lesson in every experience?  Feel free to leave a comment.  I’d love to hear what you have to say.

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