out of africa

Does nobody in Africa own a computer?

I'm just wondering because I was looking at my Clustermap, found down on the right side of my blog, and there are NO hits from Africa. Hmmpph.

I'm in a bit of a pissy mood and should probably not even blog, but what the hell...this is my place to let loose if I feel like it.

My abd pain is still present and accounted for. I woke up at 3 am about ready to head to the ED, but what would they be able to do for me?! Well for starters they could do imaging that I wouldn't have to drive all over God's country to attain. It didn't help that I was stuffed up and my sinuses felt like they were going to implode. WTF?

Is everything falling apart on me this week? The week I should be enjoying so much...and am unable to!!!

I'd put this in all caps, but find that rather annoying, so just know I'm yelling in my brain.

We just had to go and have a family meltdown yesterday evening. It wasn't pretty. I wont get into it. Let's just chalk it up to stress, and the need to have a good sit down family discussion on how we treat each other.

You'd think things would get easier as the kids get older, but no they have to go and have opinions of their own and are no longer able to be thoroughly controlled by mom and dad. Ever lived with a 12 year old and a 15 year old? One is trying to spread his wings and is testing every boundary possible, the other knows EVERYTHING!

So I'm headed out here in a bit to spread the almighty $$$ as thin as I possibly can. Darn tuition. Why do they have to make it due BEFORE Christmas!? And I still need my textbooks.

If it weren't for my mom and dad coming in next week I would be saying that I wish this holiday season would just hurry up and be over with!!

Maybe tomorrow my ultrasound will let me know that nothing is wrong and my pain is psychosomatic r/t being a nursing student/mom/wife/etc. We'll have that good ole family discussion tonight. I'm hoping upon hope that things will just get better over the next 24 hours and we can enjoy my parents' stay and I can enjoy this break...finally!

Thanks for listening.

hmmm...at a loss

I went to the the local urgent care today and saw a FNP. She did the usual assessment, ran some labwork, and I left with no idea why I'm having my abdominal pain. Of course the pain was worse since my abdomen had been palpated. She did write a Rx for a free 7-day supply of Nexium, suspecting it may be acid related. She also referred me out for an abdominal ultrasound. This means I get to drive all over God's country to go get poked and prodded some more. When I first called they told me it had to be a bladder full procedure. I had to call back because my order had yet to be faxed over and at that point I was told it is to be a fasting procedure. I'll take empty stomach over full bladder anyday!

drum roll...peas and carrots

lice and laisins. My Grandma Goldie used to say that when I'd say "please" by saying "peas and carrots". Ahh, memories!

The results are in, and I get to move onto next semester's edition of Nursing Student. This is being thought to the voice of Ryan Seacrest, as he announces results on American Idol.

Yep, the self-diagnosed adult-onset ADHD is in full swing. Too bad I still, in all actuality, feel crummy. This time it's not my head...it's mah belly! What was that guys name on Austin Powers? Oh, yeah "Fat Bastard." Anyway!

I woke up with abdominal pain on Monday, and by that evening it felt better. It hasn't totally gone away, so today I'm headed over to the urgent care center to find out what is standing in my way of being fully energetic and getting some things done 'round this joint!



Oh, yes! I almost forgot to tell you my grades! I got an A in my Nur100-Intro class and a B in Nur105-Basic Nursing Skills! Not a bad way to end the semester considering I would've been happy with Cs! I do have to say the 105 grade is slightly perturbing. An A in my program is a 92 or above. I got a 91.4. Grimmace.

I also must add we're losing two of our classmates. One we knew about. She's preggers and will be having her baby in the next couple of weeks. So she'll take the year off and then start up next Spring. The other is being hit by the almighty $$$...or lack thereof I suppose. If I had a million dollars...

first semester of nursing school=O-V-E-R!

Ok, so maybe the sun didn't literally come out today, more like drizzly, cold rain.

And maybe I didn't get to revel in my accomplishment of finishing my first semester of nursing school, right after finals were finished, because maybe I was suffering from yet another migraine.

We even went out to lunch after the finals, but by the time we finished I felt like an ice pick was twisting into my brain above my left eye. It was all I could do to arrive home safe and climb into my bed with a cold, damp washcloth on my forehead, after taking my pain reliever.

Now I am feeling much more like celebrating, but am opting for a more sedate type of celebration.

The rest of the evening will be spent relaxing with my family and then tomorrow I will set off my plans in motion...cleaning, shopping, baking, organizing, etc.

Never thought I'd be so happy to be able to clean with no other worries!

the sun'll come out t'morrow...bet your bottom dollar!

Final exams tomorrow.....first semester of nursing school will be o-v-e-r!!!!!!!!!!!

normally I refer to it as being a P.I.T.A.

(Pain in the Ass)

The curiosity was peaked when I saw the blog headline, Warning!!! WAYYYYY TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!. Then I had to find out more about the subject matter at hand .

I so am going to tell either of my sons, whomever causes stress first, that they are the biggest proctalgia fugax.

Ok, now back to studying. I hope I don't end up with a severe final-exam-stress-induced case of PF!

Hope you got a good laugh too!

in need of total down time

And it won't come soon enough.

My nursing class finals are both this coming Tuesday.

Here I am awake at 2 something a.m. My head hurts, my tummy aches, whine, whine, whine...

My ultimate Christmas gift would be some pampering...like the spa type...even just a massage. The ole salivary glands go into excessive salivating mode just thinking about it!

TINTINTS Thursday

"[LB] get your butt off your brother!"

Why are teenage boys so bad?

And yeah, that is definitely someThing I Never Thought I'd Need To Say!

to transfer, or not to transfer

I've been asked about why I feel the need to transfer nursing programs.

Here we go:

*current program is not privately accredited, although it is state approved

*current program is on the July '08 State Board of Nursing report as being one of the programs in the state with a less than 80% NCLEX pass rate

*current program in a state of transition due to previous instructors leaving just prior to classes starting this August

*One of the replacement instructors walked out after being forced to by the second year students because they didn't like her teaching style(yeah, that speaks volumes about so much, but it is not what is at issue here).

*The dean of nursing, who has been teaching our intro class, has not been able to answer questions from us students, that a dean should be able to answer. Examples of such a question include general information about ATI testing, or information about classes of the upcoming semester.

*The instructor who came back is actually an awesome teacher, but it's not certain she will remain past the spring semester.

*When we've been taught skills we're taught one day, tested the following week, and that's it. Those skills are not re-visited, at all, the rest of the semester. There is no skills final. Because of my previous medical training (Air Force medic, and Medical Assistant) I am ok with this, so far. What about later when we're learning other skills that are new even to me? I can't imagine being one of the students in this program who have no experience. Some of them have voiced their concerns over not being sure about their vital signs skills.

*This semester we were in lecture a total of three hours(two for intro and one for basic skills), and lab 5-6 hours, during the "on" weeks. Our intro class was a "hybrid" class and the off weeks were spent online answering some sort of nursing related question:
The nursing process is defined as being composed of five phases: assess, diagnose, plan, implement, and evaluate. Which of these phases do you believe is most important to the delivery of high quality nursing care, and to the achievement of positive client outcomes? Do not respond that all of the phases are equally important – that evades the question. Demonstrate critical thinking in the argument you present to support one phase over the others.

*one hour a week dedicated to basic skills?

*next semester we have two hours for Nursing Principles and Concepts I, six hours for its lab, 1 hour for Principles of Pharmacology, and two hours for Mental Health Nursing. Supposedly this semester they were extending the latter two to span the whole semester, whereas in the past they've been eight week courses, first pharm, and then mental health. I've heard they'll be changing it back?

*We start our first clinicals this spring, after which we will no longer be in lab. So we'll go from 6 hours of lab a week, to only clinicals Wednesdays and Thursdays 6:30a-12:30p.

*there is no availability for open lab to practice

That's about it for now, because now I'm getting madder.

I know no program is perfect, but when you're paying for an education that is supposed to provide you with the knowledge and skills to pass a state board that determines your career you want to have the best chance possible.

i did it, finally!

Yep, yesterday I headed over to the other community college to seek advisement about applying to their program as a transfer. I'm going ahead with the application, due by May 15, for Fall '09 start. This next semester will be spent in my current program only because it is the best move as hopefully it will keep me on track with the new program.

Now, having said all that, I am still on the fence. As I was driving away I thought to myself, "K, why not stay with the current program? You're doing well enough. You could be one of the ones who helps raise the pass rate[not to sound arrogant, but I am doing way better than I ever thought, and hope to not eat these words as time goes on], and you could be helping your classmates who are struggling as you've already been."

You might be wondering how I could possibly event think to set out to accomplish this while studying for finals. I had to. Tuition is due soon and if I had to make some sort of schedule/school changes I would need to do so now.

Now that I have gone and checked out the other program I have the need to do so lifted off my shoulders, which helps as far as studying goes. Now I can set this on the back burner, and do some serious thinking while on break. It's a tough decision to make, and I probably wont set it into stone until later in the spring semester. It all hinges on acceptance into the other program anyway.