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.

Yikes!!!

I forgot another needs-to-get-done-and-make-me-insane on my to-do list from my earlier posting, just before this one:

Finish buying Christmas presents...they're just going to have to wait. That sounds so horrible in this season of giving.

Hey, if you're in need of a little cheer, head over to The Fourth Strike and check out the latest post "Joy".

7 days and a wake up

I probably wont be posting much, other than to complain about studying, because finals for nursing classes are next week.

In the meantime I am also supposed to decorate the house for Christmas...because I had the hubby bring down the stuff from the attic and out from the shed, wrap presents for nieces and nephews and mail off their packages, take care of the normal family schtuff, go see about transferring to a different program (yes, that saga continues-more on it later, possibly), and stay sane? HA!

I'm going to need to drink some hot toddies with Santa by the time Christmas day rolls around!
Some recipes call for Brandy, but since I'm a Whiskey Sour kinda girl (when I choose to have a cocktail), I thought this one sounded yummy!

simple saturday

Not much to report.

One of my study buddies and I got together today and did the pratice ATI Fundamentals test online. We didn't do that great, but in actuality not so bad when you consider the information on it that we have not had this semester, such as pharm and fluids & electrolytes. It was a helpful study aid nonetheless.

Our finals are scheduled for the 16th, so the next week will be spent breathing, eating and sleeping nursing-which is fine with me considering it is all I have to study for now!



It snowed a little bit today, not enough to stick though. It's supposed to snow a little bit more tonight. Hmmm...Not that crazy about the white stuff, except I do like it on Christmas day.

OK, so now I'm talking about the weather and that is my cue to go spend some time with AW.

movies and popcorn it is...

until tomorrow when the studying resumes it's normal hold on my life!

100th post and a reason to celebrate!!!!!!!

Drum roll please!

I did it! My FINAL final exam with UMUC is over and done with. Sadly, I didn't do as well on it as I would have liked, but I just couldn't focus!

no longer pissin', more like achin'

Yeah, so little studying has been done today for tonight's exam.

The family and I had to go to the nearest Air Force base to attain our retired-military IDs...hubby retired way back in August. So it only took 4 months!

I felt it coming on as we were sitting there, while I'm trying to read my study stuff. This is not to mention the ruckus Satan and Lucifer (LB and AW in fight naughty mode) are causing a ruckus, the hubby is choosing to be the less mature parent and chimes in on the antics, The View ia playing on the set in the waiting area.

satan, taking self-photo for his myspace
Luckily it didn't get really bad until just before we arrived home...3 hours later.

lucifer, aka "emo-kid", just imagine the hair stick-straight
Migraines suck. I tried lying down for a bit. The hubby went down south to the Hampton Roads area to spend time with a friend who is leaving for Iraq on Tuesday, for a year. This left Satan, Lucifer, and mom-with-migraine. They really weren't bad, just not as considerate as people are as, say, when they're in the next state.

The front door opened and shut multiple times, the dogs jumped on and off my bed, the phone rang, and the boys spoke, moved around, and well, um, breathed.

Did I mention the times they intruded upon my resting spot?

My head feels better now...somewhat. I dread the drive. See, I have to drive about an hour to a community college where my exam is proctored. This is because to get to any campus for my university it takes longer than an hour, so I opt for the proctored, closer choice.

I suppose I better go fix the mutants some dinner and read up a bit on the ole psychology!