last friday of freedom

Wouldn't ya know it, I logged onto Blackboard yesterday morning and low and behold there glaring back at me from the screen was the line-up of this Fall's classes. Instant panic, mortification, excitement, anticipation, all those radical emotions, consumed me like Cookie Monster eating some chocolate chippers. Because I share so well, and truly am a team player, I immediately logged onto Facebook and posted the news as my status message. Knowing some of my classmates are not on Facebook (for shame) I texted them so they could share in the morning's delight.

After next week, Labor Day Monday will be the only Monday that we do not have an exam until after final exams the week of December 14th. (Is it Christmas, yet??) We have two exams our second week. Mondays are our Principles & Concepts and the Maternal/Newborn class. The Monday exams flip flop between the two classes. There are five weeks where we'll also have an exam on Tuesdays, in our Health Assessment class. Dosage calculations will be combined into those exams. We have two case studies due later in the semester for P&C, as well as two assignments each for the other two classes. There is reference made to care plans in the syllabi, but nothing giving any specific information as to how many we'll have to do, or any other requirements.

I'm pleased with my clinical group assignment. The nineteen in my class from this past Spring are all returning and there are 7 LPN transition or wash back students joining us. One of them is in my clinical group. I hope all the new people mesh as well with our original group as we all have so far. We still have one male classmate, amongst all of us girls.

The clinical schedule looks like it will be interesting and provide us with some really good experience and learning opportunities. This semester we'll rotate through our local hospital as well as one that's in a neighboring county. My group only spends one week there (that being two days), which is fine with me since it is an hour or more away. We'll rotate through med/surg/telemetry/ortho and OB units where we'll receive hands on training. We'll also do observation only training in the ER, OR, PACU, radiology and other such places. We also do a peds rotation at a local pediatric clinic. It is also observation only.

As it is, today I am excited, yet still very anxious and nervous about this semester. I'm choosing to go in thinking as positively as possible. I'm even going in giving our instructor the benefit of the doubt. The primary second year instructor is the one from my mental health class who pretty much "taught" from PPTs that were straight from the book. I'm hopeful that she'll expand upon this year's material more than the MH material as she has more experience in the other areas.

Today I'm off to do some grocery shopping at my favorite place in the world (ha!), a military commissary. This evening the guys and I are going to see Inglourious Basterds. Tomorrow I'm not sure what we'll do early on. LB has try outs for a local showcase type baseball team in the afternoon. Big B is going to Crue Fest. I was originally planning on going but have decided against it (I may have mentioned this before--early senility...). Instead I'm having some friends over for a last hurrah of summer, a "ladies night in". We'll eat, drink, be merry and just have a good ole time. Sunday I plan to get a head start on my reading, and do some last minute home/family organizational type things.

Then Monday we're off to school!

all in one piece

There they are, my new plates and bowls. We received them the day before yesterday, all in one piece, which is much better than how the original shipment arrived. When I picked out the Parisian Fruit pattern I figured it would come with a variety of fruits. Evidently the variety must lie with the entire dinnerware set. The salad plates are apples, and I'm figuring the dinner plates are something else and so on... No biggie, as I like them anyway.

And in other news...

I've received my grades for Nutrition & Diet Therapy (an A) and Developmental Psych (a B). I could have gotten an A in psych except that one week where I had taken Ambien and fell over the elliptical machine I'd had such a hard time that week altogether. I turned in an incomplete assignment and received a very low grade on it. Had it not been for that I would have gotten an A. I even had the opportunity to resubmit, but with the other classes and life in general I just couldn't. It's frustrating because I normally hold myself to higher standards.

C'est la vie.

I'd like to give a shout out to Heather over at Nursapalooza. She is one of our newest full-fledged RNs!! Go over and congratulate her. I so can't wait to share such exciting news!

I'd also like to say a big "hello" to a blogger I've just come across, Nursing Anatomy, and thank her for the link to the Top 50 Nursing Blogs. Some of the blogs you and I read regularly are listed, along with what I'm sure are other great sources of everything nursing!

In just a few short days since posting that I would love for summer to last forever I've come around and have decided that heck no! Let's get this nursing school show on the road! There's still a sort of ambivalence within me concerning going on with nursing school. I heard just yesterday that there really isn't a nursing shortage in Northern VA, which just so happens to be where I live. I'm also fearful, of failure, and of generally what lies ahead.

My ride along with my friend/RN/Case Manager went well the other day. She, like I mentioned previously, works as a liaison between physicians, clients and insurance companies, but more specifically her work has to do with workman's compensation. She advises insurance companies whether a client's case is compensable or not. There were three appointments originally scheduled, but one had just been denied and the other had to be postponed. The one we did go on I thought was pretty interesting. The client happens to be a nurse who was injured while working with a combative client and ended up with a rotator cuff tear. After having surgery and undergoing several weeks of physical therapy this nurse was ready to return to the job on regular duty. There are a few layers to the case itself, but what I found fascinating was this nurse has been working as a nurse for about 30 years. This nurse absolutely loves nursing. The energy level and excitement to return to work was somewhat inspiring, if not astounding. We're talking someone nearing 70 years of age people!

During our conversations one subject that was brought up was--surprise, surprise-- the nursing shortage. It's cyclical. In thirty years this nurse has seen shortages come and go.

Later that day we went and saw my friend's husband who had just had surgery and was an inpatient at a local military hospital.

The day I walked out of the hospital I had been working in as an active duty medic I swore I would never go back to a hospital again, at least to work. That was in January of 1993. In 1997 I enrolled in a medical assistant program, with the intentions of doing clinic work. In 1999 I initiated my journey for nursing school. It was put on hold while we went overseas, and I flip-flopped with career choices. Since it had been an ambition from early on I decided to restart the journey toward becoming a registered nurse.

Here I am heading into my second year of nursing school. The other day as I walked through the halls of that military hospital a flood of emotions and insecurities I have tried to squash drenched me.

I almost wanted to fall to pieces.

today's the day

Today is the day I get to put summer semester to rest, once and for all. I will no longer have any other classes I have to take, except for the required nursing courses.

Do you know how good that feels to say that!?

Today's going to be a cinch. I'm actually looking forward to it, as I get to ride along with someone who is practicing on an advanced degree, and she's a friend to boot! She does not function in a patient care role as a RN, but rather works as a case manager between insurance companies and physicians. It's sure to be interesting, and will fill my service learning project requirement all at the same time. Tonight I'll write up my report on the experience, click submit and voila! Summer semester o-v-e-r.

Then the fun really begins. I have a lot to do to get things in order for the fall semester and the start of the second year of nursing school. As usual, while bogged down with classes, the house has been neglected. Big B does help out a lot, but our definitions of clean are a bit different.

Our bedroom needs to be torn apart and completely overhauled as far as cleanliness goes. I also need to go through our kitchen and get rid of a bunch of dishes we no longer need to keep around, as we've just bought new plates and bowls. We've been wanting square plates for a while, and finally found some we liked through Pfaltzgraff. Sadly, the first shipment came in pieces, and I don't mean the separate pieces that plates and bowls make up. I mean broken, shattered, into bits and pieces. You know the kind, the kind that are good for mosaics. We're hoping round two will afford us the complete set of plates and bowls we ordered. There were a few pieces that each made it in one piece, so we'll actually have extras. I'm not one for cookie-cutter type matching. So I opted to go with two different patterns. The dinner plates and bowls are "Nuance of Sage" and the salad plates are "Parisian Fruits". The dinner plates seem a little smaller than I'd really wanted them to be but it turns out they're only smaller than round dinner plates considering the rounded edges. Our first ever dinnerware came from Pfaltzgraff, thanks to bridal registries, and they lasted forever. Our most recent (Walmart) dinnerware, not so much.

I've received all of my textbooks for fall and my schedule. Somehow I don't think we'll have the opportunity to check out the syllabi for our classes until the first day of class. In an effort to give the benefit of the doubt, I will email the instructor to be sure. One would think there would be some sort of second year orientation so that syllabi could be handed out, clinical groups and location(s) could be assigned, and all the stuff that shouldn't take up instruction time could be handled. Who am I to question the practices of a nursing program though!?

Hmmph.

Ahh, well. I better go get ready for my day...wouldn't want to mess it all up by not filling this requirement, now would I!?

now that wasn't so bad!

Summer semester

Enough said? I mean really, who really wants to spend their summer taking classes? I certainly didn't, but it was a must. It was either spend the summer taking them, or add them in with nursing classes. Well, I'm not suicidal. However, if I had to take anymore classes along with nursing classes I think it might at least lead me to suicidal ideation.

Alas, the semester has pretty much come to an end and I'm happy to report that I survived. Schew!

I do have one last project to do and that is the Service Learning Project required for my anatomy and physiology class. I'm doing my service learning on Monday when I ride along with a friend who works as a case manager. After I have to write up a short report on what I did and learned and submit it to my online classroom discussion board, and then, well...finito!

My last exam didn't go so well the other day, but I did get enough points that along with the Service Learning Project I will have enough points to pass the class with a C. Considering my course load this semester, my health issues, and the kids being home, I'll swallow my pride and take my first college C and run with it. I've probably mentioned before it comes in as transfer credit and does not effect my GPA, so all's well.

I've continued taking the medication prescribed by the GI doc, although my pharmacy gave me a generic "equivalent" that I am questioning the effectiveness of. I had samples of the Kapidex, and since have started taking the generic form. I still don't have the abdominal pain waking me up anymore, but I am feeling the lump in throat sensation and seems it's worse on the generic form.

We aren't getting to take our family vacation, since we decided to buy a third car, so that LB would have his own. He is actually driving the second car, and Big B is driving the third. Whatever.

I haven't found the ring I spoke of in my last post. No one else has either. It's heartbreaking, but there's nothing more that can be done about it, except hope. As time wears on the hope dwindles though.

Aside from my SLP on Monday there's nothing else planned for next week, until the weekend. Next weekend is the summer version of Virginia's tax free holiday. We get to shop for school clothes and supplies tax free! I'll gladly brave the crowds to save a buck or two!

The weekend following we have the American Legion baseball team end-of-season BBQ. That following week we have registration and fees to pay for the '09-'10 school year.

And then...

Well the weekend of the 22nd we have tickets to Crue Fest 2. I'm not quite sure if I'll be going. I'm not a big fan of the other bands playing with Motley Crue, and quite frankly I'm not that interested in going period.

And then...

School starts here the 24th. LB will be entering his Junior year and AW his 8th grade year. I'll be entering my second year of nursing school.

Oh, why can't the summer just drag on forever!?

soggy saturday

Before I forget I want to share with you the enlightening information that made my evening Thursday. I was talking to one of my classmates, telling her about probably receiving my first college C, in A&P, this semester. She pointed out that because I'm taking it from another school it will just come in as transfer credit!! How totally, without a doubt, awesome is that!? Of course I knew this, but hadn't thought about it. I got a 76 on the lab exam Thursday, and a 70 on the lecture exam. Hey, passing scores=happy nursing student! And as long as I pass the course with a C or better I'm golden!

Other good news is LB is seeing alot of playing time with the American Legion team he plays for. Last year he was the low player on the totem pole and didn't see much playing time at all. I really need to talk to him about how far he wants to go with baseball. If he wants to try and play in college he needs to do showcase camps during the summer. One, the experience is priceless. It only helps him to get better. Secondly, showcase camps do exactly that-they showcase a player. College coaches are often times present, if they're not already directly involved with the camp. Showcase camps tend to be pricey (for a 2-3 day camp you're talking $399 and up), so if he doesn't really plan to play in college it isn't worth it. If he does, we'll do what we can to help him.

I'm keeping this short today as we're spending what has started out to be a rainy Saturday inside watching movies. The guys are patiently waiting for me to finish up.

ho hum diddly dum

If I would have been one of the chosen ones I would be starting an externship today. In lieu of the pressure of the level of activity (work) my summer classes I know it's a good thing I didn't get either of the positions I applied for. It still hurts. Knowing my girls would be up and at 'em this morning readying for their first day I texted the two I have numbers for and wished them luck. Later on as I was working on my A&PII schtuff I had to reflect on the fact that it is indeed a blessing. There's just no way I could do it all. As is said, things happen for a reason.

scatterbrained

Take 3...

I attempted to write a post yesterday but my Internet connection kept failing so I can only hope it'll go more smoothly today. If more days go by without me posting I may not know where to begin, not that I do now.

From Take 2:
It's really very frustrating to write out nearly a whole post, Blogger says it's saving it, and then you try and post pictures onto it when you develop problems doing so. You sign out and sign back in only to discover the lengthy post was not even saved!!!!

Rather than trying to go into the recesses of my brain to drag out a similar post I will now just give the highlights.

I've been pretty busy this past week. The week ended at midnight, Friday night, after I'd sat through a total of 51 innings of baseball for the five-day span between Monday and Friday. The majority of them were spent watching LB and his high school JV team. Monday he played up to Varsity, and we were fortunate to see them win their, what I believe was, last win of the regular season.

Back to Take 3:
Tuesday the JV team played one game and walked away winners. We had double-headers, both nights, Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday they played the area rival high school and were smashed 15-0 in the first game. They didn't let it phase them, came back and opened up a can of whoop ass for the second game, with an 8-2 win. Thursday they rocked all night long. I have to laugh at what one of the other moms told me about the Wednesday night DH. That night us parents, minus Big B as he was out-of-town until Friday, had tons of fun. We were loud. No, let me rephrase that...we were downright rowdy, but not the kind of rowdy you might see on the news concerning sports parents. We just had a good time. Apparently the catcher on the opposing team told my friend's son that we were so loud we sounded like a big, Greek family. It's the stuff memories are made of. It was great to see the guys finish off their season with some wins. They should be proud. I took photos throughout the season and have forwarded copies to the other parents via email.

With the upcoming Varsity tournament scheduled LB was notified he had to go to practice Friday afternoon. No biggie, except we'd bought 4 tickets to the Phillies/Nationals game for Friday night. If you learn nothing else in the military, you learn to adapt and overcome...so Big B and I made it a date night! We were able to sell off the other two tickets after arriving at the stadium.




Saturday was a big day in our house as I walked at my university commencement. I'd made the trip to MD earlier in the day on Thursday to pick up my cap and gown, so along with that trip, Friday's game in DC and my graduation Saturday I've spent more than enough time in the DC/MD/VA area! If you don't live in the area or have never been here, please understand, after living in the country for about 8 years, between my current residence and Italy, it's very frustrating being consumed in traffic and congested areas.

Yesterday, my online Anatomy and Physiology 2 class started. As is par for my course, every semester I have to have mild feelings of anxiety up until I get the swing of the schedule and workload. My other two online classes don't start until Friday, so it'll take a bit longer to adjust than normal but by next Friday I should be golden.


Last night Big B, AW and I headed out for the last high school baseball game of the year. Tournaments started, and our team fell after round one. They lost 2-1. Next week starts the American Legion season with try-outs and practices. So today through then we have a bit of a break.

Today I finally went and had a CT scan done of my neck, to try and find out what is causing me to have the lump in my throat feeling I've been having, going on two months. I don't know what to expect. Part of me hopes they see something, because then we can go from there to fix it. Otherwise I don't know what'll happen.

As much as I hate to say this, I better get back to the books. The A&P class promises to be incredibly interesting. We do our lab by CD-Rom. It's truly facinating! As the CD-ROm says, "An interactive cadaver dissection experience". It's not the real thing, but pretty darn close and no smelling any formaldehyde!! There is a lot of reading, but after nursing classes it should be a breeze!

reading for pleasure

No! It can't be! Shouldn't I be reading about ABGs or pharmacokinetics. Nope! Hole's Anatomy and Physiology? Not quite yet.

Right now I'm reading More than Fiends. I don't exactly remember where I picked it up, but it was on my bookshelf and it's the book of the day. So it's not War and Peace or To Kill A Mockingbird. I'm far from being a book snob who can only read classics. I enjoy a good classic as much as anyone, but I also enjoy chick lit! It's easy and fun, not to mention typically more contemporary.

More than Fiends is a great read to fill my current reading for pleasure needs. It's raw, sarcastic and keeps me laughing. It's written in first person and is almost a sort of dialogue between the main character, Cassidy Burke, and the reader.

Serious reading will soon commence. I received an email from my A&P 2 professor and she's advised us to begin reading. Classes start May 18-22. I'm attending two schools online. Besides A&P 2, I'm taking Nutrition and Diet Therapy (I personally know my professor for this class as she's one of the instructors in my nursing program), and Developmental Psych-since I haven't taken it yet, even if my degree is in Psych! Go figure. The latter two courses are being taken through my home community college, and A&P 2 is from a nearby CC.

For right now I'm sticking with easy, entertaining reads!

let's go crazy

In honor of my last unit exam for Mental Health Nursing:


Lets Go Crazy - Prince -

That would be today. Here in a bit I'll go finish studying for the test and at 1 pm will commmence to taking it. I really, really can't wait for this semester to be over. This class has been the bane of my existence. It's boring, but not because of the content. At times, while reading, I thought for sure I would go crazy, but being in class was/is sure to be the final clincher in the armor of sanity. My armor is made of aluminum foil anyway.

I like psychology, I really do. It's the instructor. She read from the PPTs last semester, and this semester hasn't exactly done that. She's skimmed the PPTs, I guess you could say. She doesn't teach the material though. Really, we could do just as well reading, and rereading the text. That's what I've been doing. I was printing off the PPTs, but gave up on that in an effort to somewhat Greenish. The material was pulled directly from the text, so why bother? PPTs and lecture should add to the content. Ugh!

I took my last unit exam for Nursing Principles and Concepts yesterday and got an 89. I'd like to know how I got an 89, as it should be an 88 or a 90. Fifty questions, at 2 points a piece, you do the math. See...going crazy, because who really cares???

May 1st I go to take both of my ATI exams, one for Mental Health, the other for Fundamentals. I told a couple of my classmates that I was taking them on the last possible day, and got some interesting feedback from them. They think we should take the exams in plenty of time to retake before the end of the semester. I think you should take the time to study the material, and pass the first time around! A 65 is needed to pass. I'm using other materials along with the ATI modules, so I'm hoping for the best. I don't want to have to do remediation, which has to be done before you retake the tests anyway. I don't want to have to go back to the testing center if it isn't completely necessary. One of my classmates, the only guy, took his tests yesterday. I'll find out from him today how he did, and see if my plan needs adjustments.

May 4th (Nursing P&C) and 5th (Mental Health) are the dates of our final exams. May 6th I'll be able to wake up and rejoice that the semester is over! May 22nd starts summer semester, and I'm taking A&P II, Nutrition and Development, and Developmental Psych. I was going to CLEP out of Dev Psych, but need 6 credits to maintain half-time status, necessary to maintain deferment of my student loans. The first two classes only add up to 5 credits. Rather than taking an unnecessary class I'll take the psych class. All the classes will be online.

I should find out sometime soon if I got the externship from Hospital #1. At this point I have mixed feelings about it. I would love to do it for the experience, not to mention the income would be nice, but it may be for the best if I don't get it. We shall see.

Time to do some last minute studying! Huh, "last minute" almost seems ridiculous since I'll be studying pretty much straight through til May 5th!