FIRST SEMESTER. FINISHED!

Praise the Lord! I made it through my first semester of nursing school.  Didn't really have any excessively traumatic experiences or emotional breakdowns from stress, fortunately :)  I came into nursing school thinking I maybe could get all A's, but I quickly dropped that idea about a month in hehe.  A's and B's for me!  In the end, passing the NCLEX is what counts.  I don't know what to do with myself... I feel like I should be studying or reading or something. 

In the meantime, cleaning my room and listening to Christmas music...

7 days

7 days until I am finished with my first semester of nursing school.  It was different, but about as tough as I imagined it to be.  Can't believe the end of the semester is here... feels like I just started! That always happens, doesn't it?  It's hard to sometimes stop and enjoy the moment, amidst all the exams and assignments, but when I think about it, I'm 1/4 of the way finished!

Today I didn't really do much other than go to classes, work on a group project, relax around the house, and go searching for Christmas gifts.  I'm SO looking forward to this break.  Now I just have to finish the semester strong!

10 page health promotion plan.

DONE.


whew, finally that paper is out. of. my. way.


Now to conquer a measly 2 page paper on my philosophy of nursing, and a calculating with confidence quiz.

Piece o' cake.

P.S. when I went to the library with friends to work on the paper, we ended up snacking big time AEB the picture below...

thankfulness.

It's very easy for me to fall into a state of unthankfulness.  Recently, so much of my time has been consumed by this health promotion plan paper.  Instead of grumbling about it, I really need to remember that I've been so blessed to even have an opportunity to pursue education.  How many young adults around the world would love to have the opportunity I have?

Thank you Lord for this paper I was assigned, thank you Lord for allowing me to have the means to attend college, Thank you Lord for whatever grades I end up with.  Help me to do all to the best of my ability and glorify you!

a welcome (short) break

This past weekend was a welcome and much-needed short break from school.  Thursday morning was orientation for the hospital, and I left straight afterwards to head to my grandmother's near Tampa.  Friday my grandmother and I went up to Lake City and met up with my parents to see my brother compete in the FHSAA Cross Country Regionals.  He did really well, but unfortunately didn't make it to State.  In any other region in FL, he would have made it, but his region is the toughest in terms of number of great runners.

Also, we stopped by Stephen Foster State Park up near Lake City.  He's the guy who wrote "Oh Susanna" and "Way down upon the Suwannee River..." which is FL's state song.  Random fact: he never visited FL.  He just picked the name for the song because he liked it, I guess.

Visiting with my grandmother is always a good time.  In America, we don't have the appreciation for elders that other countries have, which I think is really sad.  There's so much they've been through and seen, and a lot we can learn from them!  Not to mention, she always bakes the best goodies :) AEB (as evidenced by--nursing abbreviation we use alot) the following picture:

Thanksgiving is around the corner! Wow, next week... Thinking about all I have to accomplish in the next 3 weeks is slightly freaking me out, but God willing, I will finish strong to the best of my ability.

This week: SOAP note for musculoskeletal DUE,10 page health promotion plan DUE, Calculating with confidence Exam DUE, Essentials quiz DUE, SIMlab quiz DUE, reading and studying for essentials, assessment, community

Next week (only 2 days of class): 7 page Personal philosophy paper DUE, SOAP note for neuro DUE, Clinical journal and nursing care plan DUE.........THANKSGIVING BREAK!


Then it gets to be crunch time... You will find me in my corner in Starbucks where I will be spending the next 3 weeks.. hehe.  Praying for strength and clarity of thought on all these papers, quizzes, and exams!

MORE orientation and a 3 day weekend!!! :D

If there's one thing in nursing school I've learned, it's that they absolutely seem to LOVE having us attend orientations.  Really long, boring ones.  Tomorrow's is only 3 hours, though!  (Our previous ones were 8+ hours).  Then it's off to get vaccinated for the flu, which is unfortunately required by the hospital. Then off to see family!! =D

Today was a tiring day...  I am so exhausted right now I can hardly think straight, but I wanted to get this up before I have no motivation to do it at all!

The timeline of the past 24+ hours:

1400-1800: Essentials and Assessment Lab- We did wound care! Those were the "Seymour Butts" models we used.  No joke, the company is called "Seymour Butts."

1800-2400: Studying for community @ our fave Starbucks.  I've drunk so much caffeine in the past week.  Not good.

0100-0600: Had a very non-restful night's sleep (I kept waking up every hour or two because I was afraid I'd over sleep for 0730 class.

0645: Leave for class

0730-1300: Roles and Community (I'm not sure how I did on the exam, could have been an A or B?) This is how we all feel like afterwards:

1400-1600: GYM! (first time this semester I've been to the one on campus... I like UF's better, though, even though this one may have had a few more machines.)

1600-1730: Dinner and a nap at tropical smoothie! (We discovered there are outdoor couches right outside the smoothie place on the first floor of our building)

1730-1830: Open lab to practice skills 

1900: HOME!!!

So excited for this 3 day weekend, but unfortunately there's still alot coming up, including a 10 page health promotion plan for our community--and I know pretty much nothing about the assignment.  One thing at a time, though... for now SLEEP! :)

exhausted

So much coming up in the next 4 weeks I can't even think about it.  Nursing school is no joke.  For now, if I can just survive the next 24 hours with decent grades, I will be happy. Aghhhh, my brain can't focus -.-

One thing I can cross off my bucket list...

So this past Saturday I took a break from anything school-related and had a completely unproductive day. (It was much needed!)  I have a year pass to Universal Studios, so I went with some friends.  Harry Potter world is always awesome, even though it was pretty crowded. I still can't get over the fact people will wait in long lines for over an hour to simply get INTO the shop where you can buy a wand. Heard of online shopping, anybody? I enjoyed watching Harry Potter, but I'm not quite that crazy devoted.


After riding all the rollercoasters, the next event on the agenda was located in the Amway Center. [sidenote: Can the NBA lockout end already? I wanna see my Magic play!]  Guess who we went to see?


"You raise me up" or "The Prayer" sound familiar? Yep, that's right JOSH GROBAN.  He was AMAZING live.   His voice is just...ugh...so beautiful.  It gave me the chills how good he was.  He had a great sense of humor, too.  Overall, the concert experience was great even from our nosebleed seats!  I would go again if the chance arose. Going to his concert has been on my bucket list for years, and I'm still amazed I get to cross that off.  Next up on my list: Michael Buble! :)

Josh Groban up close, or rather, far away, but my camera did an okay job of zooming in with the telephoto lens :)


Now it's back to the grindstone with projects, papers, SOAP notes, and CARE PLANS (blegh).  November is just around the corner and I can hardly believe it.  They always say time is going to fly by, so why am I so surprised every time that it does?

6 weeks left...

Six weeks left in the semester and I'm just now making my first post.  I was "inspired" to do this by one of my classmates who is also blogging about her nursing school experiences.  She brought up a good point about wanting to remember what nursing school was like, and having that chance to look back through posts and pictures.  I think it will be really neat to see how we've grown as individuals and nurses.

Life has been hectic, I can't deny it.  However, this first semester has been primarily busy work. Health assessment, essential of nursing practice, community health nursing, and roles of the professional nurse, along with the required clinicals and labs. Next semester is where it gets tough, but that doesn't make this semester any less nervewracking.

Writing about all that has happened in one post would be impossible, but I did record a video.  Now if I can only find time to upload it.  Maybe tomorrow, if I'm feeling ambitious.

Until next post!