February. is gonna be rough.

So I was looking at my planner.... and I have 6 exams within a 4 week timespan.  Whew! Better kick up my game a notch, if I'm going to pass this semester! :)

P.S. I'm really longing for some mountains and hiking and snow... ahhh.

"Nothing to Say"

Studying it up @ Boston Coffeehouse! I love this place :)  Great coffee and food and good study atmosphere. Reviewing pharmocology... pharmacokinetics, drug-drug interactions, and all that good stuff.

Listening to Andrew Peterson's "Nothing to Say."  Talks about Arizona and the Grand Canyon... ahhh I want to go back out west!

The little things...

Survived another 12 hour clinical!  I was super tired at the end of it, but not nearly as tired as I was last week after going 8 hours Thursday and 12 hours Friday.  Now to tackle the massive amount of work to do this weekend... I am really thankful to have Fridays off, though.  That makes my weekend SO much better.  I figure if I'm good and focus on school tomorrow, I can treat myself to taking some photos, play some guitar, and read some theology books on Saturday.  Welcome to the exciting life of Grace :) hehe.

I haven't really talked much in detail about my community and clinical experiences, but today I discovered the power of the little things you can do to make someones day so much brighter.  My patient hadn't had a shower or bath in 10 days, and she was absolutely dying to take one.  I offered to help her, and man, I have never seen someone so excited.  I also told her I'd change her dirty sheets and blankets and what not, and she just seemed so astonished.  To me, it was no big deal at all (after working as CNA at a nursing home, this was cake)!  She was pretty independent other than setup assistance. Afterwards, she was rather tired and worn out from walking around and showering, so she laid in bed.  I then asked if there was anything else I could do for her, and she burst into tears. Thinking that maybe she was in pain after moving around so much, I asked her if she was.  All she said was "I'm clean!"  In school, we learn about all this theory, procedures and skills, but really, it's your bedside manner that people truly remember.  It made my day and hers :)

Hospital food is actually...pretty good...

So I ate hospital food for the first time today at the cafeteria.  I was actually surprised-- it was pretty good!!! Lots of options and it all looked good :)  Today we had 8 hours of sitting in a conference room discussing orientation details along with the bunch of assignments we have to complete... e.g. care plans, med cards, short forms, long form, journals, case study, and pathophysiology presentation.  Plus all the stuff for the other classes...  I try not to think about all that I have to do! One day at a time, because it's a little overwhelming...

Getting up at 5 tomorrow for a 12 hour shift... whew.  My first 12 hour shift ever! Even as a CNA I never worked 12 hours.  I need to get used to it I suppose... Hoping that as I do these drug cards I will finally start getting back into school mode.  Mentally I'm still on Christmas break! :)

First day of clinical at the hospital

Ah! Tomorrow's an exciting but nervewracking day... first day of rotation for Adult 1 clinical.  I hope my instructor isn't too tough on us... 8 hours at the hospital tomorrow and 12 hours on Friday!  Whew, I'm going to be worn out.  Then I will be stuck in a little corner at a coffeehouse catching up on reading and schoolwork this weekend!  200+ pages of reading...along with all the weekly requirements of clinical.

My long weekend was nice-- spent it with Farmor doing various things...going to little local restaurants, walking in the park, helping out her friends, church, the mall, and Beauty and the Beast 3D :)  We were pretty busy all weekend long so I didn't really get much rest!  Already looking forward to spring break...or better yet, the end of the semester!

Praying tomorrow and the rest of the week goes well...

Back to school

Wow, my undergraduate coordinator wasn't kidding when she said we start the semester at a running pace.  I'm enjoying this first (easy) week and long weekend before the storm begins!  Pharmacology, pathophysiology, Adult 1, and Maternal/child care nursing plus the corresponding clinicals. It seems like there's exams almost every week! Don't forget the hundreds of pages of reading.

Lord, give me strength to survive this semester with passing (but hopefully good) grades.  Time management is going to be a challenge, as it always is. Well, hospital orientation and drug calculations exam tomorrow, then computer orientation at the hospital friday.

I'm excited for this semester, though, since I find patho and pharm really interesting.  All of the instructors seem good-- especially the patho and pharm ones.

After a month long break, I'm still in transition from vacation to school mode.  Going out West for 2 weeks was a lot of fun.  The scenery was beautiful-- Grand Canyon, the Rockies, etc.

Orientation @ 0800!
Good night

P.S. I learned a cool thing in pharm today... if you take grapefruit juice with your morning coffee, you'll get more caffeine in your bloodstream (might be using that trick this semester, hehe.) When you're on certain medications, you can't drink grapefruit juice.