Jaime B's blog

everyday 3.

3.

There are two things I've always wanted to find: a whole robin's egg, and a four-leaf clover. I found the clover a few years ago. I thought I would be happy when I found the robin's egg. But mostly I just felt sad for the robin.

everyday 2.

2.

This has always been my city. Even after I left. Some places are just in your bones.

everyday 1.

1.

The best part about our marriage is that we always have an inside joke. And we take turns doing the dishes.

Best compliment ever.

On Thursday I stayed after class in skills lab with about a dozen other students to practice some medication skills for a big practical exam that's coming up on the Tuesday after spring break. One of the lab instructors, a very smart RN who I don't work with very often was there helping out. She spent a half hour or so drilling us on dosages, injection sites, side effects, etc., and it seemed like every question she asked, I had the correct answer to. After her questions, I poked around the med carts on my own for a little while, then packed up and got ready to leave. As I was walking out, I had the following exchange with her:

Me: Bye Professor D. Thanks for all of your help today.

Prof: No problem. Hey Jaime, are you one of the RNs in the class?

Me: No.

Prof: Are you an LPN?

Me: No.

Prof: Do you work in the hospital? Pharmacy? 

Me: Nope....I'm just a regular student. I just have been studying REALLY hard.

Prof: (smiles) I can tell.

Being a first year nursing student and getting mistaken for an RN.....AWESOME. This was all said in front of the other students while they sat with open mouths. I practically had to widen the doorway to allow my newly inflated head to go through. 

90.

Sometimes you have a professor who loves being a hardass. She locks the door right on the dot at the start of class, so if you're late, no class for you. She loves to brag about how at least 5 students fail her class every semester and have to take it over again, and the rest barely pass. She presents PowerPoint lectures in class, but doesn't post them online for you to print out and bring to class to save your wrists the torture of scribbling 90 minutes of illegible notes. She flips through the PowerPoint screens so fast that half the time you can't get the information off of them, but too bad for you, because she's not going backward. She has former students come in on the first day and tell you how hard her tests are while she smirks in the background. 

Basically, she's a jackass. And the school loves her because she whips students into shape, none of that niceness stuff, and she throws you into the tar pit, sink or swim. She prepares you for all of the other jackasses you're going to run into in your career, forces you to be assertive to get what you need, and causes you to sing "Eye of the Tiger" in your head while you study for her relentless series of exams for the fourth weekend in a row instead of going out with your friends. I hate her. And I love her. 

And while most everybody in my class either failed or barely passed her big horrid exam yesterday, I (to my shock) got a 90%. Sure, I studied until I was practically blind, but I wasn't expecting an A. 

But I'm still not going to let up. I hate her/love her so much, that I'm going to keep studying just as hard for her stupid exams. Every day, until I pass her stupid class. Or until I have to go rent Rocky again. 

Making it through

I've made it through the first 3 weeks of the nursing curriculum! Whee! Pretty good, seems how I thought I was going to die after the first syllabus day.

I signed up for a mentor this week. The nursing program at my school sets sophomore students up with junior or senior nursing students, and you stick together through the duration of your program, or however long you need them. I'm all about seeking advice from anyone that can help me! I also spoke with one of my pals who has done SANE and other types of nursing for 30+ years, and she gave me some good advice and antecdotes for getting through school. Here are some of the tidbits that she gave me: 

1. The first semester is the hardest. They cram as much information as they possibly can into your brain, but you don't yet get to apply it in clinicals with real people.
2. Think about a nurse that you've encountered who was lazy, mean, or dumb. Remember that they went through nursing school too, and if they could make it through, you definitely can!
3. Nursing is always interesting and ever changing. Even through she has been a nurse for more than 30 years, she said that she didn't feel like she had been in the same profession the whole time and isn't desperate for retirement to come. 

I read a couple of "how to survive nursing school"-type books before I ever enrolled, and I remember this quote from one of the books from a student:

"Even if you were a straight A student in college before, in nursing classes you have to learn to be satisfied with C's and thrilled with B's." 

Oh my gosh, this is so true. I took my first two tests this week, and got an 84 on one and an 88 on the other. The tests were so difficult that I thought for sure I would flunk when I was taking them, but then I nearly kissed the professors that handed them back with B's on them!

I did it. (And I'm still doing it.)

Well, I got through my 290 pages or so from last weekend, and I'll be hitting the books hard again this weekend. I'm still trying to find some time in my weekdays to study, read, and hopefully log some extra time in skills lab at the school. I am still working at my job, and although I have cut way back to 15 hours a week, I find myself envying the students who can go home and take a nap after class. My schedule this semester has me up at 6 a.m., in class or lab until about 1 p.m., going home to walk my dog, and going to work until 7:30 p.m. most days of the week. Monday I'm at school from 8 in the morning until 8 at night. Friday I play catch-up with my skills lab videos and time in the research library. This all makes for a very long week. 

Since school started up again, I have found myself having literally NO time to do anything resembling a hobby. Before Christmas I promised my boss I would make a patchwork scarf for her; now I am praying to have it done before spring comes and a scarf is useless. lol. My craft room is sitting there all lonely and abandoned. I LOVE nursing school, but I find myself looking forward to going to work because I get to talk to people about subjects other than skin conditions and medication dosage calculations! 

I also joined a glbtq nursing forum online. With most everyone in my class being from the same sort of cookie-cutter, straight white girl nursing mold, I felt like I needed a little queer camaraderie, and I'm really glad I joined the forum. I'm still trying to decide if I want to come out to my classmates all at once, like doing one of my presentations on something glbtq, or just mention it nonchalantly like I have done in the past when coming out to people. The longer you are out, the more you learn to have a feel for situations like this, I think. I have been out for about 10 years, and I am still learning.  

 

Nursing school is kicking my gluteus maximus.

For textbook readings assigned on Friday, due Monday: 120 pages down. 170 more to go.

I knew I should've taken that speed-reading course instead of a study hall in high school. Now I am kicking my own gluteus maximus.

Good news, and preparing for the semester.

On January 5^th my new school semester begins. I found out over the holiday break that I was admitted to the official nursing program. I was in the pre-nursing curriculum after I transferred into the school this fall, meaning that I had to finish up the school’s pre-requisites for sciences, nursing intro courses, etc. From my understanding, about 80 people applied to get into 45 spots for the nursing program this semester, and I was one of the selected. Whee! I had a big smile on my face the whole week that I found out.

 

My schedule will be Monday through Friday, and I’ll be taking these courses:

*Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (Lecture and Lab)

*Foundations of Nursing and Critical Thinking

*Nursing Therapeutics (Lecture and Lab)

*Health Assessment Throughout the Lifespan (Lecture and Lab)

 

Now reality is setting in – holy crap, I got into the nursing program – and I am a bit nervous about starting this part of my journey. What if I have a hard time balancing work and school? What are my classes going to be like? What if I’m terrible at nursing or flunk out of my skills labs? I am sure all of my questions will work themselves out, but for now, I have a bit of a bellyache about it.

 

I’m trying to help myself by preparing as much as I can before the semester begins. I got my planner out and wrote all of my classes in it. I labeled and prepared my 3-ring binders and notebooks. I’m going to purchase my textbooks as soon as the bookstore opens after the holiday and start reading. I’ve also been trying to do things like prepare bigger meals than I normally would, and freeze part of them so I can have dinner ready in a flash at night, instead of coming home exhausted and eating a bag of chips for dinner. (Nothing makes me feel more exhausted than bad nutrition, I’m finding out.) I’m trying to pare down my life so that I can concentrate on the things that are important to me right now: K, school, my health, my house, my pets, and work. Finding balance between these things is going to be the most challenging issue as I progress through nursing school, I’m predicting. 

Dogs for Obama

 

sniff

 

lick

 

chomp

 

delicious.

{no dogs were harmed in the making of this post. he didn't really eat the sticker - it's safely stuck onto my fridge. :) }