Vacation is Wonderful

Vacation is a beautiful thing for sure!  I have been enjoying myself immensely and havn't been on the computer all that much so my posts aren't as frequent. 
I rented 3 movies that I've been watching at my leisure, and checked out a Beverly Lewis book called The Thorn from the library.  I just love the way Beverly Lewis writes so artistically wonderful about the Amish community; I can't wait to dive right in.

My history classes are proving to be more challenging than I previous thought, because each class is 3 credits and are 3 weeks long.  But in the middle of June those classes should be over with, and then I'll just be concentrating on my new CNA job. 

By the way, my first shift in the hospital is 8 hours on Friday.  My boss is super cool and has given me Memorial weekend off, and the first weekend in June too.

Lastly, I'm looking forward to my 2 mile run on Friday, June 3rd and will post pictures and updates later.  Happy summer time to you all.

Haircut, Dinner, and a Yeehaa

I recently got a hair cut and totally love the feeling of all my hair gone and off my neck!

Here are my before pictures:

Here is the hair on the floor:

Here are my after pictures:

Bucket-O-peanuts

A few of these after photos were taken last night at Texas Roadhouse.  Has anyone ever eaten at this restaurant?

First let me tell you that their food is fantastic and the moment it hit my mouth the food brought a smile to my face..Yum!  Second the place is super cool in the sense that they bring you a bucket of peanuts and you can either dispose of the shells in the empty bucket they also bring to the table or on the floor.  And of course my son was chucking the shells left and right on the floor because he doesn’t get the chance to do that at home.  Once he even hit the waiter. 

Shells on the floor

Here is picture of what I ordered, pulled pork with baked potato, and green beans.  The cinnamon sugar butter they served prior to the meal with rolls was to die for.

My dinner

Menu cover

Third I don’t know if this Texas Roadhouse we went to in central Wisconsin just does this or if all of the Texas Roadhouses do it but while we were there a few people where celebrating birthdays and after the wait staff sang their catchy tune they followed it up with a “Yeehaa”!  Nothing screams stereotype of Texas than yelling Yeehaa, big belt buckles, and tall cowboy hats, all of which I can’t say that I experienced while living down in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  So this tradition that Texas Roadhouse maintains is quite puzzling and possibly insulting to those who live in Texas and don’t shout Yeehaa when someone turns a year older.

I am a First Semester Nursing School Survivor

I DID IT, I FINISHED MY FIRST SEMESTER OF NURSING SCHOOL AND I’M STILL ALIVE PEOPLE.

Oh how I wish I weren’t taking two summer classes (both history pre-reqs I didn’t take yet) that start on Monday!

Oh how I wish I didn’t have to jump in and start a new job (not that I’m complaining that I got the job), it’s just so hard to learn something new when my brain wants to relax because its summer break.

Things I’ll look forward to doing this summer…

Not using my brain in the same capacity as when I’m a student.

Soaking up Facebook time.

Speaking of soaking up…how about soaking up sun rays after being lathered in sun block of course.

READING for fun, fun, fun!

Workout more consistently, and gear up for my next race scheduled for June 3^rd.

Playing and talking with my children and hubby.

Deep clean a lot of rooms in my house especially the dreaded bathroom (how embarrassing to admit my house gets the least of my attention).

Hang my sheets out on the line in the backyard (yumm I just love the smell of fresh laundry after being hung outside).

Paint my toenails all different rainbow colors because I can.

Take my border collie to the dog park.

Enjoy my extended family during outings without worrying about the time I should be spending studying.

I love summer!

As I close my blog entry for today I will leave you with a piece of advice given to me from one of my instructors that by next fall I should look into getting a tutor, or a study group with friends because my test scores this semester weren’t so hot and that maybe I should sit in the front row, and google note-taking techniques, and maybe listen better during lecture. 

HOLY COW, she made me feel |---| this tall when I heard those comments.  I thought I did do well, and okay, so my test scores weren’t great but either were a lot of others, I usually do sit in front, and my note taking I thought was just fine, and can I help that other students want to talk to me during class??  I try to tell them to pipe down so I can hear everything but I guess I should be harsher on my friends because they don’t seem to have a problem when it comes to taking tests.  However after having said that I think this instructor has a bug up her butt.

One Down, Two to Go

I finished my 7 credit foundational class final yesterday.  I'm never happy with my test scores but I passed and I anticipate getting an A in the class!!!

Next final is scheduled today at 1pm for the "art" project that I posted in Zazzy's to-do-list.

What I'm the most worried about is the Pharmacology final on Thursday.  I have a game plan of making a grid on paper that helps me study all the drug info including the adverse effects and nursing implications etc.  But that's only half the battle with Pharm, no all the questions will be focused on the drugs.  I hope all goes well.



Tomorrow is the big day for haircuts and colors and I'm still straddling the fence about cutting my hair.  Isn't this childish of me, I should just chop it off and be done with it.  Both of these actresses have hairstyles similar that I'm interested in getting for myself.  I tried explaining that I wanted to go back to my original brunette color to my hair stylist and she suggested I still get highlights for the summer.  Hair to most women is very important, so what to do, what to do...I'll figure it out soon enough.



I will post my post-semester blog entry getting you all caught up on how the rest of my finals went.

On to another one...

CNA Jitters

I am soo freaked out for my CNA job!

First it started out a couple days ago, while I was sitting in the computer lab at my school waiting to walk over to the hospital to take my drug test.  I overhead a few 1^st semester seniors talking about the differences from one floor to the next and their CNA work experiences.  One female was a brunette, saying she was used to taking care of 6-8 patients at a time. While a boyfriend/girlfriend blond couple was saying that on the floor they’re lucky if they have less than 10 patients at a time.  Yikes, I can’t imagine taking care of 10 patients at a time and that being normal…

So I promptly texted a girlfriend who recently got a job on the floor I’ll be working on as a nurse and asked her if this seemed right or are these students overreacting?  (I had hoped she would assure me of the latter.)  She said what they were saying was correct, even on the floor I’ll be working.  OH NO!  My only other experience is from the nursing home and we did total cares, including showers and I KNOW we never had 10 patients at a time (that’d be way too much work). 

Then while I was working last night, I have a girlfriend who used to be HUC and CNA up on the floor I got hired and she said it’s a floor full of tubes, rectal tubes, NG tubes, chest tubes, tube feedings, and lots of drains, also TPN and lipids. 

Even the department manager I interviewed with said they’re grateful when the remodeling was done and their floor didn’t receive carpeting because of the mess the patients can make when walking with all their tubing.  Yucko!

Lastly when I went to church last Sunday, I walked up to a friend of mine who has been a nurse for over 20 years and told her my good news of getting the CNA job and she looked at me in surprise and said “that’s a challenging floor, but a great experience for student nurse”.  How do I take that comment? 

After hearing all of this I’m not sure I’ll be cut out for this job?  I wonder if it’s too late to withdraw my interest and stay at my current job.

What to-do first?

My semester is ending next week Thursday and my list of things to get done is long.  At least the sun is shining and it’s finally warm outside today, even if I’m spending 10 hours of it indoors working…

Zazzy’s to-do list:

-Call financial aid office (where no one knows how to do their job and I’ve gotten tons of different answers from everyone regarding my summer financial aid.  UGHH, since when is working in a financial aid office of a university a minimum wage job?)

 - Post my last comment in the discussion section for my class online tonight and respond to two others posts. (I actually posted too early and was asked to post something new when the discussion week officially opened, since when is it a crime to be ahead of the game?)

 - Fill out my “Final Self Evaluation” form for my acute care clinical area in the hospital. 

 - Finish a few ?’s on a take home final for my Ethics class due Tuesday.  (I’ve enclosed a picture of the Aesthetic “Art” project we were expected to work on throughout this week.  It looks like a toddler could draw better than me; we were supposed to use our non-dominant hand to complete this project.  Nice huh?

-Study for my 240 Foundational final scheduled for Monday.  (I totally rocked the 20 minute head-to-toe assessment on my partner for the skills lab final section last Friday.  Also I rocked the correct documentation section with a score of 96/100.  I guess I was repetitious with my questions and I should’ve done my heart and lung assessment combined instead of separately to save time.  Either way I’m glad it’s over and I’m done until fall.)

-Study for my 245 Pharmacology final scheduled for Thursday. (I’m quite worried about this one and will have to study my butt off, yikes!)

-And lastly, fill out the heavy amount of paperwork for the big hospital job I accepted last week.  I have a drug test on Thursday and physical with lab work along with getting my picture taken for my ID badge coming up on Wednesday next week.)

You may have asked yourself why I changed my profile picture to a view of the back of my head. Well, besides it being a beautiful view, I just wanted to have a lasting memory of my long hair before I get it cut a week from today.  I may or may not post a picture of the new cut, just depends on if I like it.

Ethical Encounter

1. Describe an ethical situation you have encountered:  This situation occurred in the nursing home I use to work at.

Situation: The nursing home I use to work for always has a high enough census where most rooms are filled with residents approximately 117 with a capacity of 152 beds.  During my time working at this nursing home the turn-over rate for CNA’s was always high.  This had partly to do with CNA’s not wanting to work and also because of the scheduling supervisor mandating CNA’s to work overtime or pick up extra shifts.  One evening I was scheduled to work an overnight shift and this was my first time working overnight.  There was supposed to be three CNA’s and one nurse on the hall I was scheduled to work.  As it turned out, the two other CNA’s didn’t show up for work and the nurse refused to help me throughout the night catching call lights and repositioning patients.

The dilemma:  As much as I loved my job as a CNA and felt my comfort level was pretty high with patient care.  There was no way I was capable to take care of as many patients as I did that night, with no help from the nurse.  It was hard to go home that night with a good conscience knowing that the patients who I was responsible for were well taken care of.  I know this isn’t uncommon for the particular nursing home and I wonder if the patients really are getting the proper care they deserve and are paying for.

2. Apply one of the ethical principles to the situation.

Nonmaleficence:  “the duty to do no harm.”  The nurse must not act in a manner that would intentionally harm the patient.

3. Utilizing an ethical decision model describe how you came to the conclusion you acted upon.

Step 1:  Clarify the dilemma:  There wasn’t proper care given to the residents at this nursing home.  Who owns the problem?  The nurse who didn’t help me pick up the slack and for not contacting back-up help.

Step 2:  Gather additional data:  In times prior to this instance if a CNA doesn’t report to work the nurse should be calling in reinforcements and that didn’t happen.  This nurse felt we could get the job done together, but he didn’t help and I was forced to do all the work.

Step 3:  Identify options:  A. Demand the Nurse help me or call someone else to help me (even if from another unit).  B. I could call the DON myself and ask for help.  C. Continue working the best I could even though my unit was short staffed.  D.  I could have just walked out and quit. 

Step 4:  Decision:  I decided to continue working the best I could even though my unit was short staffed.  I did ask the nurse to help me and he said he would, but never did anything to help me.  The nurse also expected my help to change bandages for residents with pressure sores.

Step 5:  Act:  I worked 150% that night and went home completely drained and upset.  Shortly thereafter I gave my notice.

Pre-Finals Special Thoughts

Finals week starts on the 16^th, and my hubby bought me a care package from my college during a fundraiser, that’s especially designed for the week of finals. 

How exciting and unexpected, which is what I love. 

My hubby hand wrote a special message on the inside of the card. 

Now when I’m eating dry cereal and M&M’s from this box for brain fuel, I’ll be thinking of him.

Totally cornballish I know, but the small things are what make my world go round.

Guess who has good news???

Yesterday I received a call from the Extraordinary Hospital HR department, and I accepted their job offer as CNA on the surgical/abdominal/ENT floor.   I’m so thrilled and excited to be a part of the team, and I heard it will be much easier to get into the nursing internship during my junior and senior summer by being employed at this hospital, as well as getting hired after graduation.  More importantly I’m thrilled to be working hands-on with patients.  This will be a great opportunity to start crafting my bedside manner, as well as absorbing the medical setting.   

I’ve only told my family so far and have been advised by my instructor to wait to tell my classmates until after this semester is over (2.5 weeks).  My instructor said that because the CNA positions are highly sought after, my job news may bring feelings of resentment prior to finals week, and it would be best for moral to just wait it out.  So upon my instructors advice I’m waiting to tell my classmate friends of my getting the job until after finals are over or next semester when I see them again in the fall.

Although I’m thrilled to get the job, the position is only causal which means I just have to pick up a total of 16 hours every two weeks, but could accept full time hours if I wanted and were available.  My hubby and I have been making ends meet so far, but there is a pay cut we’ll have to budget around and I just hope that the census is high enough to replace the needed 20-24 hours a week that I am currently working.  I’m praying that because I nearly effortlessly got the job to begin with, that God has me on his track for my life and money and hours will work themselves out.

For now, I’m thrilled and excited that Extraordinary found favor with me to be a wanted employee in the medical setting at their hospital.   I’m thrilled that my prayers were answered for an easy interview with the department manager, especially in such a stressful time during my semester at school.  I just hope that I can build a great reputation and get a job as a nurse at the end of my schooling. 

Now I’m off to go look for scrubs to buy, humm where can I buy them online for cheaper than what I’d pay for them in the stores?

Jewelry decision part 2

Saturday my husband and I ventured out to our local Kay Jewelers which was about 1.5 hours away and picked up my new piece of jewelry. 

Now I'm sick of seeing the commercial with the guy and the girl during a thunderstorm and his corny comment at the end, but I also am a bit sappy and romantic and watch every time it's on my tv.  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about click on the video below:

My reason for buying this necklace wasn't primarily for the aforementioned commercial, but I wanted a pendent that wasn't much bigger than a dime, had to be durable and able to be worn daily and the piece I chose was within our budget.  I absolutely fell in love with the Love's Embrace necklace and have been wearing it for the past two days.  I pray I don't ruin, damage or lose it. 



After the jewelry store my hubby and I went out to eat at Olive Garden, we don't have one in the city where we live and this was a treat for us.  It must have been a prom weekend because we were seeing lots of guys wearing tuxes and gals wearing formal ballroom gowns, with lots of glitter, what a way to enhance our dreamy moods.



My hubby had the lasagna




I had an appetizer trio












 After eating out at Olive Garden we traveled back home and picked up our favorite desserts at Dairy Queen just in time to watch the sun setting over the horizon of our city limits.


My dessert




Our romantic view, doesn't take much for me to fall in love all over again.