Another Semester in the History Books

Heeeeeeeellllllloooooooooo people!  Wow what a great vacation it has been from school!  I feel like a new woman after the end of each semester.  I swear during each semester, I feel entrapped in some kind of intellectual hell that I can’t break free from or don’t know when it will end with deadline after deadline in my tunnel vision.  However after the semester comes to an end, I suddenly feel alive again.  The sun is brighter, the kids are more enjoyable, the hubby is more relaxed, and I actually have time to care about myself again.

So here are my official grades after such a crazy and almost unbearable semester:

I feel good about these grades because I was paired up with some amazing group members that cared as much as I did for great finished work and projects (almost to a fault), despite our crazy group problems. 

I’m so excited for my last semester to be over with already.  It hasn’t even started but I'll be thrilled when it's done.  Our semester starts back up again on Jan. 22^nd with 6 weeks of clinical right off the bat.  We’ll be in clinical on Tuesday and Wednesdays for 10-11 hours with as many as 4 patients…yikes!  I hope the nurse I’m assigned to will be helpful and not thinking to him/herself that since I’ll be graduating in May to just leave me.

Christmas came and went with much excitement, fun, family time, and good eats.  In preparing my heart for the true meaning of Christmas, I enjoyed the message being taught at my church with a 4-week series about (Turning Your Christmas Upside Down).  But I knew I needed something more, and since I didn’t have my nose in a textbook, I wanted to put my nose back into the bible.  Reading the Word of God daily helps set my mind right in all avenues of life.  I happened upon Misty’s blog posting about a website called She Reads Truth, which has lots of daily plans to follow and a supportive community to go along with it.  I started a reading plan and have been transformed not just leading up to Christmas but afterwards as well.  My kids even gave me a new journal for Christmas.

http://shereadstruth.com/

I get to work tonight and tomorrow night with the moms and babies, and I’m thrilled.  Last week after spending a 16-hour shift working on the med/surg floor, I’ve never been more convinced that OB/GYN is my calling.  I’ve often wondered if I can’t get a job as a grad nurse on the birth center would I be willing to work in the NICU verses the med/surg floor.  I don’t think I can work with sick or premature babies, they scare me too much.  I prefer the healthy pink onesJ  so there you have it, choice 1=birth center, choice 2=med/surg, choice 3=NICU.  At least that's what I think now, this may change again in the future.

Benny

Well I have to bring some sad news to deliver, as if there wasn’t enough; on 12/11/12 we had to put our beloved dog of 10 years down. 

Our dog had been having troubles breathing the weekend before but like most times when he had trouble breathing I assumed it was a cold.  But something wasn’t right because he just seemed off.  As the weekend ended and Monday began he just was so restless and unable to sleep for more than 5 minutes.  He paced around the house incessantly, and ate very little.  When we let him outside to go potty he would get so tired and just sit down in the snow, until he gathered enough strength to get back inside.  He held his head up high to breathe better.  At one point I was going to run to school to get my stethoscope to see if I could hear any wetness on his lungs.  We had an appointment with the vet on Tuesday afternoon, but by Tuesday morning my hubby rescheduled for a sooner time slot.  We couldn’t wait any longer, he was suffering so much.

The kids and I went to school and my hubby brought the dog to the vet, and I told my hubby not to make any decisions to put the dog down without me and the kids saying our last goodbyes. 

My hubby called and said the vet told him our dog had a cancerous mass attached to his heart, and his lungs were filling up with blood.  The vet thought the best thing to do was put him down.  So I left after class, and mustered enough courage to get the kids out of school and tell them what was going on. 

We made our way to the vet’s office and said our last goodbyes.  I wasn’t able to say my last goodbye to my childhood dog growing up, so I made this one count.  I even curled up on the floor next to him and told him all things I loved about him, that I was sorry for times I should have treated him better, and that I didn’t want to see him suffer any longer.  Tears flowed freely between the four of us, and I think our dog knew we did the best we could for him.

Then we opted to stay and watch as the doc injected him with the medicine to stop his heart, and we finally saw him at peace.  The staff imprinted his paw print in a piece of clay that we took home and baked until it hardened, as a memento. 

Nothing prepares a person for death and the grieving process.  At one point my hubby blamed himself for buying a dog, knowing the life expectancy wasn’t as long as human life and feeling bad the kids had to be in pain over his death.  I told him the short amount of pain and grieving we’ll have won’t undo the 10 good years we had with the dog. 

Either way our house doesn’t feel cozy and warm any longer.  The light our dog had brought to our lives has gone out, and so has the motivation to be as happy as we once were with him by our side.  He was the one creature who gave me unconditional love, helping to make all of my toughest of school/work days manageable.  In a selfish way I’m upset he couldn’t have held on for one more semester. 

I’m happy he isn’t suffering anymore.  Slowly we are boxing up his things around the house.  It’s tough to get over the habits we’ve formed like letting him outside before bed and first thing in the morning.  Or driving past the dog park on a beautiful day thinking he would love to play with the other dogs, but realizing he cannot.  The thought of getting another dog, at this point, is out of the question.

I’m really banking on the idea that pets go to Heaven, because our dog would help make it a cozier place. 

Compassion and Discrimination

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          About five years ago, my kids and I went to Philadelphia PA for a work function of mine.  Coincidentally we also learned a lesson about discrimination, compassion, and bullying right outside the front steps of City Hall.  The evening before heading back home, my two kids, and I toured the downtown area of Philly.  While we were debating where we should go for lunch we were walking by the City Hall building and saw a homeless man sleeping on the steps.  My kids were not used to seeing this aspect of city life, so they asked a lot of questions as to how someone becomes homeless.  During our conversation we settled on eating lunch at McDonalds because it was close and we decided together that we would buy an extra meal and offer it to the homeless man.  Right as we were walking up the steps to the man, a police car pulled up and two police men got out with their billy clubs in hand.  They hurriedly walked past us and started talking to the homeless man telling him he couldn’t sleep there.  All the while, one of their hands was holding the billy club and the other hand was resting on their belted guns.  We picked up our pace and asked the officers if we could offer our meal to the man.  The officers granted us permission and after we extended the meal to the homeless man, he accepted it, with a smile on his face.  Then the officers handcuffed and escorted the homeless man to the back of their police car and then, they were gone.  We were slightly in disbelief and the kids were upset at what we had just witnessed.

            Growing up in the inner city of Minneapolis, a scene similar to this one wasn’t uncommon for me to see.  I took the opportunity to teach my kids of the discrimination that is prevalent not just in the bigger cities like Philadelphia and Minneapolis but even in smaller communities where we live.  For instance, when they see a man walking around our city wearing the same clothes day after day, asking if we can spare a buck or two this is homelessness.  He may have a place to sleep at night, but he spends his days wandering around the city without a home to go to.  I reminded my kids that just because we are more financially sound than the homeless man, doesn’t mean our family isn’t without struggles.  At any moment, any of us could lose all that we have and become homeless too, and that we should not look down on this man because he is homeless. 

            During the whole situation, I had an inner urge to help the homeless man.  I was able to think quickly of something we could do, to help him, by offering him a meal.  The small gesture warmed my heart, because I wasn’t sure if this man had ever been given a gift.  Then again maybe he had been given plenty of gifts and mine was not so special after all.  Either way, that didn’t seem to matter as much as showing compassion and putting myself in his shoes.  My spiritual belief to - do unto others, as you would have done unto you - came to mind and if I were in the same situation, I would appreciate help and empathy.  I could not help but think about where this man lived or if he just slept on the streets?  Did he have any family?  Did he have anyone who thought of him as special, if so, where were they?  What was most upsetting to me was the way the officers treated the man with such harshness and brawn.  Instead of treating him like a human, I felt they were pushing their weight around because they had power over him.

            In our nursing class, we have been learning about bullying in the workplace but the definition is universal.  Bullying is “real or perceived power differential between the instigator and recipient”.  When the police officers had their hands on their Billy clubs and guns they were showing their real and perceived power differential over the homeless man.  There was a power differential between the police officers and our family, and the public walking by witnessing the incident.  This situation is common among many cultural and diverse populations. 

Homelessness and financial burdens are seen in the hospital setting, and we as nurses, are called to a higher standard of care.  We have to give unbiased and equal care to all of our patients, no matter where they are from or why they are in our care.  Being a nurse doesn’t allow us the freedom to bully our patients, instead we strive to advocate and teach wellness, as evidenced by our code of ethics.  As a reminder of Provision One of our nursing code of ethics, the nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.

In my future nursing role, I am encouraged to bring kindness and compassion to one another just out of the simple principal of being humane.  What I witnessed in Philly, is significant to me, because I am reminded every one of us has a story, a background, and our own timeline of events that have led us to where we are now.  We should be throwing away our judgmental attitudes towards others who are different.  We need to educate ourselves about other people’s differences and make a movement forward of being more accepting of others.  In turn, like the popular expression of paying it forward, other people can be encouraged by our behavior, to bestow helpful behavior unto others.

5 Things Friday

This week has been relaxing and wonderful, yet scary at the same time leaving me thankful.

Here is a picture of one of my favorite snowmen decorations

My dining room table, all set for Christmas

 My Black Friday score, it may look cheap but sure works great!

 See what it can do...fixed my blanket just.like.that

 The proof that teenage drivers aren't invincible

Look how awful crazy my daughter's car looks after her car accident last night.  Had her license for two months, and only after having the vehicle for a month and a half, she had her first accident.

She's okay but had the scare of her life.  She's not interested in driving anytime soon.  She ran a stop sign and hit head-on into another car at 25-30 mph.  Both drivers were okay.  

I've not experienced anything more scary than walking up to the accident scene with police cars, a fire truck, and ambulance (not to forget to mention both banged up cars) with their lights flashing and all I wanted to see was my daughter.  I would have pulled a car off of her if I had to at that point with all the adrenaline pumping, but thankfully it wasn't that bad.  My hubby and I followed her into the ambulance to get checked out.  Because the airbag went off she had gun powder on her and scratches and bruises all over.  Overall no LOC and all extremities had good blood flow with full ROM.  We opted to drive her to the ER to make sure no broken bones.  Later that night after the kids went to bed my hubby and I just looked at each other astonished and thankful.  

Thankful the Lord protected our daughter and kept her as safe as possible given the circumstances.

Here's hoping all of your Thanksgivings were just as thankful and blessed.

Excitement in November

Okay so you haven’t heard from me in a while because I was in studying hell!  Two huge exams this week…all done…in the books…sigh…relax time.

I cannot tell you how much agony the body goes through under the mountains of stress we add to it.  Coupled with inadequate sleep = weakening my immune system = wow tears and stuff.

Let me add in here how incredibly amazing my hubby is!!  He is supportive by making me and the kids dinner when I can’t see past my mammoth of a text book because I’m too busy studying. Even while he's a snotty mess full of sickness.

What’s even better than this, you ask??  Why a dozen roses of course J  Why would such a hardworking father, fulltime provider, amazing, and wonderful hubby do such a thing??  To remind me that he is extremely proud of my efforts and amazing talent and that he wanted to let me know how much he cares.  Awww people, isn’t that the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard?  I received the flowers right before my toughest exam today and they brought me to tears.  I don’t deserve my hubby, because he is so kind.  Okay really I do, but I’m just grateful for him.  He’s a keeper!

Anyway as of 4pm today I am much better in mind and spirit!  I aced my Thursday exam and passed today’s exam.  All in all I feel good.  Soon as I left the school building I took 3 deep breaths and enjoyed the moment.  All thanks to God for listening to my much rambling, many whines, and muffled cries for help and bringing me through with peace and passing grades.

I jumped in my vehicle and cranked up the Christmas music…that’s right you heard right Christmas music.  My 16 yo daughter tries to remind me it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet, and that she thinks I’m jumping the gun on my excitement for winter break.  I THINK NOT!  In fact, I asked my hubby to pull the Christmas tree out and that sucker’s going up on Sunday.   I’ve even downloaded a free live wallpaper for my cell phone so I can watch people ice-skating across my screen.   Super CHEESE I know (-;

Shoot if our plan goes off without any problems, we’ll be moving to Texas in the summer and this will officially be our last winter in Wisconsin.  Sniff sniff, so I’m going to make the most of it.

As soon as Winter break begins, besides getting back to the gym (to lose the couple #s of stress weight), I’ve got a long list of things to accomplish.  Here are just a few things:

Build a snowman

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Go sledding

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Go Ice-skating

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Sit in my living room and watch the huge snowflakes fall for hours

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Attend church on Sundays and any other mid-week event if I so choose

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Make hot cocoa

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Bake lots of different bakes goods ranging from sugar cookie cutouts, to my hubby’s favorite (molasses cookies), and even a few Pinterest recipes I’ve had my eyes on including homemade butter bread.  Yumm@

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I’m going to help out with volunteer opportunities collecting canned goods with my nursing school organization.

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I’ll probably have to shovel here and there, as well as, practice like a mad woman some NCLEX questions, but overall I just can’t wait to enjoy my family again.  AMEN!

Mini-get-away

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The very first minute I stepped out of the airport terminal while my hubby was securing us a rental car, the afternoon breeze smacked me in the face reminding me what it feels like to be human again.  I was “in love” with the warm temperature and thought if there was a lounge chair I probably would have sat down and taken a nap.  I had only been to Georgia one other time but didn’t really appreciate the experience like I did this last weekend. The weather of course was wonderful.  The people I came in contact with were lovely, friendly, and hospitable.  The family we stayed with was awesome, our kids and their kids had such a fun time playing together and running around the house enjoying each other.  There was lots of eating to our hearts content and “dance-offs” in the evenings before bed.  Shopping on Saturday where I scored a pair of brown leather boots to add to my collection was only a small highlight.  Unfortunately the mini-vaca ended all too quickly and I was headed back to Wisconsin by Sunday afternoon, while the hubby and kids stayed to go to the Cowboys/Falcons game later that night. 

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Even though I came back earlier than the rest of my family I was happy once again to sleep in my own bed.  And I had to crank up the heat seeing as though the temperature difference was at least 30 degrees from where I had been.  Geez, next summer can’t come soon enough for when we move to a warmer state.

Monday, yesterday, I had clinical in the PICU.  I helped a new orientating grad nurse take care of an infant with Prader-willi along with many other difficulties leaving him, vent dependent, trach dependent, and peg dependent.  What stood out to me the most was how the mom doted on him and sang to him, talked to him even if he didn’t respond to her, she continued.  She did all of his trach suctioning, cleaning and was involved when RT had to percuss his chest to break up the fluid in his lungs.  I thought this woman has so much more strength than I’ll ever know, and the amount of love and devotion is endless.  This is what you sign up for when you become a parent, the unconditional and endless love for the baby God has placed in your care.  Each day I come home from clinical I’m so grateful that my kids are healthy and smart and beautiful.  I love them with all of my heart!

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Best Way to Describe Group Work

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After all my rantings and ravings about group work, one of my girlfriends sent this to me.  Nuff said!

Update on Being the Scapegoat

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After talking to the "leader" of our group I found out that I wasn't the only person who got docked, in fact everyone did.  What a bunch of dorks, why oh why do these group members think this was the best time to give criticism, I'll never know.  But I do feel better knowing that we're equally hurting rather than just me...even though I didn't dock anyone...Just sayin' :-)

The "leader" said that what she admired about me the most is my sensitive spirit and caring abilities, but what's going to hurt me in the long run is that I allow things to bother me personally.  Umm hello, who wouldn't take being docked by other group members personally?

Maybe my heart just isn't hard enough yet.

Scapegoat

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I’m hurt, upset, and a little pissed off!  This semester by far has been the hardest to handle emotionally and mentally.  I’ve told you in a recent post that we’ve been working in groups but group work is nearly impossible when you have people with such broad academic approaches.  For instance I work in a group of five women, where we have a perfectionist, a leader/micromanager, an airhead who’s flighty, another girl who would rather complain, sigh, or smoke than get work done, and then you have me.  I would put myself right in the higher part of the middle closer to the leader slot.  I definitely get my work done, but if someone wants to lead then by all means I allow them. 

Recently we had to submit a midterm peer evaluation on our group members.  First let me tell you that I thought the best approach to this situation was to give everyone in our group high marks to keep the waters calm until the end of the semester.  Then at the end of the semester if things didn’t get better I would give an honest overall peer evaluation and tell everyone how they could have done better or let them know how well they did.  Let me say that it would have been STUPID to give any of my group members low points because it would be awkward finishing projects with them knowing I had said something bad about them.  Also keep in mind these peer evals are graded.

Moving on, Saturday we heard back from the professor about our overall midterm peer evals and guess what???  I got docked points.  In fact, instead of a solid 100% like I expected, I got a measly 88%.  I was shocked!  What it came down to was a bad grade on a concept map/care plan that could have synthesized better on my section.  However I must state that on the four previous assignments I provided the same kind of work with great grades to back them up.  It was just this particular assignment the group was upset with some low marks we received because a different professor in the class (who is a crazy psycho with an agenda to grade everyone poorly) had given us our grades.  I just felt that people were upset and took out their anger on my peer eval.  I ended up being the scapegoat. 

So in the past, I’ve never really lost sleep over things like a bad test grade or a smart remark from a classmate, but this whole peer eval made me toss and turn last night.  I couldn’t stop thinking over and over in my head how wrong I’d been done and who would be stupid enough to give a poor peer eval half way through the semester??  My real question is how I continue on with the semester.  Knowing I have to work with these women on other projects?  

My first reaction was to confront the whole group, but I know for a fact no one would own up to admitting they wrote the “bad” peer eval for me.  And when I put myself in their shoes I wouldn’t want to either.  So getting the truth isn’t going to happen. 

So now, do I just keep every interaction with them professional, to-the-point, and business-like?  Do I treat them coldly for doing me wrong?  Do I break down and cry to them explaining how hurt I felt over the fact that no one could just talk to me about the issue vs. filling out a peer eval and negatively affecting my grade?  What is wrong with people now-a-days?

5 Things Friday

Hello wonderful world!  It is Friday again and I had an amazing/terrible past couple weeks.  Last week we had 2 exams jammed into 1 week that I'm still reeling from.  Of all exams to score low, I had to go and score low on my Peds exam but high on my community exam.  Not just low like some nursing students think is low like a 98%, I scored a whooping 71%.  In case any of you out there didn't know, that equals failing.  I have 2 more exams and a cumulative final in that class to pick up the pieces and do better.  After that failure student moment, my wonderful, dear supporting hubby helped to guide me on another path in hopes of helping me study for future exams.  He's simply amazing with the amount of knowledge in his head and abilities to see silver linings when I cannot.

He also took me to a Vikings/Titans game that I totally needed!  I was able to sit and watch the fall colors on the trees on the way to Minneapolis and sat up really late the night before the game gabbing on for hours with my sisters and mom.  Life is truly amazing when you can step back and look at the whole instead of the small pieces like nursing school.  Ultimately Vikings won and I cheered the loudest!  Ow ow!

 PS this is the new improved roof and it looks plenty sturdy!

Here is one of the concept maps/care plans I ended up studying for aforementioned failure Peds exam.

However I say this week has been amazing because I took a third exam yesterday in our management nursing class and scored a 95%!  Total redemption and I don't feel as dense as I did last week.  My hubby took me out to lunch and later that evening I cooked two huge batches of cheesy potato soup for the next few weeks and some cake cookies along with some chocolate brownies.
Because that's what I do when I've get a free moment away from studying and learning...I cook/bake!!  Here is a picture of my apron that I loveee sooo much!

Earlier this week (sorry for being out of order), my daughter purchased her first car and got it registered.  This picture shows a sliver of her standing next to her vehicle and she is so excited to finally have a car of her own and go places on her own.  Ahhh sweet freedom, I'm so proud of her and am happy she can finally be her own chauffeur and for her brother too.

Last but not least I was feeling so good about myself yesterday that after class I went and applied for graduation for next May.  Yess!  I cannot wait to be done.

Hope you all had great weeks and I hope your weekends are filled with fun times.  Get out and enjoy the last few days of fall, before the snow falls (depending on where you live of course).  I've got to go to work soon and I'll be working 12 hours tomorrow.  Sunday I'm thrilled to go to church and work on more schoolwork for the following week.

Group Work

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On a global level group work has an important goal within the nursing community.  We have a bunch of individuals to lean on when things get tough.  We understand how our co-workers tick and how they respond to different situations.  Most importantly, we learn how to come to resolutions together to help benefit the patient.  I understand why/how group work is so important on the job. 

However, I absolutely have had enough group work to last me many years within just the short amount of time this semester has been going thus far.

AggHHH I hate GROUP WORK!  We have three classes where we’re paired up into groups of 4-5 for each class.  Then we have two clinical days per week where we’re paired into groups of 4 to do assignments on those days too.  My calendar is so full (no kidding) that I have meetings with these massive different groups almost all 5 days of the week.  Some are before class or during break within class time, or after class.  I’m so overwhelmed I can’t think straight.

What’s even more frustrating is the range of personalities to work with, from having to deal with some members who are total micro-managing type A sort of people.  To working with others who don’t have a voice, would rather not do any work, and basically you’re holding their hand through it all.

All in all, I’ve been learning how to hold my tongue, and show respect for others.  I knew how to do that before I started college, but my craft has been fine-tuned this semester.  

I look forward to next semester when things get a little less hairy, and I can focus on applying for nursing jobs.

Jesus Heals

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I went to church today with my kids and we sat in the second row from the front (we love it up front).  Our pastor was reading from the bible in Mark chapter 2 verses 1-12 about the story of four friends who take their paralytic friend to see Jesus in hopes of healing him.  However the house where Jesus was speaking was too crowded to get inside from the doorway, so these four friends hoisted their buddy up on the roof, cut a hole in it, and lowered him inside.  Jesus goes on to forgive this man his sins, and heals him.  When I first heard this story I totally didn’t understand why Jesus would forgive his sins FIRST before healing him.  But then my pastor explained that Jesus could see this man needed his spiritual needs met first which were forgiveness, and then he moved on to his physical impairment.  How amazing huh?  After my pastor explained the passage, it gave me a whole new understanding of this story.  I just love going to church and getting taught the word of God, getting my weekly spiritual batteries recharged, and courage and confidence to face another week.

What I thought was really really neat was what my 12 year old said after the pastor read the fifth verse {And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."}.  My son said “that’s cool”.  Wow!  My son is getting it, and I was there to witness it.  That’s amazing stuff that God is working in my sons life too!

Mark 2:1-12

English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ³ And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹² And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

5 Things Friday

Since I’ve been entirely too busy lately with school to blog anymore, I totally had to make time to squeak out my 5 blog-worthy things that happened this week.

This was how my Monday started out on the way to my Peds clinical.  Which was okay because eventually the skies cleared up long enough to get through our orientation to and from the hospital tour.  Sometimes you just gotta love a rainy day, and quickly after I got home, I changed into my pjs!

 This picture shows a golden and much loved coupon for a free value meal from McDs that I turned in on Tuesday because my son gave it to me and I was craving salt.  In all reality though, my son won two of these and he gave me one to pay off the $4.80 fine I paid on his account at the library.  Hey I'm no dummy, I believe in receiving McDs coupons for payment any day.

Here is the common look of my couch now-a-days, overwhelming, unmanageable, and purely disorganized.  I swear this semester is made up of 95% group work, slightly meaningless group meetings (where more complaining and less work gets done), and deadlines.  My head usually has no problem staying organized but not at the moment.  I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.

 Thursday I finally opened the package and made a wrap with these tortillas.  Usually tortillas are 150 calories each but this brand (found at Walmart) were 100 calories each.  Nice, score!  I put 3 oz. of lunch meat and a low fat skim mozzarella string cheese to a tortilla to make a filling wrap for lunch all under 360 calories.  Ow ow!

Friday was a busy day because my daughter has a homecoming dance scheduled for Saturday night and I chose to hem up her dress right at the last minute.  This is fine because I LOVE TO SEW, but I don't like putting myself into such a time crunch.  Sewing is much less enjoyable that way, either way my daughter was pleased with my work and I was glad for the reprieve from school work.  

On to another weekend filled with work and back to the grind school on Monday.  

How was your week?

5 Things Friday (done on saturday)

5 Things Friday is where I post 5 things throughout the week that I liked the most, so here goes;

This was the view while sitting on the ground stretching after one of my runs this week. Aww I love fall.

This is one of my lunch meals, starting from top to bottom left to right I had watermelon, lettuce, fiber one bar, mini rice cakes, and turkey/string cheese wrap.  All for under 400 calories.

This is one of my note pages where our instructors love PowerPoint and I love printing 6 to a page on less compacted lecture days as opposed to densely covered days in which I'll print 3 to a page.  Don't forget to notice my purple water bottle, drinking water is important!

This is my dauther's choice for her homecoming dress this year and I just love the color gray and blue together.  I think it looks classy and can't wait to see her all done up!

 This is my attempt to curl my hair easier using a sock bun, and if you're interested in learning more on what I mean check this youtube video out.

What 5 things were your favorite this week?

The Ride

 

During this gargantuan amount of stress and uncertainty I MUST remember that even though I don’t know the road set before me, that God does!  He is in control especially when I am out of control.  He makes a way through the muck and mire that is called nursing school, and HIS will for me will be done.

I never thought I was much of a micro-manger or control freak, but just shortly after the second week of school, I am faced with a situation that is out of my control – group work.  And I have no choice but to be okay with it and continue on this ride until I graduate. 

You have never changed.
Your love is endless and your mercy has remained.
Through all the ages You shine so bright.
Nothing can compare.
You made the heavens and Your glory fills the air.
Through all the ages You ride the ancient skies.

And you ride the ancient skies
You’re amazing
Creation cries
So will I
You’re amazing

Psalms 68:33-35 to him who rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with mighty voice.  Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies.  You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

 

Part of Why I Care

I’ve been sitting at my computer work area since 10am working on different assignments off and on all day.  I think it’s time to write a little post for my blog.

First off, let me tell you that this semester is heavy on the amount of readings that the instructors expect from us.  More so than normal and this is the first semester where I’m kind of worried of what to expect if I don’t attempt to look at most of this stuff.  Keep in mind most of these instructors assign a bunch of reading material as complementary resources, but I still feel obliged to read the chapters assigned from the text book. 

Let me just give one piece of advice, if your text book states they offer additional learning activities on their website, you should check it out.  More than likely your instructor has used this resource and incorporated a few questions in with their exam.  Plus there are activities such as flash cards, mini-quizzes, and even crosswords that help the student retain information in a different more creative way.

via

Anyway I went to work Friday in the OB dept., but was reallocated to a med/surg. floor to help out.  Now since I work on OB when I get reallocated from that department to other departments, they don’t utilize my abilities as an aide.  Instead I just do basic stuff like vitals, turns, helping feed but I’m not assigned any one patient or group of patients for total care.  So once I got onto the floor I was met with cries of help from a confused patient yelling from her open doorway.  I went into her room and found the patient trying to climb out of bed; she seemed agitated and annoyed as to why she was in the hospital.  So I went in and helped get her untangled from the blankets and we sat down together and talked.  I learned a little about her between her bouts of short-term memory loss.  All she wanted was to go for a walk, and since I wasn’t needed at that moment for anything else, I took her for one. 

When I got her back to her room, I excused myself and stepped out so I could get report from the other aides to see if there was anything else they needed help with.  When I got done helping a few of them with their work, instead of wandering aimlessly around the halls or sitting on a computer surfing the internet (that sometimes happens with other aides), I went back to the confused lady’s room.  I spent the rest of my four hour shift there chatting and walking around her room with her.  It was so humbling and enlightening to talk with this woman who was wise beyond her years and had quite the story to tell.  My time with her helped remind me why I care so deeply for others, we’ve all gone through a lot in our lives and we all have our own story to tell.  I look forward to more times like this in my future.  PS when my shift was over, the RN came and thanked me for my 1:1 care with this patient so she could get other work done.  I wondered why the patient hadn’t been evaluated for more 1:1 care or a sitter.  She definitely could use someone to look into that for her.

Syllabus Schnyllabus

I started back to school yesterday and I gotta say I really missed my classmates during summer break.  Knowing that we’ll be graduating in May kind of makes my eyes a little misty.  But thinking about my future swells my heart with excitement and pride.  Overall what I didn’t miss was all the high school baloney with cliques and popularity issues.  I just wanna enjoy the most out of each experience I have before I actually have a “real” job with “real” problems.

After getting done with back-to-back classes yesterday, and being that this is my first semester as a senior I’m still shocked that instructors can write their syllabi so sloppy and unorganized.  Some of our classes are hybrid (which means some of the time we would have spent in the classroom listening to lecture is spent outside of the classroom studying or working in groups) and the syllabus doesn’t clearly state which days are in class vs. which days our outside of class.  Also I really dislike it when the instructor talks about projects, and dates and what to expect but doesn’t have a syllabus posted for us to look at.  I think they’re trying to confuse us on purpose…ugh!

Via

Today was one of our community clinical days and because it was our first day we spent the entire seven hours inside the skills lab.  We learned about effective listening and being present with ourselves.  We practiced hand and foot massages on each other (which by the way felt amazing and I gladly accepted all the rubs I could get after my busy summer and what looks to be a busy fall).  We tried different meditation techniques including deep breathing and taking a walking journey.  I was most excited today to learn different coping mechanisms for the craziness of hospital nursing and the added stress that comes with the job.  Overall, I feel more relaxed and have a few more tools to add to my foundational skills tool bag.

Friday is promised to be a busy day of planning group projects and time slots to meet.  We also have two medication quizzes (one that’s a take home and the other an online quiz).  Even though I work both Friday and Saturday my shifts are only four hours each.  My excellent hubby once again budgeted flawlessly so this fall on average I only have to put in between four to eight hours of work each week.  That’s such a load off my shoulders to worry about especially since I have 15 credits to get through, thanks honey, and I love you!!

Vacation

I think I wasn't the only one who went on vacation this past weekend.  Details coming soon...

Nail Challenge Update

Okay so I know the two week challenge isn't over until this Saturday but I'm writing to tell you that my nails didn't last. However, I think, it was my fault and I'll explain.

Here is the after picture:

Pros
I liked the finish smooth and shiny
I liked how when I used hand sanitizer the gel finish on my nails didn't get gooey or "eaten" off
I liked how long they DID last (at least 3-4 days)
I liked how strong my nails were
I liked the manageability

Cons
I didn't like how precise you have to be when applying the gel
I didn't like how in order to "cap off" the edge of the nail you should have slightly longer nails
I didn't like how you buy the expensive starter kit and only have one color included
I didn't like how a new color costs approximately $10 give or take a few bucks

Ultimately I'm a "picker".  I love to pick at my nails and hangnails subconsciously and this challenge was no exception.  If the gel isn't applied exactly on the nail and some of it gets on your cuticle then you can peel it off but then you risk peeling too far into the nail bed.  Hence you risk taking off more than you expected and the nail finish is weakened.

I would love to continue using this product because overall I loved the way my nails looked, but does it hold up for the advertised two weeks...no.  In my experience no, this product doesn't last that long.