10-14-2010

LAST FUNDAMENTALS BLOG!:
I REALLY CAN'T BELIEVE HOW FAST THIS CLASS FLEW BY! I DO FEEL LIKE WE DID GET A FULL DOSE OF EVERYTHING AND I DO FEEL LIKE I RETAINED IT. I JUST WISH I CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO TAKE THESE DARN TESTS! -CAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING WRONG :( I LOVED MRS. D AND I THOUGHT SHE WAS AN AMAZING TEACHER! FOR WHAT WE HAD TO COVER I WAS SURPRISED AT HOW ORGANIZED IT WAS PRESENTED TO US...SO GOOD JOB TO EVERYONE FOR PASSING! WE MADE IT, ONLY 2 YEARS LEFT!!

10-11-2010

            So I'm thinking this is the last blog for fundamentals? Crazy how fast this class went by, a little sad in a way.. I'm going to miss Mrs. D a lot.. I hope we get to have her again at some point. Studying is going okay, a lot to try and wrap my mind around yet again. I'm really praying this one goes well cause Lord knows I need it. Thankfully my boyfriend is being pretty helpful (as he's in the kitchen cooking the chicken for himself for once :)) so that alleviates some of the stress...kinda? I've really liked all my clinicals thus far so I'm stoked about that, especially since that's what we're going to be actually doing for our career. Good luck everyone on their final and keep your fingers crossed for me as well!

10-04-2010

         Today was the first day of my 'diet', should be interesting on top of everything else! I'm actually really excited to see if I can stick with it since this is the first diet I've ever been on. (I'm 117 pounds and no I'm not dieting because I think I'm fat haha) I go to the gym about 6 times a week on average so I think putting a diet along with it will show me what I really can look like, we'll see :) 
        Yesterday I went to Macy's with Ren and he bought me a Michael Kors watch! Keep an eye out for it, it's white and teal and goes along with our scrubs quite well. Definitely a nice surprise! I guess I have to keep him ;) haha As for school I'm really apprehensive about how the final is going to go, I'm really nervous. I guess all I can do is my best, right?! Hope everyone is having a good start to their week! I can't believe tomorrow is our last day of lab for Fundamentals. Wow! Hope we get to have a little fun then ;)

10-01-2010

            It's been a pretty good week overall. It went by relatively quickly which is good! Monday we had the guest speaker, Tuesday's lab was fun because we got to practice feeding which meant eating chocolate pudding for me! Wednesday our cultural project was due so we got to eat food :) and then Thursday we had our clinical at Healthsouth, which I loved!! It was an amazing facility and my patient happened to be a retired nurse as well, she had MRSA and a spicacast (which is a cast from her bust line down to her left ankle and down to her right knee). This made my skin assessment a little difficult, but it was definitely a good learning experience for me. I can't believe how fast time is flying by and that Fundamentals is almost over.... I guess time flies when you're having fun..

9-20-2010

I'm standing in the kitchen cooking my boyfriends bag of chicken! Already cut it up and now it's simmering. It's been a long day and my mood is definitely showing it. I used to feel like such a lucky person, but here lately I feel like my luck has ran dry..I know that's terrible to say but without luck things just suck.
I went to the Learning Commons right after Assessment to work on my paper, finish it up and tweek it a little bit. I got one of the tutors to read over it and I'm glad I decided to do that, even though I was there for almost three hours! But hey, it's done :)
I'm glad todays almost over and that it's going to be a short week for me. I just want to relax for a little bit and try and clear my mind. It seems all I do is think nowadays and I'm not too sure that's a good thing. There's definitely some things I'd rather just forget or at least move past and only remember when I have to..
I'm glad Nursing gives me a distraction and it definitely does make me happy which I'm thrilled about.. everything happens for a reason right? Hopefully I'll get to see the "reasons" soon enough.

xo

9-15-2010

            Just got home from the gym with Lisa, lifted legs.. glad I had a release to get that midterm out of my head. I didn't do very hot :/ bummer. Surprisingly I didn't get as upset about it as I expected, just got to try harder next time and study with a partner maybe? I made a lot of stupid mistakes unfortunately, had the right answer for four different questions....THEN went back and changed my answer because I second guessed myself. I'm very talented sometimes haha I'm trying to keep my spirits high though and not let myself get down about it, hopefully that will make me feel a little better than I do now..positive thoughts right? If anybody did really well can you give me some pointers so I can figure out the best way to study? Cause what I did definitely didn't work :( Either comment back on here or email me at vemadams@aol.com
I'd really really appreciate it!

9-9-2010 First Day of Clinicals

            Today was our first clinical & I must say it went really well. I was pretty nervous when I got there but as the day progressed I got more comfortable. My patient was really sweet and very helpful. Vital signs were definitely a lot harder since they are older but just be patient and they will be too! (They're more than willing to do anything to assist us in what we have to get done) I went in there thinking that we were going to encounter all these mean old people that throw temper tantrums at any slight change in their environments, but in reality they are a lot like us- just a bit older! They go about their lives just as we would ours. I'm glad that they chose this facility for our first clinical, it definitely made the transition as smooth as I could imagine it would be into the medical world. Just relax and enjoy your day! 
            Some tips, get your vital signs done as early as you can that way if you don't get them the first time, you have plenty of opportunities to try again. The day flew by way faster than I expected so get your tasks done early too (the questions as well as the vital signs). Make sure you are attentive to their needs at the same time as well. Last but not least, enjoy yourself! It's definitely not as bad as I thought it would be :) 

9-8-2010

Phew, what a day! Re-took the math quiz this morning, since I got an 80 the last time! Passed it this time :) Then we had the practice mid-term..did pretty well I think but I'm glad that both are over with! I don't know why today seemed so much longer than normal, but I was definitely struggling to make it through. After assessment Bonnie and I went to the Learning Commons and printed some stuff off and did our Medical Terminology assignment-glad that's out of the way too! After that I went to the gym, lifted chest for about an hour and a half then went running at Lake Ella for 45 minutes. Now, I'm sitting on the couch...again haha writing my blog. 

Tomorrow is our first clinical and I'll have to admit I'm pretty nervous! It's gonna be an interesting first time and I'm sure it's one we're going to remember for the rest of our lives...first introduction as a healthcare professional! (if only they knew ;)) Today was a pretty productive day but I'm glad it's coming to an end. I can't wait for the weekend; Friday is my dad's 59th birthday so I'll be out in Wakulla spending the day with the family. I'm really looking forward to the next few days.. more time to relax with the ones I love... & study of course!

9-2-2010

            Today I had COMPLETELY off from everything, school, work & life. I quite enjoyed myself; I finally got the me time I've desperately needed. I still woke up at 7am, went and had breakfast with my old boss at Jimmy Johns then I made the drive out to Wakulla and spent the day at my mom's school. I helped her de-stress a little by grading some papers and just hanging out with her. I'm definitely glad I made a point to do it!
            After she was out of school for the day we drove back into town and she went and bought my blood pressure cuff for me! She wanted to help me out and give me a chance to practice on my own time :) She also bought my Nursing jacket for me- overall it was a really good day! I've taken several different peoples blood pressures and I'm feeling much more confident about it. I can't wait to practice more (I'm carrying it around in my purse now haha), just these little things keep me sane; I'm so excited about each new thing! Can't wait to learn more.

September 1st, 2010

            It's a slow night at work at Gold's Gym, so I figured perfect opportunity to catch up on some blogging ;). Second week of classes down for me, since I'm off Thursday & Friday; it was a pretty good week, hectic though. Right now I'm the only front desk girl working at Golds so they're relying on me to pick up the slack more than normal.. not bad-just makes things a little interesting! We had a pretty fun day in lab yesterday, we learned how to take blood pressure which I'm actually really excited about- definitely harder than I thought it would be though! I can't wait to go buy my cuff and start practicing, cause I'm going to need it. My boyfriend said he was willing to let me practice on him as much as I needed to, but I'm sure once his arm goes numb the first time he'll be over it!!
Anyways, I'm really excited about what's going to happen, excited & nervous...I just hope I manage to put everything we've been taught together and communicate effectively enough to where I can convey the right message. Guess we can only wait and see. Back to work! :)

8-25-2010

                I'm sitting on the couch, just got home from dinner at Masa with my boyfriend and his friend. I can't believe it's already the third day into Nursing. We had lecture from 9 to 12 today and we learned about safety in the environment and in our immediate surroundings; we also learned about communication. I'm not gonna lie I'm kinda nervous about the whole communication with the paitents...I just hope I'll know what to say when it comes down to it. I think the first time I introduce myself to them will probably be the most nerve racking, but hopefully it'll be second nature after that.
              We had our first lab yesterday, surprisingly it flew by pretty quickly even though it was 4 hours long in the same classroom! We learned how to properly wash our hands-"Happy birthday song" or "ABC's" (minimum of 15 secs), put on our gowns and gloves and then how to put on sanitary gloves(more of a challenge than I thought!) Overall it's been a good first few days :)

First Day of Nursing School 8-23-2010

Today was my first day of Nursing School at Tallahassee Community College. I had everything set up the night before so this morning it didn't take me too long to get ready. Ren (my boyfriend) sat up with me as I got ready for the day ahead. Class went pretty smoothly too, I was definitely really nervous! My teacher seems really cool, so thank goodness about that! So, the questions ahead....
         Philosophy of Nursing: dedication and endurance to persevere through whatever task that may present itself in the nursing atmosphere. The ability to tend and care to the needy, elderly, sick, or injured in a professional manner. The want and need to help others and go above and beyond in the healthcare industry.
         What made me want to be a nurse? Well, I do have a long history of nurses in my family & I do love interacting with people and having an impact on their lives; but one of the main things that happened that made me decide to want to be a nurse is just a typical night at the pool actually. Some of my friends were horseplaying and my guy friend wound up busting his chin open, me being me I naturally took care of him. The rest kind of fell into place from there.
         What type of nursing? I want to eventually become a doctor but one of the main reasons I want to pursue nursing first is so I can determine exactly what my calling may be. When I become a doctor I want to be an OBGYN so I can imagine I will try and work in labor & delivery or pediatrics. The medical field has endless possiblities so I can't wait to find out what it may have in store for me!
         My definition of a nurse: a person to care and tend to the needs of the sick or unforunate.
Overall I'm really excited about the journey ahead! I can't wait to see what the future has to hold and where I may wind up. Everything has so many possibilities and I'm curious about the next few years of my life :)