Friday, January 16, 2009
Ever wondered what a code was like?
Nurse Sean has described his first code blue on the Code Team in wonderful detail:
Congrats Sean, it sounds surreal!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
P.S. Eww
I've been getting a creepy amount of traffic from various Asian countries inquiring about how to go about 'break ing the hy men al ri ng' (spelled properly, but I don't want to generate even more traffic) and also pictures of said breaking.
This is in the last few days.
Is there a note stuck to my back or something?
A little honesty is the best policy, or so I hear
It's official. I've been avoiding all of you.
I'm not sure why, and it's not because I don't love you (because I definitely do, even you lurkers who never say anything!), but I have been in a serious funk these first couple of weeks of 2009.
A big part of it is, as some of you long-time readers may recall, that I'm not the most socially gregarious person in the world. I tend to avoid meeting new people when at all possible and prefer to hang out with myself for company (especially for studying, which I do 16/7 these days). Just about the only people that I actually want to hang out with are my parents and my boyfriend. I'm just terrible at meeting new people!
Most of my friends from last term are in entirely different classes than me... and I really need to work up the courage to say hello to someone. Anyone. Logically I know that people aren't all looking at me going oh, her, the creepy loner girl. Yet paranoia kicks in and that's just what I think. How messed up am I?!
Does anyone have advice for me? I know I'm being ridiculous but I can't seem to help it. My self-esteem is ankle-high.
Anyway, on to bigger and better:
Monday is my first clinical EVER!!
I am going shopping this weekend for scrubs and shoes. Rules: no pastels, no prints. Those aren't school rules, but they are definitely mine :) I'm thinking navy, or maybe Kim-tinky-winky-purple*
That's a reference to Kim, of As The Pump Turns, whom I adore and will sorely miss reading her blogs
The first day is from 0700 to 1500 and we are going to play scavenger hunt for our first time on the unit, to help us locate all the goodies. In lab tomorrow we are learning to take histories so we might get to do that too, although I think I just might soil myself when I am looking my first patient in the eyes. Extra scrubs? Yes, I believe that would be a splendid idea.
Ye Gods, I could have gotten The Awful One for clinical. I would have switched out, I'm pretty sure. My actual clinical instructor seems normal, yet very manager-esque, so hopefully that doesn't hinder honesty.
Side note: I freakin' hate listening to HRspeak, with such gems as:
- Let's take this offline, hmm?
- I'd like to see you really bring it 360 for the presentation (huh?)
- This really appears to be a great learning opportunity for both of us!
- Some of you outliers have a greater opportunity than others!
*barf*
Anyhoo, since you're all dying to know, I scored 90% on my first quiz of the semester (yay!) and have so far been very good about keeping up with the readings... although I have several chapters to plow through before tomorrow.
That said, I bid you adieu until Monday at the latest because I will be recapping my VERYFIRSTCLINICALEVEROMG
P.S. Thanks to everyone who comments on my posts. I know they aren't the most interesting or hilarious fodder around but it's very kind of you to say something anyway :)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Semester 2 begins
Well, began.
I had my first classes yesterday. It was the longest I've been at school possibly ever - my first class was at 0800 and my last class went to 1700. Yuck, a full workday! The morning started with Psych and the prof seems exactly like a psych prof should. Kind of offbeat, a little crazy, kind of distracted. She started the class by challenging us to memorize everyone's name by the time she did and she said anybody who could would get a 1% bonus mark. Then she went through the class of 60ish (maybe more) students and tried to memorize all our names. She'd stare intently at each person and say their name 5 or 6 times. It was intimidating at best. I lost track of people after the first row - I don't remember names very well! This went on for about 25 minutes, and then I got bored and went for coffee.
The second class seems a bit (a lot) fluffy. It's Professional Communication. The prof asked if anyone had taken a communications class before - I put my hand up. She then asked if anyone actually liked it - I put my hand down. I hated Comm, probably because a lot of it comes easily to me. I'm not one of those conversational freight trains that yammers on and on and cuts people off, and it's pretty obvious what someone's feeling when I talk to them. Anyway. She promised it would be an improvement on what I was expecting from Comm. I think it'll be a lot of sharing and kumbaya, but a good GPA boost and the prof seems normal so we'll see.
The third class - omg! It's micro and I'm terrified/in love with the prof. What a weird combo. I was sitting with a girl and we were discussing how you could often tell what a prof would be like by what they wore to lecture. The prof walked in wearing a suit jacket, tie, and knee-length skirt, black hose and sensible shoes. She had her hair pulled back in a tight bun. Yikes! And she was just like you'd expect. A total drill sergeant. What a far cry from last semester's Anatomy prof! She doesn't really use PowerPoint (gasp) - she actually uses the whiteboards. All 3! With different colored pens! And neat writing! What is this freak of nature?! It was a 3 hour lecture and I was totally alert the whole time - partly because she kind of yelled the notes at us. What a unique concept, for a science instructor to teach the material instead of just read off the ppt! I'm so impressed. And terrified, as I've mentioned.
I was looking forward to coming back this semester after the Christmas break. I feel rejuvenated and ready to go. I'm SO looking forward to clinical, and my first lab is on Friday. Yay actual nursing class!
I've been a good girl and caught up on my readings so far this week. Operation Keepmyshittogether is in full swing!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
It's 2009 and I have 2 days left!
Mixed feelings abound.
I'm really excited to get back to school and 'do it right' this semester by keeping on top of the readings and study guides instead of pounding it all into my skull the week before a big exam, and by actually making an attempt to review each class every day (or at least every other day) instead of just one day a week.
On the other hand, my honey is going back to his college dorm in Farawayville and I just got used to having him home.
On the other other hand, my WoW character is level 79 so clearly my Christmas break wasn't wasted. C'mon, 80 before school starts! Can I do it? We shall see. I'm tempted to keep my account active for a few weeks into school to see if I can be reasonable about playing. It's just such a great stress reliever (certainly better than vegging out in front of the TV) and I usually feel pumped after playing, instead of like a couch zombie.
I logged into Blackboard today to see if they had me updated for my new term. I wanted to get the readings done this weekend so that way I could be a step ahead. I'm not the New Year's Resolution type but I guess my new strategy kind of fits into the category. I'm determined!
Of course they don't have it updated. I doubt if anyone was even in the office yesterday. However my Nursing Practice Foundations class (the one with clinicals) released the placement assignments! Out of 8 possible assignments (some in other counties) I got the one I wanted - sweet! The extra-lucky part is that they never asked for our preferences or even if we drive or not. I'm in a good spot because my house is en route to several hospitals via public transit, and as I've mentioned before, I am in no financial position to purchase a car. Besides, dad, borrowing yours is free! Still, if I had been stuck with driving 20 minutes on the freeway to get to clinical, that would have been a problem.
So this particular hospital is the best of the lot for me to get to by transit, as the bus is on 15 minute frequency, the stop is right outside my house, it runs super early and super late, and it takes just over 15 minutes to get to the hospital. Could this be any better? I think not!
I'm really excited to get back to school and 'do it right' this semester by keeping on top of the readings and study guides instead of pounding it all into my skull the week before a big exam, and by actually making an attempt to review each class every day (or at least every other day) instead of just one day a week.
On the other hand, my honey is going back to his college dorm in Farawayville and I just got used to having him home.
On the other other hand, my WoW character is level 79 so clearly my Christmas break wasn't wasted. C'mon, 80 before school starts! Can I do it? We shall see. I'm tempted to keep my account active for a few weeks into school to see if I can be reasonable about playing. It's just such a great stress reliever (certainly better than vegging out in front of the TV) and I usually feel pumped after playing, instead of like a couch zombie.
I logged into Blackboard today to see if they had me updated for my new term. I wanted to get the readings done this weekend so that way I could be a step ahead. I'm not the New Year's Resolution type but I guess my new strategy kind of fits into the category. I'm determined!
Of course they don't have it updated. I doubt if anyone was even in the office yesterday. However my Nursing Practice Foundations class (the one with clinicals) released the placement assignments! Out of 8 possible assignments (some in other counties) I got the one I wanted - sweet! The extra-lucky part is that they never asked for our preferences or even if we drive or not. I'm in a good spot because my house is en route to several hospitals via public transit, and as I've mentioned before, I am in no financial position to purchase a car. Besides, dad, borrowing yours is free! Still, if I had been stuck with driving 20 minutes on the freeway to get to clinical, that would have been a problem.
So this particular hospital is the best of the lot for me to get to by transit, as the bus is on 15 minute frequency, the stop is right outside my house, it runs super early and super late, and it takes just over 15 minutes to get to the hospital. Could this be any better? I think not!
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