This is my journey from S.N to R.N

I have decided to post again. I know…the comings and goings are a bit much.

There’s so much hoopla right now about HIPAA this and HIPAA that. I got cold feet. But then, after much prodding and poking from my mother, I realized I have to finish what I started. It would be quite an incomplete chronicle if it finished right before senior year, right? Right.

So here I am.

School started. We spent the first week in skills labs practicing changing a central line dressing, hanging blood, and IV push meds. Finally! The exciting stuff from day 1.

The next week was spent doing our leadership class where we have Quality Improvement project with Geriatric Fellows. I hate to be a bad sport…but I’m not too excited about all this extra work that won’t help me out when it comes to passing the boards. Especially when it means driving all the way to the hospital [along with my 37 peers] to meet with them for one hour. I digress. At the very least, my fellow seems nice. So there’s that.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week were spent in clinical immersion. It was meant to get our feet wet again in a med-surg envrionment since last semester was mommas and babies. It was a great week.

I had some heavy stable patients, and one patient who tried to have chest pain and difficulty breathing at one point. I LOVED being back on the floor doing patient care on my own. The first day we had one patient and the next two days we had two patients. I felt pretty cool since I was one of the few with patients that were considered ’serious’ instead of ‘fair’ or ‘good’. Alas, no ‘critical’ since we are all on a general medicine floor.

Tomorrow is first day of lecture. 8-4.30 is a long day for lecture. Aye yi yi.

So…that’s what you missed!

In other news, I caved and bought the new Kindle 3 and am majorly geeking out over it. It should be arriving tomorrow and I’m bummed that I have to wait ALL DAY for it. AND we’re selling our house. Yeah. 1700 square feet is much to much for these 2 people. Especially 2 people who are anxiously wanting to feed their new-found-grown-up taste for the modern and minimal and open floor plan. Something which this townhouse is not.

I really have the best readers. Thanks for sticking by me. I mean that.

Love,

Laney

That’s right! Got the word today in my summative conference  that I passed clinicals with flying colors and theory with colors that weren’t flying as high, but still high enough to be made into a SENIOR NURSING STUDENT.

I graduate in December and I’m so excited I can hardly stand it! Let’s celebrate!

I’ve got 3 weeks off before my PNA program and plan on writing and relaxing just a bit. I just woke up from a 5 hour nap in fact. I think my body was sleep deprived. No matter.

Anyways, I also want to thank all my readers/commenters for your support so far. I was telling the husband last night that it’s like my therapy on here. It’s been so healing to know that I am not alone and that there are others experiencing the same highs and lows. So thanks you guys! It really means a lot to know you’re there.

=]

Love,

Laney

I have to backtrack a little bit. A couple of weeks ago, on my second day of floor orientation as an NA II, I had to do post-mortem care for the first time. What are the odds that it would come up so quickly.

This patient I had seen the previous day as well. We weren’t doing anything for this patient except for comfort care. They had been agonal breathing for a long time and were already pretty much gone. So, I think it wasn’t as traumatic as if it had been a walking talking patient that randomly crashed. It was one of those situations where it was good for the patient, who was needing constant morphine for pain, and the family.

So, here is what I learned about post-mortem care. I don’t want to sound all morbid, but my husband had asked me what all we had to do. I figured other people may be curious too, especially the ones who haven’t had to do it yet. But if you aren’t curious and have no desire to know what happens after death b/c it freaks you out then stop reading and I’ll see you tomorrow! (Good disclaimer, right?) Otherwise here ya go:

You clean and strip the body and get the toe tags that have been prepared by the HUC.

If an eye donor, rinse eyes with normal saline and put saline gauze over eyes to preserve them. If a medical examiner case, leave all the IVs and tubes in.

Go downstairs and get the transport stretcher with box that goes over the top to mask the outline of a body.

Come back up, place body in bag. Make sure there is a tag on the body, bag, and bag of possessions if applicable.

Put box over body, transport to morgue. Take papers to medical records office.

And that’s that. And let me tell you, it was a lot of work. I was sweating by the time we were done. That’s another aspect we have to remember as nurses/students. We help people to get better and we heal the sick, yes. But there are times when we have to help people to die…and that’s sometimes a shock to the system.

That’s all she wrote. Hope that helps.

Love,

Laney

I got another question via email.

“I’m getting ready to start nursing school and wonder if I should work while I’m there. I don’t have to work technically, but I don’t like relying on my parents to pay for everything even though they said it is fine. What do you think? I know you work on the weekends…”

Well, to be perfectly honest- if I didn’t have to work, I wouldn’t. First semester I worked 36 hours a week plus school and clinicals….and nearly burnt out.

Last semester and this semester, I go to school Monday through Thursday and then work 8am-8pm Fridays and Saturdays. Last semester wasn’t so bad, but I’m already burning out this semester and its only midterms!

They always told us in the first week of school, “Don’t work in nursing school!”, but when you’ve got a mortgage, that really isn’t an option. If you don’t HAVE to work, but maybe want a little extra cash to help out or for spending, I’d suggest getting a perdiem NA position at the hospital you’re interested in working at once you get your RN. Per-diem only requires something like 24 hours a month which is very doable. If you haven’t got your NA yet, there’s always the HUC position.

I’ve come to find that the topic of working while in this level of schooling is a very personal question and sometimes real touchy. I’ve seen divides in first semester from those who had to work and those who didn’t have to work. It was like those who had to work scoffed at those who didn’t have to work complaining about how they didn’t have any time to study.  I know I thought that in like the first month, but you know, everyone’s got their own issues- working and otherwise.

Anyhoo, that was kind of rambling at the end. Sorry about that. Best of luck to you!

How about you guys? Any thoughts on this? Do any of you have to work or do you do it because you want to?

Love,

Laney

PS- Keep the questions/emails coming! You can see other questions answered including those about how many hours to study in nursing school and the worst [and best] parts of nursing school.

I feel it coming on. The mid-semester slump. My house is messy, my books less organized, my mind is foggy. It’s awful. Spring break is [thankfully] only a week and a half away.

And then, I can pull my life together I hope.

How about you guys? When you’re about halfway in, does your energy dip a little?

Any cures? Fixes?

Blahhhh.

Hope you’re having a happy Tuesday. Clinicals tomorrow = fun stories to come.

Love,

Laney

PS- Looking back at old posts, I found this- which leads me to conclude that dealing with medicine makes for a tired nursing student/HUC/NA. Le sigh.