A tearfully quick update

Well, not my tears. Not today anyway! Yes tears are being shed in my clinical group of 7. Tears of stress, tears of distress, and tears of duress. It is sad. It is sad to see people who are trying so hard, including myself, stressed out. This definetly calls for a nursing diagnosis: ineffective coping related to the stresses of nursing school/clinical rotation/really mean people with really mean attitudes. Yes people, the drama continues. It affects more than just me. So many people are complaining about the same team awesome clique. Our wonderful instructor is still fully aware of everything that is going on...the eye rolling, the disregard for others ideas, the complete insanity of it all. It all feels so inescapable to me. Today the #1 culprit called me by my last name instead of addressing me by my first name in a respectful manner. I will call myself "doe". She said "Doe, can you move so I can get to my bag?". Excuse me, but I am not in the US military. I am not a football or baseball player. I am a respectable person who deserves respect from others.

Favorite nursing home quote of the week..."it is important for water to flush your commode just as it is important for water to flush your body". Never thought of myself as a living commode!

9 weeks down, 7 to go...

This was such an easy week. I have got to find motivation to start my pharmacology hot and heavy. We have started with cardiac, respiratory, and anti-infammatories. I need to find a way to make these easy. I need to ask myself, what will it look like when the patient is TOXIC from these drugs, what will kill them first, and what is the antidote. I have made some charts to divvy these up, it's just a matter of putting the ink to the paper!

Looky Looky!!

So I am on my *big* computer, not the iPad, and I am going through my pics to place in my reflective essay that is due for one of my classes.  I thought, when would there be a btter time to post some pics?  Well, with my schedule, NEVER!  So here are a few!  I should be reading up on my pain lecture for tomorrow, but no, I am supplying my two followers with random pics of nothingness!

Total Randomness!  I will add captions later!

2 followers and a much needed break!!

Well I have been on Fall Break since Thursday. I had a meeting Thursday afternoon with my mentor. The meeting was about my poor testing performance. Yes, I have been doing horribly on my tests. I am over thinking questions. Really, I am. The mentor went over each test question that missed. Her method was to cover up the correct answer and have me explain the question and my reasoning behind why I chose the way I did. That is how she was able to confer that I was over thinking. She really feels (as I do) I know my stuff. She offered me this advice in learning how to answer questions on nursing exams: ask yourself what will kill the patient first, consider ABC (airway, breathing, circulation), utilize the steps of the nursing process, and consider Maslows hierarchy of needs. So this weekend while on break I have been reading "nursing school test taking success" books. Looking for blogs regarding this and checking out Allnurses.com for help. I feel desperate. Now, I hate to disappoint my two followers in reporting tests bad grades. In the real world the test grades aren't THAT bad! Drumroll: I am teeter-tottering on the borderline right now with a 78% and 80% test average. In NS, you must have a 75% average on all tests in order to pass. Whatever the case is, I have got to get my butt in gear. I have no time to fear failure or actually experience failure.

Fall break has given me an opportunity to breathe a little. I have been catching up on things I normally would not have time for. We have a research paper due November 3rd. The faculty said that we would need at least three weeks to write it. Not this chick! I wrote mine Friday night in a matter of 3 hours. Yep, 4 pages. Now keep in mind it is a very rough, rough draft, but I have the bulk of it done and that is what matters most. I love getting ahead. So I know you all must be wondering the topic for said paper..."nursing implications for the success in gastric bypass patients", or something to that affect!

I have been having some really quirky dreams. Last night I dreamed that my nursing home patient developed a bed sore the day after she was under my care. Her heart rate also dropped to 65 and then 25 and they blamed me for it. Wy all these crazy dreams?

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the plastic surgeon for a panniculectomy consult. Two babies and 90 pound weight did quite a number on the midsection so I would like for im to use a pair of scissors and just cut the crap off. Not that easy. I will keep you all updated. My timeframe is early December for this procedure. I also have no idea the costs involved.

My list of things to do:
1. Post pics with my blog entries.
2. Get ahead instead of getting behind
3. More sleep
4. Need to market myself for more followers. I always feel like I am just typing to myself. No offense, Bay, Judy, and Kelsy!
5. Update my blog more often because after all, this IS my diary and I will regret it one day if I don't.
6. Quit having so many regrets
7. Gain more confidence.

Tired beyond words...

I am in bed winding down and I must make this quick. I am only getting 5 hours asleep every night. In fact, I have not been falling asleep like I should. It is making me crazy. Here is a quick list of this weeks events:

-2 days in nursing home. Sadness, worked to death, adult brief changes, more poop than I have ever seen in my life, on my feet all day, no chairs to sit in, Danskos that are not proving in satisfaction to my feet and oh so aching back, colostomy bags, peg tube feedings, attitudes, destructive behavior by fellow student, successful head to toe assessment, nursing notes, nursing diagnoses, soapier notes, paperwork and more paperwork for the clinical experience, mass confusion, dead tired.

-failing tests that shou,d be seemingly easy based on their content, but no, they must be made difficult beyond stupid words

-had an emotional talk with my clinical instructor about fellow student. Learned that I am the third person to have the same complaint, much to my surprise. More on that later when it's not midnight.

-thankful that I have wonderful friends who listen to my problems and for advice. Advice that I have finally taken. They will be so proud.

-booked plane tickets for a ip to Alaska in June!!! I am so stoked but too busy to plan for it right now.

More later when I don't have a test in 8 hours and isn't past midnight when I am updating my blog!!

Night all!!