Hey everyone,
So I wanted to combine these 2 weeks into 1 blog because this week was only 2 days long because of Thanksgiving week! Saturday the 21st was my birthday so it was really nice to celebrate with my friends and not worry about a lot of things due for school the next week! I'm definitely looking forward to a nice break from classes and some Turkey and family time this week! But first, I'll give a little review of these weeks.
Most of Monday was spent preparing for the professional nursing exam on Wednesday. A lot of material was to be covered and there wasn't enough time to cover all of the material in lecture. Therefore, my professor went over the most important chapters in class (including oxygenation, circulation, and IV therapy) and put notes on a couple of the chapters on blackboard so that we could review for the exam feeling prepared. All in all, it went well and a majority of the questions asked ended up being from the material covered in class. On Tuesday in lab, we were tested on injections and I was assigned to administer "insulin and NPO", which was really just sterile water, into the arm of the sim-man. The best way to feel comfortable about being tested on injections is to feel calm and confident. Talking your way through this out loud is a great way to keep on track and remember all of the steps! Luckily I passed and I will be giving my first injection during the next clinical on a patient!
Another paper is due in Health Assessment following Thanksgiving break. It is a pediatric health assessment. I chose to do mine on my 6 year old cousin with Down Syndrome. Although I know this is going to be a lot more hard work, I feel like it will be a very interesting paper to write. I will be working on this, as well as a teaching and learning paper, studying for pharmacology and health assessment. On Friday in clinical, the patient that I was initially assigned to did not return back to the floor for the rest of the day. Instead, I was reassigned to an elderly woman who had undiagnosed pain localized to her hip, back, and chest. Although the doctors couldn't pinpoint a cause, she was in pain anytime she moved or needed to be touched. It was tough working with this patient because I was always so worried that I would hurt her. I felt bad that we needed to move her. However, in order to promote healing and prevent loss of function, she needed to be repositioned regularly.
The 2 day week this week was very relaxing! Although I had classes, there was not much work due and the teachers were a lot more laid back due to the approaching holiday. That's basically all for now!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy all the yummy food!
- Katie : )
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Week 10!!!
Hello everyone,
So I did it!!! I made it through the past 2 stressful weeks!!! We had an overwhelming 5 assignments due this week!!! It all started out with our second pharmacology exam on Monday. I stayed in most of the weekend in order to study since I knew that there was a ton of information that was going to be piled onto this exam. I went through each chapter, or drug classification, and broke down the individual medications to reflect their effects on the body. Naming the drugs based on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system allowed me to understand their effects on the major organs. Then, I was able to take each specific medication and learn the clinical uses and side effects based on their effects on the body. I hoped that this would be enough for me to pass the exam. I even thought of several mnemonics in order to help remember each drug. After going over the exam once, I felt really confident. Most of the material that I studied was the information placed on the exam. I felt like I finally could say that I understand how to study for pharmacology exams.
Next up was a lab quiz and case study due in lab on Tuesday. The case study was to be on a fake patient and we were to come up with the appropriate nursing diagnoses as well as expected outcomes, interventions, and rationales for 2 diagnoses. This was not too difficult since we have some practice writing them from clinical. The quiz was a little challenging. There was some controversy after the quiz when we all discussed some of the questions amongst eachother. Everybody thought they had a reason as to why they thought they had gotten certain answers right. Based on this, I'm not exactly sure how I did on this. We will see next week!
Wednesday, all that was due was our full subjective history and physical assessment paper in health assessment. I did this one on my boyfriend, who didn't understand why I had to ask so many questions haha... This was a lot of work during this already busy week. However, by managing my time, I was able to get it all done.
Finally, our very last assignment was due in clinical today. It was a functional health patterns paper on a previous patient we were assigned to. This paper was helpful because it allowed us to complete the entire document and ask the appropriate questions to get feedback from the patient. This was mainly based on the patient's subjective information provided in quotations throughout the paper.
Clinical was a very hectic day for me as well as the other girls. The morning was chaotic because they were short staffed with both nurses and CNAs. I, along with another friend, were asked if we could obtain the morning vital signs for a number of patients on the floor. This was stressful because we got a late start on working with our own patients. My patient was a very nice man being treated for severe abdominal pain. By the end of the day, I was so busy helping him that I was only able to look at his bedside chart for the last 15 minutes! However, I was able to administer my first oral medications with the help of the nurse and my clinical instructor. I was nervous that I was going to make a mistake, but it ended up being a lot easier than I anticipated. It was exciting to feel like a crucial element to patient care and I look forward to doing this again!
That's all for now. Some of the other GMs and myself are getting together tonight for some bonding time! I'll let you know how that goes next week!!!
- Katie : )
So I did it!!! I made it through the past 2 stressful weeks!!! We had an overwhelming 5 assignments due this week!!! It all started out with our second pharmacology exam on Monday. I stayed in most of the weekend in order to study since I knew that there was a ton of information that was going to be piled onto this exam. I went through each chapter, or drug classification, and broke down the individual medications to reflect their effects on the body. Naming the drugs based on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system allowed me to understand their effects on the major organs. Then, I was able to take each specific medication and learn the clinical uses and side effects based on their effects on the body. I hoped that this would be enough for me to pass the exam. I even thought of several mnemonics in order to help remember each drug. After going over the exam once, I felt really confident. Most of the material that I studied was the information placed on the exam. I felt like I finally could say that I understand how to study for pharmacology exams.
Next up was a lab quiz and case study due in lab on Tuesday. The case study was to be on a fake patient and we were to come up with the appropriate nursing diagnoses as well as expected outcomes, interventions, and rationales for 2 diagnoses. This was not too difficult since we have some practice writing them from clinical. The quiz was a little challenging. There was some controversy after the quiz when we all discussed some of the questions amongst eachother. Everybody thought they had a reason as to why they thought they had gotten certain answers right. Based on this, I'm not exactly sure how I did on this. We will see next week!
Wednesday, all that was due was our full subjective history and physical assessment paper in health assessment. I did this one on my boyfriend, who didn't understand why I had to ask so many questions haha... This was a lot of work during this already busy week. However, by managing my time, I was able to get it all done.
Finally, our very last assignment was due in clinical today. It was a functional health patterns paper on a previous patient we were assigned to. This paper was helpful because it allowed us to complete the entire document and ask the appropriate questions to get feedback from the patient. This was mainly based on the patient's subjective information provided in quotations throughout the paper.
Clinical was a very hectic day for me as well as the other girls. The morning was chaotic because they were short staffed with both nurses and CNAs. I, along with another friend, were asked if we could obtain the morning vital signs for a number of patients on the floor. This was stressful because we got a late start on working with our own patients. My patient was a very nice man being treated for severe abdominal pain. By the end of the day, I was so busy helping him that I was only able to look at his bedside chart for the last 15 minutes! However, I was able to administer my first oral medications with the help of the nurse and my clinical instructor. I was nervous that I was going to make a mistake, but it ended up being a lot easier than I anticipated. It was exciting to feel like a crucial element to patient care and I look forward to doing this again!
That's all for now. Some of the other GMs and myself are getting together tonight for some bonding time! I'll let you know how that goes next week!!!
- Katie : )
Friday, November 6, 2009
Week 9!!!
Hi everyone,
Wow, first of all I can't believe it is already November!!! It is crazy to think that 9 weeks in the program has already flew by!!! This week was the first of 2 weeks packed with work. This week, we had a math meds assessment on Monday, oral meds testing on Tuesday, and a health assessment exam on Wednesday!!! Next week will also be rough with a pharmacology exam on Monday, lab quiz on Tuesday, case study on nursing diagnoses on Tuesday, full health assessment and physical due Wednesday, and a functional health patterns paper due Friday in clinical. Needless to say, this has been a stressful week and will continue to be until the end of next week!!!
I ended up doing really well on both my math meds assessment and health assessment exam this week. However, the health assessment exam was very challenging! I spent most of the time while in the exam trying to decide between two choices that both seemed correct! Following the exam, we began the musculoskeletal system in lab. Since this is the section of the body that I am most comfortable with from undergrad, I felt confident performing a musculoskeletal exam in front of the class. It was exciting to realize that my skills as an athletic trainer would really come in handy in this section. I am also very happy to say that I am now able to give oral meds in clinical. We might only be able to do this once or twice, but this is a very exciting skill that I am eager to perform in the near future. I believe that each of the ladies that I am in clinical with would have to agree with me on that.
Finally, today in clinical, I was assigned to the nicest patient. She was admitted for hyponatremia and dehydration which was being treated with NaCl and normal saline. She was feeling much better today and maintained high spirits throughout my day with her. She had been feeling dizzy when standing and after a visit with physical therapy, they were going to make the call whether or not to discharge her that afternoon. She was so excited to finally have the possibility of going home! With a visit from her husband, she was feeling better than ever. I got so much information talking with her throughout the day, I determined that I would be able to write my functional health patterns paper on her. I was happy to have such a lovely woman as my patient!
That's all for now! Off to a pharmacology review session... Wish me luck with next week!!!
- Katie : )
Wow, first of all I can't believe it is already November!!! It is crazy to think that 9 weeks in the program has already flew by!!! This week was the first of 2 weeks packed with work. This week, we had a math meds assessment on Monday, oral meds testing on Tuesday, and a health assessment exam on Wednesday!!! Next week will also be rough with a pharmacology exam on Monday, lab quiz on Tuesday, case study on nursing diagnoses on Tuesday, full health assessment and physical due Wednesday, and a functional health patterns paper due Friday in clinical. Needless to say, this has been a stressful week and will continue to be until the end of next week!!!
I ended up doing really well on both my math meds assessment and health assessment exam this week. However, the health assessment exam was very challenging! I spent most of the time while in the exam trying to decide between two choices that both seemed correct! Following the exam, we began the musculoskeletal system in lab. Since this is the section of the body that I am most comfortable with from undergrad, I felt confident performing a musculoskeletal exam in front of the class. It was exciting to realize that my skills as an athletic trainer would really come in handy in this section. I am also very happy to say that I am now able to give oral meds in clinical. We might only be able to do this once or twice, but this is a very exciting skill that I am eager to perform in the near future. I believe that each of the ladies that I am in clinical with would have to agree with me on that.
Finally, today in clinical, I was assigned to the nicest patient. She was admitted for hyponatremia and dehydration which was being treated with NaCl and normal saline. She was feeling much better today and maintained high spirits throughout my day with her. She had been feeling dizzy when standing and after a visit with physical therapy, they were going to make the call whether or not to discharge her that afternoon. She was so excited to finally have the possibility of going home! With a visit from her husband, she was feeling better than ever. I got so much information talking with her throughout the day, I determined that I would be able to write my functional health patterns paper on her. I was happy to have such a lovely woman as my patient!
That's all for now! Off to a pharmacology review session... Wish me luck with next week!!!
- Katie : )
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