Week 3

This was a very exciting week for the GM program. Every class was preparing for the first exams starting up during week 4. We had our very first Professional Nursing lab quiz. It turns out that my whole class did very well on the quiz and we felt very prepared for the material. This quiz covered material including: vital signs, hygiene, methods by which the spread of microorganisms can be prevented, restrains, etc. We also began the process of being signed off by our professors to perform vital signs on our patients at our clinical settings. Unfortunately, although I felt prepared, I was only able to complete blood pressure since our group was too large. I would need to be signed off on temperature, heart rate, respirations, and apical pulse next week.

In health assessment, we needed to catch up on a lot of the practical material in lab since we have mainly been doing lecture. After the lecture portion of the class, we began to do abdominal evaluations, heart sounds, and lung sounds in lab. I found it extremely interesting to hear the different heart, lung, and bowel sounds. Although I have practiced a lot of evaluation skills since undergrad, we never really concentrated on these sounds. I did, however, feel prepared for the abdominal evaluation. More practice is definitely necessary for distinguishing between different heart and lung sounds. Next week, we will have our first written exam next Wednesday on all the material learned up to date.

Finally, in clinical, we were each assigned to a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) due to the fact that the nurses were learning how to use the new handheld electronic documentation. This is when I realized just how necessary CNAs are to the nurses in a hospital. We began the day by going around to her assigned rooms, delivering breakfast, and feeding the patients if necessary. The rest of the morning was spent making beds and giving patients bed baths or preparing them for partial baths. Although we did come across one incompliant patient, most of the patients were very willing to have the CNAs do their job. Finally, I spent the rest of the day researching the medical records of a patient in order to create a Functional Health Pattern worksheet. Although HIPAA prevents me from revealing any information about the patient, I can tell you that you can learn a lot from their individual charts.

Well, that's all for now!!! I'll let you know about the tests next week!!!

- Katie : )

Week 2!!!

Hi everyone!!!

So I have just finished my 2nd week of the program! Now that we are done with all the general introductions to the classes/instructors/ etc, it is time to get down to business! Due to Labor Day cancelling our first Monday classes, I finally had my first Clinical Pharmacology class. The professor seems fun and will try to make the information as interesting as possible. Right now, the material covers a lot of introduction to biochemistry and organic chemistry. This is also my largest class due to the fact that every student in my program is registered for this time slot. Thankfully, after recently taking nutritional biochemistry at Merrimack College, I do not feel too overwhelmed.

Since there is so much material to cover in such little time, we found ourselves behind in the syllabus in both professional nursing and health assessment. In order to cover all of the material, we had only lecture and no lab in health assessment and need to come in 1 hour early next week in order to make sure that everything is discussed. I found the health assessment lecture to be extremely interesting. We learned about the respiratory system and got to see demonstrations of lung sounds. This was my first experience with the highly advanced technology we have here at Regis. There was an electronic board with a diagram of a torso on it. This was connected to a microphone and when a stethoscope was held up to it, you could hear the different sounds of the lungs and heart. You could also change the settings to mimic different disorders. Another highly advanced piece of equipment I became familiar with was the simulation dummies, Annie and Regis Jim. These could simulate a majority of disorders and even talk to you throughout practicing evaluation skills.

Friday was my first day at Lahey Clinic in Burlington. The day was spent orienting ourselves with our wing and with the tools we will be using throughout the semester. My favorite part was getting to see the Pixis machine. This machine is used to obtain medical equipment and medications for patients on the floor. We were signed in to the system and will be able to use it once we begin working with patients. We were also able to familiarize ourselves with the paperwork process in the hospital. As of now, everything is written down. The patients' medical records were complicated and we were allowed to look through them to get practice extracting information from them. However, each of the nurses were being trained to use handheld devices in order to record data about each individual patient. This might take a while to get use to for most nurses who have become accustomed to using paper and pen. However, this shows that technology is advancing in the medical field.

That should be it for now... Next week will have my first professional nursing quiz and I will be tested on vital signs in order to get signed off in lab.

Thanks for reading!

- Katie Kefalas : )

First Week!!!

Hi everyone,

Thank you for taking a look at my blog tracking a year in the life of a first year Accelerated Nurse Practitioner program at Regis College. First let me start by introducing myself. My name is Katie Kefalas and I received my B.S. in Athletic Training in the Spring of 2009 from Merrimack College. After 4 years of undergrad and numerous opportunities by major requirements to observe nurses in local hospitals, I realized that I wanted to switch careers and become a Nurse Practitioner.

Prior to the first day of school, I have to admit... I was pretty nervous!!! I felt like I was a freshman all over again!!! However, after stepping foot onto the Regis campus for the first day, I knew that I was going to be OK. My very first class was my Professional Nursing Lab. Everyone in the lab was very friendly and very enthusiastic about learning. There was a good amount of students in the program coming directly from undergrad. I was suprised to see so many career changers, and students of all ages and educational/professional backgrounds. Several students are juggling families and part-time jobs as well. I’m hoping to keep my part-time job for 10 hours/week…we’ll see!Since it was the first day, most of it was spent getting adjusted to the blackboard website (where assignments, class documents, etc. are posted) and an explanation of the semester. We were also taught the proper way to remover protective equipment and thoroughly wash our hands. Although that may sound trivial, this is actually one of the most important aspects of nursing due to the fact that it is just one way of preventing the spread of germs and disease.

During the first week, I also took Professional Nursing and Health Assessment in Nursing. Both classes seem very interesting. Coming from a health science background, most of the information was review. However, I could tell that this was just setting up the more in depth information we will be learning later on in the semester. Vital signs are an essential component of the nursing profession. We were taught the proper technique for taking blood pressure, pulse, and respiration. These skills will be necessary for a successful career in nursing. On Friday, we had our clinical orientation. My clinical location is Lahey Clinic in Burlington from 7am to 3pm, and my clinical advisor is Mary Gardner. I, along with 5 others assigned to this clinical, learned that we will be observing the 7 West Wing and that most of our day will be spent on the Oncology floor. Having an aunt who recently underwent stem cell treatment at this very hospital, I was very excited for clinical to start and to begin learning.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for next week's blog!!!

- Katie Kefalas : )