Monday, December 21, 2009

Two Words: "I PASSED!"

Man what a fricken relief! I had my last final exam today, health alterations, one of the hardest classes in the nursing program and I got an 87% on the final and passed the class with an 83%. I am SOOO happy, because my GPA is still above a 3.0! Woot! All my hard work has paid off, because hopefully sometime this week or next week I will be receiving my Practical Nursing Diploma! Now I just have one year left of the RN program, with next semester being the most difficult of them all. But hell, I will soon have my practical nursing diploma and hopefully I will get my license, and that in itself is the biggest goal I've accomplished in my lifetime so I can truly say I am very proud of myself. And I know my parents and family and friends are proud as well, which makes it all the more better! What an excellent way to start the holiday vacation, and a great Christmas present to myself!
You know, for the past few years my family hasn't been very festive. Especially me, seeing as my best friend/cousin has been in the army for the past four years...it hasn't been the same without him, and although he won't be home for Christmas this year, I can truly say I am content with the way this year will have ended. Anyways, for the past few years we have not put up a Christmas tree, but this year my mom surprised me yesterday when she bought me a 6.5 foot white fake tree (her and I are both allergic to pine so we have to have a fake tree!) no mess either, apart from all the little fake needles falling all over the place lmao. I put it up and decorated it yesterday and I have to admit, it turned out damn beautiful!


See, told you it was pretty! I tried taking a picture of it in the dark but that was freakishly like something out of a movie based on ghost recon or something... talk about major blurry infrared, only in a very haunting way! I still can't believe the semester is finally over, and I passed! To be honest, I really wasn't sure whether I would pass Advanced Anatomy and Physiology and Health Alterations! We have to get an 80% in everything, and in the science classes an 80% is a B but in the nursing core classes an 80% is a C. Really stupid if you ask me, they should have just kept an 80% a B like in a "NORMAL" grading scale! But whatever, I passed and that's all that matters to me! So I can go into winter break with a smile on my face and a dump truck load of stress lifted off my shoulders! :D Best way to go into a holiday is on a positive note! Best way to leave a semester as well. Now it's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy my time off!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Nearing The End

Damn, I can't believe how long it has been since I had time to sit down and blog. How depressing! The semester has been winding down very rapidly. We had a blizzard on Wednesday, and then had clinicals Thursday. Now picture this...I do clinicals at a hospital on the orthopedic medical-surgical floor...now imagine working on an ortho floor during the season with the most car accidents and broken bones! It was insane yesterday, jam-packed full of patients. Had the walls been made of pine, patients would have been crawling out of the woodwork! Hahaha, lame, I know. Sort of like the sad chemistry quote. "The name's Bond...Ionic Bond...taken, not shared!" LOL For those of you who understand a little basic chemistry, you will understand that one. It's hard to believe how fast this semester went by. I was laying in bed last night, of course with the usual insomnia striking once again, I couldn't stop thinking about how it seems like we just started the health alterations class yesterday! And now we are taking our final exam in two weeks! EEKS! We have our final lecture exam in that class this coming Wednesday. Tomorrow in advanced anatomy and physiology (AAP) we have our last lab exam, then next Saturday we have our last lecture exam. Tomorrow my group presents our group project, which is our equivalent of a final exam for that class which is nice because it's hard to fail.

These past couple weeks have been so busy I don't know how I haven't died from stress overload. Hey, that should be a nursing diagnosis! Last week I had to write three papers, one for my AAP group project, one for my OR experience, and one called the Biopsychosocial needs assessment. That last one was 27 pages after all was said and done. Last week Thursday and Friday I did a two day rotation in the OR, so that was an incredible experience. I got to see an inguinal hernia repair with mesh, a craniotomy, and a total abdominal hysterectomy with staging. That last one was really intense. It's kind of funny because throughout this semester of clinicals, I don't remember many of my patient's names, but my last OR patient, I will remember her. She's one of the kindest ladies I have ever met, and I pray that she will fully recover and live a long, healthy and happy life. It's those few patients you have that make all the stress of nursing school worth while. I really wish I knew how things turned out for her.

There is one thing I will not miss after my med-surg clinicals are done...and that is walking half a mile to the hospital at 6AM in subzero temps. I was smart this morning though, I brought along hand warmers; however, scrubs are not very warm at all, so by the time I got to the hospital my legs were pale and numb! It took till the end of the shift for me to regain full sensations in them, and by then it was pointless because I had to walk all the way back to my car, so they were numb all over again! Thank God we have our last clinical next Thursday. I can't wait for winter break. It is long overdue! And after clinical next Thursday, I get fit tested for the N95 respirator mask, which is for protection against airborne viruses. Fun!

Well, not much left to say, getting tired after the busy day we had today so I guess it's nap time! Chao.