Clinicals - Day Two

I'll start by saying that I can't believe it's already been a week since my first clinical; time is absolutely flying by these days, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be graduating and taking the already-dreaded NCLEX (more on that later too) before I know it.

Today's skills were vital signs (temperature, blood pressure, pulse, respirations) and nasogastric (NG) tubes; luckily I had learned how to do vitals in my high school health science class and somehow still remembered. We practiced on the dummies and on each other, and everyone caught on pretty quickly, which was especially impressive for everyone else, who hadn't ever learned it like I did. I'm proud of my little group :) Though I did notice something about myself: when we practiced on each other in high school, it was awkward because, as weird as it sounds, I had never touched another person in a medical, non-friend kind of way; I could find pulses on myself all day long, but it's another story on someone else. So this time around, whether because of being so gung-ho about nursing or just having grown up so incredibly much since high school, I was totally fine with it. I could go off on a whole tangent about this, but I really think the experiences I've had in the last couple/few years have really made me more confident and more capable to do things in nursing, even if said things weren't directly related; for example, my semester abroad put me into a whole new realization about what I really am capable of and how far I can push myself out of my comfort zone. It sounds really sappy, but without these experiences, I don't think I would ever have had a chance at being a good nurse. Speaking of confidence, my instructor told me at our evaluations from last week that I was probably the best one in the group and that really all I could do for improvement was to get experience. I promise I'm not trying to brag, I just want to point out that I've never been this confident about anything I've done before; I think I'm lucky that I "get" some of the aspects of nursing already, and I have no doubts that my classmates will all be great nurses by the end of 2 years, but it's so reassuring for me to find out that I'm both good at this and passionate about it. It's hard now to believe that I wanted to switch out of nursing second semester freshman year and even doubted my decision as recently as the night before my first clinical (dude, those skills videos are that unenjoyable); I'm sure I'll have doubts once I stop "honeymooning" and some of the less-than-ideal aspects are revealed, but for now, I'm in love with nursing.

Wow. So much for not getting off on a tangent. Let me quickly go off on another: I would be really interested to compare nursing school even 10-15 years ago with nursing school today, largely in terms of the technology. We have these dummies used for simulation that are so incredibly realistic; ya'll, they can breathe and blink and talk and pee and can be programmed to have different symptoms and reactions and - here are the best parts - ONE OF THEM GIVES BIRTH(!) AND THEY CAN DIE. Is that not the most amazing thing you've ever heard of?! I just feel so lucky to have things like this available to me, which I might not have if I had gone to NYU like I wanted to (destiny, my friends); it's no substitute for a human being, of course, but I think we'll be more prepared because of it. And I just think they're the coolest thing $20,000 can buy.


After lunch, we learned how to put in NG tubes (if you're not familiar: it's one method used to tube-feed patients who have functional gastrointestinal tracts but who can't swallow correctly); it was pretty straightforward, though it requires a lot of steps, but I think I'll be terrified the first time I have to do it on a patient. It's one of those things that are really unpleasant for them but at the same time necessary; it's tough to see someone suffer, literally at your hands, but when it's for their benefit overall, hopefully that will help me be strong enough to do it.

We don't have a clinical next week because Monday (our clinical day) is a day off for Labor Day; admittedly, I'm more sad about not having clinical than I am excited about having a day off from school. Geez, I'm a nerd ;)

Fortune Cookie Says...

So I got this fortune in my fortune cookie the other day:


How perfect for nursing school is that?! These things are scarily accurate sometimes haha

Anyway, I have now been to all of my classes and have a better feel of this semester; the classes that I'm taking are NURS 311 (Intro to Health Assessment), NURS 312 (Foundations of Nursing Practice), NURS 313 (Nursing Care of the Older Adult), NURS 314 (Clinical Reasoning), and NURS 324 (Chemical Therapeutics).
NURS 311 is where we learn how to assess patients' different body systems in regards to diagnosing them. I don't know yet what kind of workload this class is going to have outside of class, since so far it has only been watching lectures online before coming to class; I don't think the in-class work will be too bad, or at least will be more enjoyable, since most of the class is spent practicing the assessments on each other.
NURS 312 is divided between our time in the CSL/rotations and time in lecture going over other skills; I'm pretty sure it's going to be the hardest, most time-consuming class this semester (which is appropriate because it's worth the most credit hours). I really like both my clinical instructor and the lecture professor, so I think it will be one of those situations where you learn not only the course material but life lessons and such.
NURS 313, we've been told, will be an easy A if you just do the assignments, and most of my geriatrics knowledge will be learned in my rotation at the nursing home; that being said, I do think the lecture will be interesting too, especially since the professor is pretty entertaining.
NURS 314 is literally teaching us how to think critically; I'm excited to learn how to "think like a nurse," though I think the class might be harder than one would think until that specific kind of thinking is learned. The class is hard to pay attention in (a 2 1/2-hour lecture Friday after lunch?), but I really like the professor.
Finally, NURS 324 is admittedly more interesting than expected, and even though I think it will require a lot of studying, it sounds manageable. And, once again, I have a professor whom I really like. Even though pharmacology is similar to some of the science classes that I wasn't a huge fan of, it's more interesting and more relevant. Plus it doesn't hurt having a roommate in pharmacy school ;)
Overall, like I've said before, I think the semester will be a lot of work, probably more than other semesters, but it's so much easier to work hard in classes that are directly relevant to the career you're passionate about. I've never liked as many of my professors as I do this semester; I've had some each semester who were more easily respectable, but I also had a few who were disappointing, to say the least. I think it says something about the College of Nursing that they make sure their professors, especially those in Upper Division, are not only knowledgeable about their subject, but are also good teachers (apparently an unheard of concept for the biology department) who develop good relationships with and set good examples for their students.

Clinicals - Day One

Today was my first day of clinicals (note: today's class was in the College of Nursing's Clinical Simulation Lab; our in-hospital rotations don't start for 4 more weeks while we learn basic skills), and it basically confirmed that nursing is right for me. I was so nervous on the way to class (puking on my clean scrubs would not have been good haha), but once we got into our groups and started working on skills, all of my apprehension was gone. I had been worried about being unprepared, but I was actually one of the most prepared, having watched the skills videos and brought all necessary supplies, which was definitely a confidence-booster. First of all, it was so exciting to be in scrubs; I know that sounds lame, but for someone who has wanted to have her very own scrubs for like 6 years now, it was the first time I felt "real" in regards to medicine. I liked my clinical instructor and my group right away; we all get along really well and have a good time while still learning the skills we need. Today we were only learning how to properly make beds and bathe patients, which isn’t the most exciting, but it sounds like what we’re going to be doing most, since our rotation is at a nursing home (more on that later). It wasn’t as boring as it seemed like it would be in watching the preparation DVDs, and I actually got the hang of everything pretty quickly. Considering how unsure of my abilities I was this morning, I think I can get away with not sounding too conceited by saying that I’m proud of how well I did, with the skills and with asking/answering questions. We also practicing transferring patients from the bed to the stretcher, bed to chair, etc., and I got to say "On my count: 1, 2, 3" like they do on TV ;) The clinical was from 8-12 and 1-3:30, and the time actually went really quickly; I’m so excited to be doing hands-on things that are directly relevant to what I’ll be doing in nursing (did I mention the scrubs?!). Of course it's naive to judge an entire semester, much less career, based on one day of clinicals, and I'm sure there will be times I'm not as enthusiastic about it, but I've trusted my instincts so far, and it would take a lot to deter me from nursing at this point. That being said, I’m already overwhelmed by the amount of out-of-class time required for these classes, but it’s nice knowing how much it paid off today, and once I get into a routine, maybe I’ll get less stressed. Maybe ;)

Lower Division

I just want to give a brief idea of what my first 2 years in nursing was like. At my university, the nursing program is divided into Lower Division and Upper Division (from here on to be abbreviated as "LD" and "UD," respectively); LD consists of core courses and basic, non-clinical nursing courses, while UD consists of exclusively nursing classes, some clinical and others higher-level nursing courses. Ideally, one would spend 2 years in LD, and 2 in UD, and though I did that for the most part, I did stray from the norm a little by spending one semester abroad (see that blog at grenobletwentyten.blogspot.com). Required LD classes consist of ENGL 101 and 102 (or the AP equivalent), US History (or AP), foreign language (unless exempted by the placement exam), STAT 110 and either STAT 201 or college calculus, one fine art (I took music appreciation), PSYC 101 and 420 (developmental psych), general/organic chemistry, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, pathology, history of nursing, communications in nursing, public health nursing, transcultural nursing, clinical nutrition, and a certain number of elective credits. Despite some less-than-ideal professors (though others were great) and some long nights studying for subjects I wasn’t exactly passionate about (that means you, microbiology), I was still happy with my decision about nursing at the end of my 2 years. Movement into UD isn’t a given (in fact, a lot of people get turned away since it’s so competitive and only 200 students can be accepted due to faculty restrictions) and is based solely on GPA. It gets more and more competitive each year as the students who didn’t get accepted the year before reapply with higher GPAs in addition to the 300-400 other nursing students who have been working hard because they were warned from the get-go that they would need a high GPA; the cutoff this year was a 3.4. I enjoyed most of my classes in LD, but I'm so glad to be taking classes that are obviously and directly relevant to what I'll be doing as a nurse. Plus, I get to wear scrubs ;)

Why Nursing?

Oh man, how many times I have pondered this question, whether on my own or because of essay prompts…honestly, you’ve heard all of the reasons I’m going to give (want to help people/save lives, a job that provides flexibility of working in a variety of medical areas as well as just about anywhere in the world, a good salary and plenty of room for moving up in your career, and hey, the job security in this economy doesn’t hurt either), and even though all of those reasons are legitimate and applicable to me, it was more than finding a job that meets certain criteria; it was about how the career made me feel. I don’t remember exactly who or what first suggested the medical field to me (admittedly, I think it was the TV show ER), but once I got even the slightest taste of it (volunteering at a hospital and taking an introductory health sciences course at my high school), I knew it was for me just because it "felt" right; I’ve never been as excited to learn about or as interested in something as I was (and still am) in any medical information I could get my hands on. Originally, however, I was convinced that I wanted to go to medical school and be a physician, without really even considering nursing. I got the idea after I did an internship program for high school upperclassmen and spent 2 weeks observing all of the members of the medical team in the Special Care Nursery; I realized that the hands-on, interactive care that the nurses did was more what I wanted to do. Then I was forced to weigh other options; yes, the title and respect that comes with that MD is nice, but wouldn’t I rather be equally as respected as a nurse because I earned it? And even though nurses work long hours too, having a family was an important part of my future, and I didn’t want to spend that much time away from them (*note: I’m not saying that physicians can’t be good mothers; of course they can, I just felt that I personally would feel guilty spending that much time away from my family). Physicians’ salaries are certainly nice, but I didn’t feel there was much point if I couldn’t use it to travel, which is something really important to me. 4 years later, and I'm more and more convinced that I made the right choice; even though there have been times where I was presented with more options than I realized I had (which I feel like is part of college) and wondered what else I could be doing, I always come back to nursing and don't see any career that would be better for me. I don't know exactly where nursing will take me, but I know I'll end up where I'm supposed to, and I'm looking forward to the journey.