Wednesday Already !?!?!?

Most people are joyous at the prospect of friday being only two days away, but I am digging in my heels to avoid having to go back to school. I should be overjoyed by the fact that I only have 7 weeks of nursing school left, but going back also means that it's time for us to get back to clinicals and all the expectations that go along with it. Perhaps I'm having a hard time because this quarter is supposed to be about learning how to juggle/manage 4-6 patients at a time. Hmmm, haven't I been doing that for a year already ???? Oy veh....it's craziness. Utter....craziness. On the bright side, the sooner it goes by the sooner we can have a huge party to celebrate being done with nursing school. :) Whoo....party on ladies and gentlemen.

Party On...

Sorry it took me so long to put this up there, but thanks everybody for helping me celebrate my "almost 30" birthday. It was a blast going to "OG" as raines now calls it and enjoying some feasting and whining about life as a nursing student. It was an amazing way to kick off the Christmas break. Hope you're all living it up b/c I know I will be. Well, let's work hard and play hard so the next 7 weeks will fly by.

Is Anyone Out There ????????

With 82 days left of the nursing program I think we've all fallen into the same trap. The lights are on, but "no one's home." I look around the classroom during lectures and everyone has the same "blank" look that I try to play off as fatigue. Maybe it's because the faculty is droning on and on about things that we've been doing since Health Assessment and Art and Science. Then again nothing can compare to the "Office for Freshman" class that I'm taking. It's quite interesting. I mean really if you can't type and format a document by the time you get to college what have you been doing for the past 18 years of your life ??? Seriously. The kids that are starting college now were brought up with computers. It mystifies me how they don't know things like opening documents etc. I almost had a heart attack when we had to buy floppy diskettes to save our information on. Ya...I remember when they were 5.25 inches square. Now those were floppy disks. Whoo..party on wayne. Well, I guess I'd better get back to "formatting" my document for homework so that I can get the heck out of dodge and head back to the "real world" where I'm working instead of "goofing off."

85 more days of Senioritis.

Yep that's right, 85 more days of nursing school and the senioritis is getting bad. My classmates and I find it more and more difficult on a daily basis to participate in the activities associated with getting to graduation. I'm working on my SLP points, which I have to get done if I want to get out of there on time. 6 more to go. Then I'm taking this computer class which is like Office for Dummies. I think it'll be good though because it should be an instant gpa booster which serves me well in applying to graduate programs b/c they want to focus on your g.p.a. in your last 30 hours. No problem. I'll take it. I do have a problem with sitting around with people that I've known for the past 3 years doing stupid "role playing" and "case studies." Oy VEH they're killing us. I mean if we're at this level...getting ready to graduate I'm sure we know what to do with ourselves. I can understand trying to teach us how to prioritize our patients, but come on the other stuff has go to go. Like we're going to get out of nursing school and immediately start trying to get everybody on some bandwagon for this, that or the other. Gimme a break. Our whole first year will be spent just making sure we don't kill someone. Right ??? Alrighty, off to go get our "board" work done. I.e. fingerprint cards and passport photos. Oh the joy !!!

Time keeps on Ticking...89 days

89 days feels like no time at all. In the grand scheme of things I'll probably look back in a few years on this and wonder why I was so ready to get out of school. Then again maybe I won't, because I will remember all the papers and tests and assignments that we had to do just to get out of nursing school. I will fondly remember all the good times with my classmates though. Karaoke, intoxicated with Ms. Seifert at last year's Christmas Party. The Dragon Boat Race....wow that was some serious hard work. Taking care of the Scotland girls. Going to Scotland with Mili Vanili...her meeting up with strange psychaitric doctors in the middle of the night. San Antonio and those humid as anything caves with Amanda, Mili and the Scotland Girls. Chuy's Happy Hours..there are many more adventures to come in the 89 days we have left. I say we go out in style as time keeps ticking away. Side note....We've been on Thanskgiving break for a week now and as much as I want to finish off nursing school I'm not ready to go back to school tomorrow. ARGH...

97 Days....bring it Ahn

97 days of nursing school life left. I have to say as refreshing as it will be to not have to go to school daily and face the torture it's a little daunting to think about being practicing nurses in the "real world." However, I think my classmates and I are more than excited about getting out of school. It'll be nice to have no more papers to write, group projects to endure, and not be tested on abstract thoughts. Right gang ??? Anyways, I went to see the Ahn Trio. For those of you whom don't know them, they are a trio who have tried to update classical music. They're pretty good. Check them out at www.ahntrio.com. As for the rest of nursing school goes, I think I speak for everyone by saying....BRING IT ON.

Side note, one of my best friends graduated from High School in 1997. Ya...I feel old, but I think today goes to her. Thanks COOKSTER for putting up with me through all this nursing school b.s.

99 Problems and the HESI ain't one...

Okay so I'm stealing from the song, but it gets the point across. Our problem is that there are 99 days of nursing school left, but that's really not that big of a problem because we're finally in only double digits instead of triple digits. The closer it gets the higher the anxiety level rises and the more excited all of us get about it. I'm happy to report that Beranda and I passed the HESI. I'm inclined to believe that my other classmates passed as well, and I hope they all passed. I think the best part of today so far is that I never have to take another HESI again. Whew...look out NCLEX here we come. Well, after management, but here we come. I'm hoping for some rest and relaxation, holiday shopping and fun times over the next week or so. Then it's back to the grind for 10 more weeks of fun and excitement before graduation. Whoo....we're almost there girls and boys. Stay tuned for more updates.

100....and the STRESS is getting to me

ARGH....and an even BIGGER ARGH. I'm not the type of person to get stressed easily, but this comprehensive HESI and life events are driving me insane. For the most part I choose sleep over studying because I got burned my first year of nursing school. I'd stay up studying yadda, yadda, yadda and end up sneaking by with a passing grade. So, I chose to throw caution to the wind and not study anymore and the end result...HIGHER GRADES Now what does that teach me, studying doesn't pay off?? I dunno, but this comprehensive HESI thing has got me so stressed out that I can hardly see straight. I bailed hanging out with the buds tonight to study....TO STUDY of all things. Anyways, tomorrow around noon the fun and games should all be over with and at least we'll be in double-digit countdown :)

101 and another hurdle conquered...

Another day is gone in our quest to graduate from nursing school. I'm beyond glad about that. We had our Pediatric HESI today and Psychiatric HESI today for my compadres in psych. Needless to say, I'm sure everyone is glad that is over. I'm happy to report that I've overcome another hurdle on the progression towards graduation. Now all I have to do is pass the comprehensive HESI on friday and throw together my portfolio and the only thing that stands in my way is management. Whoo....I can hardly wait. I know my classmates feel the same way. I'm just glad the closer we get to graduation the more things seem to be falling into place. Well, I suppose I should do the responsible thing and get back to HESI studying.

102 days.....no one's DERAILED yet

I've been so busy working and trying to prepare for our HESI tests that I completely lost track of the number of days until graduation. Right now it's 102. It gets more and more exciting the closer we get. Thankfully none of my classmates have been DERAILED by our final exams. Everyone passed the Pedi final exam, which means that we're on our way. We've just got to get through the HESI and finish our portfolio and then we're on our way to management. I can hardly believe how close we are to the end. It's awesome. Anyways, of note also is that we went to see DERAILED.

If you haven't seen it...you must. It's AMAZING. Jennifer Aniston in a dramatic role...excellent and surprising. Anyways, guess I'd better get back to the cd-roms studying for Pediatric HESI tomorrow a.m.

More STUPIDITY...

Ya know I used to say that I "hate stupid people," but now I just think that it interferes with my daily life and progression out of nursing school. The NSA, which is a mandatory organization continues to do things that mystify and amaze me at their level of stupidity. We had our monthly meeting earlier this week and they decided it was time for senior recognition ceremony, but no one is graduating until February so why are they doing it now ??? NO ONE KNOWS. To top it all off, none of the seniors even knew that they were having it so there were about 4 of us there. Yep...lovely huh ?? They gave all the seniors certificates stating that we'd met all the graduation requirements. Now why would you do that if it's not true ??? My theory is if it's on the paper it's true and they should take it.

The other aspect doesn't involve stupidity it involves their lack of having "A CLUE." I don't actually know what this girl's technical title of office is but I call her "loudmouth" because she continues to scream and yell at us. Lack of professionalism....I THINK SO. Anyways, she's taking credit for doing the Scotland girl's scheduling, decorations etc...NOW we all know this is a LIE. I DID IT...not them. If she doesn't stop taking credit for this I'm going to have to put her in her place. OY VEH....Did I mention I'm glad it's friday ???

Movie Fest...

So I should've been studying for finals all weekend, but instead I chose to go to the movies and avoid the reality of having to study. Then again I do have to go to work tomorrow a.m. Ah yes, the joys of working while being a student. At least it's in my chosen field and I'm not working some obscure job like I did the first time I went to college. Which starts me thinking...do my classmates realize the finality of graduating in a few short months ??? I have to honestly say that when I graduated from TAMU I never realized what life was going to be like after College. It's like the "morning after" a bad night out. You wonder if it really happened and you wonder if you try to replay the details enough times if it will change the outcome, but in reality the outcome is what you've been working towards. Stop and smell the roses...that's my final thought for all of you graduating from college for the first time. The second time around it's a lot easier to get excited and remember what it was like the first time. Damn, I'm rambling.

Jarhead and the Pissing Contest...

So I went to see Jarhead last night with some of my co-workers. I have to say I thought it was a very good movie. It had laughter and entertainment and gave you this sense of desperation for the characters involved. I'm not sure how much like the Gulf War experience it truly presents but I must admit that I felt it realistic overall. Then again Jake Gyllenhaal is so hot that it makes it even more riveting of a movie. I know Mr. Tucker is cringing now at what I'm typing but hey I thought it was at least a B+, maybe even an A- flick. Which reminds me, there were a lot of "pissing contests" going on in the movie and that makes me believe that I'm in one right now with a colleague of mine.

With the end of nursing school up and coming everyone is stressing out about x, y, and z. Major stressor right now is what job we're going to have following graduation. Some people have laid the foundation and the groundwork to walk out into a job right after graduation and begin working. Others have done NOTHING. No work experience in their chosen field and many others still have no clue what avenue of nursing they want to go into. Well, for those I'm sure they'll be an "acid" test and they'll get to the bottom of what it is exactly they're supposed to be doing. I'm done trying to help though b/c I feel like I'm in a pissing contest with one of my colleagues whom will remain nameless. This colleague, while I perceived him/her to be a "friendly" has turned out to be "opportunistic" and "trivial" like the rest of the lot. Don't take credit for my work if you didn't work "with" me and don't be spouting off lies because ultimately the truth will come out. Argh...for the meantime piss away because I'm out of the contest. I've got what I need and what I want and I'm done trying to impress anyone but myself.

What we're working for...

Thought this was cute...and a bit of an "idea" what we're working towards as nurses.

You're a Nurse If...
*You believe that every patient needs TLC...... Thorazine, Lorazepam and Compazine.

*You would like to meet the inventor of the call light some night in a dark alley.

*You believe not all patients are annoying...some are unconscious.

*Your sense of humor gets more warped each year.

*You know the phone number of every late night delivery place by heart.

*You can only tell time by the 24 hr clock.

*Almost everything can seem humorous....eventually.

***You notice that you are using more 4 letter words than you did before you started nursing!!!!!

*Every time you walk you make a jingling noise because of all the scissors and clamps in your pocket.

* You refuse to watch ER because it is too much like the real thing and it triggers flashbacks.

*You check the caller ID on your day off to see if anyone from the hospital is trying to call and ask you to work.

*You've been telling stories in a restaurant and made someone at another table throw up.

*Everytime someone asks you for a pen you can find at least 4 of them on you.

*You can intubate your friends at parties.

*You don't get excited about blood unless it's your own.

*You live by the motto "to be right is only half the battle, to convince the doctor is more difficult"

*You've basted your thanksgiving turkey with a toomey syringe.

*You've told a confused patient that your name was that of your co- worker and to holler if they need help. :)

*Your bladder can expand to the size of a winnebago's water tank.

*When checking the level of a patients orientation you aren't sure of the answer.

*You find yourself checking out other customers veins in grocery waiting lines. (definately do this!!!)

*You can sleep soundly at the hospital cafeteria table on your dinner break and are not embarrassed when you wake up.

*You avoid unhealthy looking shoppers in the mall for fear that they will drop near you and you'll have to do cpr on your day off.

*You hate to get dressed in "real clothes" because scrubs are what you live in, and why can't they make jeans that comfortable. (AMEN!)

*You often stay awake for 24+ hrs at a time when you work nights and realize you don't need alcohol or drugs to hallucinate just lack of sleep...

*Your finger has gone places you never thought possible.

*You have seen more penis' than any prostitute!

*You've sworn to have "No code" tattooed on your chest!

I choose my choice...

Life is all about choices. Choices dictate how your life is going to go and whether the road is bumpy or smooth. Choices directly affect everyday life. If you chose to live simply then your life should definitely be easier to manage than those whom choose to have lots of "drama." Kinda like caller ID. You choose who you want to talk to versus who you don't want to talk to. We know if you don't want to talk to us, and as women we should respect that as a choice because often times we make the same choices. Like tonight...I can respect that someone chose not to talk to me, because I chose to avoid this nasty man at the bar my friend and I went to. See, life is full of choices and no matter how frustrating those choices are we should all realize that sometimes we have to cut one another slack when dealing with choices and respect one another's choices because without choice we'd be living in some third world country. Off the soapbox.

On a side note...HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDWARD...

Downhill Slide...

Now that we're facing towards the end of nursing school it's really, really, really difficult to remain motivated. My motivation level has gone to NOTHING which is probably because I essentially already function in the job that I'm going to be doing after graduation. It's really hard to worry about paperwork and family health promotion assignments when you're doing the stuff that nurses really do. But alas, I guess one must continue to do the time to get the grades to get the job to work more...oh wait that sounds like a bad drug commercial. Anyways, now that we're facing the end I find some of my colleagues especially annoying. CHILLAX AND GIMME A BREAK. The world could end tomorrow and the drama would finally cease. Well, I designed this site to vent and vent I did. Now onto a happier note.

One of my closest and longest-term friends turned 29 today. Which is awesome, because he's a very cool person and he's doing really well. However, it signals the barrage of birthdays that comprises november and the impending holidays. Ah the holidays, I love the holidays but my holidays this year will be spent by working on portfolios and attempting to study for the NCLEX. Our graduation is exactly two months from Christmas. Wouldn't it be nice if they could give us an early Christmas present and just graduate us then ??? Ah...dreams are dreams...

Fall Back = Work More

Ah yes, the joys of Daylight Savings time for most individuals involves "falling back" and gaining and extra hour of sleep. Unfortunately for those of us in the healthcare field it means more work. Yep. Instead of 8, 12 or 16 hour days we're subjected to 9, 13, 0r 17 hour days. It's not that bad, but I've never been so excited for daylight savings time to end because then you "lose an hour of work." Whoo...I love my job, but sleep sounds really good right now. Wait...Still have an hour and a 1/2 of work instead of only 30 minutes. Who thought up daylight savings time anyways. Wished I could be in Arizona right now where they don't fall into the whole "Daylight Savings Time" craze. I believe it's a craze now. Back to work.

Scheduling Conflict...

So when I registered for my last quarter of nurisng school I was scheduled to have class on Mondays and clinicals Tuesday-Wednesday. Now, due to changes in scheduling we have class on Mondays and clinicals on Thursday and Friday. How inconvenient is that? Talk about eliminating the chance to take any "mini-trips" during the quarter and trying to schedule work time around that hideous schedule. It's kinda bad. Oh well, I guess life goes on and there's little time left to endure this craziness. Here's a little something that made me feel better.

Just In Case...

Now that my Scotland "buddies" have left the state, and the country for that matter the stellar newspaper the Houston Chronicle has decided to publish a story about us. No pictures, but I have to give them more credit than the Scotland newspapers b/c at least they put our names in there. In scotland we were, "two American students." "LOVELY...."

Here's the link:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/thisweek/zone13/news/3413758

4 Months....4 Months...4 months...4 months

Yep...the OMEGA cohort graduates four months from today. Can you tell we're more than a little excited about it? I think the 16 of us that are left have every right to be excited about it considering we started out with 40 and only the strong survived. Well, not to put the "cart" before the "horse," but I'm guessing that all 16 of us will make it through to Feburary 25th. Speaking of, since it's only 4 months until graduation...that means it's only 2 months until Christmas. Ah yes, I love the holidays.

Fly me to the moon...

One of the requests from my "scotland girls" as I now choose to call them, was to visit NASA. Now, to the ordinary Houstonian this seems like a mundane request, because we've all been there right. Interestingly enough I actually learned some new information. It was a pretty awesome trip despite the fact we didn't get to see the big water tank and despite the mystery that there really is no "zero gravity" room. It'd be pretty cool if there was though. I'm not sure if that's gramatically correct, but I don't even care. Sorry I couldn't find them a real "astronaut" to give them the tour, but they had a great time anyways. Here's a picture of them enjoying all NASA has to offer.

Galveston, OH Galveston...

Karen, this one is for you. Yep, that's right one of my favorite residents of Scotland had this song stuck in her head for the entire trip. I think that's probably one of the main reasons that when we went to Galveston, TX it was so absolutely beautiful. As a resident of Houston most people expect the galveston water to be muddy and brown and not that gorgeous, but when we went on Friday the 21st it was absolutely gorgeous. The water was blue, there was a nice breeze coming off the water and you couldn't ask for a more serene setting. Here's a picture for all of you naysayers who like myself, don't actually believe galveston ever has gorgeous weather. Yes, that is a crazy scottish lass running across the beach in Galveston. She's been watching too much BAYWATCH...

BIG FAT NAP...

So I'm going to be working backwards here for a few days, because for the past two weeks I've been entertaining our exchange students from Scotland. Fun times were had by all, and I was very sad to see them go. So sad, that we had "technical difficulties" getting them to the airport. Normally we get to the airport with hours to spare, but this one time they decided to do construction on the freeway and cut it down to one lane. I realize it's Saturday and everything but that is just madness. UTTER MADNESS. Mili's cookies and I had a blast getting them there and we laughed and laughed as the profanities hit the air. Pretty good experience. I hope the Scotland Girls weren't too traumatized.

Here's a picture from when we were in Scotland. Hope the ladies had an excellent flight back to the "motherland" and are ready to return to university. Man, I'm already typing like them. Oh, before I forget now that they're gone I'm taking a BIG FAT NAP because I'm really, really tired. As much fun as we had...I might need two big fat naps just to make up for it all....Big hugs to my Scotland Girls from Suz and the Mil'ster.

Spam Spam Everywhere...

No, I'm not talking about the "meat in a can." There is literally spam all over our electronic lives. It permeates everything. I got a text message yesterday on my cell phone that was SPAM....Now of all places to get spam that one hurts the most b/c while I don't pay for a certain number of text messages per month those individuals who do are robbed of one of their "included messages." I understand about it flooding our email inboxes, and perhaps I just have too many inboxes so that makes me even more jaded towards it. The latest spot for spam that annoys me the most is right here on my "lovely" blog. Now, why is it that they can SPAM me when I'm ranting and raving? I don't care though, I will continue to rant and rave as long as I can about it. It's MADNESS. It's more madness than psychiatric nursing in a handbasket. I mean, seriously is there no end to spam. As much as we try to thwart it, nothing ever seems to work. The spam monster rears it's ugly head and continues to tell us about penile enhancement, erectile dysfunction, prescription medications you can get for free, and everyone's favorite...Porn.

Who do these people think we are? Do they actually think I know anyone named "big tool?" Hello, I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. By far the most disconcerting part of the whole spam issue is when they send you an email using your own email address as the "sender." Come on...I am not senile yet, and I think I know when I don't send myself something. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it's not something you would want. I have yet to find anything good to come out of SPAM, but perhaps one day it will replace internet dating sites. Some spammer will hook up with someone he/she spammed and it will be "spam" at first sight. Imagine telling that story. How did you meet ?? Oh he sent me an email about erectile dysfunction and I just had to respond. RIGHT...WHATEVER...Enough is enough. I'm with BJ on this one. STOP THE MADNESS and let me spam the spammers for a while.

NSA....SCHMAY....

I've decided that the NSA was specifically designed to make our lives hell while in nursing school. Why would you make an organization mandatory for graduaton and put in place "points requirements" if not to punish people ??? I think it's some secret society and the secret is that no one understands the need behind it. Okay, I get the whole professional organization thing, but t-shirts and meetings where one of the officers is YELLING at everyone else is not what I consider "professional." Don't even mention the fact that I was supposed to do a presentation today and if I hadn't said something they would've totally forgotten about it. Sheesh.

Plus we're nearing graduation...134 more days and they're yelling at us about points and blah, blah, blah. WHATEVER...these people need to get lives. Seriously...I realize they get off on being "leadership" of a student organization, but what in the heck. Why are they yelling at us ?? It's pointless. Can't wait until some overbearing charge nurse slaps this girl and puts her in her place. Okay, that was mean, but I am just writing what others are thinking. Anyways, soon enough the madness will be over and there will be no more NSA to deal with and then I'll be faced with the ENA or some other equivalent organization. Does the madness ever end ???

Days off and stuff...

141...The count is down to 141. How does it seem that the days you have off from both work and school always seem to go by the fastest? Clinicals, despite the fact they're essentially "training missions," are still less than thrilling. The days move slowly and we are only there 1/2 a day. Then when I work the days either drag by or fly by. The good days are the ones that "fly by." The good thing is the more I work...the more I feel like I can actually do this nursing thing. With 141 days left I suppose that is a 'very good thing.'

143

The countdown continues 'til the end of nursing school. Today was our "graduating level checkpoint" meeting. It's getting closer and the majority of us are very excited, but today seemed to evoke panic in others. It is a bit nerve wracking to think about all the changes that come with graduating, but after a clinical day from HELL it makes graduation a sweeter option. One of my fellow classmates and I were on the same unit today, and my experience wasn't all bad but her preceptor was a total witch.

Seriously I stayed away because I was afraid that a house might fall on her at any moment because she was so rude. It's one thing to not want to have a student and voice that, but it's quite another to take on two students and just be a resentful hater while having the students. It's not cute at all. Hmmmm, wish I could take tomorrow off.

Driving us Nutso...

Argh...nursing school is driving all of us nutso. 144 days left 'til graduation. Yep, that's right I'm so desperate to graduate that I've counted down exactly how much time is left to live life as a student. Don't get me wrong, I fully intend to enjoy my time as a student during the holidays when the new nurses are having to pull horrendous shifts on Christmas and New Year's Eve, but I'll be glad for all the paperwork and all the madness to be gone. I am sure my classmates are "right there" with me. Anyways, picking patients was full of joy today as I realized that the unit we're on is not quite what we expected it to be. Thankfully I managed to carefully select a patient that meets all the criteria and won't keep me from going nuts with boredom. Aight...enough whining. Back to that paperwork I was less than thrilled to have to keep doing.

Lost in Angeles...

Those of you who know me remember that I moved to Los Angeles a little over 5 years ago and lived there for a year. Now, one of my favorite comedian types has moved to Los Angeles. He's originally from NYC and now that he's moved there he feels somewhat "lost." You have to check him out. www.aaronkaro.com

He is absolutely hilarious. We need to make him come to houston.....

Hurricane...Scotland ?!?!

I am happy to report that because we live on the southwest side of Houston we survived hurricane Rita relatively unscathed. It made me laugh a little bit because we did all the neccessary "preparations" beforehand and after it was all over we ended up with a little less than 1/2 an inch of rain and no wind damage. Don't get me wrong...I am very thankful because there are many, many people whose lives were ravaged and destroyed by hurricane Rita. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

So what's the deal with Scotland you may be asking...I'm getting to it. When I went to Scotland on a "school trip" with my buddy Mili our counterparts over there took us to visit a place called Urqhardt Castle. While there the temperature was about 40 degrees and we had driving rain and strong, gusty winds. It made me think...if I survived that why was I worried about a hurricane. I'm almost glad I survived that, because now I have a new appreciation for our forecasting system and how crazy the weather in Scotland can be.

Hurricane Rita

It's the night before hurricane rita is supposed to hit, and hopefully we're ready for it. We've done enough work in the past 48 hours to make me think that there's very little else we could do. I've moved more plants than I care to count, moved my turtles inside and tied down everything else one can imagine. All I can say is that I hope to be updating the blog soon. I'd love it if the power didn't go out during this storm, but I guess only time will tell. As for all my buds here in houston, my thoughts and prayers are with you. Off to catch some sleep before Rita hits....She's supposed to be here around 5 a.m....I think.

Clinicals Schminicals...

Today was our first official day of pediatric clinicals, and to say that it was madness is an understatement. Most of you know that I was out last week, but if you don't...I was out of class last week. Apparently, there was some vital information passed around that I was missing some of my "neccessary medical information" to participate in clinicals. Did anyone send me an email about it? Did anyone say anything to me yesterday? Did anyone take into consideration that I work at two hospitals so it's not possible that I wouled be lacking in what I need to get done??? HELLO...Thanks to our newest faculty member I was saved and didn't have to "leave" clincals after I'd already been there for 4 hours. That would have just been wrong.

Thankfully my classmate provided some entertainment for me when she had an allergic reaction to the "sanitizing foam" that we're supposed to use on our hands. Oh ya...she hived, and rashed and turned red. Poor thing. Thankfully, that was a distraction for me. You'll all be glad to know that she's doing just fine now :) I wonder what tomorrow's day will bring in the fun and games of clinicals.

Back to the GRRRRRRind.

Today I started the fall quarter of nursing school, which will hopefully be my last fall quarter of my undergraduate career. Two to go. I just started pediatric nursing with about 20 other people. It's pretty insane when you stop to think that last quarter there were only 11 of us. Double or nothing...Anyways, the madness of the whole nursing thing has definitely taken over. Our primary faculty member is apparently unavailable to start this quarter with us due to some sort of medical issues. Okay, I get it. No big deal, but meanwhile we're having to pick up the slack. Hmmm, not what I wanted to be doing at the beginning of the quarter with everything else that is on our plates. Oh well, I guess it's just part of the madness that is nursing school.

A couple of cool things happened today though. My Scotland Buddy from "woodend" and I got to reconnect and touch base to see what's going on with each other. The dean took over responsibility for a course I really wanted to see happen...I owe her for that one, and it occurred to me that in 6 short months I will be a nurse...yep...a full-fledged nurse. With credentials and everything. Well, that's assuming I pass the boards. I've got faith and Margie is my inspiration. If she can pass the bar in a state where the pass rate is 50% surely I can pass the boards in a state where the pass rate is 85% and graduating from a school where the pass rate is 100%. Whoo...enough moaning for now. I'm sure I'll have more to say tomorrow.

Friendship

I've been having an amazing break from nursing school, and it's due to my wonderful friends. M&M Tucker are the best hosts and friends a person could ever ask to have, and to think it all started with a double date with Barbara Hill back in 2nd Grade. Yeppers, Kermie I had to put it on here. My California getaway was complete with a trip to a spa outside of Palm Springs, a jaunt through Joshua Tree, and two studio visits. I got to visit Kermie at work and see them working on building sets for Pirates, and then as an added bonus I got to go to a second studio. I got to see the soundstage of my favorite daytime show...General Hospital. It seems appropriate that I would be sent this quote via email, because my friends embody this and I strive to on a daily basis.

"When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another."-- Helen Keller

Love ya Tuckers :)

Amendments and blogging.

I tried to create a new blog to post my vacation information, but apparently I was having some issues getting the site nailed down and I ended up with 5 versions of the same blog. Fun huh ??? But, alas I cannot manage 5 so I've nailed it down to four. Continue to check this one to see what's going on and then my other two have definite purposes. One is specifically for all the joyous activities that my classmates and I particpate in to maintain our sanity and the other is my vacation log.

The site for my vacation log is: http://suzvacation.blogspot.com/

To find out about what I have read or are currently reading go to this site (not including nursing textbooks): http://breakreading.blogspot.com/

To see my nursing school buds and I taking breaks see this site: http://rnschoolbreak.blogspot.com/

If you'd like to see what my buddy Adrianne is doing down in Australia (which is actually where I got the whole blogging idea) check her out: http://oz-adventure.blogspot.com/

In addition, apparently I've inspired my longtime friend Lauren to "blog" as well. Check her's out: http://jamsmom.blogspot.com/

My friend Bridget doesn't have a blog, but wrote the following and since I thought it was "blogworthy" I'm going to put it on here...Deja-2001

It seems that this is the second company that thinks putting my life in limbo is funny (for all those familiar with Uncle Tery-dynes tricks). I am now on a undetermined amount of time "temporary relocated assignment" in Ohio. That's right. So for most this will go unnoticed as I rarely receive visitors in Austin, but in case you wanted to drop by my Parmer location, I am no longer residing there.
I will however be in Texas every other weekend to get my feel of Mexican food and get a good dose of either "you are getting plump" or "you're withering away on the bone" lecture from my elderly relatives and my mother.
So if anyone has any suggested readings, great movies, or relatives/friends with all their teeth in Ohio let me know. I should have enough time on my hands to get to all of them. For those planning to vacation in Ohio, don't, but if you decide not to heed my advice, drop by the Stay Bridge Hotel. Just ask for the girl that has tried to put their happy hour out of business. C'est moi.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Then again, I guess that is enough already. Check out my other blogs.

Update 2...I'm Free

It's so much easier to convey good news. I'm happy to report that the psychiatric nursing HESI has now been conquered. It was a complete and thorough waste of time. Nah, anything that reaffirms that the past 10 weeks were spent doing something that I don't have to do again is a good thing right?? Yeppers. I think the main focus during the HESI was trying to figure out the proportion of questions I could get wrong and still pass. I think...no I know the subject HESI tests are so much easier than the broader ones like "med surg." How are we supposed to illustrate our knowledge about medical-surgical nursing in 75 questions? It's just not possible. Following a haircut and a brief stint at babysitting this evening I will be free to vacation like it's 1999. Okay, so maybe not like it's 1999 because I was still at TAMU and broke like a joke, but maybe like it's actually summer. What are my vacation plans you may ask? Keep checking out my vacation blog site http://suzvacation.blogspot.com/ to find out. See you back in September.

Update 1.

It's 10:27 a.m. CST and I am happy to report that my psychiatric nursing course is now over. Having passed my final (unless she throws out like 9 of the ones I got right) I am delighted that the course is now over. I cannot calculate my grade because I don't have all my grades back because apparently her going out of town the weekend before finals was more important than grading all our materials. Lovely huh ?? Anyways, now I just have to hurdle through the HESI and I'm done and vacation-bound. Then again the HESI really doesn't matter because we don't "have to" pass it. It doesn't factor into our grade, but if we don't pass it they can exert another level of control over our lives. I.e. they put us on a "glidepath" to pass the following quarter, which basically means NADA. They don't actually do anything for us but make us feel like outcasts and threaten our progress forward in the nursing program for another quarter. Oh joy, oh joy. Well guess I'd better put in a little effort to pass this HESI so I don't have them looming over me for another quarter :)

Laughter and Theories...

The countdown continues to summer break and the only thing that stands in my way is passing my psychiatric nursing final exam and finishing the HESI. Today I went up to school to pick up my paperwork, and feared that I might have to do better on my final than I first thought considering my classmates are ranting and raving about how crazy our instructor is. I'd just gotten to the box where we pick up our assignments when I looked over at our instructor's office and saw the funniest thing ever. "Those who care...TEACH." Now, this made me laugh out loud, and thankfully the secretary that is normally there was on her lunch break. First of all, has anyone in my class felt "caring" from this instructor. I'm going to go with no. Secondly, there has been very little "teaching" going on. I can give her a slight break because it's summer and we've been pretty lazy as a class, but then again there have been many, many b.s. assignments. Once I picked up my paper and got my grades I realized that my theory rings true.

I have this theory, along with many of my classmates, that this instructor will do everything she can to pass me through this class so that she doesn't have to see me again. It's not a theory that bothers me at all, because I am the last person who wants to spend more time with this lady. In fact, I said that if they tried to make me take this class again I would transfer schools. This is incongruent with the fact that I should be studying for my final right now instead of putting up a posting on my blog, but oh well. Countdown to vacation...2 days, 1 final and 1 HESI. More updates to follow.

And in this corner...

One of my classmates is as frustrated as I am with this whole class, and appropriately she sent this email to the group...

yup, so i picked up all of my graded stuff from school yesterday and I was a bit pissed about my paper grade, I will not disclose my grade for it is far to horrid to comment on, but it looks like I do owe someone a punch in the head, this will be occuring the day of the final, preferably after I turn my final in, so if anyone wants to come and bear witness to the blessid event show up around 9:30, 10 am....I won't charge the first time, but the second time I do this, and we all know there will be a second time, there will def be a charge.....

Thank you nurse of PAIN for giving us something to laugh about, but I agree with you that her whole grading criteria blah, blah, blah is no laughing matter. The woman is a psycho. Perhaps that's why she's a psychiatric nurse. When she went into her explanation about how she tried all these different types of nursing and yadda, yadda, yadda I just wanted to punch her as well. Basically what I wanted to say is that she couldn't handle "reality" so she chose psych nursing instead. Are finals over yet ????

The Stupidity Continues

I only have two actual days of interaction with my psychiatric nursing professor left, and right now that is two days too many. I think I should only have to deal with this madness for 5 more minutes because she is already driving me nutso. Needless to say the fun cannot end in this class until we do a "clinical summary." What is the purpose behind it you may ask, but the answer to the question is simple...THERE IS NO PURPOSE. It's just another assignment for us to do. It's 5% of our grade, which means that if you don't do it you lose 5 points and if you even attempt to do it your grade won't be impacted. The stupid part is that yesterday all the information from the site for the course was deleted. Hmmmm, I wonder who did that. Now how is this instructor going to delete everything and then expect us to turn in our clinical summary. The best was the following message she sent to us:

"I was not able to get everyone's summary. I could not open it. You may have to email it to me or give me a hard copy."

DUH.....first of all you didn't set it up properly for us to upload it to the folder you wanted us to put it in. Secondly, you deleted the electronic document the day before we needed to turn it in. Now, how are we supposed to actually do this work if she's deleting things willy nilly. Then she has the audacity to email this around. Gimme a break. Gimme a break......Will the stupidity ever end ???????

Countdown to vacation...7 days

In Nascar they do the "countdown to green" before the races, and now in my life I'm on the countdown for everything. Countdown to vacation 7 days, countdown to the night race at Bristol 17 days, and countdown to graduation from nursing school 199 days. For some reason I think it makes time management and life a little more "manageable." The sooner they get here the better. Now that psychiatric nursing class and clinicals are over I just have to focus on passing the final and the HESI. Let's just say I will study until I turn blue in the face to be able to pass this class and get out of there and not have to spend anymore time in psychiatric nursing. I think part of the reason I'm taking a vacation is solely to get my "mental health" back. Seriously...I cannot wait to go on vacation.

Bloodshot Eyes and Sleeping Through Clinicals.

Needless to say the "case study" is now done, bound and ready to be turned in a 2 p.m. CST. I don't know how well my grade will come out considering it was thrown together somewhere between 11:45 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. See Edward, I was up working just as long as you were. Anyways, so I'm running a wee bit late this a.m. because I had to print out my reference pages and then go and get the whole thing bound. I do the honorable thing and call my professor to let her know that I'm running late. The conversation goes something like this...

Me, "Dr. XXXX, it's Susan. I'm going to be about 15 minutes late this morning because I'm having car issues."
Her, "Okay Susan, just go straight to your unit."

Translation...she wasn't there either and wasn't going to be there anytime before I was going to get there. HA....So I went and got my paper bound and then didn't stop to eat breakfast because I decided that I needed to move along to clinicals. I pull in to park and bam there's my professor sitting there scraping her inspection sticker off her car. Now....did she get a ticket on the way in for an expired inspection sticker ??? Hmmm, what? Oh well, she didn't even see me. Whoo...scott free. Now I can feel free to relax for the rest of the day on my "unit."

Needless to say after no sleep I'm hoping to get some shuteye on the unit, but I'm not seeing that happen. Afterall, my eyes must remain open to stalk and watch all the interesting and mind-numbing behavior of the adolescents. Whoo...last day and counting. Next it's onward and upward to better things. Now all I have to do is survive the final and the HESI. More commentary on the HESI and other "wastes of my time." If only I could learn to sleep with my eyes open.

Case Study Nutcase!?!?!

Every quarter of nursing school without fail requires us to do some huge, drawn-out case study about something that most of us could care less about. It's like a right of passage to get to the next level. I already have a minor in English, so my writing abilities have been validated. Now I have to spend every quarter doing some long drawn-out process of trying to throw something together at the last minute, because if I even think about starting earlier than the night before it turns out like total crap. Why are they making 10% of every single one of our courses some sort of hell-project? I guess it's all part of the progress of rights of passage to get through nursing school. It's like a gigantic care plan gone mad. Care plans are the bain of our existence in nursing school and shock and horror hit all of us in school when we first went to clinicals and realized that NO ONE DOES THEM IN THE REAL WORLD. Argh, is all this stuff more useless knowledge they're making us obtain?

Meanwhile my classmates choose to deal with the case study somewhat differently. You've got my co-procrastinators that tend to freak out a little bit about it when their peers seem to have everything "under control." It's all a facade. These "under control" people are doing it soley because they have NO LIVES. I'm sorry did I mention I work two jobs and babysit in addition to the madness of nursing school? Yeah, not trying to be a "super nerd" in school. I'm just trying to get through. In most schools C=RN, but here it's B=RN. Well, as far as I'm concerned as long as I graduate with whatever average I need to get out and pass my NCLEX exam that's all I care about. Case studies will never be something I will ever use in the "real world." I understand it's about the research process etc..yadda, yadda, yadda. That doesn't make me like it anymore. Amanda, thanks for being a co-procrastinator with me :) As for the others whom already have theirs done...'PTUH.

And what??? Tease it out...

Anyone who is currently in class with me right now knows exactly what I'm talking about from the subject line, and those of you that have yet to experience psychiatric nursing at it's finest will soon understand. Today was another one of those days where you just want to escape from clinicals and go running out of there like a truly "crazy" person. My unit buddy and I were bored from the very beginning and then they made us go to this DBT group where the room was about 90 degrees. Ya, sitting in a hot room with a bunch of adolescents watching them play with scrunchies was really high on my priority list when I woke up this a.m. Needless to say the rest of the a.m. was spent roaming through the charts to determine if any of them were worthy of us actually doing a care plan on. Yep, you guessed it...nope but we still had to get info on at least two of them.

The highlight of our day. Then it was time for "post clinical conference." Let me just tell you this is supposed to be the highlight of our day because it signals clinicals are over for the day and it's usually low stress. Today we had to give presentations, and they were good presentations even if I do say so myself, but then our 'instructor' launches into all these "dissertation points" or something like that. I'm thinking if she really wanted to teach the subject she should've just done it instead of assigning it for 5% of our grade. Ya...5%. Basically, I could've had a monkey do the assignment and it wouldn't have affected my final grade at all. Ah...one has to love the trials and tribulations of doing this stuff for nursing school. Stress relief needed? DEFINITELY.

Random forwards...

Somehow I ended up on all these random internet mailing lists, and sometimes what comes from them is pretty bad and other times it really makes sense. I thought this one was good considering how "under the dirt," I've been lately.

One day a farmer's donkey fell into an abandoned well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, so it just wasn't worth it to him to try to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. Realizing what was happening, the donkey at first cried and wailed horribly. Then, a few shovelfuls later, he quieted down completely. The farmer peered down into the well, and was astounded by what he saw. With every shovelful of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up on the new layer of dirt. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off, to the shock and astonishment of all the neighbors!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to not let it bury you, but to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
Free your heart from hatred.
Free your mind from worries.
Live simply.
Give more.
Expect less.

Also, the donkey kicked the hell out of the guy that tried to bury him. Which brings me to another moral for this story: When you try to CYA, it always comes back and gets you.

Heat makes people...CRAZY!!!!!

The average high in houston over the past week has been in the high 90's, which must be the plausible explanation for the recent correspondence I received from my nursing school of attendance. I get a letter from them yesterday, and I'm assuming that it's some sort of information regarding my graduation on February 25th. Well, of course nothing is ever really what you expect it to be when it comes from the school, and this was no exception. I open it up with bated breath assuming it's going to be something great about graduation and that sort of thing only to find the insanity continues. It's a letter regarding the advising process. Now, why would someone who only has two quarters left, and they are basically already laid out need an advisor? So I take a breath and think okay, no biggie. Then I start looking at the advisors they have listed at the bottom of the letter. Out of the six potential advisors there are five that I've had classes from.

As you've probably already guessed...they assigned me to the one person that I have never had any type of interaction with in my entire life. Now, what is the rationale behind that? I understand that my original faculty advisor is gone, but why wouldn't you assign me to someone whom I've actually had some sort of interaction with before? Why would you choose the only individual that I've never actually had ANYTHING to do with? It has to be the heat....that makes people CRAZY. Obviously, right?

Hmmmm.....

I'm not sure if this is laziness to the extreme or what, but since I've been so bad at keeping up with everyone and telling everyone what is going on I thought I'd start here. I am currently three weeks away from finishing my psychiatric nursing class, and let me just say that after it is all over I might need some psychiatric care myself. It's been an "interesting" class to say the least, but wow...it shouldn't be required. Today was mind-numbing as one of my classmates and I spent the entire day watching adolescents and trying to find something to do to make it worth our time being there. Needless to say we ended up sneaking a peek at "inked" on A&E while all the kids were in some meeting. Lovely huh ?? I guess I should fill all of you in on the whole "lovely" comment, but that will have to be a story for another day. Mili will know what I'm talking about. Anyways, this isn't very much or very informative right now, but it's a starting point and I just wanted to let everyone know that I've started it and hopefully it will be much easier for me to update you guys this way.