J2 off and Running

      So far there is a stark difference between this semester and the last... I am not stressed to the max, there aren't 5 quizzes and multiple tests per week, and I am not required to spend hours upon hours in lab.. whew. This semester I have classes most of the day monday, then two 12 hour shifts (tues, wed) at St. Joes. Then classes the rest of the week. I had my first clinicals this past week and was in the cardiac unit! It was exciting, and it was cool to learn so much more about the heart, which by the way is so much more complex then I ever knew. I had one patient all day, and it was good. The unit was interesting though, lots of critical care going on. I liked it a lot.. My next stint will be either in ER, Med-Surg, or ICU. I am excited because this semester we don't really get assistance unless we ask, so we actually are the nurse finally! Its a great learning experience.
      This coming week we do our mental health rotation which should be fun. We are headed to State Hospital North in Orophino to visit some inpatient psych clients. I think this will be really fun. We get two whole days there and we find a patient, learn all about them and observe them (which i hear is the best part). I think it should be interesting, and I think the fact that I am experienced in the psych field will help me. All of my classmates are saying " I'm scared, I'm just going to stick close to you all day". hahah. They have no idea. ANYWAY, thats all the news for now. Just getting into the swing of things! Will update again soon!

J2

J2 semester is starting tomorrow! Classes to look forward to: Geriatric nursing, transcultural nursing, medical-surgical nursing II, professional role development II, psychiatric nursing, and two twelve hour shifts a week at St. Joseph Hosp! I will post an update soon on how things are going!

So Close......

One more final left, and then J-1 semester is over, YESSSSSS

Coming to a Close

The semester is coming to a close and we are taking our last exams before finals. I'm very excited for the busy J-1 semester to come to an end and move on up! Anyway, clinicals have been wonderful! Last week I got to work the ER for 16 hours and it was tons of fun. I got to practice some of my advanced skills like IV insertion, fluid bag set up, urinary catheters and dressing changes. It was really exciting and busy most of the time. We had a point where three traumas came in at once for C-spine (neck) injuries from a car rolling accident and that kept us busy for a while. I would say ER is much faster paced, and there was a lot less charting for the students to do which was a nice break! I can't decide between the ICU and ER though since I enjoyed both of them so much. I think the more experience I get, the easier it will be to make a decision.
This week we are amping up for a pharmacology exam and getting ready for the next scenario right after thanksgiving. I plan to go home and practice my skills on my family, lucky them! I'll be back soon for an update, good night!

One month left!

We have one month of classes left in our J-1 semester! whohoo! We are almost there...thank goodness!
We have a scenario test coming up the week after Thanksgiving, in which we are given a case (patient) and need to figure out what the problem is and what to do with our patient in regards to meds, procedures, labs, etc.. These tests are the most nerve racking because if we fail twice we get kicked out, so fingers are crossed. Other than that the other exams are going really well, still getting my B to B+ average, going to try to bring that up!
Clinicals are going well, last week at Gritman the census was soooo low that I didn't have a patient, so I got moved over to ICU again, which was hoppin! The nurse let me hook myself up to an EKG (heart monitor) and analyze my heart rhythm, and measure my PR, QT, and QRS waves to check for heart pathology! It was cool, I will post a picture of it. Turns out my heart is pretty healthy. Anyway, next week I have two full day in ER. I am really excited for this because usually in ER there are many IV starts, injections, closed reductions, traumas, and of course drunk college kids from UI to deal with. Not to mention all the people who come in for the sniffles. Either way I'm hoping its fun, and I hate to say it but I hope I can stand in on a code... :) (crashing patient). I'm just eager to learn. I'll be back soon for an ER update. Peace to you!

BIG time

Gritman Clinicals are in full swing, and I am loving it! We get at least one patient to ourselves for every shift, but quite often we will get more than 2! We take full responsibility of our patient throughout the shift, we give all of their meds (by mouth, IV, or other various routes....) do any procedures the patients need done, and do all of the charting involved. We get post-operation patients, mainly, but every once in a while we get some comfort care (end of life) patients, or acute illness patients.
I had a stint in ICU where I cared for some very sick patients, and even got to assist the doctor in inserting a CVC- or central line! It's an IV that goes in through the neck (internal jugular vein) and is strung down into the vessel that leads to the heart ( Superior vena cava). To top that off, I got to put in an IV last night for the first time on a patient. It went very smoothly!
Overall I really am enjoying clinicals, and have many stories to tell. I get more assurance every day that I am on this earth to be a nurse! The patient interaction is one of my favorite parts of the job, its very fulfilling, and I truly enjoy taking care of people.
I am headed off to clinical again, but I will be back to post some of my interesting, and awkward stories..

In the Swing

Things are finally feeling organized and good. Stress levels are low despite two huge exams this week.

Clinicals have been going well, we have our anchor resident. Mine is a 92 year old man, who is terminally ill. We get to do assessments on them, detailed assessments, procedures, and give meds. Clinicals have been low key since we have been in a long term care facility, but starting the 28th this month I will be moving over to Gritman in Moscow for acute care (hospital setting), for the 2-10pm shift. I should be an awesome learning experience. So far the only real procedure I have been involved in was placing a catheter, but it was definitely interesting!

So far in lab we have learned how to do dosage calculations, give medicine, and give injections. We were able to practice on our classmates which was cool. I got to give/receive intradermal, intramuscular, and subQ shots (normal saline in shoulder, gut, and forearm). Things are going well, I am passing all of my assessments and doing well! Now I need to go study for pharmacology and Med/surg exams! wish me luck!