Busy Bee

On Monday, I have 6 weeks left. But really the next 3-4 weeks will be the meat and potatoes of it all. I have 7 articles in which I have to read, write an abstract on and then a 1 page paper on how I feel about the article. Seven of those. Then I have a group project- a group presentation and a group paper. I still have to do 8 clinical days- 96 hrs of time. No, it's not a lot, but I do have some writing to do for those clinical days as well in my clinical journal. I also have to attend and take part in one of the local hospital's disaster drills and I have to also sit through the State Board's discipline hearings with my class (so that we can see what occurs, etc).

I am not complaining. I'm just stating I'll be a little busy.

I met today with my preceptor at the hospital. She's really nice and I'm really excited. I start my clinical on Wednesday and then my second shift is Saturday. Basically I look at my preceptor's schedule and decide when I am going to come in, which is nice. I am hoping, if all goes as planned, I will be done with my last clinical day around the 7th of April. If not, I will have a day or two to do around the 13th. the best thing is that my article project is due the 11th, my presentation will be on the 11th, my paper is due on the 18th, all of my clinicals will be done by then as well, and my kids start spring Break on the 18ths, so I will be able to enjoy the entire week off with them with no work to worry about going back to the next week. I will be officially done with school by then- in one month I will be "done".

So cool.

But for now, I will be busy. I'll try to update after Wednesday and let you know how it went.

Wow!

I sit here in my living room catching up on American Idol (since I've gotten a little behind thanks to my Cardio class), thinking about tomorrow.

Tomorrow I begin my final course in this journey. I have 7 weeks left and it just blows my mind. Its amazing to me. 7 weeks. It's gonna fly by.

Until then, I must go slumber and face tomorrow.

Cardio is

Over.

Today was my final exam. Got a 79. Not totally proud of it, but it was enough to earn me a B in the class, so I am super excited about that. More importantly, I took my last real nursing exam today. I have one more class and one exam in that class, but the class grade is made up mostly of paperwork, and the exam is mostly common sense, as the teacher put it. That takes a lot of weight off my shoulders. I have 4 assignments, one of them being a paper, one being a group presentation, one being a resume and the other assignment is where I have to find an article on 7 different topics from a list, then I have to write an abstract on each article and a reaction paper about each article (the reaction paper is basically my opinions and feelings about the information in the article). This I may start over Spring Break because I like to get things off my plate as soon as possible.

For clinical I will no longer have a clinical group, or an instructor per se. I will have an instructor who oversees me, but for the most part, I meet with a preceptor (a nurse at the hospital I am assigned to) and I basically work with her. I find out what days she is working and it is up to me to decide when I want to come in. I have 7 shifts to complete and can do them as quickly or as slowly as I want, except that I have to have at least 4 completed by midterm. I will also be assigned one ER day, but I'm not sure when that will be exactly, however, I am super excited about that. I start back to school on March 14th and by April 18th, just over a month of school, I will be done with assignments and hopefully all of my clinical assignments as well. So after Spring Break, I have just about 1 month of school left. I will have to go into school for things, but nothing will be due, and that will be very nice.

I'm really excited about this next step. I have already requested to work with a particular preceptor, so hopefully that will work out. She is a new nurse, only been working 5 months, however she has a great attitude, is very organized, really knows a lot, is easy going, and I feel like I can really learn a lot from her. The nurses at this hospital seem to be.....lax in some, or most, regards. They don't seem to enjoy their jobs or are thorough enough and sometimes its just better to have a fresh perspective from someone new. My clinical instructor really likes her, too and agrees that she is a great nurse and one we can really learn from. I hope it works out that I have her. I think it would help give me a more solid foundation to build from when its time to venture out on my own.

So for now, I am on a 10 day Spring Break. Ah. No more crazy studying. Maybe some crazy paper writing, but thats it.

And best of all, exactly 2 months from today, I will have my candle-lighting ceremony. And I will be graduating.

Wow.