Graduation Pictures

were today. Crazy. All of a sudden, everything seems like a whirlwind, and it just keeps getting faster. Eight days to go. Anyway, here are a couple of pics from today.

Two Weeks

from today is my Candlelighting Ceremony, or what I refer to as graduation. And it still baffles my mind. I can't believe how close it is.

I have no more assignments. No more clinicals. Nothing that is due, no studying, nothing that is expected of me except for just showing up to mandatory class days. I just have to show up Thursday and Friday this week (an NCLEX review both days), Monday and Tuesday next week (Monday is the last of the group presentations and Tuesday is clinical evaluations, state board info and pictures), and Monday and Tuesday (Monday we have an exit exam- not graded just an assessment tool- and Tuesday is Candlelighting rehearsal) the following week and I am done.

D

O

N

E

Still weird. Still weird I'm almost a nurse. Still weird I can have a life again. Still weird that my nights are not consumed with studying or paper writing or group project making. Still weird I can spend time with my kids again. Good, but weird.

The Next Time......

I step foot into a hospital, it will be one of the following reasons:

1) For a job interview.

2) To visit a sick friend/relative (hopefully NOT this option).

3) Because I am the patient (hopefully not this option either).

4) To start working.

One reason I definitely will NOT be stepping foot into a hospital:

For clinicals!!

I completed my final nursing school clinical today, and I must say, the Lord really looked over me today.

For one, my cell phone is my alarm. It has 3 alarm settings: weekday, on, or off. I have it set on weekday since it is rare I have to wake up on the weekends. Last night, Ray asked me if I wanted him to set his alarm as a backup for me. Boy am I glad he asked me that. My alarm was set on weekday, and I would not have woke up in time for my shift! That would have been bad, to say the least.

Another thing- I has a dream this morning that it was a terrible day on the floor. In the dream, we had like 7 or 8 patients and they were all very difficult patients and we had no help on the floor. Real life did not play out like that at all. We had 4 patients, and no admissions (which takes up a lot of time), and no discharges, which isn't a bad thing, but what happens when you have a discharge is that you get the next admission, and that takes up time, like I mentioned. The day went very smoothly. I really could not have asked for a better "last" day. I also ended on a great note. I had to "give report" on all of our patients today- give report is where I give the oncoming nurse a report of the patient; whats been going on, important things to know about, history, etc- and I had to give report on one of the patients to the charge nurse. After I was finished, she told me a did a good job because I gave her a very good report. That was nice to hear.

I had a patient that my nurse and I admitted yesterday again today. He and his wife were very nice people and I loved taking care of them. I had to put a foley catheter in him yesterday, and then today had to give him a suppository, so my poor patient jokingly referred to me as the bad guy. When he left for a test, his wife and I were talking, and she was really worried about him because in 65 years together, he'd always been healthy until just during the last 6 months. She started to get teared up, which in turn teared me up too because they're such nice people and we just connected. Before the wife left, she gave me a hug, just in case she couldn't say goodbye, and then blew me a kiss later when she walked out for the night. Before I left, I said goodbye to my patient, and he gave me a hug. And I felt good because I know I did a good job.

Now I'm a little sad because more than likely I will never see him again. I'll wonder how he's doing, if he's better, or if he's not. I'll wonder how his wife is doing. I'll wonder if the care he's getting will be good enough. And just as I had started on my first day of clinicals in nursing school with a patient I will never forget, I have ended on my last day of clinicals with a patient I will also never forget.

So there you have it. My clinical experience- as a student- has come to an end. I wish I had time to post more about my experiences, but it was hard with everything I had to do.

Don't worry though, there is still more to come. I'm not finished yet. I'm just getting started.

Finishing Up

This Monday I had a group presentation due. We decided to be the first of 12 groups because it would mean we would be completely done with everything while there were still 2 more weeks of presentations to sit through, which would mean 2 more weeks of having something due if we were one of the groups for those dates. We have a group paper due on Monday, but that is pretty much done. At this point, I have nothing else due. I had an exam, a portfolio, a resume and cover letter and a group presentation and paper. All but the paper have been done/turned in. I have 2 clinical days of nursing school left and will be completed by Saturday. Then, as of this weekend, I will be unofficially done with nursing school! After that, I have to come to 2 classes for group presentations, 1 day for clinical evaluations and state board information, 3 days for an exit exam review, and then 1 day for the actual exit exam. Seven actual school days left. Wow. Just wow. I'm still in shock.

Best news is that I completed everything in order to have the kids' spring break off with them, except for having to go into class on Monday. I'm so happy and even more so, I know the kids are so excited since I have been so scarce for the last 2 years.

After graduation, I will begin studying for boards which I plan to take in early June. I'm thinking about the future already and getting my Bachelor's degree, but I still don't have a real plan yet. I know that most hospitals are looking for this degree within 5 years or so of becoming employed there, but with taking one class a semester, it could very well take me that long. So we'll see what happens with that journey.

So there you have it. I've been slowly regaining my life back and it feels so good.

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.