Did I REALLY sign up for this??

Summer is here, well I mean not officially, but close enough, and this summer means school is back in full force. Of course by full force I mean part time. In one way I'm looking forward to the fact that I'll only have 2 classes at a time to focus on, which hopefully means I'll make straight A's. On the other hand though, I wish I was able to go full time, like in nursing school, and get it over with! Another 2 1/2 years...sigh. The good thing about this time around though, is how AWESOME clinical is going to be!!! I am soooo looking forward to my clinicals, all dressed up in my white coat and professional name tag! Guess I need to do some shopping before then huh? Going straight from nursing school into nursing, I haven't really had the need to stock up on professional clothing. I went from jeans, sandals and tennis shoes, to scrubs and tennis shoes. And of course there's the ever present bun that I wear, definitely going to need to get my hair did before then!...

So as you can see I have GRADUATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!  I am SO happy that nursing school is over, but can we say holy terrified?  Tomorrow is the NCLEX & I feel thoroughly unprepared.  Fortunately our school provided us with the HURST Review  and even though I have been studying this for about 2 weeks now I still feel completely terrified to actually take the test.  Of my former classmates I know of one so far who has failed....so scary... The rest of them are chugging along & passing on a daily basis, hopefully I will be one of them! But to rewind, here are a few pics from graduation & my graduation party that my precious husband & sister threw for me: That's my baby girl to my right, she looks taller than me!   I seriously couldn't have been cheesing any harder!! My nursing bestie & his bf hiding in the back! My study buddy!   My inlaws, aren't they precious!! Definitely one of the ...

OMG!!!!!!!!! Can I just stop for a minute to give a HUGE shout out to Nickasarbata for this AMAZING tutorial on dimensional analysis!!!!!!!! (He has a youtube channel where he talks about nursing school also) Because of this video I have now MASTERED dosage calculation.  And thankfully I found it JUST IN TIME to take my test this past Friday.  This video is about an hour long but seriously I only needed to watch about 30 minutes of it & I GOT IT!!  Can you tell I'm excited?  Well, if you've been following my blog from the beginning then you KNOW how much I ABHOR Math.  It's the complete bane of my existence!  BUT this person made this great little video and completely saved my buttumpkus!!!!!!  I'm so happy.  So, if you're having problems with dosage calc, then for SURE watch this video.  That is all :D

Guess whose LAST SEMESTER OF NURSING SCHOOL is about to start??  Yep, ME!! I am SOOO HAPPY that I can say I am FINALLY in my LAST semester of nursing school.   This semester consists of Leadership, Psych, Community and my clinical Capstone (in which we get to pick our designated area of clinical & hope that we get it). We start back on Jan. 16th & I am just SO ready to get this over with! But what about last semester.  Well, it pretty much went how I though it would go.  I got my B in Peds & a stinkin' C in Critical Care.  I hate that I got a C but I'll be honest, I'm just happy that I passed that class.  Last semester was seriously the hardest semester since I've started nursing school.  I think there were several factors leading up to my C, including the fact that I started working last semester.  For those people ahead of us that told us "Oh yeah you can definitely work and do just fine this semester" I say WHATEV!!!  Ye...

 The countdown has begun for the end of the semester and as it stands right now I have a 74 average in critical care!  Can we say slightly freaking?  I know I only need a 74.5 to pass the class, but at this point I'm still a little nervous.  I've turned in my paper and I have been PRAYING for an A.  If I can pull an A off on the paper then that will boost my grade to at least a 78.  Which if I can get it up that high then MAYBE I can ace tomorrow's test & the final and sqeak by with a B??? That would be AWESOME!! BUT that's a lot of ifs....So as of right now I'm just praying to get a passing grade in cc & be DONE with this semester.  This semester has seriously been the worst semester of nursing school.  Only 15 more days until the end of my 2nd to LAST semester!!!  Then Christmas break & it's on to the LAST SEMESTER OF NURSING SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you baby Jesus!

Finally a break!! Whew.  For the semester that was supposed to be "all down hill from here" let's just say that those nursing students before me either lied, or their version of "down hill" is WAY different from my version.  Of course it could just be the rotation I was handed.  In 4th semester we have CC and Peds, but what the clinical intstructors do is divide up the rotations.  So there are three rotations.  You either have Peds or you have CC going at one time, not both.  So for me I had Peds first.  Then I have CC immediately following.   Now, while this is a CRAPLOAD of stuff at the very beginning of the semester, I do have the relief of knowing that I will have NO clinicals at the end of the semester so that I can soley focus on studying for the finals.  And the way that my grades are going this semester, I'm going to need it.  Yesterday was our first "grand rounds".  We had to do it as a group and I am SOO glad that i...

So yesterday was my first day of Peds, the clinical I have been waiting for since I started nursing school was finally here.  To say I was nervous was an understatement.  I was TERRIFIED, and honestly I have no idea why.  Maybe because it was the tiny human population?  Maybe because it was VANDERBILT, maybe because I didn't get enough sleep the day/night before.  Maybe because my best friend was no longer with me in class?  Honestly, I don't know why I was so skittish but seriously I felt like I could cry at least 3 times that day.  Ok, here's a recap of how it went & why it was so terrible & wonderful at the same time. Worked 7p-7a Saturday night.  Slept on Sunday until about 1:30 then got up because I knew I had an 36 strip EKG assignment due on Tuesday & I knew I wouldn't be able to do it Monday since I had Peds clinical.  Worked on my strips for as long as I could but then I was just totally exhausted by 6 pm.  ...

Ok since this is nursing week there are lots of people posting why they became a nurse, and even though I'm just a nursing student I thought I'd play along with Anna's question of "Why I became a nurse". If you are new followers of this blog & you don't read my other blog then this will be new for you. On May 2, 2008 I got a phone call at work from one of my mother's really good friends saying that my mother was in the hospital & that she was almost non-responsive & that my sister & I should come right away.  (We live about an hour from where my mom lived.)  So, we immediately went to the hospital where my mom was in the ER.  She was in a stupor, barely responsive and we weren't sure what was wrong.  After many tests the doctors told us that she had a huge tumor the size of a lemon on her cerebellum and that it needed to be removed immediately. Now, some background.  My mom had been sick for several years from what she said w...

So remember I said I had a paper due. Well let me just tell you what I did with that paper. So, I wrote the paper initially & let it sit until the day it was due. That day I had the paper due & a HUGE assessment due. But, since I had already written the paper, I figured I'd just clean it up, put in my references & turn it in, no biggie. Then I'd have plenty of time to get my lab done & turned in. So I got out of class at 12:00, get something to eat & start the paper at 12:30. So, I basically rewrote the paper & got done with it around 3:30 or so, went to do something to it and DELETED the WHOLE thing!! Now, at this point I know you're saying "Why didn't you save it as you went?" Well, normally I do that, but I wasn't on my computer, I was on the computer at school & I just didn't. So that was THREE hours of work down the drain. Now mind you both the paper AND the lab had to be due by 11:59 that night and I KNEW the lab was g...

One more day & then orientation. I have been debating what to wear. Do I dress up? Do I go casual with jeans & my Blarvard shirt that I got for Christmas? What did you wear for your orientation? Speaking of things to wear, I am so glad that we don't have to wear our hideous scrubs this semester, that gives me like 6 months to lose some weight before I have to don the all white ensemble. UGH!!! I can do it, I NEED to do it. I cannot wear that outfit at the weight I am, I will look like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Woman!!! Gross!! I mean seriously, white? I don't understand, our school colors aren't white, why not the school colors? Whatever. Anyhoo, ONE MORE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooooooohooooooooooo

So it's official, we got the approval today for my son's hardship license. Woohoo!! Now he can drive him & his sister to school!! Yeay!! Of course school starts the 17th & wouldn't you know it there wasn't an opening for the stupid driving test until the 18th :(. Luckily though I have some really great friends that will help me out until then & of course Eugene works 2 days on 2 days off, so it'll work out. Hopefully there won't be a problem with him passing the test, I'd hate to have to kill him! There shouldn't be a problem though, he's a really great driver. I ordered one of my books for school :) Can't wait to get it. It's just Nursing Trends, but I am looking forward to even that. I mean what do I know about nursing trends? So that should be pretty interesting. It's an online class, the only one I have. I'm not really big on online classes. I had a math class online but it was pretty straightforward, th...

Ok so I am totally working on trying to get this stupid video that I did forever ago uploaded. I want to get this working before school actually starts b/c I want to start doing more vlogging & less blogging. Well about nursing school anyway. It's getting close. I have orientation on Wednesday & I can't wait. I am kind of worried though b/c I am waiting on my student loan to come through before I buy the bulk of my stuff, but some of these things I'm supposed to have like by the end of the month (stethoscope being one) & I haven't even ordered it yet. Hopefully I can just order expedited shipping & it will be here on time. Oh yeah & that clicker too. I'm supposed to have it purchased & registered by the 28th. But luckily they sell those at the school bookstore, so hopefully that won't be a problem. I like this idea of renting books. I found a really great site & have rented one of my books for $22.00! That's a big savi...

When it comes to my acceptance into nursing school I am NOT a procrastinator as with everything else in my life, so today I have to fax off all my stuff (driver's license, Life Support Card, labs etc.) off to someplace in order to cement my acceptance. When might you ask is the deadline for this? The 6th. This is the ONLY thing I've cut so close, whew. Also, I was looking at my list of things I need to get as far as books & stuff are concerned & I have to get a clicker??? What the heck is a clicker & why do I need one. Are we going to be taking our tests in game show style? Apparently is it supposed to help keep our attention during lecture by "polling" us? Weird, but this is what it looks like: Does anyone else use these? I am excited to find out exactly how they work. Can't wait!!

January 1, 2012 THIS IS THE YEAR I BEGIN THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my excitement is just off the charts, I'm sure you haven't noticed. Today I was thinking just how truly blessed I am. For Christmas my thoughtful husband bought me the BEST gift ever. What is it? A new laptop to use for school? Nope. The raspberry stethoscope I am drooling over? Nope. A new heavy duty backpack? Nope. The best thing my husband got me for Christmas was this: My first official school shirt!!!   How sweet & thoughtful was that? I know to other people it may not seem like a lot but to me school means everything. I posted a picture of it on my FB & my nephew said "I saw your new school shirt, are you actually having to go to campus?" And I said "Yep" & he said "Aw it's like your a college student" haha, which of course I AM!! And that reality really sunk in today. I am going to be a full fledged University student...

Today I went and paid for my malpractice insurance. Ok, stupid question. Why in the world do they make you get your malpractice insurance a whole semester before you need it??? Why not have me get it next semester when is when I'll actually be using it??? Isn't that just ridiculous? Whether it is or it isn't, it's done and I am FINISHED with all my pre-school starting stuff. Now I just have to send all my stuff into some agency and I will be 100% READY to start school. Ok, well 99% ready. I still have to get my books from my friend & I need to order my beautiful raspberry stethoscope and get some cute school supplies, but you know what I mean. The PAPERWORK part is finito!! Woohoo, one more step down. Now just to get through Christmas and it's the final countdown after that!! Oh yeah, today while I was there paying for my malpractice insurance I decided to take a mini tour of the campus, well just to find the most important part, the library!! And wo...

So I went to school today to turn in my signature page, my intent page & some other page. Got MY ID!!!!!!!!! Wooohoo! And talked to the financial aid counselor. Turned in my loan signature page and guess what? I'm DONE with turning stuff in to the actual school. Now all I have left to do is get CPR certified, have my health assessment done & get all that turned in to some place called Accusource & I AM GOOD TO GO BABY!! It was weird being at the school today there were so many freaking people there!! It kind of made me a teeny bit nervous. I've never gone to an actual University before. Up until now I've only attended community colleges. I don't know why but it kind of made me feel old. Which of course, I am older than most of those students, but I never felt that way at the community college. It also made me feel fat. Nothing like attending a University full of young, fit 18-23 y/o's to boost the old self esteem!! But, whatever. I am wh...

Today is the beginning of the rest of my life!!! Today I was ACCEPTED into Blarvard's (name changed to protect the innocent) nursing program. Starting in January I will again roam the hallowed halls of college, but this time it will be a University and not a community college. This time I will be working toward my Bachelor's degree. This time I will be working toward changing my family's future. This time I will be working toward a life that includes someone in my family that graduated from college!!!! This time will be the beginning of what I hope is a life changing dream come true. I am SO excited, I GOT IN!!! Now of course, this is where the nerves kick in. Am I smart enough? Will I be able to pass these classes? Will I be able to afford everything I have to have? Will I be able to balance school, a family and possibly work? I am totally thanking God right now for how this has all fallen into place. Once again I am just praising a Father that knows the road ahead. A Fa...