My Head is Exploding

There is so much information to remember.  My brain feels like it's exploding (could be the migraine I'm battling right now though).  

Yesterday my community group continued to assess Claymont and the resources available to the residents.  At times I don't think very 'high' of my community as I've lived here all my life (sans two years that we lived right outside of Claymont).  In assessing the area I was actually amazed at what is available to the residents.  The Claymont Community Center has so many resources.  They offer a clinic for uninsured, or under insured; before and after school care; preschool; social services; financial planning; counseling; job preparation courses; English as a second language and so many other things.  Right  here in Claymont we have historic buildings dating back to the 1700's and new construction that draws 'yuppies' to the area.  We have a brand new library under construction that should be done later this  year. 

Another D&D shot from this past week.  We actually met our instructor here yesterday to go over our community project.  I was our 'resident' since I live here (we had to interview a resident and key informant).

Today we were back on site at our school lab.  I'm proud to tell people I am part of the nursing program at Delaware Technical.  It has one of the best labs in the country (and we are a 'community college')!!  I can't wait to share some of the things our 'sim' people do as I learn more.  

Today we finished up vitals (various ways to take a temperature), pulse, respiration and b/p with a test on the sim-person.  I was a little concerned at first when I just couldn't locate the pulse (this artificial person's skin is 'thicker' than a real person), but once I located that I was good.  Did b/p and respiration on this person.  PASSED!  Relief, I know it's something so small and it's only the start but the 'test anxiety' I get is enough to drive me nuts.  So that's good :)

We then worked with real people (our classmates) in demonstrating ROM (range of motion), positioning a patient in a bed (to avoid bed sores), bandaging we worked on last week and lots of other things.  We do something called 'grab bag' where we take a 'task' out of the box and then have to demonstrate that to our classmates and instructor, treating our 'classmate/patient' as we would truly treat them in the hospital setting.  Things are setting in and becoming a little more familiar.

I have two online lectures later this week, a seminar and a medical abbreviations quiz.  On Saturday I will be spending a few hours in the lab at school to go over what I'm learning (we are required LOTS of independent hours and with my work and school schedule Saturday morning is the only time slot open right now).  

I hope to have some photos of our 'sim-people' for you next week.  They are rather odd looking, lol, but they will help us learn how to treat a REAL person.