SO MUCH HAPPENING ALL THE TIME

I can't believe it's been a couple weeks again. I have been working for two weeks at the hospital and go back in tomorrow and Sunday from 3-11:30. I truly am enjoying what I'm doing at the hospital. As for school, the past few weeks have been in maternity. We had one evening in Labor & Delivery where I was able to 'assist' with a newborn assessment. We will be back in Labor & Delivery Monday afternoon/evening and I truly hope I get to see a birth. On Tuesday I'll be in the NICU unit.

While on the maternity floor, I had the privilege of taking care of several new moms the past few weeks along with their newborns (even a set of twins!). I've demonstrated bathing newborns for the new parents and have administered the babies HepB shot. I have had brand new young moms (18 years old) to older (experienced) moms. I really have enjoyed this rotation and wish we could spend more time here. The instructor this rotation has made learning very enjoyable.

I didn't do well on my last exam. It was on Altered Immunity and Infection; Alterations in the GI system and Alterations in Nutritional Metabolism; Alteration of the Endocrine System, Fractures and Osteoporosis. I am studying very hard for the next exam in this area, many on Diabetes, Stroke; Peripheral Vascular Disease and Cardiac Deficits.  LOTS of information.

In between all this, Dale & I participated in the Philadelphia 3-Day for the Cure with 1500 other friends!  We truly are committed to the fight against breast cancer. Seeing young women in their 20's being diagnosed with this breaks my  heart! These women should be planning their futures, not making chemo and radiation appointments.

This photo is of my 'cousin' Shannon and I at the mile 59 marker (one mile to closing)!!! I walked with Shannon in Boston in July! After walking Philly the first weekend of October, she turned around and went to DC and walked that 3-Day in the pouring rain!!! She is awesome!

  

  

A QUICK UPDATE!!

I have been so busy that I've not had time to stay on top of this. I finished working at the real estate office last Friday. To celebrate, my boss took his wife, Dale and I, along with our agent and his wife to a very nice dinner. We had a wonderful evening and some very fine food.  We finished up our rotation at the med-surg unit last week. We were in the brand new unit those two days. I had a patient who was suffering from multiple pulmonary embolism. My patient was very young to be experiencing this. I was able to administer IV meds via a pump.

This week we started our maternity rotation. Monday was spent working on our community collaborative project. My team will be presenting 'Safe Sleep' to expecting and new parents later this month. Safe Sleep is to enforce that parents put their babies to sleep on their backs, not their sides or tummys. Tuesday we started our day with a tour at a local birthing center and then went onto the maternity unit at the hospital.

Today I started my new job as a patient care tech (PCT). It is a casual position so I only get four shifts every two weeks (and it pays a great deal less than I was making) but hoping it gets my foot in the door. I had a great day and am looking forward to all that I can learn in this position.

I will be back at the hospital tomorrow and then it's on to the Philadelphia 3-Day for the Cure! I'm going to be running on steam but so looking forward to this weekend. I will truly listen to my body as I need my feet for clinical on Monday afternoon and evening!  

TWO WEEKS IN ONE

I've been meaning to update but time has so easily gotten away. With the new semester under way and clinical in full swing (and still training for the 3-day for the cure) there is not a lot of 'down time' to update. So I'll try and bring you up to date from the past two weeks.

Our first real clinical day with a patient was September 9th. We were partnered up with a classmate for this afternoon and the next day as we were still acclimating to the setting and finding things. Our patient this week had something called 'hemoglobin c'; this is something neither myself, my classmate nor our instructor had heard of. In addition to this, our patient was very anemic, so we were able to observe a blood transfusion.  But the blood needed to be heated first. The nurse administering this was using this device for only the second time so there was confusion on how it actually worked. It was good to know that nurses are always still learning. We were able to have this same patient again the next evening after this patient returned from surgery. We were glad to be of some comfort to our patient as they became aware of the surroundings and their family was not close by. Our patient recognized us from the previous night and I believe relieved to 'know' someone since they woke up in recovery and all these faces were new.  It was a pretty uneventful first two clinical nights but that is ok.

The hospital we are doing this clinical rotation in has been undergoing a major renovation. The unit we are assigned to was moved this past week. We were in the unit on Monday and had our own patient. I had a very interesting patient who happened to go unresponsive in the middle of an episode of throwing up. I could not awaken my patient and immediately asked (a little loudly) for assistance. One of the RN's that was right outside my patients room entered (along with a half dozen others) and perform a sternal rub and my patient was alerted.  My patient at that point had no idea where they were (which hospital) or even which year it was. The entire rapid response team and physician entered the room and performed various tests. Before I left for the evening my patient was sent for a CT scan. 

The next evening due to our unit moving we were assigned to another unit (just for this day). I was a bit disappointed as I wanted to know how my patient was but they were no longer my responsibility and I would have to wait until we return to our brand new unit to see if I can get an update. So this evening we were again partnered up (since we didn't know where things were and were only going to be here the one night). My partner and I were able to provide care for our patient and during our 'down time' we were able to work on our assignment from the previous night. I did learn to use a bladder scan on my patient this evening and I also had to straight cath my patient (place a catheter to drain their bladder)! I was so nervous as I had not done this since lab last semester (I did get to assist an RN with one but I mostly observed), so with the guidance of the RN assigned to my patient, I was able to do this.  I always wonder how I will do when I do a new task that I've not done before and I still amaze myself that I did fine! I handled the situation providing dignity and as little discomfort as possible to my patient.  I DID IT!!! 

In the meantime my job is quickly coming to a close. This coming week will be my last week there. I have been offered a 'part time/temporary' position in the hospital. I am jumping at the chance to get my foot in the door and hoping that bigger and better things will come from this.

This coming week will be the end of this rotation and then we are on to maternity! I am really looking forward to that! I will truly try and update at the end of next week.

OH WAIT!!! We had our first exam this week and I got a B!!! I was so relieved as I always stress myself out! I had so much going on this past week. Our son, Tyler had a seizure last weekend (out of the blue) and there has been a lot of doctors appointments and getting him to and from his job and school since he is unable to drive right now. Praying that he is given a clean bill of health when he sees the neurologist next month.

So Much Going On Already

Well, I'm already behind on updating.  Last week was a LOT of craziness!  On Monday, September 3rd (mine and Dale's 30th wedding anniversary and my first clinical day of the semester), my employer informed me that he would be closing business at the end of the month. Shock cannot describe how I felt! I got so upset that I actually hyperventilated. So now the search for another job that will provide me with the flexibility to continue this journey and STILL pay our bills. I'm hoping to get into one of the local hospitals, but that is not going to be full time and certainly will not be even close to what I am currently making. I've had a wonderful time in my position here and a boss that has been so accomodating to allow me to alter my schedule each semester enabling me to start college for the first time in my life and then to actually keep this up as started into the clinical portion of the nursing program. I'm definitely going to miss this.  

So in the meantime after getting this news I had to head to the hospital for my first clinical day. This day was strictly orientation with the unit we will spend this rotation on. Unfortunately our unit is moving to a brand new location with the same hospital during this rotation. As soon as we figure out where things are we will have to do it all over again. We didn't have any patient contact last week as it was only one day (due to holiday on Monday) on site.

My clinical group started in the regular 'med-surg' area so we had to show that we were still able to do the skills we had learned last semester. I spent two afternoons in the lab going over things to make sure it was all still up 'there'! I had an issue with one of the 'Sim' dummies, I was not hearing any bowel sounds and we have to differentiate between, present or absent, hypo, normal or hyper. I was doing well on blood pressure, heart sounds, lung sounds but just could not hear the bowel sounds (and was freaking out).  Turns out that the Sim I was working on was NOT working properly!!! Thankfully when it was time to do my assessment, I passed with no problems.

Later in the week we had an IV lab where we had to learn how to hang various IV's (regular IV, secondary bag and also syringe pump). I was so glad I paid attention to the lecture as it really did go fairly smooth (I just always second guess myself and have to stop that).

I'll definitely be back the end of this week to update all that we were learning this week. Thank you again for following along on this journey.

BACK AT IT!!

Dale and I got to enjoy a wonderful week at Disney earlier this month before all the craziness started back up. This was taken on our Wild Africa Trek at the Animal Kingdom. See the hippo in the water.

Well school started up this past week. The crazy schedules are already starting, the extended work hours to make up for the time I am taking off for school has started. The reading, the lectures, the seminars and quizzes have already started! Wow, it all happened so fast! It seemed summer was just going by slowly while we were waiting for our vacation and BAM, it was over and back at school. As crazy as life is getting, I'm so excited for this new semester.  

This semester will bring a rotation in med-surg (this is continuation and more in-depth of what we were doing last semester in the hospital setting); a rotation in maternity (labor and delivery) and pediatrics! No waiting to get into the hospital setting this semester.  Clinical start this Tuesday (my 30th wedding anniversary)! I'll be starting in the med-surg (general hospital floor) for four weeks before I move on to maternity. We are already learning about IV medications, with more calculations and how to administer the meds. We will actually have an IV lab this week where we will get the hands on practice we need. The following week we will have our childbearing lab. Now I've given birth to three children but never watched someone else give birth. I'm am so excited for this portion of the course.

So while I am watching lectures, reading chapters, going to classes, clinical, seminars and working, I am also still training for the Philadelphia 3-Day for the Cure! In just over one month, I'll be walking 60 miles in one weekend to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer.  I walked the Boston 3-Day for the Cure back in July and had such an amazing time, meeting so many new people in the Pink Family.  This weekend I am leading three - ten mile training walks!  Next weekend for anyone who is up to getting some miles in, we will be doing 18 miles on Saturday (and probably 12 on Sunday)!  

I hope to update my blog weekly like last semester.  So check back often to see what is new.

Where Is The Summer Going???

Well I figured I was going to take the summer off from blogging for the most part, but well I have some news I needed to share. Since school has been off (May 9th), I have truly not looked at my nursing stuff, other than to pack it neatly in a box and get all my supplies put away (so they weren't out in the middle of everything). So as most who know me know that last summer we lost our pug Abbey. Abbey was MY baby and I was more than heartbroken when she crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I could not think about another dog at all. We had Jade (our bulldog) and Mona (our cat) and I was fine with that. Well, once school was done and my time wasn't consumed 150% with clinical or lectures or studying, I started to LOOK, just look for a new pug to join our home. I really was just looking. Then I came across a Petfinder ad for a little black pug named Bella who had been in the foster home for more than six months. She was in a pug rescue in New Jersey and they do not typically adopt out of NJ but since she'd been in the system for so long they extended the borders and DE was included.  

This was the day we brought Bella home! I'm so in love with this adorable furbaby. She has no way replaced my Abbey (and in the beginning I called her Abbey often) but she's another baby who loves me. I am so blessed that I get to take her to work one day a week. She is such a good dog and sits so quietly all day (unless someone comes in and she begs for attention). So, Bella and Jade and Mona have all adapted to life together.

So as summer is flying by, I received a letter from my college a few weeks back. This was the very first time I hadn't received a letter from the dean congratulating me on my grades (I really struggled with that this semester), so I wondered what in the world was I getting from school at this time.

I was shocked and very surprised to see that I had been awarded another scholarship!!! The college has an alumni scholarship and I applied a long time ago because our son, Dale-Ross, graduated from the same college. This scholarship was open to any family member of a graduate (sibling, child, parent). So I am pleased to say that a good portion of my tuition this fall will be paid for!!!  So blessed!

I've spent most of the summer training for the Boston 3-Day for the Cure. Next weekend, July 26-28, I'll be in Boston walking 60 miles to bring awareness and funds to find a cure for breast cancer. I am so excited to be meeting so many new people that I've only known online. The pink family is truly a close knit family and only once you've been involved can you truly grasp the depth of this.

Just a week after returning from Boston, Dale and I are going to celebrate our 30th anniversary (a few weeks early) with a trip to Disney World! So excited to go to our 'happy place'. Then just a couple weeks later school will be starting up. I'm excited and nervous for the next adventure on this journey. I will definitely share it with all of you who have been following along. 

It's Official!!!! I Passed My First Semester!!!

This was a difficult week. All semester as we had exams they were always one week apart making it a little easier to concentrate on what material we were being tested on. I had planned to spend all weekend studying, BUT, Sunday was the Broad Street Run (this is held the first Sunday in May each year). For those not familiar with this, it's the largest 10-miler in the US. People come from EVERY state (and other countries) to run this race. It's a fast race since it is virtually flat (with a gradual down hill slope most of the way). This would be my fifth Broad Street Run, but the first I would be running without properly training. School has taking a bite out of my time to train for running, so I was not sure at all how I would do, but I was determined to give it a shot. Aubre and I left home just after 5:30 Sunday am to head to Philly.  

We joined 40,000 (yes, 40-thousand) other runners and most of them had on red socks in support of Boston. A notice had gone after the Boston Marathon to wear red socks for the Broad Street to show your support for Boston. It was a task finding those red socks, but I did and joined the ranks of red socks all around us. In addition to the red socks, we had stickers we wore over our hearts that read "From Philly to Boston with Love".

It was a difficult race since I was not prepared but I did finish my fifth Broad Street Run and am proud to say it was NOT my slowest time!!!

So back to the real reason for my blog. . . So after getting home from our race (and two hours sitting in traffic to get home), I finally started back in on my studying. Came home from work on Monday and started right back in. Tuesday, I had taken the day off so I could study for several hours before I had to go to school to take my exam. The stress, the anxiety, it was awful. There were times I thought I was having a heart attack (panic attack most likely). I then repeated this same process Wednesday and today, Thursday for the last exam of the semester.

So as disappointed as I was on Tuesday to get a C for the semester in my one course, today I was elated to get that same C.  I was so very afraid that I just wouldn't make it.  I'd heard many of times that 60% of the students fail this exam. If I scored really poorly, it was possible that I would not be able to go on. No matter all the other things I learned and did well on, bottom line is the exams.    

I never in my life thought I would be pleased to get a C, but I've been told again and again that "C's get degrees" and I'm beginning to realize that.

So as this semester officially ends, I am now a 'second semester' nursing student. Classes start up the end of August with clinical starting the very next week. So excited to be moving on to mother-baby nursing (in addition to more 'med-surg'). I can't wait to learn some more. 

I plan on taking the summer to 'relax' a little and to read up on what I learned this semester to keep my brain working. I will try and do some updates throughout the summer if there is anything special to report. Oh wait, there will be!!!  I am going to Boston the end of July to walk the 3-Day for the Cure there (in addition to the Philly 3-Day in October). I am looking forward to meeting some other amazing 'Pink Family' people!!!

Thank you for following along on this journey. I hope to continue this throughout the remaining semesters.

  

Last Week of Clinical of First Semester

I didn't get a chance to update after clinical since we had a group project to do and then completely immersed myself into studying for my final two exams!

This was supposed to be our last week at the nursing home but due to an outbreak of a virus we were unable to go there. We did get to return to the hospital for our final two clinical days (I loved doing our clinical in the hospital so that was a bonus). It was nice to get to see (and have dinner) with the other half of our evening clinical group.

Monday night I was assigned to a patient who was blind and hard of hearing. My patient was not doing well at home where their spouse was no longer able to take care of them. I was able to use the therapeutic touch and speaking to communicate with my patient. As long as I was able to let my patient know when I was there, my gently touching their arm, and speaking very closely letting my patient know exactly what I was going to do.

When I arrived Tuesday, my patient had a visit from their spouse who has able to give me some ideas of what food I might be able to entice my patient to eat. Finding out that someone likes pudding or ice cream was an added bonus. My patient did not eat well the first night so I was really happy that they did eat for me that second night.  

A few of the things I was able to do this week at clinical were dealing with my patient and their Foley catheter; recording I&O's (intake and output) to make sure my patient is staying hydrated; providing music (via the tv) for my patient to have something to calm them during their stay.  For the most part I had no issues with my patient but occasionally my patient was agitated.  Just before leaving for the evening my patient pulled out their IV so I was able to observe when the IV team came down to replace it.  

I was sad when we had to leave the hospital since I truly enjoyed each thing I was able to do there. I look forward to heading back in the fall but in different areas of the hospital.

After finishing up the clinical part of the semester we had a group project we had to finish and present to the other first semester nursing students. Our subject was Healthcare Acquired Infections. Our group wasn't the best at 'working together' but when all was said and done we got our project done! Here is our clinical group! These are the people I have spent the last four months with.

I finished up this week with major studying. Up next the final two exams of the semester!

From the Operating Room to Public Speaking

Well we are really getting down to the wire here. Only two more weeks of school left. Two more nights of clinical and then two exams and one group project.  Hard to believe we are almost at the end of the semester.  This will be the first year I am not taking a summer course since starting this journey three years ago.

So this week started with my OR (operating room) observation. I was hoping for some 'good' surgery to observe but unfortunately my 'day' I was assigned was 'joint' day at the hospital. I arrived just before our designated time (I am always early for school and clinical and was freaking out that I was going to be late) and found that another student was already there and shortly after I arrived the third student assigned to this same day arrived. We were met by an OR nurse who then took us to the locker rooms where we changed into hospital scrubs and 'geared' up for the OR. We were each in separate OR's watching 'similar' surgeries. I was with Speedy Gonzales. This surgeon was already on his second surgery at 8:30 am. I arrived in the room where surgery number three would take place. I watched as the scrub nurse prepared a LOT of equipment. I was going to see a left knee replacement. It was amazing all the tools needed. Soon they brought the patient in and I found out quickly that they are not put under general anesthesia for this but more of a spinal block and then a twilight or light sedation. Was a little creepy when the patient was coughing and gagging. (Too much TV surgeries where everyone is out cold, haha). So I watched as the cut into the knee and the sawed and pulled and hammered and I started to get 'hot'. I didn't feel sick but got worried I might have an issue so I was able to sit and watch and then I was fine. I certainly did NOT want to pass out and contaminate the entire sterile field (or hurt myself, haha). As soon as the surgeon was done with this patient, the Physicians Assistant stepped in to close the surgical site while the surgeon moved to the next surgery. After this patient was done we wheeled them off to the recovery area and it was back to the same operating room where it was already being prepared for the next surgery. It was amazing to see how much of a TEAM these group of medical professional are. The next surgery I was able to observe about 3/4 of it was a total hip replacement, but soon it was the OR nurse calling for us to prepare to leave.  Our 'shift' was over. It was truly an amazing experience and I hope to get to do it again (only a 'cooler' surgery would be good)!

After I finished at the hospital it was off to the school where I needed to finish up some mandatory lab hours. Shortly thereafter I get a call from one of my fellow students from my clinical group telling me that they were sent home from clinical this day due to a virus going through the nursing home. Wow, I certainly don't want to catch whatever is going around, so I am very happy that the school takes our health into consideration at times too.

On Tuesday since we were still unable to return to the nursing home, we had our clinical time in the lab at school. We had several simulations set up where we had to assess our patient or provide care for another patient, we practiced would care, diabetic testing and insulin shots and 'comfort' care for an elderly 'patient' who suffering from Alzheimer's. After I did this simulation, my instructor told me she felt my 'calling' was possibly for hospice or nursing home area. I told her I wasn't so sure, as I get 'attached' to my patients (in a matter of minutes)! We did get to work on SimMan again. It's crazy how 'life like' he can be. His eyes react to the light when you are checking PERRAL (pupils, equal, round, react to light and accommodation). He also had various lung sounds, pulse rates, blood pressure, you name he can probably do it.

We had a good afternoon of clinical and it was good to go over some things we learned much earlier in the semester. Always good to review.  

Well, today was a luncheon I had been invited too. It was in coordination with the scholarship I received a few weeks ago. The school likes to bring the donors and recipients together to see how the donors money is making a difference.  I was looking forward to this luncheon UNTIL I got a call earlier in the week asking if I would speak at the luncheon. I was told, just something short to give my 'story'; why I chose this school and how this scholarship will help me.  SURE, I said, no problem. And then I started to freak! I am not one who like to speak in front of people. I love to talk, but 'having' to talk is not the same thing. 

I had stressed about this 'speech'. I initially thought, I'll just 'read' my thank you letter that I wrote to the organization that awarded me my scholarship. Then a friend said 'don't read' just put bullets down and go from there so I tried that but found I was adding to much to my bullets. So today about an hour before leaving when a co-worker asked if I was 'ready or nervous' and thought oh no, I don't really have anything 'ready'. So I grabbed my note card and looked at my thank you letter and threw it all away. I put three one line notes on a 3x5 card.  

So I arrived about 10 minutes before the start time, got my name tag and was told what table I seated at. I then went into the conference center and found my 'place' at the table (there was a card with MY name on it!). I looked at the program that was laid at each place setting and FREAKED OUT!

My name was right there, I really was going to be speaking to this group (thankfully a smaller group of about 50 people). I got very nervous, my hands were shaking, my insides were shaking. Little by little everyone arrived and we started the luncheon. It was nice to just have 'normal' conversation while eating and getting to know the other people at my table. There were two other students at my table along with one donor and three faculty members.  We shared a little about who we were, what we were doing and enjoyed not thinking about that speech. So then it was time. The VP was up first. He recognized all the donors in attendance and the students. It was then time for the other student to get up and talk (thank goodness he was before me)!  He seemed all confident but was nervous too. He pretty much read his speech and told the audience he was doing that to make sure he didn't forget anything. Then it was my turn. Oh my gosh, deep breath, again, breathe!!!!

I walked up to the podium. I introduced myself and pretty much let it roll. I told them that I love to talk, but I don't love to 'have' to talk and that I was truly shaking! I explained how I worked in a small Christian school for many years and got to 'play nurse' since we didn't have one. I finally decided when I 'grew up' what I wanted to do. I explained that I chose this college due to the wonderful things I'd heard about the program I am involved in. I made people laugh when I mentioned how I attended an 'Nursing Information Session' roughly three years ago and thought NO WAY could I do that, it will take forever to get into the program. But I registered in May of 2010 for my very first college course. I tackled each one and just this past January I started the clinical portion of the program!

I went on to tell them that this scholarship meant so much to me. I actually cried when I received the call that I was awarded this scholarship. I teared up at this point and so did a few of the ladies there. I explained that my husband works two jobs and I work almost full time and we truly live paycheck to paycheck (like so many others). I told them how I had to take a student loan this semester. I hated the fact that I had to do that, but $1200 in book store charges alone this semester were far greater than the financial aid I had received. I told them that I hoped this scholarship would enable me to attend the fall semester without having to take another loan. I thanked the donors who have made so much possible for so many students and I think I looked down at my 3x5 card and said 'out loud' 'Well I guess I covered everything'!!  

I was told over and over by many in attendance that I should never underestimate myself, I am a wonderful public speaker. The Dean came over to congratulate me along with several other 'high up there' school officials, each saying how well I did, how my 'story' was touching.  The student who spoke before me asked 'Hey, I thought you couldn't talk in front of people, did you practice that?' to which I replied, NOPE!  I just let it roll. I was able to finish my lunch and then it was time to head back to work. I don't think I actually stopped shaking until I was back at my office!

I will have  just a few more updates before taking a little break for the summer. I pray that these last few weeks go smoothly and that all the information I am learning stays up in my brain where I need it!

Failing - Not An Option

I've been receiving information for that past two years from about Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.  It's a Honor Society specifically for Community Colleges.  I finally bit the bullet and joined.  I've had a good GPA since starting this journey, but worry about the required GPA to continue as a member during these difficult two years of clinical.  This will hopefully encourage me to keep my grades up (and not just 'passing').  So, I am officially a member The Alpha Epsilon Zeta Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.   Now I just have to keep my grades at the required GPA to continue in it.  I've not had a chance to attend a meeting but will get to one in a few weeks before classes are over for the semester.

At the very start of our shift we received notice of the bombing at the Boston Marathon.  It was scary, as the alerts came in via phones and tv's around the hospital.  So it was with a heavy heart that I started my last week of hospital clinicals.

So this was our last week doing clinical work at the hospital.  I was bummed as I really enjoyed this time.  And due to scheduling, I wasn't going to have a patient this week.  Monday was my turn as the Team Leader.  In that role, we shadowed our instructor, got reports on each patient that our students had and assisted where needed.  I didn't think I would enjoy this but I really did.  I liked being able to help others.  Last week we worked on parenteral meds so each of the students in my group would have to give an injection this week since we are no longer able to provide medications at the nursing home we will be doing our final two clinical weeks with.  So as Team Leader I accompanied the instructor and the student nurse to the patients room where the student nurse gave the injection.  Those that went before me all had to do insulin injections with the insulin pens.  So there isn't to much to mess up.  When it was my turn, I was shocked that I had to give a heparin shot (this is a blood thinner that helps prevent blood clots in patients who aren't able to ambulate).  So thankfully, my instructor, allowed me to review all the steps in giving this shot.  She tried to trick me up by handing me two different syringes.  I was smart enough to know that (after checking the patients medication administration record) my patient to receive 5000 units or 1 mL of heparin.  The one syringe my instructor gave me would only hold .5 mL so I knew right off that wouldn't work.  We were taught exactly what to do the previous week in lab, so I knew that I had to inject 1 mL of air into the vial of medication and then withdraw 1 mL of heparin.  I was to inject this in to the patients abdomen.  Since the patient had gotten their injection that morning in the lower right quadrant I was to inject in the patients lower right quadrant.  I was very nervous at first, but did as I was taught and BAM, it was over!  I did it and I the patient didn't flinch, so I guess I didn't hurt them.  I was on cloud nine that I had done something else that I'd been taught!

The next day, I was on IV observation.  Our hospital has their own team of IV nurses that go all over the hospital starting IV's, assessing those that had been started earlier (or elsewhere), changing the locations as a problem arose.  I'll tell you these nurses move.  We got called to the ER to only get there and find out the patient had been sent to radiology so we were off to another unit at the very opposite part of the hospital.  This went on the entire time so it's obvious these nurses move all shift long.  We got a short break for dinner and then I was able to follow another team of IV nurses that had to start a PICC line.  This IV is inserted through a vein in the arm and threaded up the arm, into the superior vena cava (near the heart).  This procedure took a lot longer than a 'normal' IV and is done under sterile asepsis.  I was so glad I had the opportunity to observe this and the other procedures this night.  It was a great last night at the hospital. 

I was sad as we left knowing we won't be back until the fall but we will get back there.

So today was my sixth exam of the semester, the third of this course and I failed my exam.  I've not failed anything since starting this journey and I was heart broken and ashamed.  I was not going to share this as I am embarrassed that I didn't' do well on this exam, but I have to say I have worked my bottom off for the past three years  next month and failure is NOT an option!  I will work this much harder so that hopefully this never happens again.  I'm very nervous as it has been rumored that 60% of all students FAIL the final exam in this one course!  I thought surely this can't be true but now I'm beginning to wonder.  I know several others who also failed this exam and they also have never gotten a grade this low.  I have to say my failure was a 70, passing is a 75.  I still have a B average for this course but I truly want to makes sure I don't drop any further.  The last two exams of this semester are both in less than three weeks.  Our exams are usually a week apart but not the final two, we have them both in the same week.  And the material in both of these courses is much more difficult.

So I end this week with lots of studying to do this coming weekend.  I have a motorcycle ride with Dale on Saturday and I'm going to spend some quality time with him as we don't see each other to often these days.  On Monday I will get my turn in the Operating Room for observation!  I've heard all kinds of reports from students who have already done this and the only complaint has been the 'smell' of burning flesh.  I'll see how that goes and will update you next week.