It's Been a Rough Week.

This week has challenged me more mentally and physically than any other week of nursing school. Returning from my relaxing week back home, I literally hit the ground running - I was going to miss the streetcar and have to wait another twenty-something minutes for the next one. I had several meetings scheduled and events to arrange as well as homework and working out. Yet with all that I am doing, I could not outrun the cold that is going around campus. I am currently fighting, tooth-and-nail to get over it, but for some reason, I cannot shake it! I need not tell you how FRUSTRATING IT IS.

With all that is going on, I am more frustrated with the sources of my friends' worries. One of the biggest concerns has been clinical sites that lack concern for residents to the extent that the residents are not receiving adequate care. Another concern has been our research course, which does not seem to satisfactorily prepare nursing students for the papers assigned. The last major concern has been keeping track of all the assignments due for each class. Although it does not seem like a significant concern, the Linfield nursing curriculum is linked with four classes a semester that must be taken concurrently and sometimes course assignments seem to run into each other because they are similar in topic.

 It is unfortunate that some clinical sites do not provide adequate care for its residents, however, as nursing students we should take that upon ourselves to make a good example. This is what we are taught to do - to develop our critical thinking skills and make the healthcare community better as best as we can! It seems daunting for a first semester nursing student, but we are also adults with two years of education behind us.

As far as our research course goes, I applaud students' efforts to go above and beyond realistic expectations of educational standards of nurses. Not many nursing students will go into research, but they still feel the need to learn the material. The students are struggling to write a literature review. Not only have we had very little experience with APA formatting, we do not understand the structure of a literature review. It is one thing to have very little instruction but plenty of resources and it is another thing to have very little instructions and very little resources. Fortunately, students have bonded together and commiserated over the lack of collective knowledge.

The last concern my friends' had was over the seemingly haphazard scheduling of assignments. One piece of advice given to us at orientation was to write all the assignments and projects out in our planners so we would always have a complete reference. The unfortunate part of this, is that professors often rearrange schedules and accommodate to the learning styles of each class. This can form a jumble of problems for those nursing students who like to have clearly defined schedules.

I apologize for my rant, I just want people to realize that nursing students are humans too. My friends and I are all compassionate people that want to be the best nurses, and people, we can be. Nursing school is challenging me in ways I had not even imagined - and it is only the first semester! If all weeks are like this, I may need more support, but I refuse to give in and fall into the monotonous stereotype of a nurse. I am not going to college, putting in this much work, and drinking this much caffeine to end up like that.

Close Your Eyes

As I was walking to the grocery store this morning, I realized how much I love Fall. The beauty that surrounds us in nature this time of year is abounding! I could not help but stare at all the buildings and trees and smile. NATURE IS BEAUTIFUL!

Later on in the day I was administering medications via intramuscular injections (I was giving shots) to the manikins in lab and noticed across the lab that people were self-administering capillary blood glucose (CBG) tests. What was interesting about these people was not the fact that they were voluntarily "sticking" themselves, but that they were not even looking at what they were doing. I understand that for some, needles and probes are scary and feel the need to avert their eyes while experiencing a procedure using them. I, however, feel quite the opposite - I get scared when I cannot watch! My imagination goes wild with all the things that are going on just out of eyesight; it is why I have such a hard time watching horror movies. My paranoia is not unjustified - the vulnerability I experience is discernible.

Much of healthcare relies on actions done out of the presence of patients. Take for example, medication administration. We are taught as nurses to do three checks: one before removing medications, one immediately before dispensing medication to take to the patient, and one at the patient's bedside. Each check assesses the six rights of medication administration: (1) right patient, (2) right medication, (3) right dosage, (4) right route, (5) right time, and (6) right documentation. The checks are in place to prevent medication errors which can possibly lead to harmful effects on the patient. As nurses, we prepare the medications out of sight of our patients and they rely on us to administer them correctly.

After considering the perceived vulnerability during lab, I reflected on my walk earlier today and realized that I could have experienced Fall in the briskness of the air or the sound of crunching leaves beneath my feet. Not being able to observe life makes me uncomfortable, so I wonder why I feel differently toward healthcare. Both closing my eyes and relying on healthcare providers exhibit a sense of trust in the environment or world order. Could it be that human interaction means more to me than interaction with life in general? What does that mean with regards to my life, my character, me as a person? Is this the precursor to an existential crisis or am I just tired?

October Photo-a-day Challenge!

Oh my goodness, I almost forgot to mention the obvious - October is here! The time has come for me to attempt my photo-a-day challenge again, this time with about a half a month of experience under my belt.

The challenge is to Instagram one photo a day based on the parameters written for the day. I got the list from The Idea Room - a website by Amy Huntley, the owner and author of The Idea Room and mother of five.

I will be using the hashtags #foolishinthecrowd, #theidearoom, #photoaday, #instagramchallenge, etc. I know it all seems slightly redundant, but there's social media for you! I will also be tweeting them. My links are all in the contact page, so please feel free to check them out.

Without any further ado, here's the list!

Update: Instagram Challenge!

Thanks to The Idea Room I've got an Instagram Challenge for the month of August! There's an Instagram Challenge for the month of July, but since the month's already half past I'll use the rest of this month as my practice period. Next month I'll be using the hashtags #theidearoom and #foolishinthecrowd. Be sure to be following my Instagram

Instagram Challenge?

I think I'd like to do an Instagram Challenge... I love taking photographs, but I don't have a specific motivation to post any. Are there any recommendations?