score one veggie plate

I have short hair again! Phew. Long hair was getting to be too much work, and I'm too busy toadd 3o mins of blow-drying all that hair. I love it. And The Beau loves it, too.

The Beau and I are working on spending less, even saving some. We have set a grocery b

udget and are making more meals from scratch. Last night we had cheeseburger pizza (with special sauce and pickles, to boot!). I started with yeast, flour, salt... you know... like the little birdies say: cheap cheap!

This next photo is another example of our money-saving adventures. Frugalista tip #16: always bring tupperware to a potluck or other event that serves food.

Student Nurse: what the heck happened?

Oh my! How did I get so far behind on the blog?

Well...

This accelerated program is intense! The moments I take away from working/studying I nap or veg out to tv or movies. It's like horse-lips for my brain. Horse-lips are hard to explain, like blowing really big raspberries. Ideally, I'd like to post here more regularly. We'll see how it goes.

:)

Today begins Spring Term, Week One. I'm just going to skip the rest of Fall and Winter terms that I didn't keep up on. Too much to think about today. Maybe I'll reflect on them later. This term I am learning Acute Care and Leadership & Outcomes Management. My clinical placement for the next 5 weeks is in a cardiac unit. I hope I can remember everything I've learned about cardiac (and whole body!) pathophysiology and pharmacology and apply it to my practice. I'm confident about my ability to communicate and interact with patients. I'm confident handling tasks within my skill set, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow and Wednesday when I'll learn some new nursing skills.

Until next time....

love and nursing.

Student Nurse: Fall term, week four

I'm getting in the last of my studying for a midterm I have tomorrow, but I wanted to share one thing. Tuesday we worked a flu vaccine clinic for employees and volunteers at our hospital. I gave SIXTY ONE intramuscular injections. I even got to give one of my instructors her vaccine! Ahahaha the tables have turned!

Student Nurse: Fall term, week three

This week we had our first patients. And I learned patience.

Then we had skills lab. And I learned how to insert a urinary catheter into a latex dummy. And while learning how to dress wounds, I met Seymour Butts.

Not Kidding.

Love and nursing.

Student Nurse: Fall term, week two, take two

Holy crap, who knew they'd be talking about ME when they named my unit trauma?

Okay it's not that bad. I didn't get hurt or pooped on (yet).

But wow did I see some crazy stuff and oh man did that one patient's giant, infected, abdominal wound draining copious! amounts of purulent exudate (pus) SMELL. AWFUL. I could feel my stomach flipping around the whole time I was in her room. Thank goodness I didn't start gagging right in front of that sweet woman, she was already so embarrassed about the stench that she kept apologizing - which made me fixate on it. Oy.

Nosefulls-of-peppermint-chapstick and nursing.

Student Nurse: Fall term, week two

I'm in denial that break is over. I need to get my brain back into school mode. Last week must have been too easy. It was mostly orientation to new classes, and nothing much was actually due this week until Thursday. I used my unscholarly energy for good, though. Did some work around the house and spent some quality time with girlfriends. Tomorrow I will shadow a nurse on the unit. I will look so very nursey. I'm excited for all parts of it... except the getting up at 5am.

Love and nursing.

Back to school!

This weekend I was wishing for another month to play, and honestly not looking forward to going back to school. BUT! Now that I've had one class and my clinical orientation, I'm feeling really good about what this semester has in store for me. I've been assigned to the Trauma and Emergency General Surgery unit - which is where patients go after they clear the ICU following their surgeries. It's far off my mamas-and-babies track, but I knew when I started that I'd be taking a longer road. I'm excited about my assignment. And truthfully, I'm relieved that I wasn't assigned to an elder care facility. I hear they are the hardest to cope with as a brand new student. I don't really need anything extra on my plate right now, you know.