(either The Jackson 5 or Britney Spears - your choice)
1 - It's freezing in my house, but I don't want to turn the heat any higher. I can hear my dad in the back of my head saying, "Put on a sweater!" Well, I already HAVE a sweater on (dad), but I guess I'll go find my robe. My dad's frugal gene is waaayyyy to deep for me to try and chunk it out of my genetic makeup.
2 - I had my second clinical evaluation today - this time with my new fave instructor. She was pleased with my progress, and thought that I was doing critical thinking with the information that I DID have (there is still SO MUCH more to learn...). One thing though - her last sentence of the evaluation said something to the tune of how it wasn't required in clinical for me to be so perky, and that I needed to learn that it's OK to cry with patients. I was like, ummmm can we talk about this?? It's funny because I was a cheerleader for one year in high school and I hated it - I hated this spirit fingers and the happy-joy-joy look we were expected to have. I am usually a sarcastic, semi-mean person who keeps it all candy coated. However, it seems that in clinical I'm PILING on the candy-coating, in order for the patient to feel better and/or for me to bury my emotional side. Then, I usually come home and disintegrate into a million pieces over something little. Welllll, let's just say that my clinical instructor was supportive and understood, but encouraged me to get it out throughout the day and not let it build. Sigh. I'm working on it.
3 - Mike has installed the hardware on the kitchen cabinets and has all of the bottom ones installed!!!! They look SO LOVELY - SEE???As a reminder, this is what it looked like when we bought the house: I'm so excited. Now if only we could get the rest installed, paint the walls, install the wainscoting, lay down new floor, replace the mini-blinds, and install the light over the sink... we would be in business!
Sometimes I wish I was better at certain things - not philosophical things or mental things - but hnadys dirty get in the mud and fix it things.
Like my care stereo. M's friend left a stereo in M's trunk more than a year ago. And I finally went out and bought the adapter kit so we can pimp out my '92 Honda - and by pimp out I mean I'll finally get a CD player (I haven't had one since the 10-disc changer it came with konked out 5 years ago).
BUT I don't know how to change out the radio/stereo/thingie. Yes thingie. That attests to my utter ignorance right there. I have googled this multiple times, but I'm terrified. I could just get M to do it - but he doesn't get home until it's dark, and I have to work tonight and I'll be taking my car, and then he'll leave for work tomorrow and SUDDENLY it's Thanksgiving and I have to drive to the parent's house with just the radio to keep me company. Sigh.
It's other mechanical-ish things too. Like my washer is making a weird gurgling sound. And I want to install the new light we got for over the kitchen sink. OH and there is a KITCHEN SINK IN MY TRUNK that needs to go where the current sink is residing. But alas, I need the beefcake (aka M) for all this shit. And it annoys me a LOT.
Because what if I wasn't married? What if M didn't know how to do all this stuff? I would be out in the COLD sistah-friend. So the solution? JUST DO IT, right? Well, I would ... but I am REALLY Type A and I don't like messing things up - and how crappy would it be that we have all this cool stuff and due to my impatience it gets all messed up??? Not cool.
Was AWESOME. But I am still concerned that Stephanie Meyer may have put mental crack into that series ... my friend S looked at me after the movie and said to my mom, " See what this series does to a grown-ass woman? Now imagine the effect it has on my students, who are 10 years younger with no real relationship to compare it to! It sets them up for disappointment."
She has a point.
BUT I think my friend E ALSO had a point by saying - "Well, they would feel the same way about Mr. Darcy if they had read Pride and Prejudice. True dat E, true DAT. I love me some Mr. Darcy... that letter to Elizabeth is sooooo good. =)
Soooooo today was our clinical simulation day - we dress up in our MSON uniforms and go through a 30-minute session with a "patient" (one of the sim dummies). Now, the simulation is unrealistic for several reasons, one being that we were working in groups of THREE - and each of us got a job: Med nurse, assessment nurse and communication nurse. I pulled communication nurse (whooo hoooo lucky #3!) so I had to talk to our "nurse" and "doctor" (one of the instructors).
Well, my job was easy. And we all did pretty well. But that really isn't what my story is about - it's about the movie that they showed BEFORE my group did our simulation. We watched "Wit" a HBO movie (I think) about a woman with Stage 4 metastatic ovarian cancer - Emma Thompson plays the patient. Let's just say that I had a stack of dry tissues before the movie began, and afterward they were all moist and rolled up into balls. Sigh.
BUT. I had a moment of revelation during the movie. I want to be a nurse. This may seem silly to those of you that know I've been in nursing school for OH about seven months (btw, sheesh) now ... but school's been full of uncertainty up to this point. But now ... after my moment ... I really feel like God has been pushing me toward this for a while. Yes, God. I don't know what or who else could have figured this out - 'cause it SURE wasn't me.
It was something in the movie - the fact that the Fellow was a complete ass-clown, and that the patient had no family (or really friends). The nurse actually cared about the person, not just the petri dish the patient had become to the doctors. There is something inside me that feels drawn to helping people - and for the longest time I wanted to be a doctor to do just that. But - no offense to my med school friends - doctors figure out a lot of stuff, but aren't THERE for the patient. They aren't the ones that talk to you, or get you what you need, or make sure you're feeling ok, or helping you through something hard - that is all the nurse.
So. Good day. Now I just need to get all my nutrition and upper GI stuff straight so I can stay IN nursing school. Ha. That would be ironic, wouldn't it?
I love literature, and books in general ...but I also love pop culture. I am obsessed with PerezHilton.com, and I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL FEBRUARY for the last season of LOST. (Will Jacob be back? Will we figure out the smoke monster? How will Juliet be involved? SO. EXCITING.)
Whew.
Anyways, I am ALSO counting down to the New Moon movie. YES I know it is actually playing at midnight tonight, but I have a clinical simulation tomorrow and I can't GO. (and it's sold out...) BUT I'm going on Sunday afternoon with my bestest friend, her roommate, our other friend, my mom (who currently has a "Robert Pattinson as Edward" screen saver) and my co-worker. I can't wait to sit in the dark for hours and lose myself, regressing to my teenage years. Happiness. =)
ALSO I am currently obsessed with Lady Gaga's new song and video - Bad Romance.
She is freaking awesome. And so are those clothes. And makeup. Sheesh.
That's all. I just wanted to geek out on ya for a sec. OH my friend Shannon started a blog - http://shannonedgerton.wordpress.com/ - she is amazingly talented (I need to get her to design a layout for me) in all things creative. Check her out!
Just two photos tonight - First up, my new SHOES by Christian Siriano for Payless ...
Fierce. (PS - that is me in my rain-soaked cords, trying on the shoes at my local Payless store. Did you KNOW that you can ship anything from the WEBSITE to a STORE for FREE???)
Second, Deacon taking a widdle nap on the ottoman this evening. Sweepy Kitty.
He is so cute!!!! Mmmmk that's all. I have to get back to assessing the GI system and Upper GI disorders. Sigh.
Today’s clinical was an emotionally draining day. My patient was an African-American woman in her fifties, in with a Lupus exacerbation that covered her arms with sores. It literally looked like her skin was sloughing off – there were dark scabs, bright red areas and skin just hanging off her (like when you peel skin after a sunburn). It was extremely painful for her, but very interesting for me and Brenda the wound care nurse. On the surface, my day was full and fairly easy – I was able to administer oral medications on my own (I felt like an old pro, and it really boosted my confidence) and I gave several injections due to the patient’s diabetes. Later on in the day I dressed the client’s sores on her back, chest and abdomen.
Although I only had one patient, I still felt like I was being pulled in 20 different directions and at the end of the day I was wondering how I would ever be able to take care of multiple patients. After talking with a classmate, we decided that a lot of what we as nursing students do with some patients – vital signs, Accuchecks, hygiene – are usually done by techs. This is slightly sad in a way, because doing those tasks for my patient is usually what builds a rapport with them. I guess as my role changes over the next year I’ll learn to adapt and connect with the patient in a different way.
I previously mentioned that it was an emotionally draining day – it didn’t seem that way at the hospital, but I think I just bury everything in order to provide the best care for my patient. Between my patient, who was extremely sweet and in so much pain, and a classmate’s patient, who has an extremely rare form of cancer and was very comfortable with her ileostomy, I just was expending a lot of empathy. I came home and crashed on the couch, watching Mercy on television, and promptly cried (but then it was out of my system). I know that I’m an emotional person, and I wonder how becoming a nurse will affect that part of me – whether I’ll be able to handle all the emotions, or if I’ll become callused to people. I think that as I mature as a nurse, it will come – at least that is what I hope.
Overall, a really good day. I got to see something completely new, cement what we’ve learned in class about Lupus, and be there emotionally and physically for my patient. I hope next semester’s clinical will be as rewarding as this semester’s has been.
As a reminder, this is what it looked like when we bought the house:
I'm so excited. Now if only we could get the rest installed, paint the walls, install the wainscoting, lay down new floor, replace the mini-blinds, and install the light over the sink... we would be in business!
