Keeping Ahead of the Race

As I start the fifth week of nursing school I look back at all that I've learned already. I am feeling fairly confident right now because I seem to be on top of things. It does seem though, that the potential to lose control is always right there. It's kind of like walking along the edge of a cliff. Just the slightest breeze will plunge me to my death.

To recap, I had my first exam last week and made a 90%. That's not too bad, but I wish I had done better. The questions didn't seem as difficult as the examples I had been studying from the book and the website. I could have done better, but I went back and changed answers that I had correct because I started thinking too much. Always go with your gut instinct! The questions in nursing school are quite different than in other subjects. They are mostly application questions. (If you're in nursing school, you know what I'm talking about.) The knowledge has to be there, yes, but what can you do with that knowledge. You are given a situation and you must choose the multiple choice answer that BEST answers the question. Yes there may be 4correct answers, but which one really fits the situation. There may even be more than one answer. I can assure you that this type of questioning provides for some very interesting conversations in my head.

This weekend I was able to finish a teaching project for my clinical. Yes, I am a week ahead on this. Yea for me!!!!! It helped that one of my clinicals was canceled last week for embarrassingly petty reasons. Speaking of clinicals, last week I was able to pick out a patient to start practicing on. Muahahahahhhhhhhhh!!!! So far clinical has been just okay. Mostly because of fact that there is a lack of...(how do I put this in a PC form?) leadership continuity? class management? focused direction? well, something like that. For the most part I am realizing that what I get out of clinicals (at least this semester) will be largely up to my own effort to learn from the people around me in the hospital. Time to take the bull by the horns, so to speak.

In skills lab last week we learned how to measure medications and give injections. VERY FUN! Quite frankly, I'm surprise that they don't hand out protective goggles to all of the newbies handling needles. Some of my classmates are a little scary when handling sharp objects.

Overall things are going well and the semester seems to be speeding by at an alarming rate. It'll be over before I know it.

-DV