Wednesday, May 12, 2010

First Semester....Check!

Woohoo! I finished my last exam today. My first semester of nursing school is officially over. I ended up with a B in theory and A's in Lab and Clinical. I am okay with that. An A in theory would have been nice, but you take what you can get. I really am amazed at what I've learned this semester. It seems like it went by really fast. I've got a couple of weeks off an then it's on to mental health.

Time to go do something fun......


-DV

Friday, May 7, 2010

Nearly There

I've only got two more tests to take and then I'll be done with my first semester of nursing school. WooHoo!!!! I had two meetings yesterday. Well, I was supposed to have two meetings yesterday. First I make it up to the school first thing yesterday morning for a meeting with my clinical instructor. You know, the one I've had issues with all semester long. She didn't show up. No email. No phone call. No nothing. There were other students who had signed up for a meeting with her as well to go over our final evaluations and sign off on skills that we've performed this semester. The office secretary finally called her and she said that the meetings were moved to next week due to "time constraints". Apparently, she said that she sent an e-mail to everyone, but somehow that e-mail never actually got to any of my classmates. I cannot begin to tell you how glad I'll be when I'm done with this instructor.

My second meeting yesterday was for my Mental Health paperwork that had to be filled out before the summer semester begins. I'm going to a "government" run facility for my clinical this summer and there is apparently a LOT of red tape to get through. I'm looking forward to the experience though. Can't wait!

My family is leaving for the weekend this afternoon and I'll have two full days to study. Yea! I'm not too worried about my theory and skills exams next week. Skills should be fairly easy to begin with and I've already secured a high B in theory (no chance for an A however) and I really just need to review the important concepts.

I keep dreaming of the day when I have a full time RN job. It's going to be so cool!

-DV

Saturday, May 1, 2010

I Can See the Light

Well, the end is near. I had my last clinical day on Thursday, and I have only one more week of classes before finals. I am really going to miss my clinicals. I have learned so much by working with nurses and watching them do their thing. I will say that I have learned more from the clinical experience than I have in the skills lab or in theory. I suppose the hands on training works well for me.

I've got one more lecture to attend on Monday as well as one more skills lab to attend on Tuesday. I'll be so relieved when those are over. Then I can start the big push towards finals. Time to start reviewing everything I've learned this semester... It is going to be a long week, but I feel comfortable that I can make a decent grade. When finals are over, I'll have a couple of weeks to hang out and do nothing...NOT. I'm actually looking forward to reviewing my anatomy which is something I've wanted to do all semester, but haven't had sufficient time to crack open another book. I'll also begin to prepare for Mental Health nursing this summer. That starts in June. I've been assigned to a great hospital in a large city. I'm sure I'll see all kinds of things. I've already heard many stories about other nurses mental health rotation.

After my mental health summer classes I'll have some time off before the fall semester begins. I'm looking forward to that in a big way.

I'm off to finish my final online lessons for skills.

-DV