Knee Deep

Geez,

There just aren't enough hours in the day. I wake up early and if I'm lucky it's a MWF and I can go run for half an hour before class. If not, I'm on my way to the hospital for six hours. I find that I am spending about six hours a day studying outside of class and clinical and I am just barely staying caught up. I felt really good about the information I had learned during the first week. There was a lot of A&P review on the GI system. I feel like I know that stuff pretty well. It is the critical thinking that gets in the way. I can tell you where everything is and what it does, but when it comes to making decisions based on that information things get a little cloudy. With that in mind, I have my first exam for the semester on Wednesday. I've been able to put myself into a pretty good position for studying. My reading is not only up to date, but complete for this section. I will not have direct patient care next week in clinical due to my RT rotation, so no care plans are due. I've also completed four case studies that are due on Thursday. So what's the problem? I was called in to work this weekend and next. I've got rehearsals and concerts to get through. Now, I'm certainly not complaining about being able to make a little money, but I really want to do well on this exam. At this point it is just a matter of studying. How many NCLEX questions does it take to make an A on Exam One? 1......2.......3.......? :) I guess we'll see.

Lately, I've been contemplating my future career. I go back and forth on the decision to get a tech job somewhere. I want the experience and the opportunity to get my foot in the door. At the same time, I'm pretty swamped as it is. Also, I still don't know where I want to end up in nursing. After last weeks real life CPR training I can see why a lot of people want to go to the ED. It is pretty exciting working in an environment like that. Occasionally I think about CRNA as a future career. The pay is great of course, but will I enjoy it? I'm looking forward to seeing some of that type of work later this semester. I also think about becoming a nurse practitioner. Before going to nursing school I thought about trying to get into medical school. I still have thoughts about that once in a while, but the amount of schooling required just doesn't fit in with my family life. I really admire the people who are willing to make the sacrifice to go to medical school. It takes a lot of dedication. I'm also the tiniest bit jealous. But I am enjoying my life as it is. Now I've got to go and be the best that I can be. Time to study for about six hours before rehearsal this afternoon.

-DV

P.S. Any readers out there want to share your thoughts? Leave a comment. :)