One Month Down!

Warning: If your are offended by silly mishaps with human anatomy, then I probably wouldn't read the 4th paragraph. =)

So it has been absolutely crazy since I last blogged! I have been studying like a crazy person for the last two weeks. On Monday I had my head-to-toe lab final, and Tuesday was my lecture final for my first class. The head-to-toe went really well. I got a 97%, which I was really pleased with! I missed three points because apparently I didn't have the stethoscope over the exact chest location for the heart sounds. I could still hear her heart loud and clear though, so I didn't see how 1/2 an inch really made that much of a difference. I also got an A on my lecture final...so therefore I got an A in my first accelerated nursing class! I strive for perfection...can you tell?

So when I was in college the first time, Kia introduced me to the idea that if you dress up real nice on test day you will do better because you feel better about yourself. We had to wear scrubs for the test on Monday, so I decided to dress up a bit nicer than usual for my test on Tuesday. I curled my hair and wore some nice clothes with these cute backless clog shoes. I've worn my Uggs practically every day since I've been here, so I was a little nervous about not having them. To get to my car I have to walk down this little grass hill. Well, it snowed a couple inches that night and I decided to kind of walk on my toes through the snow so I wouldn't get the backs up my socks wet. I took about two steps on the grass and slipped and fell flat on my back before I really even knew what happened. Of course the weight of my backpack gave me this amazing momentum and just flung me down before I had time to even stumble. I jumped up real quick and looked around to make sure no one saw me. I was so embarrassed...I just wanted to get to my car as fast as possible. I took a couple more steps and then fell backwards again, much harder this time. I landed on my butt SO hard that it knocked the wind out of me. Needless to say the backs of my feet did not stay dry. At all. I sadly sloshed the rest of the way to my car and wiped off my body with the snow brush inside. The fall kind of jiggled my brain around and I was all discombobulated before my test, instead of feeling good and confident...which was the whole point of wearing those stupid shoes anyways! On Wednesday I wore my Uggs again. I cannot even begin to tell you how sore I am. =)

Tuesday after my final was absolutely horrible. Number one, I was completely exhausted from studying so much and physically taking the tests. I thought that we should have had at least a little bit of a break that evening. Definitely not. I had to study for this silly math test, where I had to relearn all this skills I possessed in the 5th grade...like multiplying fractions and long division. How many nurses do you know that do long division? After that lovely review I was supposed to watch like 12 videos on my computer through this nursing website that we had to pay $75 to even be a part of. I thought it would be a simple procedure of singing up and watching the stinking movies. Again, I thought wrong. I had to download like 5 programs onto my computer to even get to the stupid videos. It was getting late at this point and I was so unbelievably mad at the whole situation and the elementary school math and being exhausted. I just couldn't get the stupid thing to work and I momentarily forgot that I was a mature, problem-solving adult and I just started bawling. Then I called my youth pastor, John. He saved my life, once again. John is just so amazing because he will drop everything to help you. He calmly talked me through my computer issues for 45 minutes. Everything eventually worked out and I watched my ridiculous movies and went to bed waaay too late. I have been here a month now, and this was the first time I had an emotional breakdown...which really isn't bad, all things considered.

Wednesday was catheter day! I walked into the room and there were all of these torsos laying on the beds with drapes over their genitals. Before we got to practice on the dummies my professors gave us a tutorial. Now the dummies are a bit like Mr. Potato Head; they come with attachable parts...but instead of noses and eyeballs and arms they come with vaginas and penises. Very educational. It was a lot like the Price Is Right...you don't know what you're going to get until you lift the curtain! We were instructed on how to do the procedure on a female first, and then they moved on to the male. Our professor reminded us that we need to tell the male, "I'm going to be gripping your penis firmly, sir" and as she was saying this she grabbed his penis firmly and ripped it clean off of the dummy, testicles and all. Now we try to treat the dummies with the same respect we use with real patients, so she turned around and apologized to the genital-less torso, "I'm so sorry for ripping your penis off, sir!" Of course the whole class erupted into uncontrollable laughter. Then she said, "You probably don't want to grip the penis quite that firmly." It still makes me giggle just thinking about it.

Today we learned how to give shots. Fortunately for me, I've been giving my mom an intramuscular shot for 11 years. I still can't figure out why my mom let a 12 year old stick a 1.5 inch needle in her every week. I was expecting to learn that I've been doing the procedure wrong all these years, but I was actually doing it just right! This was exciting for me, because I got to help some of my classmates out.

I also found out what my clinical rotation is today! I'm in a group with MJ, my lab partner from Health Assessment, which makes me really happy. She's a good one. Each clinical is four weeks long. I am starting with pediatrics (working with kids in schools), then long term care, and then obstetrics. This is the exact order I would have chose, so I am awfully excited! I have orientation tomorrow and I start on Wednesday! I also have Fridays off for the next 8 weeks. =)

Please continue to pray that I get enough sleep and that I am confident and prepared going into clinicals next week. Thanks! =D