You Want Me to Do What?

Hey everyone! I feel like I apologize for not writing more often than I actually write anything worth while, so just a quick sorry! What's new with me you ask? Well I took my first check point two weeks ago. The grades were pretty good, I'm pleased with them overall. It was definitely a humbling experience, I expected to have this whole test taking thing down, but nursing school is a totally different ball game. Instead of there being one right answer, they are all right answers, you just have to pick the BEST right answer. Confused yet? Me too.

So last week in clinicals we practiced putting in Nasogastric tubes (or NG tube for short). It was fun, my partner Megan and I were having some trouble on our first try and we opened up our mannequin, unscrewed his stomach and slowly fed the tube through his nasal cavity into the "stomach." After we were POSITIVE the NG tube was in the right place, we screwed the stomach back on, put his chest back on and felt very accomplished! I know it seems a little like cheating, but it was actually very helpful. Has anyone out there had an NG tube put in before? I can't say that I have and I would like to hear someone describe what it felt like. I must be honest... it looked very painful to the girl in the instructional video I watched.

Below is the NG tube I got to bring home! WOO

So this week we practiced ...(drum roll please...) Catheters and enemas!! Sounds pretty right? Oh it was. Well, during my acute care rotation, we put in catheters. It was pretty simple on the mannequin but I have a feeling it won't be so easy on a real person. It was especially hard to insert the catheter on the female, because maintaining a sterile field is hard with a woman. I got to bring home my Foley catheter and my straight catheter today, below are some pictures.

The second picture is a comparison of sizes catheters can come in. I don't know about you but the tiny one on the right that you can barely see, THAT would be my choice! So after catheters, we moved on to enemas. Boy, it was something. I got to test stool samples for blood, insert suppositories, insert vaginal cream and of course give enemas. We had special butt mannequins to practice on! haha.

Last but not least, I have been learning abdominal sounds, heart sounds and lung sounds! I'm bringing my stethoscope to Dallas this weekend so expect to have your body auscultated!

Other than that, nothing is new. I will see you all this weekend.

Rachel, Good luck on the LSAT! I know you will do amazingly!

Love you all,

Chelsea

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Finally, Some Reassurance.

Whew, do I have a lot to tell you!!

Well I made an 88 on the test I took last week. Not bad, especially considering the highest grade was a 92, so I'm pleased. I was expecting an A, but I suppose for my first test, it's not too bad. Last week we did simulation which included providing oxygen. I did really well. My patient was asthmatic and his SPO2 was 88 so I raised the head of the bed, supplied 3L/min of O2 per nasal cannula and his SPO2 stats returned to normal. As promised, I have some pictures of our awesome SimLife Center:

The top left image is the mannequin Noel. Noel has contractions, dilates, and delivers a baby (the baby can be repositioned to simulate different types of births!) SO cool! The middle image is the operating room. As you can see, it has the full anesthisia area and looks very realistic. The bottom picture is sim-man. He doesn't have a specific name, but you can see the technology that is used with him, it's pretty impressive.

Monday I went to a local geriatric center with a group of my classmates and we took vitals of patients for three hours. My experience was not so great. let me walk you through my experience.

First of all, I was a little nervous about taking blood pressure because I am a perfectionist and let it get to me if I mess up in anyway. So I get there and they take me to a locked down wing with about 10 Alzheimer's Patients. Most were non responsive, some couldn't talk, and some were very sad. One lady named Sissy kept asking me how to get home because she wanted to see her kids. It was very sad and I was not prepared in any way to handle the situation. We were to approach the patients and take vitals with their permission. Most patients had no idea what I was asking and didn't like to be touched. I couldn't hear ANY blood pressures, I was so disappointed in myself. I think I let the environment really get to me and psyche me out. Anyways, we were wrapping up and I noticed this woman staring at me. I squatted down to eye level with her and introduced myself. She didn't respond so I said "well I hope you have a nice day, " and as I stood up she said, "well I hope you go to hell" and clawed at my face. I have a little scratch, nothing bad, but it really upset me, (embarrassed me) and I felt very sad for her as well.

That experience really started to get me down. I was worried that because I couldn't hear blood pressures that I was a horrible nursing student. I definitely felt the pressure mounting on me.

Well today I participated in something called Community Medical School

.

It is a lecture series put on by my school and I volunteered to attend each lecture and take blood pressures of the community members that attend. I forgot I had volunteered until today, and I was SO nervous to have to take blood pressures, with my new found disappointment in myself. Turns out, the only other nursing student that volunteered didn't show up. Funny how the universe puts you in certain situations. Well, I heard every single blood pressure and I am so proud of myself. I know it sounds trivial, but I was really worried I wasn't cut out for nursing school. I feel so much better about it now, thanks to tonights extra practice I got! I feel like it was really a sign that I do have everything under control and Monday was not a indication of my abilities in nursing school.

My BIG BIG BIG test is Monday and Tuesday of next week. My didactic, or written portion of the exam is from 9:00 - 3:00 on Monday and my clinical portion of the test is Tuesday at 11:00. I feel somewhat confident. I am going into the sim center on Friday to get some extra practice in. I hope it all goes well. I will keep you all posted!

Thanks for reading and thanks for the great comments.
I love you all!

Love,

Chelsea

Busy, Busy!

Hello all! Sorry for the week long break in my blogging! I promise I think about my blog and hope SOMEONE still reads it. I have a test tomorrow in one of my classes. All of my tests are comprehensive and include information from each class in one test. This test is the exception; I feel like it is a preliminary kind of thing. I am studying my butt of for my test right now as I type though.

ANYWAYS: This week I have already learned a lot.. and it's only Monday? I learned about SPO2 Stats, or oxygenation. My clinical instructor, whom I originally refered to as "drill sergeant" because she calls me "Williamson", well she is very intimidating. But she is an awesome nurse and acutally very nice. I hope I can be like her, assertive but awesome at what I do. (Oh, and she called me Chelsea today, so that was very exciting).

I found out today that next Monday we will be going out into the community and assessing vital signs on hospital patients. I, feeling a little less than prepared to take a blood pressure, asked my other clinical instructor for some advice. I told her I was feeling unprepared for bp and she put me to the test! She put on a double eared stethoscope so she could hear me take a bp. So, I took my friend's blood pressure and was so nervous. I turned, look at my instructor, said "108/78?" and she said "Yes! That's what I heard (well she heard 104/78 but whatever). So i feel better.

I went to walmart today and purchased a blood pressure cuff so when I come to dallas this weekend I can practice on all of you :) Hope you are ready!

I promise to  you I will post sooner than one week from now.

I love you all (at least those of you who still read my blog! )

Love, Chelsea

Beginning of Week Three

Hello all.

Sorry for the delay in posting. Nursing school can get pretty hectic.

Thank you everyone for the positive and encouraging words! I love hearing how much you all believe in me and it gives me motivation when I'm feeling just a little overwhelmed. This week we are learning about mobility, assistive devices and nutrition; all pretty basic stuff. Last week we practiced bed baths and changing an occupied bed and that was fun. I had my first experience with the SimLife Center on Friday. We all split into groups of 4. Each group goes in to the room together and then the mannequin begins talking and telling you of it's concerns or problems. While the groups are in the room, the rest of the class is in the debrief room watching you on a giant TV monitor.

I lucked out and only had to practice washing my hands in front of my classmates, but others had to change sheets, take vitals and give bed baths. Most of the people didn't know what they were doing and that seemed embarrassing.

Clinicals can be frustrating for me because I want to be the best nurse right now and I want to be the best student but practice makes perfect and I need to practice a lot more.

Here is a picture of me and a few of my friends during clinicals. We were practicing putting on personal protective equipment!

That's it for now!

I love you all!

Love, Chelsea

Week 1 Down... Two Years to Go?

I completed my first week of nursing school!

( This is at about 06:00)

Whew. Things are pretty overwhelming. I have already read 5 chapters and completed 4 hours worth of online learning. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it feels like it when you don't have that much time available to begin with.

We had orientation for the hospital and the simulation center called Sim Life. The Sim Life Center is SO amazing, it's really top of the line. The sim life center has mechanical patients - seems pretty typical right? Well, not these mannequins. These guys can talk, blink, their eyes dilate, they have lung sounds & heart sounds (both of which can be altered by a computer). They can also bleed, give birth and many other things. I am so impressed with this simulation center. I am going to be so prepared because I will get to practice on awesome dummies. The website isn't updated with pictures of the new center, but once it is, I will post some of the info.

If anyone wants a tour, let me know! We are so proud of our center and visitors are always welcome.

On another note,

One of my clinical teachers told us that we weren't allowed to stand in the hallways of the hospital talking with other students, because we looked "like a giant blood clot." It made me laugh :)

There is so much more to say, but I have CPR & First Aid tomorrow morning 8:00-5:00 so I'm gonna get some rest.

Please be thinking of my dad & sending him love and light. He is not feeling so great right now and I think the universe has a way of delivering positive energy to us when it is given. So send him tons of positive engery. Dad, I'm thinking of you everyday. I love you so much.

Love you all,

Chelsea

First Real Day of School

Hey everyone. I had my first real day of class today and I met all of my professors. It was a fun day. I know a lot of people have asked me about my schedule and the specifics. I don't have ALL of the specifics but I have most of them and I thought I would share that with you all. For the privacy and safety of myself and my school I won't go into total specifics and I won't ever be mentioning exactly which nursing school I go to, but most of you already know :)

So for the most part I will have

So, as you can see, I have Wednesdays off, but as it was explained to me, Wednesdays are "prep" days to prepare for clinicals coming up and do any and all required readings. Seeing as tomorrow is Wednesday I do have the day off, but I already have a ton of readings to complete.

Also, something else I am excited about that my fellow nurses/nursing students may appreciate is: My school provided us with what is called the ATI NCLEX-RN Success package and it's about $350 worth of books.    ( FINALLY, something I didn't have to pay for ) And these books will be used as apart of our class, so we are getting a total of 9 books worth of NCLEX prep. I thought that was really an awesome way to integrate test prep into the classroom setting.

Another thing I learned today is that we will only have 3 tests this whole semester. Each test will cover materials we learn in each class, so instead of taking 4 tests for 4 classes, I only take one integrated test which should promote critical thinking and connecting the dots. To me this makes a TON of sense. Nurses don't chop their material up piece by piece, they absorb it all. My school is awesome!

I miss all of my friends and family but just wait until I come visit you. I will be taking your vital signs like crazy just to get some extra practice.

Oh P.S. Aunt Holly,

Today I wore my necklace that you got me for graduation. It was my motivation today and a reminder that I am going to be an awesome nurse. Thanks for the awesome gift!

I love you all!

Oh and here is a favorite quote of mine (photo courtesy of Russell Neill) to end my post

"Hope is the Pillar that Holds up the World"

New Scrubs & A New Attitude!

Hey family!

I miss you all so much already and have only been gone a few days. Since I arrived in Lubbock, I feel like I have been going non-stop! I picked up my scrubs, some last minute school supplies, and some organizational items for my office in my room. Nursing school is expensive! 
So, I got my my new scrubs!
Pair #1

and Pair #2

Not sure if you can tell a difference in the two pairs, but I promise they are different! When I first bought the scrubs I HATED them. Not one piece seemed to fit me right, and believe me, I tried on every pair in the store. But when I put them on today, I realized I really love them and feel so ready to start nursing school now. (Thanks mom for the scrubs! Thank you Russell for the tennis shoes! and Thanks Aunt Holly for the stethoscope! )

Also, I recently purchased my 9 required text books! They are huge books!
  Guess I will have a lot of reading to do. But I don't mind because each book is about nursing and I can't imagine any of the information being boring!

Well I start school Monday. I have a test that day so that should be fun. I guess it is foreshadowing of the next two years. BUSY

Hope you like the blog! Just want to keep you all informed. Love you all!

Love,
Chelsea

Quote of the Day

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" - Henry Ford

Past Quotes to Live By

"You can have anything you want if you want it desperatley enough. You must want it with an exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the engery that created the world." - Sheila Graham