Nate's Blog
January, 2010
Getting a new job as a new grad in Portland is not easy. It used to be oh, about a year ago that new grads were swallowed up as fast as nursing schools could push them out. The hospitals were hungry for new talent, because there was a nursing shortage. Then the economic crisis and hiring freezes all over, while the hospitals waited to see what would happen next with the economy. I do not have statistics, but anecdotally from speaking with student graduating in the last two semesters the job market is still tough, especially for those who are recent graduates. Getting that first job is getting harder, though not impossible.
This is not a run for the hills moment, if you really wanted to be a nurse then this should not even give you pause. There is still a nursing shortage folks do not let the first paragraph fool you, for more detailed info on this check out: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/FactSheets/NursingShortage.htm , I will not go into detail but according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing there is a shortage and it is not going away anytime soon.
So why is it hard to get a job here in Portland as a new grad? Again all of this is purely anecdotal but I have heard from some working nurses that many nurses who would be retiring, due to financial strains are putting that off. Other nurses, who might have only worked part-time, might have to work full-time and even take on other shifts as pool nurses or per diem work to make extra money. In cases like these their husbands or wives might have lost their jobs and the nurse is now the sole earner for the family. In each case afore mentioned case these are experienced nurse. Now, if you are a hospital who are you going to take the experienced nurse or the new grad, I am guessing it will not be the new grad. However this is not always the case. Because some hospitals will take advantage of lower starting pay and the ability to train the new grad in their system. So, again this is all conjecture, based on anecdotal account by working nurses, and other students who work in hospitals, you can get a job it just might not be as easy as it once was.
This will not be so forever though, those nurses who are pushing back their retirement cannot do so forever, and as the economy improves more positions should open up. So what is a nursing student to do in the mean time? The best practical advice I have gotten is from a new grad who just passed his NCLEX and had a job literally days later. This is basically what he told me, approach every clinical experience as an opportunity not only to showcase your skills and work ethic, with you should always be doing, period. But also as a chance to network, and build relationships, get the nursing supervisors email and keep them posted periodically on your progress. This is the person who might potentially hire you. This does not take a lot of time and could land you a job; I think it is worth the little extra effort.
January, 2010
I just got back from a ride, I am a cyclist and I love getting out and putting some miles in. Plus it is a great stress reliever. I also workout and this also helps get those endorphins going. This is important to me because as I learn more about the pathologies that make us sick here in America, most of the chronic ones are lifestyle related. And as a nurse I think it is important to practice what I preach. How am I supposed to tell someone to stop smoking as I am reeking of cigarette fumes because I just finished smoking on my break? Hypocritical? “You betcha,” to quote a vacuous former vice-presidential candidate, it is, I would think, virtually impossible to negate the mixed messages you would be conveying to the client. One the one hand, Mr. or Ms. Professional Nurse is concerned because their clients’ blood pressure is very high and they are a smoker, so the prescription for this client is that the healthcare team is recommending that you, the client, try quitting and get on a regular exercise regiment, as well as modify your diet…ect. However, while the nurse is explaining all of this to you, you cannot help but notice that this nurse is also visibly overweight and smells like an ash tray too. The irony here is thick my friends.
I used to smoke and I can tell you first hand it is really, really hard to quit. That being said if you really want to quit, like I eventually did, you can. How do I know this? It is because I quit, and did it cold turkey; mind you this is after six or seven previous attempts. But the difference I found between success and failure was a true desire to quit. Once I had that the rest was not necessarily easy, but it was achievable. I am living proof of that.
This is not just a personal health dilemma, in fact a hospital in Tennessee now tests for the use of nicotine products along with other illegal drugs as part of pre-employment screening and nicotine use is grounds for not being hired. http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/hospital-tenn-wont-hire-smokers/2010-01-19 This is a controversial move, but when we look at the some of the research of how much more those who do smoke cost the healthcare system.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360912/
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/337/15/1052 It does raise some questions that might not be comfortable to look at, especially if you are a smoker and work in healthcare, but I think it may be time we start trying.
As Healthcare cost spiral out of control, prevention becomes more and more important. Doing things such as eating better, getting regular exercise, and quitting smoking improves both a person’s longevity and the quality of their lives, not to mention it can keep them out of the hospital. So, if these are the things we are going to be advocating for our patient’s to do, then as nurses could it be that we need to start walking the walk with our own health, instead of just talking the talk.
January, 2010
As I continue my studies here at Linfield. I am becoming more and more interested in ICU (intensive care unit) nursing. I love pathophysiology, I am a nerd, I know, and this seems to be the specialty were I would be able to use my knowledge of pathophysiology the most, that and the ED (emergency department).
I am torn as to whether or not I should try to go straight into a specialty or work in a medical-surgical (med-surg) unit and then cross train over once I have gotten some experience working as a nurse. The pros of this route are that I would be able to gain experience while working with patients who are not as sick. The cons are that I would be putting off doing the type of nursing I really wanted, and would not be getting the experience in ICU until later, and this type of experience, you cannot get anywhere else.
Most hospitals offer internships, and/or extended orientations to new grads who are entering a specialized field. So in other words, you get more teaching, on the job training, and some hand holding to make sure you don’t harm anyone while you get over what can be a rather steep learning curve. So, as I get more experience and confidence maybe I will feel comfortable going for the gusto. It remains to be seen.
January, 2010
Just back from my extended Christmas vacation and I am happy to be back, though getting into the student mindset is going to be rough. But I always manage after a week or so to get my head wrapped around the idea of school and then I can go into study mode. My vacation was fun, relaxing and all of that, but the really interesting, and humbling part did not have very much to do with me at all. While I was in California, an earthquake hit Haiti. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, as many of you already know if you have been watching or reading the news at all. Their infrastructure in virtually non-existent and it goes without saying life for most Haitians was very hard even before this catastrophe.
My step-father and a doctor friend of his along with some nurses put together medical supplies and made it to Haiti just days after the initial quake. Now they have been going into the tent cities that have sprung up as the survivors try to cope with the realities of survival, post-quake. I hope to be able to say more about what they have been able to do, and their experiences as I am able to speak with him more. Communication to Haiti right now is tenuous at best.
This area is going to need help for a long time to come. Right now, though unless you are part of an organization that has a plan and is serving a need in Haiti. The word is: do not come to Haiti, as you will just be another person who needs to be taken care of, this is a reality, unfortunately. That being said, there is still a great need for money to buy supplies, such as food, water and medicine. You can go to the Red Cross’ website to donate.
As nurses we will have the opportunity to go and help those in need, especially in underserved areas, like Haiti. I was not able to go this time, but I am sure that, regrettably, there will be no shortage of need for those who are vulnerable in Haiti and around the world, as well as here in our own county. It is humbling to think how many go without basic medical care. It makes me very appreciative of just how good I have it. I hope someday soon I can give a little back.
December 19, 2009
I have gotten a member of the nursing faculty to sign on to review my informative nursing or medical topic posts. Soon my first post should be up. It will be dealing with preventing nosocomial infections from central venous catheterization of burn patients. I know, is that exciting or what? Try to contain yourselves.
This will hopefully be both a learning experience for both me and the reader, and for that reason I am really looking forward to doing them. I mean I get to nerd out on some cool nursing stuff (while getting paid, no less), and then sharing the fruits of my labor with you. It should be good, if I do say so myself. Stay tuned.
December 18, 2009
Standardized testing: is it the bane of a nursing student’s existence, or a way to teach aspiring nurses how to think critically? I must admit I have waffled between both sides of this question, depending on the time of day, and length of sleep deprivation acquired from studying for said tests. The reality is no matter how much we might hate them, at times, figuring out how to take and pass nursing test is vital to ones success as a student nurse. These tests require you to be about 95% prepared and then the other 5% is critical thinking—or is that the other way around? Hmmm, but I digress, we, the nursing students at Linfield take a standardized computer test, called the HESI. It prepares us to take the “big one”, or as I lovingly refer to it. The mother of all standardized nursing tests, you might have heard of it. It’s called the NCLEX.
The NCLEX, along with all the other nursing tests you will typically see have prioritization questions and planning or assessment questions also, just to name a few of the myriad of question types you might see. More often than not, all answers will be correct and it will be up to you to pick the, most, correct or appropriate answer. That is where the critical thinking component comes in. We have critical thinking drilled into our heads all throughout nursing school and it is in no small part because of these tests. But, rest assured these are also the same types of situations and skills you will have to use when really out nursing, only the stakes will be a bit higher. Being able to prioritize, assess and pick the most immediate issue and address it then move on to the next, well that is a big part of nursing. So, while we might hate them at times the standardized nursing tests serve a purpose. That is, other than depriving me of much needed sleep at the end of each semester.
December 12, 2009
Done, and done. I have finally surmounted the mountain that is the second term here at Linfield. I have spoken at length about my experiences and tips for those who might be following me into these classes. So I will not talk more about them here. I do want to say I have learned more than I thought I could, and in a shorter time. I feel a sense of accomplishment. I am looking forward to the holidays, and some sunshine—I am headed south for Christmas! So to everyone who is reading this, and if you are a student anywhere, I hope you had a great term, semester of quarter. Here is wishing you a wonderful and happy holiday. Till next time.
December 12, 2009
I will hopefully be able to start doing a more informative blog post soon, as I talked about the earlier. I have to get a member of the nursing faculty to vet my post for accuracy. This is a good thing as it protects me and those who are reading this blog. But I have not yet gotten a member of the faculty to sign on so, until I do blogging about peer reviewed research or more specific nursing topic is being put on hold. So stay tuned.
Ok, so now to an update on my status here at school. After one of the hardest academic terms I have experienced as a student. I am still alive, of sound body and mind, and very ready for a break. If any new Linfield students are reading this, some advice. You will inevitable hear about just how hard Nursing 206 is. I believe in the new curriculum that is being instated here at Linfield things may be changing. I do not know what the detail of those changes will be, so I will not speak to them here. That being said it may be that if you start say in 2012 you might not even see Nursing 206 in its present form. I do not know. If however you do. Take a deep breath, and put all the negative talk about 206 in perspective. I have just done it. Many others have too. It is a lot of work, but very doable. Getting organized will help you, I think, especially for the second half of the term, which is writing intensive. That is my two cents, this class will challenge you, but not in such a way that you will not be successful if you put in the work.
December 12, 2009
Are you taking care of yourself? At first glance this might seem like a simple question, which merits a simple answer—yes. However, when you look at some other factors like, being a student, a nursing student, and eventually a licensed practicing nurse, then you may want to look closer at this question and I will attempt here to tell you why.
One of the things that we learn in the lecture portion of Nursing 206 is that we as nursing students fall into the high risk categories for the following, depression, suicide, alcohol and drug abuse. We are no better once we get into our practice as nurses along with other healthcare professionals such as doctors have high a prevalence of all the afore mentioned problems.
So the question are you taking care of yourself takes on a whole new meaning when placed into this new context.
Really taking care of yourself can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. A survey of Mental Health Professionals ranked the following as their top-ten coping strategies to help manage the stress that is unfortunately inherent to most all direct patient care. They were listed as the following (in quotations are my comments):
1. Setting boundaries “don’t take the client home with you, or leave work at work”
2. Using humor
3. Maintaining a positive focus
4. Finding ways of being creative “get a creative hobby: write, draw, journal, paint…ect.”
5. Healthy escapes “vacations, taking walks, getting coffee or tea with a good friend, read a good book”
6. Asserting your own rights and needs “ this is a biggie, especially for nurses who by our very nature want to give and give, I think it is helpful here to remember this, if you give all your energy away, and keep nothing for yourself, than there will come a time when you have no energy left to give”
7. Getting involved in other professional activities
8. Reaching out for nurturing relationships
9. Catharting or venting about stress
10. Relaxing “learning to let go of the stress is huge, meditation, a good book, or a hot bath. Find the way that works for you to distress and use it often”
These are just some of the top ideas listed in this survey. There are many others, the point is that you need to put yourself first. If you are not healthy then how can you expect to be able to care for other unhealthy people? It may sound a bit selfish, but when you look a bit closer I think it makes a lot of sense. I would want the person taking care of me to be at their best, healthiest, and well rested. That leads me to a coping strategies that I would add to this list—sleep! As students we do not get enough, and when we are nurses, we may not either. But getting eight hours of sleep is good for you both mental and physical health. Do yourself a favor, and when you can get some sleep!
So now when someone asks you if you are taking care of yourself you can smile, say yes, and proceed to tell them exactly how you make sure you stay healthy so you can provide the most superb care for your clients.
December 12, 2009
As part of a optional clinical experience I observed three involuntary commitment hearings at the Multnomah County Courthouse.
A judge oversees the hearings and makes the final determination as to whether of not a person will be committed. There are two examiners that are certified by the county that serve as the psychiatric experts for the judge. Then there is the District Attorney and the Public Defender, or a private lawyer who represents the person possibly being committed.
I saw three commitment hearings in the space of about four hours but for brevity I will focus on the main themes I noticed from all three. First the judge would explain three things to each of the clients at the start of their hearings: first what a civil commitment was, an involuntary commitment for no less that 180 days; second the legal definition of mental illness, which was someone who was an imminent danger to themselves or others or was unable to take care of their own basic needs to maintain their health and finally what their rights were, and each client had the right to an attorney, to call witnesses and to ask for a continuance if they needed more time to prepare their case.
Of all the cases I saw two were involuntarily committed, and the third and last case was dismissed, and the client was free to go. In this last case as in the others, the examiners, and judge took great lengths to determine if the client was a risk to their self or others and that they could do the necessary things, if let out to, maintain their health. It was very enlightening to see how this process worked. I was impressed with how diligent the court worked to make sure the client’s civil rights were protected. This seemed to be the judges’ foremost concern, along with that of the safety of the clients and the public of course.
November 30, 2009
Here is it is almost December, and I am almost done with another term here at Linfield. I have been furiously writing papers, and though I do enjoy writing, I will not miss the pace of this term. I have learned much about psychiatric populations, and how they are treated, well more correctly stabilized, and then set up with further treatment, at acute locked psychiatric hospital units. The figures are that about 40 percent of all Americans will at some point in their lives deal with a mental disorder. So the chances are even if you do not go into psychiatric nursing you will be seeing these folks, and I believe the ratio is higher in hospital populations than in the general public.
So that has been my goal, learn as much as I can. I will not be going into psychiatric nursing. It takes a special person, and I believe you need to be called to this type of work, or really, really fascinated by it. That is not me, but I will still get a lot out of this rotation, and hopefully I can use that to better serve clients I see with general medical diseases that are comorbid with their mental illnesses. That is my hope at least. Till next time, now I have to go and write some papers.
November 25, 2009
I love this blog so I am going to shamelessly plug it here. It is written by a nurse who is like myself, 29 and a guy. That is where the similarities, other than he is also in nursing school, end. He works as a tech in an ICU, and therefore gets to write about all kinds of really cool nursing, medical, and science related stuff. There is also a good peppering of personal commentary. All in all, this guy writes the blog I wish I could. (Check it out: http://mannursediaries.blogspot.com/#) This leads me to my next point. As someone who comes from a decidedly non-medical background getting into a hospital for the first time can be a daunting task.
A friend of mine who has several years of CNA and OR (operating room) tech experience has been applying to position at local hospitals since last spring and finally got a ward clerk position. That doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence for my odds, but that doesn’t change the fact that I would love to be working in this environment. My friends who do work in acute care settings get to see, and depending on their positions, use some of the skills and theory that we are learning here at school. Talk about reinforcement. So I am working on applying, probably for a while, to everything under the sun as long as it is at a hospital, and then once I am in the system, as it were, maybe I can get into an acute care setting. Wish me luck!
On another note, and not because I am suffering from a little blog-envy—ok may be a little—I am going to try to start doing a little writing on an acute nursing, or nursing, or just medical based topic at least once a month (usually I do about four of these a month) and depending on how that goes maybe more. I will be getting my topics from good scholarly evidence-based resources, so hopefully this will be an opportunity for me and you the reader to learn a little something. I will also include citations so you can go look up the info yourself—until next time.
November 17, 2009
I just got my membership card for LSNA (Linfield Student Nurse Association) the other day, if anyone has gone through the first semester here at Linfield they have heard the pitch, made by our local chapter’s members as to why we should join. I remember one of the students making the remark that even if you don’t get involved in the running of the club; you still need to join, as we have power in our numbers. This stuck with me, power in numbers, why would we need power in numbers? Well that was before I started to look into some of the issues I will be facing in my new career.
One of the big ones, I think, is safe nurse to patient ratios. There has been some good research done on this, and it shows that the more registered nurses you have the better the patient outcomes will be (http://www.nursingadvocacy.org/news/2003sep26_ap.html). Unfortunately one of the first things a hospitals administration will try to cut when lowering overhead, are nurse’s hours. This can lead to increased complications for the clients, nurse burnout, and overall an unsafe environment. So, what does power in numbers have to do with any of this?
In several states there are laws on the books that regulate what safe nurse to patient ratios are. These laws are the direct product of professional nursing organizations advocating for their clients, and their members—the nurses (http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAPoliticalPower/State/StateLegislativeAgenda/StaffingPlansandRatios_1.aspx). LSNA or NSNA (National Student Nurse Association), which you are also enrolled in as a member of LSNA, may not be on the front line of this particular issue, but the professional organizations we can join upon graduation, are. They are our voice and they become louder with each new member. I may not be running for president of LSNA, but they have my support and with my membership and because of many others just like me, they have power in numbers. The idea of being a part of a professional organization is something we as nursing students should be getting used to, and then it is vital that we join them when we graduate and become licensed. These are the organizations that are working to protect your clients and you, and they cannot do it without your support.
October 26, 2009
My 213 clinical taught me some very uncomfortable and important lessons about nursing. Yes, all on my first day, not bad huh?
My fellow student was doing a vaccine clinic so I was going to be on my own for the first day. We had at the request of our contact person put up sign a week earlier (for all you students in 106 this can be a great way to announce yourselves, make a mental note for next year) So I had already planned what I was going to do, take blood pressures and BMI’s. Blood pressures were a hit, BMI’s not so much, but I had a lot of interaction with the persons at my site, and, all in all, it was a great first day. However there was one particular encounter that left me feeling—to be honest completely unprepared, and out of my element. What a great mind set to be in for a learning experience, right? Sort of, after some debriefing and personal reflection, I feel I have learned a poignant lesson, but enough about that here is what happened.
A person came in to have their blood pressure checked; something didn’t add up about them, I cannot say for sure they were confused. They seemed to be alert, and awake, as for how oriented, I did not get to assess that completely other than they seemed to be oriented to person, but still something felt off. As I put the blood pressure cuff on their arm, I noticed something I probably will not ever forget. A red bug the size of a dime crawled out of this person’s other armpit and made a semi circle loop before returning to the same armpit. Now you are probably thinking what some of my fellow student also said, when I brought it up in class. Why didn’t you just get it off the person? And, to be honest I thought about it, I was trying to figure out how the person would react, and I did not want to scare them by just reaching in and flicking it off of them because I was not 100 percent sure there was not some underlying cognitive or behavioral issue, as I said something was a little off in their behavior. It was only a few seconds and this little critter was gone. Due to the possible mental or cognitive issue, and without the tools to do a proper assessment, I was really at a loss for what to do. I was not sure how they would take the news that something was living in their armpit. So I didn’t do anything. However, as soon as my clinical instructor arrived I immediately apprised her and asked for input on a course of action. First we tried to figure out what type of bug it was, but we didn’t have the bug, and even if we did our ability to make that determination on the spot is questionable. So it was decided that I would bring it to the attention of the onsite coordinator and go from there. Later at praxis, the clinical group meeting, I brought it to the attention of the other students in our clinical group, and wouldn’t you know it, but two of them had visited this person at my clinical site that very day with a case worker from their own separate clinical site in order to do a follow-up because this person has a bed-bug infestation and they are going to treat them for this problem. So that was good to hear, at least I knew now what the bug was and that the person was getting help. But I still really didn’t feel very good about the experience as a whole. We have a nursing test rule; it’s called passing the buck, when you see an answer on a test that indicates calling the doctor first or somehow passing on the responsibility. That is probably not the right answer—why you say? Well it’s because you are passing the buck to someone else instead of dealing with the problem yourself. And that is how I felt about this situation.
So what to do? Well I asked for help, the next day in lecture I brought it up with my instructors and then took the time to really talk about what I did and did not do and what I could have done differently. So what could I do differently? Well, as my instructor so aptly put it, my instincts were right on I just didn’t bring the person into the conversation.
I should have asked the simple question. “You aware there is a bug crawling on you?” and assessed what my next move should be depending on how they responded. Now before you decide I am a horrible nursing student for not doing this or thinking to do this on my own. Because I already did some of that myself and it’s not all that productive. The reality is if it was anyone else other than a person whose cognitive and mental status is questionable—I was trying to determine not only what to do, but how they might react in light of these possible issues—I would have, It wouldn’t have even been an issue to say, look you have a bug on you.
The lesson I have taken away from this is not only that you always have to ask, but that you cannot let the fact that you might not always know the right thing to do keep you from acting. I say this with a side note, within reason of course, we have nursing standards for a reason and I am not advocating in any way that you should just wing it. But, there may be times when the best course of action is to say to the client I don’t know the answer, but that their question is an important one, and that you want to help them figure it out. Now you are working with the client to solve their problem, even if you may not be the one ultimately who can deal with their issue, you have made it ok to ask the question, and you are supporting them as you work together to try to solve the issue. That was my only real mistake upon reflection. I didn’t ask, because I was not sure what the right thing to do was, and I was genuinely concerned that I might do more harm than good if I picked the wrong action. It may seem like a no brainer to you reading this, and before I saw a bug crawl out of a person’s armpit I would have probably agreed with you. However in the moment, it was anything but that. So if you are ever in a situation in which you do not have all the answers but you can start the conversation, I would recommend you do it, and see where it takes you. You might be doing research for them and referring the person to another professional, or simply supporting them as they make up their own mind as to what direction to take in dealing with a health issue, and you also may be able to solve their problem. Either way we as nurses are here to help facilitate people being able to help themselves. Communication as a conversation and support is a huge part of that, as I am learning.
October 25, 2009
There has been a lot of good stuff going on here since I last made a post. The first and foremost event, at least to me, is that I have finished with the crucible— theory segment of nursing 206. If you have had it you know it is a lot of info crammed into a short period of time, and it is how the nursing classes go from here on out, or so I am told. As an upperclassman put it, “they ease you into it in the first semester, then the workload ramps up to the level you can expect for the rest of your nursing experience in the second term, and stays there.” So I have made it through the first big hoop in nursing school. Yeah for me, ok, it wasn’t that bad really—it was not walk in the park either, but I learned a bunch, and what doesn’t kill you…
The reality is no matter where I end up in nursing it is virtually guaranteed that I will be caring for some individuals who are dealing with mental illness. Therefore the information was not only very informative but applicable, even if you don’t plan on being a psych nurse.
So for my nursing 206 clinical I pulled a pretty low number (clinical sites are picked by lottery), and was able to get my first choice. I will be at Legacy Good Samaritans lockdown psych nursing unit. I will be seeing in real life up close and personal all the disorders that until now have been only theory. It should be interesting, and a great learning experience. Due to HIPPA I am not sure how much I will be able to say here about my experiences but what I can share, you better believe I will.
On another note, from the look of the trees I would say fall is here, and winter is nipping on its heels. I do love this time of year. The two big reasons are I will be snowboarding and our Blazers will be holding it down in the Rose garden very soon. Go RIP City!
The other big event was the beginning of my 213 clinical rotations. Which I share more details on in my next post, stay tuned.
October 10, 2009
I was sitting in 213 Lab with my fellow students and our clinical instructor, when something really interesting and you might say transformative happened to me. No one else in the room probably had any idea that this was happening in my head as our instructor spoke, but I had my role as a student nurse turned upon its head. It was definitely an Aha moment. But before I get to the revelation, let me give you a little background.
213 is family and community based nursing, think public health sort of. We start looking at our clients as not only being a person, but a family, a group or even a community. We can work with any or all to deal with health issues, in fact, many times the interrelationship between individuals and others can have a profound effect on their health. This is what we are learning about, how we can address the healthcare needs of groups, especially families. So, our clinical will be done in the community, and we, in some cases, might be the only “nurse persons,” at these sites. We will be doing some projects that concern health education or promotion, and this is what we were talking about when I had my epiphany.
The scenario went something like this. We were talking about what we could expect when we were at our clinical sites, and how we might figure out, aside from our assignments, what we could do for these populations. In other words we were brain storming. Toward the end of our little session, our instructor said our site had expressed the desire to have a flu clinic, but was not able to get the vaccines. However other students in our class are doing their clinical with the state agency that is responsible for not only setting up, but procuring vaccines—we could work to get our site the vaccines and set up a flu-clinic.
Aha! Ok so it might not have been quite as earth shattering as I made it out to be at the beginning of this post, but let’s think about this for a moment. We as nursing students have a lot of things we cannot, for good reason, do yet. We are learning and practicing our nursing skills under the watchful eye of our instructors and that is a good thing, but we also can effect some positive changes. We are not helpless and in fact there is a lot we can do. This mentality is alive and well here at our school, we have a very active student body, as evidenced by a myriad of clubs, drives to help out the tsunami victims and others, and multiple volunteering opportunities. And, this is all well and good, but it hadn’t really sunk in for me just how powerful an impact I could make, if I wanted to. Until I learned I could, with some help of course, coordinate and set up a flu-clinic. That’s as a student, how many other college degrees give you that kind of opportunity—pretty cool, to say the least.
September 14, 2009
I tend to harp on the wonderful opportunities we have to volunteer here at Linfield and this post will be keeping up that short, but important tradition.
I recently was part of the IX Binational Latino Health Week Health Fair, where students from Linfield, including myself did health screenings for free for the Latino population whom came to the fair. The fair was held at Lincoln High school here in southwest Portland, and was an opportunity for Latino’s to connect with a diverse variety of healthcare organizations and get some preventative health screenings among other things such as healthcare information. It was organized by our very own Claudia Garcia, and according to her follow-up email we were able to screen at least 120 persons at the fair.
Our screening consisted of checking the persons’ Body Mass Index (BMI) and blood pressure. We also had health promotion information both in English and Spanish as well as literature for those who might have been interested in becoming a nurse. And, I am pretty sure I saw Claudia talking to a few fair-goers who might be students here at Linfield sometime in the future.
The feel of the fair was fun and festive, music wafted throughout the halls of the high school; there was a really high turnout, which kept us busy. The people we helped were friendly and appreciative, it was really a great experience, however it did reinforce my desire to learn Spanish.
There were several instances when I was trying to explain the results of meaning of the BMI, usually when the clients height and weight put them in the overweight or obese categories, that I would stop half way through my schpeel and realize that even though my client was nodding and seemingly hanging intently on my every word, they might not have a clue what I was talking about, or at best were only getting a small part of the information I was trying to impart. This was not too big of an issue, as we had several bilingual students and I was able to get them to explain the more complex information to the clients in their first language. But, I can see that not only being able to understand and speak Spanish but also understand more about the subtleties of other cultures and in America, the Latino’s are a big one, will help me be able to provide better care for this growing part of our population here in America.
On that note, I want to close by saying get out in the community as often as you can, this is what we will be doing when we are “real” nurses. We will be dealing with people, and what better way to practice other than in your clinicals, than volunteering your time to help out with one of the many volunteer opportunities. On that note, flu season is back and there should be plenty of opportunities to give flu-shots or help out with setting up flu-clinics if you are not in 213 or above in you schooling. So Linfield students check your emails, some people might say there are chances to volunteer open right now as I write.
September 19, 2009
I have officially survived my first nursing 206 test. I cannot tell you how much I have studied in the last week and a half, because I am not sure, it has been all that I have done. With the exception of eating, going to class, and sleeping, now you might be thinking to yourself, self, he is probably blowing this out of proportion. And, there are certain members of my cohort, who are much better a studying—think cramming—than I. Might have studied less and done just fine. That unfortunately in not a skill I have in my arsenal, so I studied my butt off, and as this is my blog, well that is what you’re going to get to hear about.
I was very well prepared for the test, and after all the hype, that got my butt in gear as far as learning the material when, I didn’t feel the test was that bad. In fact several people aced it (100%’s!) and good for them. Now two weeks to get ready for numero dos which I have been told is more application questions. Which means nursing style tests that I have come to know and love, those fun pick that best answer questions, prioritization and pick all that apply (there were some of those on this test as well). But, we know this is how the NCLEX questions are, and we have to learn how to take these types of tests. So for now back to the books.
September 14, 2009
One of the biggest challenges so far in nursing school, for me at least, has been learning how to study. It seems that each class has posed a new challenge to how I organize and then learn the information presented to me. Nursing 206 also gives you a serious time constraint to make things more interesting. This has been a week of studying like a mad man. The students who have come before us have done a pretty good job of impressing on us just how much work and how little time we have to do it in, so we (my nursing cohort, and the new accelerated group) are stressing and trying to do as well as we can on the easier, and this term is relative believe me, test. That being said, the information is really interesting, and the minds capability to retain information especially under stress, is well, saving my butt at the moment.
We are learning everything you ever wanted to know about psychotropic drugs, or at least what the faculty has deemed important. It is not small amount of information. One of the most interesting tidbits, to me has been just how well we understand the chemical imbalances, or the neurological disorders that cause many of these diseases, and that is what they are. These people are being taken on a very scary ride by their brains, because for whatever reason a certain neurotransmitter is being over or under stimulated, this in an oversimplification, but the main point remains very true; this group has to deal with the one-two-punch of being stigmatized by a society that doesn’t understand what they are going though, and trying to deal with a potentially debilitating disease of the mind at the same time. They are always trying to play catch-up.
The drugs we have to give them can be very effective, but also can have some serious side effects. There are no easy answers when you are trying to deal with a neurological disorder. It seems to me that one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is trying to breakdown the stigma surrounding those with mental health issues, we cannot demonize these people. The “us-or-them” dichotomy does not work, and as a society we are not doing anyone a favor if we continue to propagate it. This population is seen predominantly in the ED (emergency department), the most expensive form of healthcare, and they are usually not insured so we as tax payers foot the bill. If we could bring them in from the fringe, and there are some really good programs out there, we might be able with some preventative interventions, be able to give these people the chance to live as normal a life as they are able. It could be a win-win situation, unfortunately as we are seeing with the incredible rhetoric surrounding the healthcare reform debate, we as a society are not, it seems, interested in doing things that are the in the best interest of all. It’s sad.
September 3, 2009
Back to school, back to school, a friend’s Facebook post reads as I am up much too early for my first day of classes. The spring cohort, to which I belong, gets summers off, so I have spent the last three months recharging my batteries, but now the days of sleeping in, and seeing friends who are not nursing students on a regular basis, is about to come to an end.
I am excited, and a little apprehensive, to get back in the saddle though, there are challenging times and mental aerobics supposedly awaiting me in my nursing 206 class. This should be interesting, and very informative. This class has a reputation for being a lot of work—think six tests in the first six weeks—but it sounds as though you know exactly what is expected of you. It is then up to you to cram every last bit of info into your brain in the two week period between tests. That is the challenging part, I guess.
I have found that in nursing school; at times the hype does not exactly match the reality of the class. In my first semester I was told I would work harder than I had ever worked in my entire life. I did work hard, but not nearly as hard as I was led to believe. I still made time, albeit infrequently, to do some “fun stuff,” So I am not sure what to expect. But I have a feeling that this particular class has a reputation for a reason. So if eating, sleeping, and breathing this stuff is required then, by all means I am ready…and a little tired, because I don’t think I have been up at seven in the morning in at least three months.
May 29, 2009
I am done!!! It has been a wonderful first semester; I have made a ton of new friends, learned than I thought I could ever cram into my brain in four months, and had a lot of fun. I am ready for my summer break.
The first term of nursing school here at Linfield is overwhelming at first but you quickly adjust, and I cannot stress this enough—if you need help ask for it! Some people might say Ken is a wonderful resource and a really great guy and you might also want to take his classes… In fact all of my instructors were very open to helping with any issues I had during the term. The reality is that the first semester is actually the easiest you will have. It is hard at first because you have never been required to do so much reading, writing, and group projects before, but the following terms are quite a bit harder, or so I am told (by everyone). So you might say the first term is a great place to adjust and if you find yourself struggling, I would recommend you figure out why, get help and fix the problem. So you will be better prepared for some of the more intense classes that come later.
I have really enjoyed this first term, it has had its ups and downs, but the experience over all has been wonderful and I look forward to going on, but first I have some serious playing to do over my break. Ciao!
May 20, 2009
To finish nursing 106 you have to make up a certain number of hours. As I missed my first day due to a wicked case of bronchitis, I spent the last Wednesday of this term job shadowing a charge nurse at a long term nursing facility in Oregon City.
The nurse was very competent, had a wonderful rapport with all of her clients, and I was very impressed how she handled the myriad responsibilities she had. I observed her not only doing skin audits and minor wound care, but also managing her staff, and problem solving multiple different issues that surface throughout the day.
To get a picture of what nurses do you have to actually put yourself into healthcare settings. I would personally recommend becoming a CNA, but volunteering at a hospital or job shadowing are also good ways to get both experience and exposure. I think anyone thinking of pursuing this profession should get an idea of what it is a nurse actually does. This profession can be rewarding, but it can also be demanding and stressful. There is a high burnout rate and it may be that people do not enter into the field with a realistic understanding of what they are getting themselves into. Also, you are more comfortable when you get to clinical it is not the first time you have been in a healthcare setting.
So go out there and take advantage of the opportunities that exist to get an introduction to the nursing field first hand, I think you will find it to be beneficial.
May 13, 2009
My second and last day of clinical I passed meds. This is one of the most important things a nurse does. The opportunity to cause harm to the patient is very real and that is why it is critical to always do the three checks. The first check is done as you get the meds from the med-room/med-cart, the second is done as you get the meds from whatever type of container they are stored in, and finally the third is done right before you actually pass the meds to your client. With each check you always are checking for the 7 rights which are the following:
• Right patient
• Right medicine
• Right dose
• Right route
• Right time
• Right reason
• Right documentation
The first five seem pretty logical, but the last two are just as important, and here’s why. As a nurse you are the last line of defense in preventing medication errors. Let’s face it as nurses we will be giving most of the meds, so making sure we are giving the right med to the right patient at the prescribed time, dose, and route makes perfect sense. However, if you are giving a patient warfarin, and they are also getting aspirin, both drugs have the effects of cause the blood to thin, which can increase the risk for bleeding. Now let us say this patient also has a stage three ulcer on their coccyx. Both are contraindicated with the use of warfarin, so as a good nurse person, as one of my instructors would say, you are checking your meds. Realizing this, you may want to ask the Practitioner why they are prescribing both of these drugs together, and why this patient is on a blood thinner with an open wound. So as you can see, right reason also is vital to preventing possibly harmful complications. The second, right documentation is also very important. For every med you will ever pass there is some method of documenting that it was given. Also, all of the information in the five rights will be written for you to check on this document. In the long-term care facility this was a MAR (medication administration record). When you pass the med, and have made sure the client has taken it, you sign indicating that you have completed this task. So what if someone else already gave this med—now you have possibly overdosed your client, this is one reason why right documentation is so vital to safe nursing practice.
May 9, 2009
In less than a month I will have finished my first semester here at Linfield. I wanted to blog about my first clinical experience; unfortunately a pretty wicked case of bronchitis has made that impossible until next week. But, as some of you may already know last week was National Nurse Week (may 6-may 12) and to kick it off right a large group of students comprised of several different cohorts descended on Pioneer Square last Wednesday. Our mission, to be on KGW's Studio on the Square for the Live at 7 show. It was a great opportunity to get some exposure for the college and the profession. We all were told to wear either our scrub tops or Linfield gear. Also there was a 250 dollar prize for the cohort with the largest attendance, which would be put towards a big bash that each cohort throws itself for graduation. Alas we were not the winners, but we have more time to fundraise, so the motivation was not nearly as great for us, as for some of the cohorts that are closer to finishing. It was a lot of fun, but I will tell you television behind the scenes is not nearly as exciting in person as it looks on the tube.
We all arrived at 6:30, and were prepped by one of the anchors on what to expect, and what we were to do when the camera was on us. The camera wasn't on us much. So we were told to yell, wave, ect when the cameraman panned over us, and we did, looking as smart and nurse like as possible, when waving and yelling, for the twenty seconds we were on TV. Think Today Show crowd shots. In between shots, we talked and there was a raffle put on by the school. All in all it was fun and great to be able to represent Linfield out in the community, and next year you better believe our cohort will be after the $250...
April 27, 2009
Here it is a sunny day in Portland, one of the few we get this time of year, and it got me to thinking about summer. In the BSN program for those of us without a prior degree, our summers are off, and I for one am looking forward to the break. This is not the case for some of my student colleagues who are in the accelerated BSN program. They go to school year round, and in doing so they can shave a year off their time in nursing school. We all end up taking the same amount of classes; they just get to the finish line sooner, as it were. So for those of you out there with a prior degree, you can be a nurse in just one and a half short, or long depending on who you talk to, years. Back to summer, I hope to do some volunteering this summer. I am going to put researching volunteer opportunities in healthcare, into my schedule, and hopefully I can be doing something helpful and meaningful for my community, along with all the other fun stuff that goes along with enjoying the summer.
I had never really volunteered until I started trying to figure out where in healthcare I wanted pursue a career. Volunteering in different departments of the hospital was a great way to get an idea of which course I wanted to follow, and also great way to give back to the community. There are a lot of great opportunities as a nurse to volunteer, not only in the local community but also abroad. In much of the world diseases that can be easily cured, for instance with antibiotics or access to sanitary water sources, are still scourges to the local populations. Access to healthcare we take for granted here can literally mean the difference between life and death. I think it would be an amazing opportunity to be able to volunteer with one of the many NGO's (non-governmental organization) that are trying to help solve some of these issues. So instead of heading to Vegas, when I am a nurse could instead go to some third world country and help with a vaccination children in a village. This is just another aspect of what you can do with your education and training, and if in some small way it makes the world a little better for some child and their family, then that would be such a rewarding experience. Till next time.
April 27, 2009
It has been a very busy month and for that reason, this entry will be a recap of several events. The first term feels like most of the work has been saved for last. The tests, the papers, group projects, and our clinical rotation, are all lining up at the end of the term. At the end of it all is summer and a much needed break.
First we have had our dosage calculation test, this is a test that must be passed with 100% or you have failed-at first this might sound daunting and it did to me at least, but no one has ever failed and this is why. We have two chances, and are prepared vigorously in a class, IDST 010, that I would recommend everyone take. If you happen to fail the first time, you would get another review, and then, like I mentioned above, no one has ever failed this test. The second big event in my opinion is our first clinical rotation.
My lab group is doing a rotation at Robison Jewish Health Center, this is just one clinical site you may as a nursing student get to spend some time. We did our orientation last week, it was fascinating, as our instructor comes from a Jewish background, and because of that we also got a lot of cultural information. This is not only interesting information, but useful as we try to give the best nursing care to our patients. The ability to be sensitive to their cultural needs is just part of giving holistic care. One interesting and sobering fact was that some residents of the facility could be holocaust survivors. The Holocaust was genocide perpetrated against Jews, gypsies, the disabled, homosexuals, and anyone who did not fit the Aryan mold that the Nazi's used to determine who was fit to live and who was not. This is a shameful period in human history. These horrible events happened in World War II, and some of the residents lived through this ordeal, they still wear numbers tattooed on their arms that mark them as concentration camp survivors. I was amazed to learn of this and am very humbled by the adversities these people have overcome.
So that is the what has been going on in my first term over the last month or so in a nutshell, I will be getting back to studying for my second nursing test, and looking forward to clinical and summer in that order, until next time.
March 23, 2009
Spring break! And a much needed break at that. I have been really busy with nursing school and loving it, but it is so nice to sleep in, and actually return my friends' phone calls. My spring break also has an element of homework, a take home test in pathophysiology. Surprisingly this is not a required course to graduate, in fact neither is another important class-pharmacology. We do cover some of the information in our nursing classes but not in the detail that you get in a specific course. Second to my actual nursing theory and lab course, this if my favorite class. I feel as though I am getting so much out of it. It is challenging but then so is nursing school and it will help me later on I have no doubt. I am also planning on taking pharmacology later in the program, and probably advanced A & P. Why do you ask? Am I just an overachieving nursing student? Well maybe, but there is a seriousness to the fact that when we get out of academia we are going to be responsible for people, and some of them will be very sick. I for one would want my nurse and all members of the healthcare team working to heal me to have applied themselves as strenuously as they could in their studies. Because when it's my butt on the line I want the people working on me to know what they're doing. Now will you be a bad nurse if you don't take these courses? No, the program will give you a healthy dose of all that you will need to be a good nurse. However, in my opinion, the more science you have under your belt, along with the caring and all of the other aspects of full spectrum nursing that we learn here, will actually help to make you a better all around nurse. So that's why I'm going to be doing some extra homework over spring break, and most likely also enjoying at least a beer or two.
March 18, 2009
Three papers due in one week, two of them on community health? Interviews that beat to death the idea of communication, I mean it is important to be able to communicate right, but an entire class? These are the complaints I have both heard and made during the first month or so of nursing school. It seems like we do a lot of things that appear to be redundant to learn if you have any kind of common sense. Or so I thought.
As I study more about the healthcare field, I am slowly realizing that just about everything we are doing as nursing students has some application to the skills we will be utilizing as RN's. The seemingly endless stream of papers and group projects might at first look like busy work, but when you think about it critically-an ability you should be prepared to have beat into your subconscious-are skills you will need in the real world. For instance, group projects, which can be simple or not depending on who is in your group. They consist of meeting up once or twice to do some work, or not, and in the second case those not doing work hope that their teammates will, begrudgingly, pick up the slack. The afore mentioned example not being my favorite type of group, but working in one, is well-not rocket science. Or is it? When you are working as a member of a healthcare team, and your ability to work well with others becomes crucial to your clients well being, then whether or not everyone is pulling their weight, communicating about problems, and a plethora of other group dynamic related issues becomes really, really important. And that's the Aha moment, at least for me. Could teaching us how to play nice with each other, in a safe environment where the worst case scenario is someone gets their feelings hurt, might actually be good practice for when the stakes become much higher later on. I'm thinking the answer is yes. Then there is my second example, which is a bit more abstract, but when you really think about it, not by a whole lot.
Why in the world would we ever want to know how healthy a community is? We deal with sick people sure, but a sick community, it also at first glance looks like busy work. However, as a nurse, it is actually really important. Especially as we begin to realize, both as a society, and in the healthcare field, that a little bit of prevention can go a long way in reducing many of the major lifestyle related diseases that are the major causes of illness in our country. So what does a community have to do with prevention? No man or woman is an island, so when we look at trying to modify people's lifestyles we also must look at the environments in which they live. Are these places conducive to living a healthy lifestyle? Are they even safe? These are really important questions to ask, and writing a paper about the health of a community gives you a framework with which to objectively determine how healthy a community is. It might seem at first to be just another paper, but it gets us thinking about just how far reaching the affects of socioeconomics, access to healthcare, quality of schools, roads, just to name a few, can affect someone's health.
So while at times it does feel like we are drowning in papers and projects that seem like pure busy work. It is important I think to remember to try to apply what I like to call the nursing lens when looking at why we do something here at Linfield. If you can understand the applicable nursing lesson that is underlying the assignment, then you can get more out of it, and don't feel like you just doing some more busy work.
March 8, 2009
Taking a blood pressure, how hard could that be? Well as hard as you make it. I was nervous about the Blood Pressure Clinic, an opportunity for us, the students, to take what we are learning out into the public. We were going to one of the federal buildings here in Portland and on a sunny Friday afternoon we converged in the atrium of this building with our crisp white coats, most professional mind-set, and I was at least hoping to be able to fake the second part convincingly enough that no one would notice how nervous I was. We had arrived just after lunch, and my first two clients came one right after the other. Honestly, I think I could hear my heart beat drumming in my ears louder than my client's lub-dub though the stethoscope. This was only temporary though, I found with my second, and third my comfort level was increasing exponentially, we had of course in lab a week previously, practiced our skills taking vitals on each other, and on the dummies, but this was real. This was also becoming fun; I was starting to chat with my clients as I placed my blood pressure cuff. I had built up this experience in my head into something bigger, harder, and most of all intimidating. Taking vitals for many of my classmates who are CNA's or Medical Assistants comes as second nature, but for me having little experience, it took on a life of its own in my imagination. However, the reality I found was actually much softer, friendlier even, as I began to trust myself with this new skill. It is true with anything, especially taking blood pressure. It is as hard as you want to make it.
A student taking a blood pressure
After about a half an hour I had a man come and sit down at my table, his name we will say was Frank, he immediately quizzed me, "What is systolic blood pressure?" his eyes squinted as he waited for a reply. I had been warned by instructors that I may be asked questions like this, so I quickly replied, "it is the maximum pressure during the hearts contraction." He sat back cocked his head to one side, seemingly sizing me up, and quipped back, "what's diastolic mean then?" I replied that is was the pressure in the arteries during the filling phase when the heat was at rest." I was starting to wonder if my lab instructor had put him up to this and he was messing with me. He was not satisfied, and asked me how you would go about telling if someone had orthostatic hypotension-thank god we had gone over this in lab just a week before-I told him, "it's a 10 mm Hg drop in blood pressure between laying down and sitting, or sitting and standing accompanied by symptoms, such as dizziness." He leaned in now I got the distinct feeling he was sizing me up, thinking to himself so this kid thinks he's smart huh? And, deciding how he was going to proceed. I was wondering, why me? At this moment my lab instructor who had been on the other side of the atrium walked over to see what was going on. As he was asking me, "what would I do if I took his pressure and it was 160/80?" And I was telling him that I would be getting my instructor and she would probably be pretty concerned. This is when my instructor made her introduction. As they talked, I placed the pressure cuff on his arm and asked if he knew what his blood pressure ran. He stopped talking with my instructor only briefly to answer off handedly, "you tell me," I was beginning to wonder what I might have done earlier in the week that had warranted my getting this client, I began to think that whatever it was must have been pretty bad. I took his pressure as he and my instructor talked. I groaned inwardly. This was the first high reading I had gotten, and I hoped it was right, I wasn't really looking forward to the response I was going to get if I was wrong. "144/89" I said, and waited. "Good, I have type 1 hypertension," was his reply. He then began to tell us he had been a trauma nurse, and then he looked at me, right in the eyes, like he was trying to see something deep down inside of me. It was kind of unnerving. He began to tell me how many times being a nurse would be the most rewarding thing I will ever do, and then he told me how it could feel like the twilight zone at other times. He went on and we ended up listening to him for about thirty minutes telling us about how he had become burnt out, and it was some pretty heavy stuff, his experience had had some pretty big negatives in it. After he left my instructor remarked that I should not take his story as the only representation of nursing. She did acknowledge there were negative aspects but also many positive ones, and the wonderful thing about the nursing field is the breadth of opportunities available. It is an important, if unfortunate aspect of this profession. It can be stressful, and people do burn out, but there are plenty of other options, you do not only have to limit yourself to working in a hospital. There is teaching, public health nursing, you could go to work as a consultant for a corporation or a lawyer, and these are just a few options. Nursing can be very a very challenging field, but if you do want to help people it is, I think, one of the best, and there are plenty of avenues you can take if your sanity is being tested. It is important to remember you have options.
March 5, 2009
So, here I am taking a break from reading-you will do a lot of reading, and I do mean a lot-to write about my first couple of weeks. It has been an exercise in organization, which I am working on, and prioritization, also working on. They, the nursing faculty, throw a serious amount of work at us initially, and I have been told that it gets easier towards the end of the term. We will see. I so far love the reading, and have been staying caught up. I work about twenty hours a week, mostly on the weekends as a caregiver and I find this is another aspect that will be challenging as I juggle school and life, and will probably at some time in the future write more about. The trick to school is finding enough time to get everything done, and anything that takes time away from that makes your life more interesting; I am considering lobbying for adding about four more hours to the day.
Towards the middle of my second week, I stood waiting for the streetcar late at night ready to head home, and I started to freak out. It was the first night that I had not, and probably would not be able to finish all of the reading that was due the next day. I was going through what I imagine every new nursing student does at least initially, I was overwhelmed. It was not a good, warm, fuzzy feeling. So what could I do? I realized I had no idea, now one aspect of critical thinking we are taught here is recognizing, "the gaps in our knowledge," I really could not fathom at this moment standing in the cold waiting to head home how I was going to ever stay caught up much less learn all this nursing stuff! Like I said I was freaking out, not the most rational train of thought I have ever had. So, here is where I get to talk about why Linfield is so awesome. I asked for help to fill in this gap in my knowledge. I made an appointment with a faculty member whose job, as far as I can tell, is solely to make sure I am successful here in the nursing program. We talked, and I now have a new study skill to utilize in trying to comb through, synthesize, and come test time, be able to regurgitate the pertinent parts of this mountain of information we are expected to know. Here it is the beginning of the second month, and I am starting to feel like this is something I can not only do but do well. Now back to the books, till next time.
Feb. 26, 2009
How did I end up here? This is a question that you will find yourself standing up to answer in front of a room full of fellow nursing students during the first day of a class called nursing 103. This is not a comfortable experience for a lot of people, speaking in front of others, and especially if you haven't had the opportunity to prepare, "something". This is a good analogy for the beginning of my nursing experience. It has been uncomfortable, and challenging, but also extremely rewarding, fascinating, and a whole lot of fun. So back to the initial question, how did I end up here?
I have taken what some might call an untraditional route to becoming a nurse. Mine started after I realized that my career as a graphic designer wasn't really what I wanted, and my skill level on a snowboard precluded my backup plan of becoming a professional snowboarder. So, I floundered for a bit, luckily I have a nurse in the family. My mom, who returned to school after raising my brother and I to get her BSN suggested that I look into healthcare. The next year of my life was spent, volunteering in various departments at Providence Medical Center; I found through this process that diagnostic imaging did not resonate with my career aspirations, and finally I decided to try out a nursing unit. I spent the subsequent two years, while I finished my prerequisites, volunteering on this unit. I was immensely impressed by the knowledge, empathy, and professionalism of these nurses. Finally I was accepted into the 2009 spring cohort here at Linfield's Portland Campus and my journey toward becoming a competent practicing Nurse has begun.
The purpose of this blog is to give an accurate description of what the nursing school experience is for a nursing student. I will be blogging about my personal adventure though this extremely vigorous and superb program. I hope you enjoy reading it, and if you, like myself, were wondering what will nursing school entail? Then I hope that this will at least give you a glimpse of what you can expect.