Week 12 Almost There!

What?

This week we did not have class so there isn't much to say there. I am not going to be able to go to the conference in SLC, although I wish I could have.

Here are a few pictures from our service learning project that I forgot to post a couple of blogs ago. We really did have a lot of fun teaching these kids about nutrition.

I still need to get a move on with that paper. It is my job to begin it. Unfortunately I have to work in the morning so the paper might have to wait until tomorrow night or Saturday morning to get started.

I also learned this week that I definitely DO NOT want to be a psych nurse. I had a bad experience at clinicals due to a break down in therapeutic communication. I almost had a table flipped on me because another nurse spoke with a patient in the wrong way. That environment is a little bit too violent for me. 

Now What?

There's not really too much to say at all this week. I kind of feel like a broken record. I am definitely ready to have this whole project done with.

Now that I know I don't want to work in psych I can focus in on other areas of nursing that I am interested in. I feel like I can make more informed decisions about my career because I attend these clinicals. I don't remember if I said this before but I had a really really good experience with a CRNA at Timp hospital the other day. He really kind of took me under his wing and talked to me through an entire surgery. I might look into doing that in the future. But that is far in the future so I have a long time to consider it.

So What?

This semester is almost over and I feel like I have learned a lot. But I have also learned (mostly through ATI testing) that I have a ton left to learn before I graduate. I am excited for the next semester. I am really looking forward to complex disorders and mother-baby.

Hopefully my next blog will be titled "Service Learning Project is Complete!"

Week 11 - Relief....Well Kinda

What?

We finished our service learning volunteer hours and this has been the first week without that looming over my head. I had a paper to write and a couple of tests to do this week so I did not really focus on the service learning project. It was nice to not have to think about it for once this semester. I have most of the documentation of the project and I need to get started on writing the paper. My group is going to help out with the paper once I get it started. Unfortunately, I know that starting a paper is half of the battle. It is one of the hardest things, but it will get done.

In class this week we talked a lot about what life will be like when we are nurses. Most of what I remember is discussing finding jobs and the things we have to deal with (i.e. death) when we do work in a healthcare environment. I found this to be one of the most interesting classes we've had this semester. The fact that it was outside was not too shabby either.

So What?

So now I have to get off my lazy butt and start writing this paper so that my group can have a solid foundation for the paper. We also need to get together to discuss and practice how we are going to present our project to the class. I will admit, I am a little nervous about the presenting.

I find it very important to think about life after school. I have often thought about where I need to position myself professionally to reach my ultimate goals. I know that I want to go on to be a nurse practitioner of some sort but I need to figure out a specialty area so that I can work in that direction. My biggest problem is that I keep jumping around. One week I think I want to be a CRNA so I think aobut ICU jobs and the next week I'll think about being a CMA and look into labor and delivery jobs. The sometimes, out of nowhere, I think about being a pharmacist. I'm not quite sure where that one comes from.

Now What?

Now I will need to plan a time to work on my paper. I find that I get my work done best when I plan a big chunk of time to work on it. I think that working on something for hours at a time helps me to maintain focus on that one task. I think that I will be more successful with this project if I plan the time well.

I will also continue to explore my options of grad school. I don't have to decide what I want to be right now but I do need to consider all of my options so that I can best position myself in the correct job to get to where I'm going. I have already begun that process by working as a CNA at IMC. This has put me into a position where I can more easily get a job in a hospital as an RN. Even though it's hard to work like this and go to school, I do not think I will regret it.