Wow

This past week everything has been hitting me hard and the stress is kicking in. I did my teaching project at the clinic with my group. That was a great experience! We taught people from Nepal. It was great to be able to teach people and feel like I made a difference! I had my first exam this past week, I passed! So that's good. I had my check off for trach care and I passed that with flying colors! Now, we are learning hematology and cardiac. This next test is going to be even harder!

Sunday!

Awww Sunday! What a lovely day, but I am at work! Thw weather is finally cooling off a little. This week I have my IV insertion check off on Tuesday. Alsp, on Tuesday I go to a clinic and do a group project. We have to teach basic handwashing, flu prevention, oral hygiene, and fppd safety to the patients there. That should be fun. Last night our group meet up and we finished the poster boards and the paper we had to write. It was a good meeting.

Wonderful Day!!!

I had a fantastic day today! I passed my head to toe check off, received my school loan, and got out of class early! Awesome! And then I went to Target and found a bunch of awesome stuff on clearance! I was ubber excited about that. This is my 3rd week of school and I can't believe how fast the time is flying! On October 5th I go to Mayo Clinic for my clincials. I am very excited about that! Next Tuesday I have my IV check off at 7am! Wow, that's soooo early!!! Just have to practice doing IVs about 100 times or more before I will feel comfortable with it. Then I can pass! Tomorrow is the GASN (Glendale Association of Student Nurses) meeting. I plan on going to that. Now, off to bed for a long 8-5 day at school tomorrow!!! Ahhhh the joys of being a nursing student!!!

Block 2!!!

Today was my first day of block 2! My teachers seem very nice. We had a lecture on head to toe assessment. Tomorrow we have one on IVs. Today they gave us a lot of information and I felt like my head was going to explode slightly. lol. We get to do a teaching project at a clinic to refugees from Africa. That is going to be fun! I am excited for this semester!

End of Block One

I sit here thinking of all the things I have learned this past semester. I know it has been about a month and a half since school ended, but the reality of all of this is just starting to settle in and I love this feeling. I love this feeling I have of knowing that I am following my dream and am going to be Sarah Glinos, R.N.! For example today I was explaining to someone how a catheter stays in place in the bladder and how it works. It just hit me at that moment that I know the stuff I learned well enough to teach someone else and it was an amazing feeling. It's such a powerful thing to be able to educate someone. This past semester I have seen and smelt things that I don't want to remember but I do. I learned to deal with uncertainty and change in a second.

Any who, enough with the emotional BS! So summer is here in Arizona. Hot hot hot!!! My summer started off with a pinched nerve and 6 weeks off of work. It was cool to spend time with the family but now that I am back to work I am happy. MONEY! The kids are at their mom's house for 6 weeks and I miss them dearly. I have been delighted with the company of my two dogs, Sam and Snoop, while I am missing the kiddies. I am taking two online classes that are so way easy compared to nursing school. I started reading Go Ask Alice today and that book is very good. It has sucked me in.

Luis and I took the kids to Rocky Point. We all had a really good time.

That's Joshua playing with his sling shot and Jasmine in her new dress.

Spring Break!

It's finally spring break! I have been waiting all semester for this! Today I am going to see Alice in Wonderland with some friends from school and Jasmine is going to go with me. Tomorrow night I have dinner with some neighbors. Then on Wednesday I have a study group in the morning. Then Thursday I am getting married and on Friday to Sunday I will be in Rocky Point. Woo Hoo. This week is going to rock.

Another Loooong Monday!

Another long Monday at school. I had lecture this morning on sleep and I think that made the whole class tired. Then today in lab is our oral med check off. I failed it because I didn't check the apical pulse. I just wasn't thinking and I wasn't prepared. That's ok because next time I will pass it! I have so much to do with learning fluids and electrolytes still. It's like information overload sometimes, well not sometimes more like all the time!

Fluids and Electrolytes OH MY!

Wow, I can';t believe the last time I updated was Feb. 15! Tims is flying! I had my second exam on Monday I did pretty good on it, I got an 82%! Which is great. Today I had my clinical and that was fun. I worked on my care plan yesterday for about 9 hrs. It was alot of work I also passed my head to toe assessment today! I am very happy about that. Tomorrow I have lab and we are going to be do intra muscular injections. I have to cool little injection pad to practice on. On top of all this I have going on, I am starting to get a cold, which sucks. I so didn't want to wake up this morning and go to clinical but I had to. I did take a very long nap once I got home. This week we have started fluids and electrolytes. It's a difficult topic. Most of the lecture was over my head, so I really have to study that.

this and this equals. . . .

Today was a great day. I got to go see my cousin, so that was really cool. I missed her. I wrote my paper that is due tomorrow. I am now sitting here working on my care plan for Wednesday. Trying to put all pathos for the disease together and understand how they all link together. The kids have been driving me a little buts today, acting like wild people. I ahve a quiz tomorrow. Wish me luck! Nothing else is new. Have a great week!

Sarah

Ahhh The Weekend!

Finally the weekend is here! I have made it thru another week! This past week has been when all the pressure has hit me. I went to work yesterday 8:30 am to 7:30 pm! Such a long time! Today I have off. The kids are at their moms so its a nice little break. Today is my Valentine's Day. Tomorrow I work 5am to 1:30pm. Then after work I have to go to my clinical site to get my client's medical history because I have to write a care plan for Wednesday, when I go take care of my client. Thank goodness we have Monday off from school, so I can take all day to write my first care plan! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ohhhh Yah

Ohhhh yah I forgot to say that I got an 86% on my first exam!

First Day at Clinical

Today was my first day at clinicals. I was so nervous because it was something so totally new to me. I have sooo much to learn! I got to talk to a few clients and choose the one I will be taking care of for next week. I have to do a plan of care and know everything about my client. At the end of the day I was breathing so fast and could feel my heart about to jump out of my chest. I never thought I would feel like that. I didn't expect to feel like that, but now this is for real because I have someone else's life in my hands. Nursing school is so different from regular school because if I do something wrong I could hurt someone and I don't want to do that! All the nurses were super nice, so that's really good. If we had a question they were so helpful. Overall, today was a little overwhelming but I made it thru!

Me as a blind patient so my partner can feed me

Finally Thursday!!

It's finally Thursday!!! I passed my vital sign check off today! I was so happy and still am!!! Today in class we brushed each other's teeth, fed each other, and gave each other bed baths. It was so weird to have someone else brush my teeth and feed me! Now, I will know how my patients feel. I studied with some friends at the library for a little. Overall, I had a great day at school!

Feeling the Stress

I am so full of stress today! I had my vital sign check offs today and I practiced so much for it. I thought I had it down. I failed the blood pressure part, everything else I did perfect on. First I let the air out to fast. Then the second time I second guessed myself and said the systolic was 108 because I thought 96 was too low and it turns out it was 96! Man, I felt like crying! I have to redo it tomorrow. Also, the blood pressure cuff was different than the one I practiced with. I just had to remind myself that this wasn't the end of the world. I just felt so disappointed in myself but after talking to my friends in class I realized its ok, I will get it tomorrow. I did get a 10 out of 10 on my math quiz on Monday, so that's great. And we have an exam next Monday, which I am totally stressing out about. All the questions are going to be NCLEX style. Just a lot of stress today! I need a bubble bath and some wine!

The LS Building where all my nursing classes are

Samuel

My mind is bursting with new knowledge and I feel like I need to share it, talk about it, and live it. But I guess I have been talking a little to much about it lately. Luis told me I talk about it to much and it gets annoying. Which I can see why it gets annoying cuz he doesn't understand what the hell I am saying. Lol. Well, that's what I have my friends in school for and this blog for to talk all about nursing school. Men are so different from women. We want to talk about everything and men don't. And plus I feel like nursing school is such a huge life changing event for me and it feels amazing to be in the middle of this transition.

2 Weeks In. . .

Well, tomorrow is the 2 week mark! I have made it through so far without hyperventilating . . . yet. lol. We have learned how to do vital signs and blood pressure. I have had my blood pressure taken so many times this week I can't even count. Well, everyone in my class has. We all practice on each other and after a while your arm gets sore. In theory we are learning about the "nursing process", the way nurses think and we have started how to write care plans for your patients/clients. Care plans are bending my brain in ways it has never bended before! The critical thinking skills nurses use are so intense and in depth. It's like learning how to think all over again. I almost fell like I am learning a new language. It's hard to understand. And there are alot of yes, but answers to questions we have. Some of things they are trying to teach us are more learned through experience so I will have to wait to experience it to understand it fully. Today the NLNAC, they are the people who accredit the nursing program, the help a student forum and they asked us questions about what we think about the nursing program. It was pretty cool. I am meeting a bunch of new friends which is awesome! So far, so good!!!

D-Day

Well, today was my first day of nursing school. It was 8am-11am, 3 hrs. I thought it was going to be long and boring but it wasn't at all! The time went by so fast and I loved it. I still can't believe I am finally in nursing school. It's so exciting! My teacher is awesome at giving lectures because she is so expressive with her voice and face- I love it. Tomorrow is my first day in lab and we are going to work on hand hygiene and starting vital signs. All the teachers are really nice and helpful.

Prep Classes

So this whole week I have been going to class. I had a math class on Monday and Tuesday. It was about converting and how to figure out how much drug you give a person based on a Doctor's order. It was very easy. Then on Wednesday and today I had a success class just for nursing students. That class was very helpful in helping me realize I need to get organized now before class starts and not after it starts! The classes have helped to relieve my anxieties but I am still nervous and feel a little overwhelmed by everything!

~Sarah~