Last blog

Halleluyah! I passed NUR 1020. Welcome Nursing concepts 1. I have thoroughly enjoyed Ms Demelio's class and frankly, I am struggling to find something to critisize her on. Initially I struggled with the blog thing-not being technologically sound. However, I have enjoyed blogging and I think she should continue with it. As I mentioned in my last blog, I learned a lot during the last few classes than the previous classes. This is because Ms Demelio will get the students to discuss the chapter or topic first before showing the slides/powerpoints. I know most students, myself included,  do not like to be put on the spot but if they know that that is what is expected of them, they will study before the class. The activity at the last day of class was very good and very helpful.

Last day of class for NUR1020

I cannot believe that today is the last day of class for NUR1020. However, I know that being the Fundamentals of Nursing it covers the entire scope of Nursing and will be with us for the rest of our career in nursing. I have thoroughly enjoyed the class and the instructor. I liked the last few classes, i.e the way the instructor will ask questions of the topic before putting the powerpoint on. When we talk about this in class, we get to learn the subject better, in my opinion. Anyway, I hope we all make it through to Nursing concepts 1.

clinical day 4

I was so twisted yesterday about not having time to study effectively that I did not blog about my clinical day 4. It was quite different from my last clinical wherein I had a good patient. This time around, my patient made sure that access to him was very limited. He told me right from the onset that he was not going to answer any questions because his health history is not bodies business etc. I kind of backed off. However, the nurse saved the day for me. She knew that the patient was a bit on the difficult side and asked me to shadow her for the day which was fabulous. I was able to take his vital signs and some other assessments later. it did not begin well but I got to see several patients and watch the nurse do her medications etc. All's well that ends well and it did end well.

What a Day!

It has been quite a day - following an interesting evening. My son was sick (n/v) all yesterday evening and by 10pm I was so tired from cleaning up his mess and making sure he was okay that I could not keep my eyes open what much more to read a word. God help me! I was so confident that I would get a lot done this weekend but so far my goal has not been met. Again, God help me. It is already about 2230 hours and my kids have just gone to bed and although my mind is willing to study and burn the midnight oil, my body is weak. I am so jealous of my single colleagues  and those without children and extra responsibilities. I have been jealous all day just imagining how much they have been studying while I am doing grocery shopping and cooking and taking care of kids etc etc. Anyway, God will help me!

Day off

My group and I did not have clinicals this Thursday. This is the first full day off (for a while) and I wanted to enjoy it but unfortunately, my refridgerator/freezer stopped working overnight and things were already defrosted and going bad. My husband and I went to buy a new freezer but the stores that we went to could only deliver saturday or next week and we could not wait that long. Eventually we found one at Lowes and they agreed to deliver the next day. Meanwhile after calling all over Tallahassee for a same day service and I had to wait almost all day for the appliance repair person to come and repair the broken appliance. It was an interesting day.

I enjoyed my lab on friday although I am getting a bit panicky. It seems to me that it is taking me a bit longer to do the math than others.  God will help me.

Week 4 Lab

As I earlier wrote, I had a good clinical day at TMH rehab. However, for some reason during my Lab the following day (Friday), I do not know what the trigger was - but I started recalling (reminiscing) my experiences at NICU and PICU at TMH over ten years ago. I choked up for a momment particularly when we were doing transfer of patient from bed to stretcher (something I experienced with my son's almost lifeless body  several times) and as we stood aroung the bed/stretcher, I had a vivid recollection of the nurses, emt etc standing around the bed ready to transfer him. Amazing. Now I am more determined on this program.

Clinical day 2

What a day! I have enjoyed my second day of clinicals. I was able to meet my goals for the day and made 4 beds as well as took vital signs with relative ease. I was not as nervous as I was on clinical day 1. However, i was not able to do any baths on the patients as most of them had already had their baths before we started. I was jealous of my team members on the other side of the floor as they had to do a few baths - both complete and assisted. I would havd liked to have gained that experience. I am now looking forward to the next clinicals.

2nd week blog

Thank God I have survived the first two weeks of school. I have to re-take the math quiz as I missed more than 1 question. I was so nervous for some reason and somehow did not get the correct answers to fairly straightforward questions. I needed more time. I think the time (20mins) alloted for the quiz was too short. Anyhow, I have surely enjoyed the weekend and look forward to next week.

Theresa

Nursing

According to the International Council of Nurses: "Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles."



In my opinion, the above statement represents what "Nursing" means to me. Prior to my considering Nursing as a profession or career, I thought of nursing as a field that solely concentrated on caring for the sick. With acquired knowledge, education and experience, I got to realize that nursing is not limited to solely caring for the sick. As stated above is it inclusive of promotion of health, prevention of iillness among other roles.

There are various reasons why people choose nursing as a profession - ranging from their love of helping other people to job security, particularly during this economic climate. I would say that my reasons for wanting to be a nurse falls between this range. I love caring for people and most of all I love the versatility and flexibility of the profession. Having experienced some months of nursing care, encouragement and education at the NICU when my twins were born premature at TMH,  I knew that I could use my experience to help others. Moreover, I need the flexible schedule available with the profession to be able to care for my children.

On a final note, I know and have seen that those who choose this profession for all the wrong reasons, whatever they are, never get job satisfaction - no matter how much money they make and invariably miss the key roles of the nursing profession.

Theresa