November 15, 2008

Wow, long time no type

Last post here:  nearly a year ago.
What's changed since then:  lots.

For starters, in clinical I feel like it's all coming together.  I go in feeling like I'm a soon-to-be nurse, not just a glorified CNA.  The nurses are more receptive to us, instead of being annoyed at our presence.  I feel more comfortable talking to the patients, doing assessments and providing care.  I know more about performing assessments than I did when I started, though assessments are still my weak spot.    I read the chart or hear report, I assess the patient, and I've begun putting 2 and 2 together:  so that's why the blood pressure is low.... So that's what I'm expecting to see....  It's really an exhilarating feeling.  I've been looking forward to clinical now, whereas at the beginning of nursing school, clinicals were just something that had to be gotten over with.

Lecture has become easier.  Or I've learned to study better.  Probably a bit of both.  I still do fairly well, though it's been hard to get motivated:  a combination of burn-out, an illness of unknown etiology that had me sleeping for most of the last two weeks, and the most dangerous of all:  over-confidence (and that I should know better about!).

The class has gained and lost some members.  The three we gained early last fall are all gone; of the five gained over the summer, four remain.  Six original class members have also left (one for personal reasons).  The last class took three out in one blow.

It's hard to be graduation is only a few months away.  A year ago, graduation was a day so far in the distance I couldn't even begin to think about it since it felt like I'd never get there.  Last week as I was registering for classes, it hit me that I was registering for my final semester of nursing school.  In May 2009, it'll all be over.  All of the hard work, all of the torment, all of the stress:  it will all be over and done.

And I think I'm going to miss it.