Unknowns

So we started our unknowns in Micro lab this week. It's great, though I would get so nervous. Even though my instructor is the nicest person, it doesn't stop the heart from beating hard. She would come over and I would tell her that it was gram - rods or gram + cocci under the microscope. And then reporting to her the results of the test was also nerve racking. And I'm not the only one. I mean we know what to do, but you forget everything when it counts. And it is worth 20% of our grade.

The good part was I narrowed my gram - unknown down to two species. And I did an extra lactose fermenting test, so I should have the results next Monday. Yeah!

Food poisoning

Ugh. I can't believe it. Last week I had a cold and this week I'm throwing up. I think it's food poisoning. Complete with cold sweats, mild fever, tender abdomen and of course, the vomiting. It really does not help that I now know all about bacteria. At least it's now and not later in the semester.

Yes I thought this might be dead...

But decided to come back and start writing again.
Really had no motivation to write anything. I'm embarresed to say that I was writing my posts during Sociology class. And now all my classes usually require my full attention.
Really enjoying microbiology, especially lab. Lots of new things to learn every class. Statistics is ok. I'm glad I waited, becuase at least my classmates make taking math bearable. And then there's Hawaiian Studies. I enjoy class, except when I come out really mad at my teacher. Good class, just frustrating at times.
Well now to stay awake for a couple more hours to go to class. Coming down with cold and did not sleep last night. Ugh.

I know it's been a while

But I have no excuses on why didn't write. To update:
1) Went to the Big Island. Really enjoyed myself. Ate a lot. Have mixed feelings about fancy hotels that have down bedding, which I'm allergic to. Luckily the nice housekeeping staff remade my bed without the down.
2) Had my birthday. I'm 27 now. So do I now have to say I'm in my late 20's?
3) Big news is that I may stay in Hawaii for my BSN. The local U has an accelerated BSN program, which accepts new students when they have funding. They are apparently accepting their third cohort this Summer. Changed my schedule around and cross my fingers, cross my toes, I'll get in.
4)Started classes. Think I will survive if I don't fall asleep in stats.

Do you sleep in during vacation?

I’ll actually have to contemplate this coming up a week from now. I was supposed to work over the break, but then I looked at the calendar and realized that I will only have a week before classes start again. Then back to school with microbiology to look forward too.

So do I wake up early to fully enjoy my vacation, or do I sleep in to catch up. I’m thinking a little bit of both. During the week I plan to sleep as much as possible. Then the weekend before classes start I’m going to the Big Island with my parents.

I can’t decide whether we should try to squeeze in as much as possible on vacation. Dad wants to go to Kona Brewing Co and see the volcanoes. Mom wants to sit on the beach or by the pool when she’s not teaching. I’m concentrating on what restaurants I want to try. We’re only there for 3 days so I don’t know if I want do much sightseeing. Anyway, we’re staying at the Hilton Waikoloa, so we probably could spend the whole vacation exploring the hotel.

Testes Dissection

For those who are squeamish, this is a warning.

So we got to dissect bull testes in lab yesterday. It was an all-girl group so we got a little enthusiastic. I pulled out a testis to dissect from the bag which was rejected by my lab partners as being too small. Apparently they come in different sizes. You should have seen us hacking away at it. That was partly my fault for picking dull tools. I seem to have a knack at doing that. And to better illustrate the different parts, I would hold it up by the seminal cord and let it dangle. It was our last dissection.

Note to Myself

Do you ever get that feeling when you wonder what in the world you’re thinking? Why am I still in school? What was I thinking committing myself to take all these classes? Why didn’t I just finish that master’s degree and become a librarian?

Then I remember what I wanted. I wanted a more interesting (to me) career. I wanted something where I didn’t sit all day at the computer. I wanted to someday make enough money to buy a home. (Librarians make ok money, but not as much as nurses.) I wanted a job where I could chose where I wanted to live rather than moving for the job.

And then I remember how much I’ve been enjoying anatomy and physiology (well mostly physiology.) I especially enjoy lab and yes I include the smelly dissections. In fact I think it would be cool to do more dissections with a whole human cadaver.

I remember how I went to class everyday. It wasn’t necessarily the idea that I had to go to pass the test (though some days that was all I got up for), but because it was an actually interesting. I now know more about how mononucleosis works on your immune system and have my own epidemiological theory that mono is not common in Hawaii.

So I remember this when I’m bored in class and wonder what I’m doing.

Why I want to be a RN

I know I want to be a mid-level provider. So why don’t I just go straight to PA school or a masters-entry NP program?

1) I don’t know what area of healthcare I’m interested in. I originally decided to go into health because of my good primary care experiences with 2 different NPs. I even saw a PA once when I was in Indiana, though I didn’t know what she did at that time. But as I’ve done more research, I find what they do in hospitals, particularly critical care, fascinating. If I become a nurse first, I will have time to explore before choosing an area.

2) I want to travel a bit. See where I want to settle down. Particularly want to see if there is anywhere that suits my health. Recently, in the past few years, have been diagnosed with adult onset asthma. Personally, I’m starting to think there is no place in particular that would be better than others.

3) I’m enamored with the nursing model. I like the idea of holistic care, taking care of the whole person, as opposed to the medical model, which can focus on the disease. I may still change my mind about this, after actually taking nursing classes.

4) Related to the previous reason, direct patient care (other than cleaning up poop) is a big reason for me. Can’t articulate exactly what I mean, but it’s definitely floating in my mind.

5) I could use the money. All the previous education I have – a BA in American Studies and I came this close to getting my Masters in Library and Information Science. Ugh. Can’t believe I owe this much to the government. And can’t believe how hard it was to get money to go to school. And I can’t rely on my parents for whatever the next degree is because dad’s threatening to retire.

6) And I can finish a RN a lot faster than a NP or PA. I plan to go to a Accelerated BSN program which will take 12-18 months as opposed to 2-3 years to become a NP or PA.

7) Direct patient care experience under my belt will help me get into NP or PA school and help when I become a NP or PA.

There are other reasons, but thought I would post this with what I have thought of so far.

Grades

Got an A on my last Soc test and the highest grade in class. Embarrassed to say that I didn’t study all that much. But as I pointed out to Mom, a lot of the test I’ve covered in previous classes. Plus full points, i.e. an A, for the essay last week.

Also want to say that I’m still averaging an A in A&PII lab. I’m particularly happy with that, even though I did get two wrong on the last test. What I really wanted to do was get a 100% correct. I guess I’ll have to settle for a high A and aim for 100% on the later tests.

Homeostasis

Thought I would go through a class without talking about homeostasis. But it was just brought up in Sociology. Apparently the Social Stratification System is constantly trying to go towards a balance. And I so hoped that I had left homeostasis behind for a couple of weeks.

Goals

My long term goals:

To become a RN – I plan to go to an accelerated BSN program. I already have a BA in American Studies, but now have to do all that science I didn’t do before.

To travel around US and the World – I’ve already lived in rural Vermont (loved it), Bloomington, Indiana (ick), Seattle (loved it) & Honolulu. Really want to travel to other countries, and wouldn’t mind living in other areas of the US. I probably will move for nursing school.

To become a NP or PA – I might get some flack on not knowing whether I want to be a NP or PA. I do not even have a clue what area I want to work in - whether I should go into primary or acute care. That’s part of the reason why I want to be an RN first, to see what I want to do.

To run a Marathon – see below about getting healthy

My short term goals:

To become a CNA – to get some experience in health care.

To apply to nursing school – Don’t know if I’m doing it this year or next. Probably depends on how prepared I feel & how long I can stand living with my parents.

To get healthy – I’m trying to start running. Going very slowly because my asthma sometimes acts up & it just hurts. My long term goal is to lose some weight & maybe even run a marathon.

Another Teaching Moment

So I was explaining in class how NPs & PAs have prescriptive authority. My Soc instructor made the mistake of saying that only Physicians have can prescribe medication. I then proceeded to give my one minute spiel about mid-level providers, and depending on the state, their ability to prescribe medication. I even gave my brief explanation of how it really depends on the state, and I even tried to explain supervisory vs. collaborative relationships with MDs.

never again

I never want to take another 8/8:30 AM class. I particularly never want to do one everyday of the week. It just wears you down. I don't what the difference is between getting to work at that time or earlier or going to class, but I think there is. No problem getting up for work. The last time I underwent this kind of torture was when I took Adolescent Psych MWF & a writing class TTH at 8:30. Ugh.

And you know this will happen again. And I'll have no choice. Ugh.

Sociology otherwise is a ok class for introductory class.

Why nursing?

So without going into my whole bio, I thought I should say something about why I want to be a nurse.
I've been thinking about this alot since the idea first occured to me last September 2004. I think it has to do with how nursing will combine some of the things I'm interested in. Here are a few reasons:
1. I want to help people. Most of the professions I've considered have to do with helping people. I'm not what you call an extrovert, but I can't imagine not working with others, helping others.
2. Love the science.
3. Love the social science aspect of nursing. After all I was almost a psych major, and was an American Studies major.
4. Can't stand the idea of sitting all day at a desk/computer. Been there, done that.
5. Like to multitask.
6. Think I would be a great nurse.

I may add to this, as I think of new things.

A&PII lecture

So I wanted to note that I finished up my A&P lecture 2 weeks ago. It was a great final of 80 questions where I got 79 right. I got my A!!! This was particularly good, since I only got a B for A&P I. Ugh. The neuro part killed me. I'm not looking forward to it when I finally get into nursing school. I think I did well becuase I really studied this time & the class was mostly physiology. For the culmative part of the final, there were only a couple of anatomy questions, and the rest was physiology. At least with physiology questions, I can reason it out when I need to guess.

By the way, I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure the question I got wrong was about Vitamin E. Hah, I'll probably remember for the rest of my life that E is fat-soluble. Duh.

Am I really a drama queen?

So since I named my blog "Princess of Drama" I guess you want to know if I'm really a drama queen. For the most part, I'm pretty laid back. But honestly, to keep myself from being bored, I can sometimes be overly dramatic.
Case in Point: Yesterday I was continuing to try to run (I really just walked). Unfortunately my asthma was acting up. So I was thinking, at least I went out. My dad can't call me a wimp for not going those 2 miles to the zoo. And if I collapse from an asthma attack, I can at least say I tried. And if I do collapse, at least I don't have to go to my soc class tomorrow.
So if you think that's overly dramatic, than I'm the Princess of Drama.