Nursing School Update

In less than one week Andrew and I will finally be done with this semester, making him officially in 3rd semester and me in 4th semester. I can barely believe it. Its especially surreal when I see 4th semester students trying on their pinning ceremony outfits and taking photos. 

Third semester truly puts you in the "nurse" frame of mind.  My instructors made their expectations very clear to me on the first day. It's habit to say things like "in this situation the nurse would _____". Now its become a habit to say "I am going to ______". At first it was "fake 'til you make it" but now I truly feel like a nurse. Its so empowering when I am facing challenges. I know that I can overcome them because somewhere in me is the skill or knowledge that I need. Plus, its just really fun going into a room and being the nurse!

I am so thankful to have my OB rotation last. It is hard not to feel burnt out at the end of each semester, but OB material is so interesting to read about. Before my rotation I had no idea what OB was about. I assumed it was just the process of having a baby, but I was so wrong. I had no idea that creating life could be so life threatening. Not only is your patient a pregnant women who can have serious life threatening complications at any moment, but your other patient is a baby who also can have serious life threatening complications at any moment. And from what I have seen, most pregnancies have had some level of post-partum hemorrhage or a baby going to the NICU. What I also found surprising about this rotation are the nurses. They are not the sweet passive "i love babies" nurses that I thought they would be. They are some tough chicks! Imagine an ER or trauma nurse dressed in purple and flowers. So, I never thought I would say this but I am going to miss this rotation. Especially the NICU, that was my favorite favorite. 

AH. I cant believe 4th semester is so close. Which reminds me, I need to go study for my final now :) OB final on Monday, cumulative rotation final on Thursday. Wish me luck!!

around here

 This semester is SO much more different then past. For Andrew, as far as studying and clinical goes, nursing 2 is not much different that nursing 1. For me, nursing 3 is a whole new world. We rotate clinical every 5 weeks and have only 1 exam each rotation. Its basically do-or-die on these exams because theres no second chance to make a better grade. Andrew has his first exam this week. I am pretty excited to see how he does. This weekend we spent a lot of time going back and forth on rationales about everything and he did super great! Between school and work, he is the worlds greatest juggler. Fact. I am so blessed by all that he does for us and it makes me feel good that I can help him study. 

Here are some photo updates of what life looks like lately. A lot of goofing and naps in between study sessions.

This is what I look like singing "Sister Christian". Oh you don't watch The Bachelor Pad? That's too bad. 

Skills Lab "date" ;)

Can you tell it is laundry day? Hideous bed. 

This hot humidity makes pretty clouds but we are ready for it to be Fall already!

A new semester

SO....school started! It will be so strange that one day we will no longer have to buy new pencils, backpacks, binders, or paper. Its such a tradition. To me, the first day of school is like New Years, even  better actually (I have stayed up for New Years maybe twice and participated in resolutions once).  I tell myself how this is going to be my best semester, I'm going to get an A on all my exams... you know really talking myself up. Andrew probably too. Who doesn't? 

It was a great first day. Andrew went to a new hospital this semester where the phrase "donde esta dolor?" will be very useful. It sounds like he has got a great clinical instructor too. My semester had a theory on IV therapy our first day because we are starting IV's! Now I am 100% terrified of inserting an IV needle because all of the things that can go wrong. 

Per tradition, I give you another "first day of school" photo. The OCD part of me is really struggling with the fact that I am not wearing scrubs like all our previous "first day" photos. 

End of Semester 2

Hi my name is Holly and I am in 3rd semester of the nursing program. My husband, Andrew, yeah he's officially in his 2nd semester. Oh yeah!! We passed our finals and are moving on! First stop, summer vacay. Sadly our heads will most likely still be buried in our books. Although we will take many breaks to enjoy our yoga class (last P.E. cred) and speech (for me, not A) and make frequent trips to the beach. Also coming up is our fun filled stay at the Disneyland hotel with fam! 

So before we can move forward we have to look back. I am very aware that I haven't figured out my new lens. Meh. 

During our finals study sesh I hit a wall so I decided to take photos. Lucky you. 

I also got very sentimental right before my final and had to take a photo to remember my last day in Nursing 2. Well, at the time it was wishful thinking but a B later it's confirmed ;)

This semester we helped run the RN Pinning ceremony for the graduating class. I think its obvi which helpers had the most fun #secretdancepartybehindthestagecurtain

After the ceremony we had to say bye to Mrs. Murphy. This is where I wished I had a point and shoot but not really because I do love my camera. I am super glad we have these "great" photos to remember how awesome she is and how she is such a fashionista.

Bye bye N2/N1. 

Pedes

I got to spend another day in Pedes this week and hopefully tomorrow will make it two. I got to administer an IV piggyback through a syringe and hold a cute baby. As you can see I kind of like it there a lot. This photo was taken in the multifunctional "break room/storage room/treatment room". 

Nursing School Update

Sadly, I don't have any awesome photos to post about school. Andrew spent last weeks clinical in the OR. I told him to take a photo in his scrubs (because they are cool surgical scrubs) but he didn't get the message in time. He assured me he looked hot though. The experience definitely made him more excited to pursue CRNA. Fun fact: His surgeon is married to the daughter of the Pixis creator (a machine that dispenses all the patients medications). Isn't that cool? He also mentioned the team was pretty vulgar. I guess when you are a female student they refrain a lot. I was going to tell you about the conversation we had about the smell of cauterizing flesh but I think I won't. I'll just tell you he really loved the experience and did not pass out.

In other news, I checked off on tracheostomy suctioning. Which means when my instructor comes up to a group of students and asks which one of us can go suction a patient, guess who has to go. When she handed me the goggles I was not a happy camper. The real icing on the cake was seconds before I was about to suction another student had the ventilator tube in her hand and calmly stated

"the trache tube is out"

For .3 seconds the room was SILENT, then instantly the instructor yells "CALL RESPIRATORY, CALL FOR HELP!". Everyone in the room was frantically searching for the phone or running to the nurses station or frozen with panic. I was definitely 100% confused as to what was going on. Looking at the patient I couldn't tell if they weren't breathing because they couldn't talk anyway, I just knew that was what everyone assumed was happening. The real kicker: 5 seconds later, as the room is about to fill with nurses, my instructor says "wait the patient is fine, cancel the call, the trache tube is not out, it was just the inner canula that fell out" (as in not the outer cannula which would cause the patient to stop breathing) and proceeds to laugh nervously and hysterically. Immediately she looks at me and says "okay, lets suction". All I could think about was HOLY SMOKES can I get a second to regain composure!?! But of course I know theres no weakness in nursing, so I suctioned.

I am definitely filing this under traumatic experiences in nursing school.

I am still concerned about that laugh of hers... very odd.

So tomorrow I have an exam, my birthday is Saturday, I am going to a birthday breakfast with my parents, then a "stop childhood obesity" walk for this semesters community service project, the rest of Saturday will include making flash cards for Andrew while he is in isolation studying, Sunday will continue with this weekends theme of studying, and then we will only have 4 weeks left of school!

Then Andrew will be in 2nd semester, I'll be in 3rd semester, and we will get to do this all over again!

Hope this provided some kind of thrill in your life and that your week is just fab :)

5 weeks in!

Days feel like they are zooming by over here and there isn't much time to stop and take a breath, but when I finally get a chance to my heart feels like it could burst with excitement. In essence: I LOVE what I do. I love learning, I love practicing, I love getting another test behind me and I love the future! I feel so fortunate to be working towards a career that each day will bring something new and exciting. Even now as a student I walk away from every clinical experience with ten new stories about my patient, their diagnoses, a new skill/procedure I got to do, etc. Im totally a sponge, with legs of course, because I am constantly on my feet racing/walking around. Oh and deep pockets, to fill with meds, syringes, alcohol pads, IV bags, gloves, SBARs, worksheets, cliff bar, you name it.

Because a blog without photos is lameskies, here is a photo of me checking off on my IV skills!

Today was my first day hanging an IV bag and piggy back at the hospital, too! No posing was involved.

Andrew is running for Vice President of the Student Nurse Association and we vote this week (!!!), has taken his first exam and doesn't get the results until Thursday (!!!), and begins hospital rotations the next Thursday (!!!).

(breath) Sometimes we only have 5 minutes to download our day to each other before we're off to the next thing so our conversations during the week look almost exactly like the above sentence.

One thing I love about Andrew is that when he decides to do something, he goes all out. For example: deciding he wanted to run for VP his 1st semester (my heart hits the floor at the sheer idea of speaking in front of large groups!!). And then there is that one time when his very female study group planned to celebrate after their 1st exam and he wanted to join in on the group unity. I seriously love my husband even more after seeing this photo. He's so adorbs!!

Knew this adventure together would be fun!!

Nursing School Update!

Today is the end of week 2 and I have come to the conclusion that Nursing 1 is way more demanding of one's schedule than Nursing 2. Andrew kind of lives at school these days so I only get to see him during the evenings. However in the evenings all we do is bury our heads in theory books and practice our skills. I have to confess though, Tuesday night I sat on the couch for 3 solid hours and caught up on The Bachelor, Real Housewives of OC, and Teen Mom 2. Of course I make Andrew watch these things with me so I was happy to enjoy quality time during the week with him. In my defense, my break from studying that night mainly had to do with how incredibly sore I am from clinical. Clinical is Monday and Tuesday and by Tuesday afternoon I feel like I've just done 9,786 squats. No joke. Even though I now have two patients I feel like I have less responsibility. All I do is walk in circles through the halls until something comes up that I can do. I keep telling myself its just going to make my legs toner but I have yet to see that improvement. I wish I had more pictures to post but I don't, so these uploads from Instagram will have to do.

The most important part of my get ready routine on days that I have clinical is the amount of coffee I consume.

I finally got around to making my first green smoothie. Loving it!

I love how easy it is to just grab one and let it defrost at the hospital so I have a healthy snack while on my break. However I do not love the expression on everyones face when they see me drinking it.

I can't wait until Andrew gets home so we can snuggle.

First day!

Today we had our first day of clinicals. In keeping with tradition, I share with you this little gem.

Schools Out

And I have no desire to say anything more about school until January 30th.

Christmas Party

Last night was our Student Nurses Association Christmas Party. It was another cocktail themed party, which means that I've now been to 2 cocktail parties in my lifetime. I hope there aren't anymore because I've run out of dresses. I did get a great pair of black heels out of this last one though. Is it bad that I really look forward to the food at these parties? Last nights party was delicious. My favorites were the meatballs (they were amazeballs) and the cherry tomatoes stuffed with a bacon green onion mixture brought by Natalie (I'm gunna need that recipe..). Andrew pointed out that next SNA Christmas Party he'll be finishing up his 2nd semester and I'll be finishing up my 3rd... getting ready for my last! Insane. Time is going to fly by I know it.

Study Group photo take 2 with myself, Kym, Nat, and Aly (missing Bridgette and Steph). Someday we will take a complete photo.

Tomorrow after class we're having a Potluck and I am super excited. I have been craving a beef stew, weird I know, so I signed up to bring one. Only now that really does not sound good to me, but do you know what does? Barbeque beef sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls! Which reminds me, another weird craving I have been having: coleslaw. I hate coleslaw. But for some reason BBQ beef sandwiches with coleslaw on top sound so good.

Madness. I have to get back to studying for my exam tomorrow. Last one before Finals! Then San Diego, then New Mexico for Christmas, then Ski trip!

Have a great Sunday!

A Birthday Party

Little Meg turned 20 this past week so Saturday us nursing students got together for a surprise party. Elizabeth through the party at her cutecute house and did a great job decorating. So glad Meg had a birthday so we could all celebrate her and unwind from an intense semester :)

Look at us future nurses of America. Go us!

Study group! Missing Aly, Natalie, and Steph :(

Hot husband!

12/16

Last time I gave a nursing school update (or "NURSING-SCHOOL-UPDATE!" as i like to say over here, with lots of enthusiasm) I told you all about my first injection and how cool I felt. Well since then I've been able to give some in the hospital to my patients. Completing the whole meds process was a bit overwhelming at first. Note: you will definately need to a patients blood pressure before you give meds. You can bet I wont forget that again. That and the little cuppy for the pills.

Another first: It was my turn to observe a surgery in the OR last week! I was fuh-reezing! My instructors husband was actually the surgeon, isn't that awesome? Everyone in the OR was super nice which was great because I was expecting they would just feel like I was in the way all the time. The whole idea is to be watching what the nurse is doing, but I couldn't resist chatting up the Anesthesiologist (being that CRNA school is my end goal and all). The first day I saw a total knee replacement and the second day I saw a bunch of arthroscopys. I thought a TKR would be total bore city but I was wrong. He sawed off the end of the patients femur and tibia.

Its a shame they still haven't come up with something a little cuter to cover the head

Latest first: I saved the best for last. This week I did my first abdominal dressing change. I was muy nerviousa taking off the layers of gauze because I had no idea what to expect. At the same time I thought it was incredible my instructor really trusted me to do this (ha!). With my instructor right next to me the patient asks "so is this your first time doing this, Holly?". If your in nursing school you know that answer is always "Noo, I do these all the time", and its true, I practice all the time :).

During these last 3 weeks we only have 3 more days at the hospital. I can really feel a shift in the expectations on us as students. A little factoid about next semester: we get TWO patients. Not gunna lie, kind of nervous. Before I get too ahead of myself I am just going to focus on my Comprehensive Skills Assessment on Monday, failing that=dropped from the program on the spot. ...No pressure...

Wellll thats everything about moi. Stay tuned for a post on Andrew!

Skills

I have acquired certain skills since Nursing School began, but none as cool as the one pictured below. Injections! We had a flu shot clinic last Thursday where we were able to really hone our skill. That wonderful girl below is Bridgette, she was kind enough to let me practice on her. Shes also in N1, thats why I was able to get a picture. Super exciting stuff.


This is my clinical group with our instructor Mrs. Murphy.


Thanks Bridgette and Meg for these photos! I have really got to start bringing my camera with me...

7/16

Wow, its already week 7 of 16. Life is zooming by so I haven't had much time to give that many updates. But here is the latest:

We went to the hospital! Sure it was just an orientation type visit, but it certainly felt like a backstage pass to Disneyland. Some of the things we did were: see the floor we'll be working on, given access codes!(to the supply/medication rooms...but still cool!), lurked the medical records of current patients, saw a robot, and basically tried not to get in the way the entire time. We go back next week to begin our clinical rotations that will go until the end of the semester. Very exciting. I really cant wait to go back. After having some form of contact with a patient I feel a lot less nerviosa about patient care. This bad dad is my pass, to open doors, I felt really uncool when it wasn't working like everyone else but then I felt really cool when I had to go back later in the day to test it out again and it worked.

Other than that, Andrew is doing great! He is just the most amazing husband ever. and that is an understatement! I miss him all the time. We are both looking forward to Christmas break. He is always working hard trying to find new clients and we are so thankful how much God provides just enough every month. There are 2 big potential clients that are on our hearts big time - it would be amazing to get those jobs. So we'll see!

Today is my Friday so have a great weekend!

On to the next thing...

We started playing with needles in class yesterday which opens up a whole new world to medications and dosages. Since I really want to be an anesthesiologist this is right up my alley. I can hardly wait until next week when we start injections! In case you were wondering, Kym and I are acquiring a nice photo repertoire for nursing school life. From curriculum to socializing with the manikins, we've got it covered.

Last night was Open House for the skills lab (pictured above) and I brought my hubby to meet my new frens. Since we hope he will be there next semester it was good for him to know what everything looks like and meet the teachers.

Okay, thats all! Well not all, but I cant talk about the rest now because I seriously have to start studying or else I am going to get fired. or a PIP. or worse.

3/16

I have mentioned it before, and i'll say it again, I love crossing the weeks off til the semester is over! We just wrapped up our 3rd week and in this past week we have had our 1st skills check off, our 1st quiz in theory, and by the end of next week we will have taken our 1st exam in theory. I thought after our 1st quiz I would have a better understanding on what we are expected to know come test time, but I am still confused. I feel like I could study my little heart out and still be unprepared for the exam. I decided it's the way questions are asked and the answers that are provided. 3/4 of the answers are pretty logical and maybe all right, but only 1 is the best answer. So what I really need to do is become an excellent test taker.

Okay thats all the school-talk I have so here is what else we've been up to! (again, via instagram because I keep forgetting my camera)


Andrew moved into a new office. He loves that he has a perfect view of all the planes landing at Bermuda Dunes Airport. I love that it's so much closer to home which makes it easier to bring him lunch on the days that I can. All he needs is a sign to let everyone know he's there!

This one is pretty self-explanatory. The doctor told me theres nothing wrong with my vision but my allergies are causing a problem with my vision. So I got some prescription eye drops. I really cant be bothered waiting for my allergies to clear up so I got a pair of glasses too. Can I just say that I had no idea how difficult it would be to find a pair of glasses. It really didn't help having the saleswoman hovering over me too. I really wanted to give up and try again another day but having her right there made it impossible to bail.

This is just a picture of what most nights look like. I love when 5 o'clock rolls around. There is nothing better than relaxing while cooking and sipping on some wine (or in this case, a skinny girl margarita). I try to take pictures of all the fun things I make but this week it either didn't happen or the photo didn't do it justice :)

Even when he is super sick, he is super cute. When he picked up his prescription he picked up some Airborne for me. What a guy. :)

Yesterday I brought in all of our fall decorations from the garage. I loved seeing it this morning. I cant decide what to put in the birdcage though... I really want to put a scary crow (not to be confused with scare-crow) but I think I need to wait until we are in October for that.

One last thing: Look at my adorable baby niece. We bought her this dress a while ago when she was too tiny to fit, but this morning my brother sent us this picture. I died. She is so cute.

Skills Lab

Thanks to my new friend Kymberly I have this wonderful picture to show you. How cute right? This is Infection Control at its best. Some of my favorite things about this photo are: the accentuated waistline our gowns give us, my hand-on-hip action, and of course the blue headwear. Very nice.
I dont know if I will ever have to actually wear this, but its nice to be prepared right? Right.

An almost normal weekend

Well I can't believe my life these days. From moving to being in nursing school, it all feels so surreal. My theory teacher asks everyday if we feel like nursing students yet and my answer is always "no". And everyday Andrew and I thank our lucky stars we finally feel like we're "home". Lots of changes to get used to and I had no idea how disconnected from real life I would feel or how much I miss my love. This weekend has been so great because I feel like I got to reconnect with my lovebug and even relax. We spontaneously went to PF Changs on Friday and it was so nice just to sit with him and look at eachother and talk about anything BUT school. Confession 1: I kind of talk his ear off about school these days. He wont admit but I know its true. Confession 2: I haven't taken a photo with a real camera since Tuesday, sad habit I have going on, so here are a bunch of photos from our weekend via Instagram.
We spent a little bit of our afternoon by the pool on Saturday.

Woke up super early this morning and were not motivated to make breakfast or coffee.

This is how gorgeous the sunrise was this morning!
I did say this was an almost normal weekend...

Well, thats all the update I have for you now. Happy Labor Day!

School started

We made ourselves a nice little routine, too. It starts with a 5 am wake up call to hit the gym, a dog walk, making lunches, eating breakfast, and getting ready all before 7:30. Its been nice getting up so early and going to the gym because its an excellent waker-upper. This first day of school was another orientation, pretty cake. But the last 2 days have been great, lots of patient care practicing and learning equipment. I can now bathe you, make your bed around you, reposition you, help you in and out of bed, transport you to the toilet, bring the toilet to you, and restrain you. Oh, and I can tie a nice slip-knot. At first I thought it was silly to practice all those things but its actually really hard to get used to touching someone's body (especially when they're male) and repositioning it. And the few hours I'm not at school or sleeping, I have a ton of reading to do. A lot of people are scrambling to make study groups but I am too much of a control freak to let someone outline a chapter for me.

Andrew has been the best. This is what he's done for me every morning I have clinicals:

Isn't he great? I just love him.

First day of school picture!

I cant believe in a few hours my first week will be over. Only 5 more until we start working in the hospital and 10 more after that until Christmas break! I am definitely counting.

I hope you all had a good week too!