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Seeing that it's basically February I suppose I could do a reacap of this past year, which was a pretty monumental one for my books.  

I not only graduated college (with honors) with my BSN, but I also passed boards and became a registered nurse in Texas, and in Omaha. I also got a job- not just any job, but my dream job.  I literally love going into work and look forward to my nights spent with the little kiddos.  

I went on my first vacation with just my friends, to where else but the beach.  We took a little day trip up into Philadelphia where I did cool things like taking pictures with the liberty bell.  

Perhaps the most important thing that happened this last year was I got a puppy! My sweet little Darcy who happens to be a ball of fire and energy keeps me company on my days off. 

Not one, but two of my very best friends got married and I had the honor of being in both of the weddings and getting to spend the day with them.  I find it a little hard to believe that I can have two married friends, but I guess that just goes to show that I'm actually growing up.  

I'm excited for what this year has in store for me. Last year was filled with so many monumental milestones, I'm not sure how this year is going to stand up.  I've been thinking about my goals for this year, and how last year most of my goals dealt with school, and this year it's hard to imagine life without it.  I'm thinking that my goals for this year will look something like this:

1. Run (at least) 5 5ks, with Darcy of course.

2. Learn how to properly change a tire on my bike, amongst other things I should know how to do.

3. Travel to someplace I haven't been before.

4. Enroll in a class. 

time well spent

I AM A NURSE! 

I passed the NCLEX, and have officially been issued a license by the state board of Texas!

Four years, millions of hours studying has paid off, because I will never have to take the NCLEX again!

SO EXCITED! 

(even though it's only starting to sink in)

lost in this moment

Last Thursday was a day that I will never forget. It was my second to last day at Creighton, but that's not why it was so memorable.

Throughout the semester my classmates and I were divided into 9 online discussion groups, and today our discussion groups presented a wrap up of our semester. Each group had to choose a Jesuit Value, and talk a little bit about it. My group chose "Finding God in All Things" and then each of us got to talk about an experience in clinical this past semester where we found God. Most groups presentations followed along this same format, some groups chose "Cura Personalis" (care of the whole person)- but in my mind all the Jesuit Values run together- so basically it was just all of us sharing some meaningful or difficult experiences during our preceptorship where we were able to remember that God is among us all, even in the worst situations.

Many of the stories shared dealt with the death of a patient, which I was fortunate to not experience, but many of my classmates were not so fortunate. It struck me how many of them had experienced a patient death, and then to hear them talk about it was almost heartbreaking. I know there were a few moments where every person in the room had tears in their eyes. And while is was so heartbreaking, it was also inspiring- I know I could see how much each one of us had grown in the past semester. We all had gone down our own paths, and yet when we came back together we all had generally the same stories/experience. We all share basic values that will carry us through our nursing careers, no matter where we end up.

timing is everything

This last semester of my time at Creighton is a little different. I have what is called my nursing preceptorship, which is basically like an internship. I'm paired up with a nurse and basically work her schedule, three 12-hour shifts per week. We have 10 weeks to complete 320 hours, and that's really all the "school" I have. And let me tell you, it's been quite the whirlwind.

My first week was a friday-saturday-sunday, and let's say I didn't quite make it to Sunday. Friday and Saturday were awesome, I love the nurse I am paired with and the floor I'm on, but I guess my body needed a little more time to adjust. I woke up on that Sunday sick as a dog, and stayed that way all week long. After I finally felt better and was able to back to Children's every nurse kept telling me "getting sick is normal when you first come into peds, it's like sending a kid to daycare, they pick up everything." I'm hoping that got out of my system now, and that I'll be good to go the rest of the semester. I've been back at school for 5ish weeks and I've managed to be sick all but 2 of them, or at least that's what it feels like.

I did make it through my next 3 in a row, however, and I don't think I have ever been so tired. I made it through all 3 days feeling great, not really understanding why everyone talks about hating working 3 in a row. Waking up on that fourth day though, it all sunk in. I was so tired my alarm went off for probably a good 5 minutes before I even realized it. I finally realized why all those people were complaining, it suddenly all made so much sense. Luckily, I have had a few days to recover since then, but it's almost time for me to do it all over again. I'll write again about all the exciting things I've gotten the chance to do this semester thus far- and there are many, many exciting things!

I'll chase the hurt

Two weeks into school and I have yet to start my clinical, I'm at Children's Hospital all semester. I'll be working like a full-time nurse with 3 12-hours shifts. I'm super excited to start, but I have yet to learn my schedule, so we'll see how that goes.

Anyways, as one of our 10 assignments for this semester I recently had to write a paper about my personal philosophy on nursing and I thought I would share the first half with you (the second half is all about Creighton's mission statement). I apologize- it's kind of long.

Throughout every step of nursing school, I have been constantly reaffirmed that this is the profession I was born to be in, however I was not always aware of that. When I was growing up, the thought of becoming a nurse never crossed my mind, until one day when everything changed. I went from being a normal high school athlete to a couch-ridden, back brace wearing 15 year old. I suddenly was in the doctor’s office every other week, getting countless tests done to try and find the cause of my mysterious back pain. For the next 15 months I would come to know my physicians and nurses quite well specifically my orthopedist, Dr. C. After I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that was attributed as the cause of my back pain, I went in for a 6-month follow-up appointment with Dr. C. At this point I was in fairly good health, having stopped the activities that were the cause of my pain, and Dr. C made a comment that forever changed my path in life. He said “you know, it’s usually the kids who spend as much time as you did in hospitals and doctor’s offices that usually end up going into the health care field,” and that really struck me. Prior to that statement, I had not even considered a career in health care, but with that statement in my mind I did a bit of research and decided that I felt a calling to the profession of nursing. Based on the little research that I had done, I decided to start looking for schools with well-known nursing programs and I chose to go to Creighton, somewhat on a whim. Thinking back, I think it was fate that lead me to Creighton, because as a senior in high school I truly could not have known how perfect of a fit Creighton would be for me, and just how good for me it would be.

Because of my experiences in high school, I have a more personal nursing philosophy, which I believe makes me a better nurse. The deciding factor for me with nursing was that nurses have the chance to make the biggest impact on their patients, because they are the first and last face that the patient sees when the enter and then later are discharged from the hospital. I have reflected on my time in and out of doctor’s offices, and I have learned in my clinical experiences how to make what could potentially be a very bad time in my patient’s life a little more positive. One part of my philosophy on nursing is that I will make every patient feel a little better about his/her life, and make the experience of being a patient more positive than negative, despite the negative reasons for his/her admittance. I have also learned from both my personal experience and my Creighton education that nurses should look below the surface, and to not just treat one symptom but to take a step back to examine and then treat the whole person. I have learned that sometimes the a breakthrough in treatment is found when one person steps back and looks at the patient as a whole, not just the presenting symptom. I have always had a strong faith in God, and my faith has taught me that all people are created equal, and deserve to get fair and equal care, no matter the circumstances. With all of these aspects in mind, my philosophy about nursing is to always provide unbiased, holistic, patient centered care for every person.

as we go on..

This is going to be a big year for me. A year of many big milestones such as:

1. Graduating from college.

2. Turning twenty-two.

3. Getting my first real job.

4. Completing my first Century Ride.

5. Becoming a RN, BSN.

With each one of these comes a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it. I've hit the point in school where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I can almost reach it. I'm so close but can't believe that it's almost over, that a new chapter in my life is about to begin.

into the light

I'm FINALLY in the home stretch. I can almost smell the Thanksgiving dinner cooking in the oven, I can almost listen to Christmas music again, the light at the end of the tunnel is slowly getting closer and brighter. This is super good, because lately I've been in a bit of a slump. Me and my Texas bones wimped out at the first sign of cold weather and I haven't been on my bike since about the 1st of October (I know, lame). I'm trying to change this- trying to coax myself that once I actually get riding that it won't see so cold (so far no luck though). Other than that it seemed like school worked seemed to implode in 3 week period- it was just one thing after another after another. And all I really want to do is go home. But enough of that, onto the good stuff.

I've been on quite a few adventures recently, one including driving 1,000 miles in 2.5 days. I know, pretty remarkable. My roommates and I decided last minute to make a little trip up to Chicago, for almost 3 days. I also celebrated Halloween, college kid style. What exactly is college kid style--good question. haha. Halloween is my least favorite of the holidays, so I just kinda go along with whatever the plans are and roll with it.

I finished my multiple client rotation, and I have to say that from this past year this was probably the rotation I enjoyed the most. I know that's not really fair because I have probably said that about every rotation, but hindsight is 20/20. I've learned that with each new rotation I realize things that I loved and the things I didn't love so much. But this rotation was very different from my others, in that I really felt like the whole family was involved with the care, it was a much more friendly atmosphere. This is somewhat ironic, consider an oncology floor can be one of the most depressing places in the hospital. However, the nurses on this floor did an excellent job of making it a not so scary place. That's what really made the difference, the nurses.

I hope that I will become that kind of nurse one day, that I can make the scary parts of life seem much more bearable.

i'm just a basket case

It seems that every time I go to post all I ever want to talk about is how incredibly busy I am, like it's some brand-spanking new news. You think I would have gotten the memo long ago that nursing school is pretty dang busy- nothing really ever changes. But of course I always seem to forget this fact right before the world gets thrown at us.

So what's new in my life now? Well for starters I'm busy- of course. I just finished my ICU rotation earlier today and it's a little bittersweet. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, which surprised me. I'm not quite sure what I had in my mind about what ICU was going to be like going into it, but all of my expectations were completely blown away. However, even though I had a lot of fun because I had to chance to do a ton on nursing cares and such, it was still very depressing. I didn't really realize how depressing and serious it was until I moved onto my next rotation, Multiple Client.

The majority of the patients in ICU were on ventilators, had feeding tubes, couldn't talk and most of the time were to sedated to have any sort of response to other people. Now, these patients usually had multiple health problems (hence being in ICU) so there was a lot of care that needed to be done, but I found I didn't like ICU for the same reasons I didn't like NICU- the patients couldn't talk back, they didn't really respond to you. And to be honest, I didn't really realize how depressing it was until I moved onto my next rotation, on an oncology unit, where I can actually sit down and have conversations with my patients. As a whole though, I felt like I really learned a lot, I'm actually starting to feel a little more like a real nurse day by day.

On a different note it's midterms week (ohh boy!) and again, it seems like I seem to forget how busy it is until it's finally here. I took one midterm on Monday, have another one next Monday and then my last on Friday- then it's fall break! And unlike last fall break I will not be anxious and nervous, I am going to throughly enjoy my time off and not worry about ANYTHING. I have been far to stressed out about school-it's high time for a break.

talk about a Monday..

Yesterday, Monday I had my first Care Management test of the year. No big deal you're thinking to yourself--which is exactly what I thought to myself. Until I woke up at 8:00 in the morning to a call from my professor asking where I was because "the test started at 7:45, and you're supposed to be here." Sweet. So I quickly threw some clothes on, picked up my backpack and literally ran out the front door. I drove to campus, parked in the student lot without a permit and again literally ran into my classroom. I got there by 8:15 (impressive, right?!) and sat down to take my test in the 30 minutes that were remaining. I miraculously managed to finish my test on time, so now all I have to do is wait until next Monday to see if I did okay.

Now how did I let that happen, I mean really- who sleeps through FOUR alarms. Really now? Not only did I sleep through them, I have no recollection of even hearing them or turning them off.

Talk about stress. I mean, that's one way to start off my week. Luckily I don't have class again until Friday (lucky me!) so I have some time to recover from the trauma yesterday.

But enough about that- clinical started last Friday, and I'm in the ICU first. I am pretty excited about this, because I feel like I will get to see more intense things.

I also had my day in the Emergency Department this past Tuesday and let me say this: WAY COOL. Now, I wasn't at a trauma center so I didn't get to see any car accidents or gunshot victims- but I got to see some pretty cool stuff. I basically loved it, every single minute of it. It was kind of bipolar- in the way that it was either empty, with nothing to do or extremely busy, jumping from patient to patient trying to get everything done. You have to be a very quick thinker, because each patient that comes in is completely different. PRETTY AWESOME, if I do say so.

Oh- also in some free time last week I decided I would get a fish. So here's Stan. I know it's not the best picture, but it's okay. He lives with a peace lilly, which is why there are roots in the picture. I'll let you know how it turns out. So far, so good!

Last, but first

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 is the day that I had my last "first day of school." And let me tell you as far as first days go, this was far from the most exciting. My day wasn't filled with the excitement of walking into class and quickly scanning the room to find which friends were in this class, there was no dread or worry over if I got the "good" teacher. No, there was none of this, instead I walked into the classroom and knew right where I was going to sit- the same exact spot I sat in all last year, right next to the same exact person I did last year and while the teacher wasn't exactly the same, I had listened to her lecture at least once last year. So as far as first days of school go, this was pretty b-o-r-i-n-g, except for you know, the fact that it was my very last one.

Why? Well It's my senior year of college, which in my humble opinion is quite scary. It's hard for me to believe that 18 years ago today (or around this day) I walked into Kindergarten looking like this:

And now, here I am embarking on one of the last chapters in a major aspect of my life. Senior year- it's something everyone hopes to reach someday very soon, but yet once it arrives it seems far to early for everything to be over. I know I have dreamed of days where I don't have to stay up until the wee hours of the morning to cram for that big test, or to finish up the last few words on that major paper due in just a few hours but yet now that I see the end in sight, I'm at a loss for what to think.

All I have ever known, for the past 18 years from August-June is to wake up, go to school, come home, do homework, work out, eat dinner, sleep, wake up and do it all again (with some variation of course). What am I going to do when I come home and don't have to whip out my school books and crack down on my reading, or spend hours upon hours hostage to the library? Yes, I do know that I'll have a "real" job and be in the "real" world with "real" responsibilities, but still.

Perhaps I'll actually be able to sleep, imagine that! Or maybe I'll take up some hobby like underwater basket-weaving to fill my time that would normally be filled with school work.

Don't get me wrong, I am VERY excited about the future, and all that is in store for me, but it's a scary thought. For once my life plan isn't laid out in front of me, I'm not sure exactly what I should do, where I should go next. It's a completely blank slate, which is something I have never experienced before. My life in, oh, about 9.5 months is going to make a 180 degree turn from the pattern I have followed for so long to something COMPLETELY different. I can't even imagine. I mean, a world without homework? I'm not even quite sure it exists. ( I'll believe it when I see it)

I guess I'll just have to take it as it comes.

So bring it on.

I'm ready.

Well not really, just kinda ready.

Okay, not ready at all.

I have been changed for good

A recap of Junior year:

-I learned how to destroy entire wheel (and rim), with the help of a few potholes.

-I learned how to insert an IV (on a plastic arm).

-I drove to and from Omaha many times.

-I got to watch a surgery first hand.

-I learned that I never EVER ever want to work in long term care.

-I dominated care management. hands down.

-I managed to make it through another year without a single all-nighter.

-I saw a life come into the world.

-I got not 1, not 2 but THREE flat tires.

-I really, really enjoyed Pediatrics.

-I decided that winter really isn't my thing.

-I realized that all that Spanish in high school really was kind of important.

-I finished up my term as House Chairman in Kappa

-I had my very first clinical patient, whom I will never forget

-I learned that I like change.

-I came to the conclusion that OB, Long Term Care, Psych really aren't for me.

There are of course many, many other aspects of this past year that make it memorable, but most can't be recapped in a few words. It was a very good year, and I really can't believe it's over. More importantly, I can't believe that next year is senior year. It's scary to think about, that I have to enter the real world soon. But for now it's summer, and summer time means that I'm on vacation from school, from thinking about school, from even thinking about the real world. This is my last real summer, and I plan on taking full advantage of it.

train-wreck, I'm a train-wreck

These past two days I've spent my time in a Special Care Psychiatric unit. This means that I was with the most crazy of the mentally ill. These people were hearing voices, extremely depressed or suicidal.

Walking into the unit I was a little overwhelmed, as I'm sure most people would be. I had just toured the whole psychiatric wing and the last part was the Special Care Unit, which was very different from the other 2 units I had just come from. Those were very open, with lots of common areas and people sitting out, together. This Special Care Unit was one long hallway with a small common area, but with the nurse's station completely closed off by plexiglass. Needless to say, it was a little intimidating.

But I soon found that really, there was nothing much to be scared of. These people, while being a little crazy, were still just people. Now, I'm not saying that they all didn't have their fair share of issues, but that was no reason for me to think of them in any different light.

So, once I realized this and got over my little fear of the unknown I actually got to have some

pretty decent conversations with some of the men on the unit. And let me tell you, my mind was blown away. big time. I talked with one man about how he, and his son, both made meth in their basements, and consequently became addicted to it. Let me just say, this man was about 60 years old. 60 years old and addicted to methamphetamine, among other things. Can you imagine? Funny enough, I just had a lecture in class about substance abuse and all I could think about in class was the man that I had talked to who has been taking meth for a long, long time.

As a nursing major, I have a philosophy that because I am going into the health care field and am going to be taking care of others I need to first take care of myself. I try to eat healthy, work out on regular occasions and stay away from things that could potentially harm my body, whether now or later in life. To me, taking such addictive and dangerous drugs like meth, or even cigarettes just seems to me like you're throwing your life away. I know that everyone's live varies and under certain circumstances who's to say that I wouldn't have done the same thing. But as I sat looking around at the patients in this Special Care Unit, where most of the patients not only had severe mental illness but also some sort of drug addiction, and all I could think of is why would you ever want to start taking something like meth? I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to hear voices, or have violent mood swings, but to add on top of that also going through withdrawal- how bad it must be. I mean, I'm sure withdrawal alone would be enough to make me crazy.

Needless to say, this week was kind of crazy (no pun intended). I'm excited for this coming week, with my second week in Psych- hopefully I'll get to talk to some more people and learn more about just how much mental illness can affect one's life.

where soul meets body

I'm kind of into making goals right now. Little goals and big goals, like- not sleep through my alarm in the morning, make it though this class, stand up a little straighter, work out today, eat a little better, study a little harder. All these sort of sprung from my little Lenten goal this year.

Now I'm Catholic, and I really like the Easter season, or actually I like Lent, and everything it symbolizes. I don't think I take Lent in the same way most people do though. Back in confirmation class I came to learn that Lent isn't so much about giving something up for 40 days and then picking it right back up as soon as Easter rolls around. Instead, Lent is a time where you should try and embark on something that will better yourself as a person, something that you will keep with you long after the season is over. This year for Lent I gave up slouching, but I prefer to think of it as standing up straight ALL THE TIME. Now, you may say ha- what's that got to do with anything. But alas, as a 6'2 female, it means something quite different to me as it does the average height person. My life is spent slouching down and crouching down to fit into a world that was made for someone of 5'6-5'9- not someone over six feet tall, especially a female. So I decided that for Lent I would work of standing up straight, and being proud to be so tall. I found that standing up straight had so much more meaning for me than simply improving my posture. Now that Lent is over I find myself with a new confidence that I have not really had before. Now when I walk into someplace new I am standing up tall and not slouching in an attempt to shrink away so as to not stand out. Now I walk around with purpose.

This new confidence has given my the idea of continuing on Lenten idea throughout the year, not just during the season of Easter. I want to set little goals for myself and work on that specific idea for about a 4-5 week period.

So my new goal is to finish this school year out strong, focusing on actually paying attention in class (aka not bringing my laptop). There's only 5 weeks left of school, which other than being a scary thought, means that I have 5 weeks to go out with a bang. In these 5 weeks I have one last clinical rotation, about 6 exams, and 17 days of classes left. So this shouldn't be to difficult, that's what you're thinking- I know. But I think it's going to be harder than it sounds, this last month since spring break I really haven't had any motivation to do much of anything- and I really mean it. I've been slacking off to the extreme, but not anymore.

So bring it on. I can do this.

five days and counting

I've come to the conclusion that time does exactly the opposite of what you want it to. When you want the time to go fast it seems to drag on second by second, and vise versa. Last semester seemed like it dragged on forever when all I wanted was Christmas break, but yet now time seems to be flying by. Today was the first day of March, spring break starts on Friday, I finish my 2nd clinical this week--where is the time going? I am really enjoying this semester, I don't want it to be halfway over.

I do want this latest rotation to be over though. I tried to go into this rotation with an open mind, because you can never love something if you don't give it the chance, but let me tell you I got my answer in the first few minutes of the first day. Adult Medical/Surgical, which is pre-op/post-op patients, is just not my thing. Most of the patients are 65+, and not in to good of health. It seems to remind me a lot of long term care last semester, but not quite so intense. I just don't seem to be enjoying the older adult population quite as much as the younger population. Things just seem to smell worse, look worse and are just so much more depressing. Whenever I get to do nursing I always enjoy it, but this rotation I'm not really having any fun.

So needless to say, one thing I am ready to be over is this rotation. Also, I am very ready for spring break. I'm ready to be back in Texas again and to see sunshine every day.

But as always, it's not gonna come easy. I have a midterm tomorrow, two more days of clinical and a John Mayer concert to go to before I can officially call it spring break and be back on Texas soil! Five more days is all I have to keep telling myself....

no habla espanol

Yet again, I seem to have come to another realization through my clinical experiences.

Right now, I just finished my second week in my pediatric rotation (which I LOVE) but last week was a little difficult for me. What made it difficult was fact that I couldn’t really communicate with both my patient, and her parents. Now, my patient was only an infant, so I didn’t come into this week expecting to hold a full conversation with her, however with her parents it was a different story. Her parent’s primary language was Spanish, which I have encountered before, but not quite to this extent. What I am used to is someone of Hispanic descent who primarily speaks Spanish, but who also understands English. This wasn't the case with my parents though. I felt like these parents didn’t really understand a word I was saying, which made me feel powerless.

I was able to do my job- I was able to assess my patient every 4 hours and correctly administer all her medications to her, but I felt like something was missing. In pediatrics communication with the parents is vital, and I really wasn't able to do that. An interpreter was called for when the physicians came to the room, so I was able to ask questions then, but the interpreter only came once a day for the two days I was there. So all the other dozen times I walked into my patient's room I was flying blind, thinking the whole time that I really should learn Spanish.

So there I was, someone who was supposed to be the advocate between the parents and the doctor, and I didn't even know what my parents were saying, or what their questions or concerns about there daughter were.

I suddenly had flashbacks to high school, where my counselor would try and stress to me how important taking a second language would be later in my life, which was a message that never seemed to get through to me. All I kept on thinking was that I should have taken that advice more seriously, because a second language is a skill that will only help you in positive ways. I know this week I really could have used even some basic Spanish like “I’m going to examine your daughter now” or “I’m here to give your daughter her medication.” Instead, I had to speak in a language that they didn't really understand, and just hope that they somewhat understand what I needed to do.

So I guess you could say now that I had my eyes opened. Now I have a desire to learn Spanish (and take it seriously) because when I decided to become a nurse I didn't decided to only be a nurse to certain people, I want to help everyone. If that means I have to do a little bit of extra schooling, then so be it, because if it's going to make me a really good nurse, then it's worth it in the end.

life, fall fast now.

Wow- I can't believe it's already FEBRUARY! (where did January go?) Oh wait- that's right I worked my little butt off all through January and now I'm feeling the repercussions. Luckily for me, February is just a little bit calmer than the month before it. I guess the new year really did start off with a bang!

Just to put it all in perspective let me tell you a little story about just how tired I was last weekend, after my first week of clinical- which should first be prefaced by my telling you that I'm not one who takes naps, at all. Okay, so last Friday I got home from clinical by 3:00ish, hurried up and finished all my paperwork so I could take a nap before going out to dinner. Let's just say that dinner never happened- because when I laid down for my nap at 3:30, I didn't really take into account just how tired I was, instead I realized it when I woke up at 10:45PM!!! Yeah, major fail. So me, being the smart person that I am, decided that after sleeping 6 hours I would eat a little dinner and go right back to sleep- and not wake up until 7:00 Saturday morning! Needless to say, I was just a little tired. I mean, it's not like I was missing out on any stellar Friday night plans, but still-for me to sleep through pretty much an entire afternoon is kind of a big deal.

Yeah, so I'm kind of glad January is over. I've already taken: 7 Quizzes, 3 tests and completed one week of clinical (geez)! And I Kappa had Recruitment the first week we got back, so that was another whirlwind! It seems that I've finally found my groove though, I seem to have finally settled into my schedule. February- I'm looking forward to you and all your calmness. Only 2 tests, and clinical- it'll practically seem like summer compared to the rate I've been going. Now only if the weather would warm up a little I would be golden! Instead, it decided to snow again, and just make me lose all hope for spring any time soon. Oh well, you win some, you lose some!

slowly, it gets easier

Or I hope it gets easier. Midterms week is this week, and just by looking at my planner it doesn't look too daunting- one test, one paper. But alas, I couldn't be that lucky. I just started studying for my test yesterday, I haven't even thought about the paper and don't even get me started about all the work for clinical this week.

I always thought people were exaggerating when they said that every junior nursing student has at least one breakdown fall semester. But now I understand, there are some points where there is not nearly enough time in a day to complete everything you need to do. The world keeps turning and you can't quite seem to catch up.

I think if I try and learn one more concept, drug or have to do one more nursing diagnosis my brain might just explode. But I don't get that luxury this week- this week is going to be overloaded. But it's all part of the process, and the learning curve. If I can just make it though Wednesday night, things will get better. I will get a break (a real weekend!), I will get to watch TV and not feel guilty about it, I will get to have some fun and push school to the back of my mind for a few days. That is what will get me though this week.

Numero Uno!

So here I sit, on the eve of my 2nd Care Management test and what do I do, but start a blog!

It's 10 o'clock and I've done about all the studying my brain can take- at least until tomorrow when it'll be time to start studying for Informatics. One of my friends inspired me to start something that I can look back on. Nursing school is intense, to say the least, and I would like to be able to reflect a little on my experiences as I make my way through the last two years, and most importantly clinicals.

My first clinical ended last Wednesday, I finished school screenings! I absloutley LOVED it, but then anyone that knows me knows I could easily spend the rest of my days surrounded by children and be completely happy. Now, I probably won't end up being a school nurse, but it was a great experience, and in my opinion a awesome first clinical.

This is the first weekend where it's Sunday night and I actually am feeling good about the week ahead of me. I may not have done all of my homework, or studied as much as I should have, but I am okay with that. Maybe it's my exhaustion and information-overloaded brain catching up to me, or maybe I am finally starting to get the hang of it (nursing school, that is).

Whatever it is, I am hoping that is next Care test will turn out a little better than the last one, I am hoping that I finally got the hang of how to study for these tests.

All I know is that this is the start to a new week, and I am going to do the best I can to make it though! I start Long Term Care this week, so I won't be expecting to have to much free time, or really any at all. Let's just say this is going to be a very interesting week!