What a week...

This week has been my official entrance into school as a *drum roll please* NURSING STUDENT!

The first day was orientation. Even though I am in the evening program, all students (freshmen and seniors) had to attend from 9a to 2p. It was the standard orientation -- meet the faculty, look over the "Rules" book AKA school policy and procedures guidebook (which makes nursing school seem like Catholic school. For example, rules for clinicals -- "No hair on the collar! No colored nail polish, only clear! No anklet sock, must cover ankles! No hoop earrings, only posts! Don't dare let us see any tattoos!"), get our keys to our mailboxes, etc. The rules for class were basically common sense ones however the "No cell phones or texting" will be a killer for some students..lol. We also met our advisers and learned more about what to expect from our courses NURE 110/111. All in all, it wasn't boring to me but my pal "Morgan" from the nursing assistant course was bored to tears. She was yet bored when we heard about the MANDATORY Student Nurses Association convention that we have to attend in February. However, when we were told that we could sign up to be monitors for the convention (which happens to be held in Atlantic City) and get our rooms paid for..AND the time away would be classified as clinical time..she woke up..even if just for a moment :)

The next day was the first day in class. First, I want to just say..looking at the syllabus and calendar will make you go nuts. There are due dates highlighted and flagged all over the place. There is something on EVERY day! We have exams (4 that are 17% of our final grade a piece)..quizzes..presentations. Not sure if there are papers but I'm sure there's some somewhere up in the mix. And let's not even forget clinical. There's that and some other things that I've already forgotten that will be pass/fail. Did I mention that to get an A, you need a 94...yes, a 94! Anything below 80 is FAILING! Also, I don't have any of the books...a little too poor right now. I just have the book we used over the summer (or I should say rarely used). The first few readings are from that book so I have a little time..but just a little. I heard our med-surg book is like 50 lbs and can be used to workout with. I'm sure. I've heard notorious things about med-surg books! Luckily, our class has powerpoint presentations for each class so that is a type of saving grace. But, I still would like the books so I could look back and review. I'll get them soon enough.

Our semester is divided up into 4 units in which we learn about Professionalism, Wellness/Illness, Mobility and Safety/Protection. Very fundamentals of nursing. Which right now is boring..lol. In class, we learn the theory part - in clinical/lab, we apply those ideas. But, it definitely will be interesting. It's just the syllabus/calendar is very...busy! LOTS of reading! I thought I read a lot in college..this is not the same!

Another thing that is not the same, something that I've been warned about by other nursing students/graduates, as well as the professors at nursing school -- all tests are multiple choice but not the multiple choice that we're used to! Normal multiple questions consist of "What is the color of the sky?" A) pink B) yellow C) green or D) blue. Of course, the color of the sky can be any of these colors but in general, the answer is mainly blue, without a shadow of a doubt. In nursing school, it won't be that easy (not that we've ever had a question THAT easy!).

In nursing school, the question would be "which of these would a nurse do FIRST?" or "when dealing with a patient with diabetes, which lab results are most important?" Of course, with these questions, there could be many right answers..and usually, there are! But, the correct answer that the test is looking for is the MOST right answer. Crazy, right? No one wants to know the definition, structure or function of something. You're already suppose to know that! You will be presented with scenarios, hypothetical cases. You are suppose to answer with a nursing diagnosis and care plan. Rough, right?

Tonight, we started clinical..even though we didn't do much. We just did chart review. Since the hospital where I'll be doing my clinical rotation has computerized charting, and my school is associated with the hospital, we were able to access patient records right from the school. Since I worked at a hospital before which had patient information online (but still used paper charts at the time), I wasn't one of those that were oohing and ahhing or making comments like "Patient B was admitted for severe diarrhea..cool!" After going through the online charts, we were given a very old (1994) copy of a paper chart and were asked to find different information within the chart such as patient's age, medical history, allergies, type of surgery done, vital signs for a certain day/time, etc. It was pretty cool. We got to leave super early for some odd reason..so I didn't complain at all.

This weekend, I will spend time typing up my notes onto the powerpoint presentations for class..reviewing and making online flashcards. September 21st (my first nursing exam) will be here soon enough! :)