A Day in the Life of a Nursing Student

I can’t believe it’s already the end of the 1st week of the semester. More importantly my 4th and FINAL nursing semester!!! Wow it was a busy week!!!!  Things accomplished this week………………….

1. Went to my classes and met my new instructors!!! Very excited to meet them. They are all so friendly and helpful!

2. Passed my math test!!!! For anyone looking for review if you haven’t taken the test yet…I suggest Deb Krings homepage. She has a wonderful practice test and i’ve been using it for the last three semesters!!!!

3. Had orientation for clinical!! I met everyone in my clinical group for the semester!! Very excited for 4th semester clinical to be assigned with an RN!! I can’t wait to see how every RN manages their day!!

4. HAD MY LAST SKILLS FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last skills fair……how exciting!!! I passed all my skills so that really set the semester off right!!! My suggestion for skills fair is 1. GO SLOW. Go slow and think out your next step!! This worked for me today on several of my skills today!!! 2. Take a deep breath! If you have to re-do a skill in the skills lab ..it’s ok. Learn from your mistakes!  and 3. Have fun!! 4. Remember open skills lab. I was in the lab one day all by myself. I got feedback from two instructors! This truly helped me!

5. I got started on my future assignments. It feels so good to have a start on a lot of my assignments. I already feel a LOT less stressed then usual!!!

Good luck to everyone this semester!!! More to come soon…clinical starts next week!!!

  Last Thursday I went to the pinning ceremony for the graduating students. It was great to see the 4th semester students receive their pins knowing the worked so hard to get to graduation day. Prior to this graduation day each student writes a THANK YOU letter to whoever helped them get to the end. It was a great part of the ceremony to hear who was thanked and how each student’s story and thank you was different. Some thanked their parents, grandparents, friends, friends who have passed away, instructors, Brian Sadler, siblings and the list goes on. There was a lot of emotion as each letter was read from the families and from the student. You could see each instructor smiling from their seats in the crowd.  

Also a pin was received by the family of a student that passed away. She was a 4th semester student who passed away prior to graduation. I didn’t know her personally but from what I have been told about her she was a hard working mother of 2, an amazing caretaker of her family, a passionate nursing student and a good friend. She was also remembered with a scholarship made in her name to help a fellow nursing student. Along with the remembrance of the student and the over-all emotion in the room you could tell that the nursing department everyone included from instructors, counselors and fellow students become a family. As a student you become each other’s biggest cheer section. You support through the tough times and celebrate the successes with each other.

If you weren’t able to attend the ceremony this year I recommend you attend the pinning ceremony in May. Not only because I plan on GRADUATING, but because it’s truly a great day to experience and to see what you’re a part of.

On Thursday the 4th semester graduating students will get their nursing pins. Watch your fellow nursing students end their journey at MSTC and move into the real world.  Each graduating student will have their thank-you letter read and I’ve heard this is a very moving moment! If you’re interested in attending come to the MSTC gym at 3:30 p. Hope to see you there!! 

Congratulations to the graduating class. I know you have all worked so hard and best wishes in your nursing careers.

I don’t know about anyone else but it has been hard these last few weeks to stay focused. I have to remind myself to keep going. I think there comes a point in this vigorous program when you realize how close you are to the finish line! 3rd semester has had its challenges but also many rewarding times as well. These last two weeks of school I have also reflected on everything I have learned these past semesters and how far I have come as a nursing student. So when you start to feel that your focus isn’t where it should be…remind yourself why you are here, how far you have come, and also how good it will be to reach the goal of graduating!!!

If you need a little reminder…visit this site!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-EpuP8p870&NR=1

“How very little can be done under the spirit of fear”  Florence Nightingale

I love this quote. Think about it. If you are afraid to do something you might never do it. Right.

How about applying this to clinical. In 3rd semester you learn all these new skills which really adds to the level of patient care you get to do!! But the first time you are confronted with doing a new skill what do you do………..Do you avoid avoid avoid…or do you work past the fear you may have? I say face it head on. If you don’t try you will never learn. If you hide in your fear how will you ever progress with your efficiency on a skill?    During clinical take every opportunity you have to learn and to experience!

Hello everyone! I just want everyone to know that there is a BLOOD DRIVE at Mid-State in room L133/134 this Monday the 8th. It is open from 8 am to 2p. The last appointment will be at 1p to give blood. Please consider donating. We can’t’ forget blood is a vital organ and it is very important in order to save lives!! I will be donating as long as I qualify!!

Also we will be having a bake sale as well to raise money for a 4th semester nursing student who recently passed away. The money we raise will go to her family!! Please come by and buy some goodies!!

These are some of the things that ran through my head the last two weeks while dealing with an illness……….I don’t have time to be sick, what about clinical? What about the test I’m going to miss? Lecture notes? Work?…………it felt like it was never ending. I came down with strep throat and a sinus infection and to keep it short this is how it went…… 9 days with a fever and a good share of those laying on my couch with not enough energy to get off of it all day, 3 doctor visits, cans and cans of chicken soup, gallons on water, two rounds of antibiotics, 1 missed test, 1 day of missed clinical and two days of lecture, 4 days of work missed, and several meetings…I’m starting to feel better!!!!  

Believe me I was stressed and worried about all of this stuff. I broke down in tears a few times. But I brought myself back to what I could control. I could control the amount of rest I was giving myself. I allowed myself to just lay on the couch and let my body fight this monster. I could control emailing my teachers and letting them know I wouldn’t be at class. I made arrangements. Let me tell you of course it was hard to not go to clinical. Those 5 points really mean a lot to us and believe me it was going over and over in my head if I should go or stay, go or stay. But when it came down to it I still had a fever. I still felt awful and most importantly I thought about the patients I would have taken care of. My decision then became easy. Stay home. I put the focus on the patients I would be caring for verses myself and what I was missing. It was an easy decision because it was the right one. I would of put my patients at risk for getting my illness. When we are at clinical we are not there to put them at risk, we are there to take care of them and I knew I couldn’t do that to my best ability. Also I had no energy.  I barely had the energy to think about changing out of my sweatpants into scrubs. Now that usually isn’t a hard transition. Both comfortable but hey when you’re feeling like I did scrubs even sound uncomfortable.

I know it is hard and stressful when you get sick. But staying focused and knowing what you need to do will keep you on the right path. I suggest having a back-up plan or look at your schedule and think ………..If I were to get sick how would I work missed lecture, clinical or work! 

 Here are some tips we could all do to help our bodies stay healthy and hopefully illness free: Drink plenty of water, increase your fruit and vegetable intake, get enough rest, make back-up plans to help fight that stress that is so hard on our body, WAAAAAAAAAAAASH those hands, sanitize handles, countertops…ect……and go for a walk!  

Getting a monster illness is something that is hard to prevent 100% so if you do get sick I hope you make the right decisions for yourself and stay on top of work as much as you can. Remember it’s easy to fall behind in all these classes and hard to get back up to the top.

A month or so ago I went down to Madison to take my licensed practical nurse exam…….

 For those of you who are currently in 1^st and 2^nd semester you might know that after your 2^nd semester in nursing school you can take the licensing exam to become a practical nurse.  Pretty awesome right! Well some of you may think well I’m going on for my 2^nd year of school so taking the exam wasn’t something you thought of doing…..well here are some reasons why I took the exam. First I wanted the experience of taking a licensing exam so when I went to take my boards to become a registered nurse I would know what to expect and hopefully ease some anxiety for when that time comes. Also I wanted a back-up plan. Having children usually requires back-up plans!! I thought what if something happened to me and I couldn’t finish my 2^nd year? What if something would happen to my daughter or her Dad? I wanted to have the License as a back-up plan if I need to use it. 

Some of you might feel like I did about the exam……scared, nervous and wondering how prepared you will be. The best part about this situation is having the ATI tests. These tests can predict with what percentage you have to pass the exam on the first try. Also the questions help prepare you for the questions that could be asked on the licensing exam. There are practice tests and many opportunities for you to learn. A little FYI you already paid for the tests. It’s part of your tuition so use it!! Also our instructors make sure we are ready. They provide us with many learning opportunities and challenge us so we are prepared for it. Honestly I don’t really have any reasons NOT to take it. If you are able to take the exam………. DO IT.

………So to the end to my story my computer shut off after 85 questions and I went home and 4 days later I found out I was a LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE!!!! I can’t explain how good it felt to know I passed and to know all the hard work I put in my first year was well worth it. Let me tell you it’s a great feeling!!

I want to remind everyone about open lab. Open lab is a great place to work on your skills. There is an instructor always available in the lab to help you with any questions and assist you with your skills. I think we forget about how important all those skills are. I know second semester I didn’t go to open lab very much until it was time for SIMS lab. Man was I nervous for SIMS and the skills that I had to do. I spend some time reviewing but I think that if I would have made it in to the open lab even once a week during the semester I would have been a lot more confident in my skills.

We all know that any skill we have learned in skills is a skill we can perform at clinical. You don’t want to miss out on an opportunity at clinical to do a live skill on a REAL person right! Plus you need to be confident in those skills. That patient trusts you.

Open lab hours are:

Monday 11-12:30pm

Tuesday 5-7:00pm

Wednesday closed

Thursday 1-3pm

Friday 1-3pm

This is a great video. It really speaks to me in many ways. It makes me think of all of the things people have said to me in my past that I have had to overcome to be right where I am now. A high school counselor told me when I was applying for colleges that I wasn’t smart enough to be a nurse and I should pursue a different career. What if I would of listened ?  No matter what has happened in our past you can succeed even when things are hard. People will tell you that you can’t do something, prove to them and yourself you can. No matter what your obstacle is overcome it and be what you know you can be! Enjoy the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BirIEDYrw0Y&feature=related