Thought for the Day

This morning I woke up, poured myself some cheerios and sat down to some morning reading. Now most people, while eating their cereal, read the paper or watch the news. This morning I was focused on elimination (feces and urine). Oh how my life has changed.

Hopkins

A six part series on Hopkins starts tomorrow at 9pm. Should be interesting!!

Shots!

We have been working on shots this week and last and I finally got to try on a real person . . . ME! I gave myself a shot of saline into my belly. It was great!

4 Weeks!

I just realized that, as of yesterday, I have been in Baltimore for 4 weeks! My how time flies. Steve and my mom and dad will be here in less than 2 weeks for a visit which will be wonderful! I can't wait!!

Week Three . . . DRE

It's Wednesday today, halfway through another week, which, as usual seems to be flying by! I never thought that school and studying could take up so much time but alas!! I had my very first Johns Hopkins exam this morning . . . the start of many. Pretty much from now until the end of the semester, I have an exam or large project due every week.

Right now I am learning pretty much all of the basics. We practiced subcutaneous (SQ) injections, blood glucose testing, reconstituting medicines and administering PO (by mouth) medicines. In addition, in our other lab, we are learning basic system exams. I am now trained in the respiration exam, cardiac and peripheral vascular exams. I am basically famous because of my heart murmur.

Tomorrow we have our second clinical and we will be required to assist with AM Care which includes: Vitals, Assisting (based on patient's level of need) with baths and changing bed linens. We also are working on acquainting ourselves with a patient's chart.

Anyway . . . that's the basic update for this week. I am finding it truly astonishing the amount of information I have already learned! Each week is definitely exciting and new!

(And if you were wondering about the title of this post . . . I was told in class that I would do at least a dozen of these exams throughout my career in nursing, I challenge you to google it . . . something to look forward to.)

Words of the Day

Hemoptysis: Spitting up blood or blood-tinged sputum.

Pneumothorax: A collection of air or gas in the chest or pleural space that causes part or all of a lung to collapse.

2nd Week Down . . . 7 more to go

They told us when we started this program that the first two weeks were like the slow part of a roller coaster and then after that we just take off flying . . . from looking forward at my schedule I think they might be right.

Bring on the exams!

Clinical!

My first day of clinical was a success. I had a bit of apprehension when we first got there but today was pretty low key. Today we were paired up in two's but generally we will be on our own. We accompanied our patient to PT/OT which is where we spent most of our time but we did take the patient back to their room and got to practice/take Vital Signs (VS).

Overall I would say that it was a good experience and I can definitely tell that clinical is the way to gain the majority of the knowledge and to really put into practice what they are telling us.

Next week I will have a new patient and am supposed to work on VS, Respiratory sounds, AM activities and anything else I learn from now until then! Can't wait!!

First Week and Clinical Info

I survived my first week! I realized I now only have 8 more weeks of class and then one week of finals and the first semester is over! Yikes!!

The first week was fantastic! There is a TON of reading, for which I have decided to train myself in speed reading when I go home for break. The classes are long and the amount of important information I receive is ridiculous! I have about a 35 hour week which includes a lot of lecture, a lot of lab, and 6 hours of clinical.

This week we didn't have real clinical, it turns out they want us to know a little bit of information before putting us in with real patients but I did get my assignment. I will spend the next 8 weeks in a rehab facility for spinal cord injuries/neuro with some medical overflow. As I understand it, patients could be of all ages with a vast number of reasons for visit. I will be working on vital signs and complete health histories my first week! Just to spark your imagination, here are two beautiful pictures of my uniform!! I wore my stethoscope for effect. Please pay special attention to the tapered pants and the over-sized lab jacket. If that isn't fashion, I don't know what is.

Anyway, this first week was a bit of an adjustment but I feel a lot more settled in Baltimore and I am getting into a rhythm for studying so that is good.

This weekend will be spent READING mostly, this morning I read about safety at home, in the hospital and in general and I also read self care and hygiene. Thrilling. Back to studying!

HOT!!!

I just looked at the weather forecast this morning for Baltimore . . .

87 Today
96 Tomorrow
98 Sunday
100 Monday

I am going to melt!!!

Word of the Day

Diaphoresis - excessive sweating commonly associated with shock and other medical emergency conditions.

Diaphoretic - the state of perspiring profusely, or something that has the power to cause increased perspiration.

First Day of School

It is a tradition in my family that on the first day of school you have your picture taken. Here's mine!

My first day of class went really well and I am excited for the first week so that I can get a taste of all of my classes and a better feel for everything.