Third year nursing school feels a lot like the early days of parenthood. Bringing a newborn home makes for very, very long days (and nights), yet suddenly another week or month have flown by. At times, it seems to be getting through each moment as it comes. Basically, that's what this year at school feels like, most of the time.
There are so many deadlines, so many individual items to keep track of. Somehow they all get done on time, but its a constant scramble. I can honestly say that I am so looking forward to finishing school, and getting back to a more 'normal' life. Life that simply involves work and personal life. No extra scholarly papers hanging over my head, no quizzes, no writing and meeting clinical objectives, no lab exams, no exams. There are 40 more weeks of this life to get through. The end is starting to be in sight, yet in the meantime, the mad rush continues.
On the (very!) bright side, I assisted in my first delivery. It was an incredible experience. The mom already had several children, so having another baby was definitely not a new experience for her. She didn't use any pain medication, so the stages of labour were 'textbook' to watch -- transition was so evident that even I, attending my first delivery, knew exactly what was happening.
The baby came out with one push. It was almost anti-climatic, given how fast it happened. One moment she's sitting calmly and quietly, then she has a few severely painful contractions where its clear she's pushing, yet there's no evidence of baby being close to delivery, then one more push where its clear the baby is just inside and next thing, the head is out and the rest of the little body.
It happened all so fast, that the nurse I was with delivered the baby. The resident and the medical students all ran in en-masse, but it was all over. Baby was on momma, they clamped and cut the cord, did a very basic assessment, there was no laceration so no need for any more medical interventions, and they all disappeared seemingly as quickly as they appeared. Then momma put baby to her breast, and just like that, it was all over. Assessments continued, yes, but the room was calm and serene and peaceful once again.
Incredible.
Showing posts with label assignments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label assignments. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Early Sunday Morning
Ahhh, there's nothing like working on a neuro-anatomy assignment, while enjoying (OK, waking up with!) my morning coffee. Such is the glamourous life of a nursing student.
What amazes me even more, is that I actually am working on a neuro-anatomy assignment!
For so many years I tried so very hard to ignore and suppress my medical career calling, convincing myself that I was already established in a great career in communications. Truth is, I was extremely well established in a stable career, but it just wasn't right. I wasn't challenged enough, didn't feel like I'd accomplished much at the end of the day, and just wasn't feeling right. Maybe this was a mid-life cross-roads of sorts. I just knew that it was "now or never" to make the switch to the medical field. Either do it now, or regret not having made the change for the rest of my life.
I guess that heeding the medical vocation calling me was even more stubborn than I, who was trying to ignore it at this stage in my life. (And being a red-head, I am somewhat known for being "a wee bit" stubborn at times.) Hard to believe, but true. ;-)
Back to the cranial nerves now, after I re-fill my coffee!!!
What amazes me even more, is that I actually am working on a neuro-anatomy assignment!
For so many years I tried so very hard to ignore and suppress my medical career calling, convincing myself that I was already established in a great career in communications. Truth is, I was extremely well established in a stable career, but it just wasn't right. I wasn't challenged enough, didn't feel like I'd accomplished much at the end of the day, and just wasn't feeling right. Maybe this was a mid-life cross-roads of sorts. I just knew that it was "now or never" to make the switch to the medical field. Either do it now, or regret not having made the change for the rest of my life.
I guess that heeding the medical vocation calling me was even more stubborn than I, who was trying to ignore it at this stage in my life. (And being a red-head, I am somewhat known for being "a wee bit" stubborn at times.) Hard to believe, but true. ;-)
Back to the cranial nerves now, after I re-fill my coffee!!!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Back on track!
What a difference a few days can make! "Life" is definitely getting back on track, energy levels are increasing, and I got caught up in my courses. Yes, this is much better than last week. What an awful feeling that was, to want and need to do things, yet feel so incredibly tired.
We are also s-l-o-w-l-y getting into a home routine, with the kids activities, sports, music lessons, homework, and my new 'stay at home mom' routine into just that -- a routine, not randomly happening days. In hindsight, even under regular conditions (i.e. not mom leaving her job and starting nursing school!), it always takes us a few weeks to establish a busier routine, after a relaxing summer. This year it was particularly different, with so many changes happening.
In terms of school, it is such a reassuring feeling to know that I already have a classmate network established, where I can get help if needed. Now we're talking about getting a study group going. This is probably a good idea, given how much memorizing is required in physiology classes, and even in psychology class. The latter class, it turns out (so far, anyways), is mostly a combination of stats class and neurophysiology. I've studied both, so the topics aren't really 'new' to me. I really didn't know what to expect from the psych course, but so far it is very much related to physiology....I admit I haven't yet looked at chapters in the text that we're not doing yet. My first mid-term is next week, in psych, so hopefully that will be OK.
I've done one physiology assignment so far (got 90% - yay!!!), and have another one due early next week. Everything, and I mean everything tested, is multiple choice. This is a h.u.g.e change from my previous university studies (I think a post on test taking will be in the works soon). Even when I was writing exams in my science courses, we didn't do any multiple choice exams. Every test was short answer, definitions, and of course, in the chemistry and calculus courses, showing the work and the calculations for the various reactions.
What I find somewhat ironic (is that the proper use of the word?), is that I avoided taking this 'intro to psych' course when I was doing my first undergraduate degree, because we students knew that that course was marked based entirely on multiple choice tests and exams!!! That was the main reason I didn't feel like taking it as an elective back then. Now here I am, years later, taking the same class that is tested in the same format. C'est la vie, life goes on, and frankly, it is an interesting course!
Back to paying some attention to my littlest one now. She only goes to school in the afternoons, so mornings are 'our' time. In one word, these morning together in the past few weeks have been 'amazing'. I am so grateful to have this time with her. :-)
Happy momma, wife and nursing student!!!
We are also s-l-o-w-l-y getting into a home routine, with the kids activities, sports, music lessons, homework, and my new 'stay at home mom' routine into just that -- a routine, not randomly happening days. In hindsight, even under regular conditions (i.e. not mom leaving her job and starting nursing school!), it always takes us a few weeks to establish a busier routine, after a relaxing summer. This year it was particularly different, with so many changes happening.
In terms of school, it is such a reassuring feeling to know that I already have a classmate network established, where I can get help if needed. Now we're talking about getting a study group going. This is probably a good idea, given how much memorizing is required in physiology classes, and even in psychology class. The latter class, it turns out (so far, anyways), is mostly a combination of stats class and neurophysiology. I've studied both, so the topics aren't really 'new' to me. I really didn't know what to expect from the psych course, but so far it is very much related to physiology....I admit I haven't yet looked at chapters in the text that we're not doing yet. My first mid-term is next week, in psych, so hopefully that will be OK.
I've done one physiology assignment so far (got 90% - yay!!!), and have another one due early next week. Everything, and I mean everything tested, is multiple choice. This is a h.u.g.e change from my previous university studies (I think a post on test taking will be in the works soon). Even when I was writing exams in my science courses, we didn't do any multiple choice exams. Every test was short answer, definitions, and of course, in the chemistry and calculus courses, showing the work and the calculations for the various reactions.
What I find somewhat ironic (is that the proper use of the word?), is that I avoided taking this 'intro to psych' course when I was doing my first undergraduate degree, because we students knew that that course was marked based entirely on multiple choice tests and exams!!! That was the main reason I didn't feel like taking it as an elective back then. Now here I am, years later, taking the same class that is tested in the same format. C'est la vie, life goes on, and frankly, it is an interesting course!
Back to paying some attention to my littlest one now. She only goes to school in the afternoons, so mornings are 'our' time. In one word, these morning together in the past few weeks have been 'amazing'. I am so grateful to have this time with her. :-)
Happy momma, wife and nursing student!!!
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