Greetings,

Its coming down to the wire and I am nowhere near my goal! I need all the help I can get.

Join Team MaSNA for the 2010 Jimmy Fund Walk   Join the Team HERE Donate HERE Support us on Facebook! About the Event Join your fellow nursing students and recent grads in making every step count! Walk Sept. 12 along in the Boston Jimmy Fund Walk to support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's mission to conquer all forms of cancer. By joining together, we can make an even bigger impact on ending this disease. So recruit all of your fellow students to join up. Registration is easy on the website and all you have to raise is $250.00. Thats just 10 friends donating $25 each. If you can't walk yourself, consider donating to a worth cause. Supporting our patients goes beyond the hospital! Get involved in your community and save lives!

 Greetings All.

I would just like to let folks know about my participation in the 2010 Jimmy Fund Walk in September. I team captain for the MA Student Nurses' Association and would love to set a good example.

For those who are interested in donating to help cure cancer, my site can be found here: http://www.jimmyfundwalk.org/2010/masna_community.

The team's site, for those who want to join in is here: http://www.jimmyfundwalk.org/2010/masna

The Facebook event is here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=134260336607546

I've attached a poster for nursing students (and others) to hang where you think it will do the most good.

Thanks!!

This past week was full of firsts. Many new challenges to work with.

School

A big week. Started my first clinical rotation this week at a rehab facility. Started in right away the day after my orientation with my own patient. He’s an interesting case who has had quite the hospitalization journey. From one possibly fatal circulation issue to another nearly fatal heart complication and the patient was then broad-sided by a close call with a severe GI issue. Finally, patient got an infection on top of it. Yeah. They have had quite the journey. But you wouldn’t know it by anything but the incisions… all they complain about is a chronic pain from a congenital defect. Really pretty amazing.

I gave my first meds, did my first documented health assessment, took vitals, assisted with a dressing change. All in all pretty neat. That said, I had my fair share of anxiety and feeling overwhelmed too. I feel as though I’m constantly playing catch up. I never seem to know quite enough… this is to be expected I know. My amazing clinical instructor said as much. She put things in perspective when I was stressing that fact that I didn’t take a particular assessment after an incident. She reassured me saying that my only job in the circumstance was to notify the nurse that something had changed. I did extra… but still in the circumstances I wanted to do everything I could for my patient.

I am hitting a few personal brick walls. They’ve been there all along but now that I am in a service industry they are coming to the fore. I am self-oriented even as I am interested in the welfare of others. I don’t directly empathize with a person… instead I have to filter their sensations through a projection of my own experiences. This creates a delay in my reaction. It is something I’m working on. Also, I don’t multi-task well. I hyper-focus on what I am doing and its already an issue. I’m supposed to always be doing at least two things at once: Asking about comfort level while assessing skin turgor and affect, etc… I need to figure out a way to make this happen. Hopefully, it will come with practice.

Health & Wellness

I’m adjusting to my new schedule. The heat this week had made things difficult. My clinical is first shift (6.3a-2.3p) and so I’m up and out early. Trouble is I’m a night person. I study best at night, especially when its so hot in the afternoon. So I’m averaging 4-6 hours a night, which really isn’t enough. Hoping to recover this weekend…

Employment & Finance

Still waiting on the nursing assistant position. Issue is everyone seems to be on vacation.

Volunteering

MaSNA: Working on getting some volunteer opportunities together for student nurses. Looking into walks and clinics. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

Hospice: Started with my first hospice patient this week. She is a lovely woman with a love of birds and chocolate. I had to keep the speed and complexity of conversation in check. That will take some work. I’m going to look for a bird picture book for next week. I’m not sure yet how she feels about her prognosis. Right now, I just try and make her day a little more pleasant. The experience is a nice counterpoint to my clinical patient care where I have little time to spend with my patients.

Red Cross: I still haven’t been out on a call but I’m sure it will happen sometime soon. I’m looking into taking a class on shelter logistics soon.

Personal Practice

Haven’t had too much of a chance to sit on Sundays due to other scheduled commitments. But I’m hoping to work that in over the next few weekends. There is a work weekend I’d like to help out with. I think my practice will really be key to helping me keep my head on my shoulders. I just need to follow through with it.

Also, I am reading a book by John Daido Loori, called “The Heart of Being.” It is a book about Zen ethics. Really a very interesting read.

Social Life

Been gaming lately. Loving the campaign we have going on. Really a very fun character and world.

Went to see The Last Airbender. It was…ok. Loved the scenery, costumes and fights. The rest was not really that great. I did not like what they did with Inro. And why the name pronunciation changes? I hope they do a second but get a different director. And can someone please tell me why they keep hiring Shayamalan?

 

Namaste all.

 I have a day to come up for air before diving into school full force on Monday.

School

Just finished my final for health assessment… and I got an A. This makes me quite happy. What doesn’t make me happy is the fact that Provider I starts Monday and within the first week have two tests on 6 chapters. I’m going to try and get out to a friend’s party tomorrow, but that will depend on how much reading I can get done between now and then.

Health & Wellness

I’ve been working out when I can. Usually at least 3 days a week. Trying to change my composition to include more lean muscle mass. A work in progress for sure.

I have been attending PT for my back and its seems to be doing alright. My latest therapist is wonderful and gives me really challenging exercises.

Employment & Finance

Just put in my application for a nursing assistant job yesterday. Looks promising.

I have yet to respond to call for the disaster action team (DAR), but I was able to attend some of the large-scale drill last weekend. I also spoke with the leader of the health team about getting involved. We had a meeting and she showed me the ropes. Good stuff.

I’ll be attending my orientation for hospice care at the end of the month. I’m looking forward to the opportunity.

I am now officially the outreach chair for Ma student nurses association. Try to come up with some ideas for volunteer work in the future. Also, I was put in charge of poking around the website.

Personal Practice

Although, I have not had the ability to sit every week with the group, I feel as though it’s a good fit. I’ve decided to take the precepts within the year. It is a lot of responsibility but I feel as though I am finally ready to make a serious commitment to serving others.

Social Life

Been gaming on Wednesdays for the most part. Every so often I get down to Providence. Not sure I will be able to maintain this during Provider I. I really hope I can.

Namaste all.

It has been forever since my last update... I know. And for those of you who care, I apologize. But I'm here now, right?
Life is good. A lot of new developments and issue resolutions. A few not so good spots where I hit a bit of a slump. Details below.

School

I survived the semester. Passed all my finals with decent grades and managed to get on the Dean's list. Hopefully I can keep it up. This semester I learned that papers are my GPA's friends. I also learned that you cannot really study for the HESI test that is 25% of your grade. This proved endlessly frustrating but I'm hoping to improve my test taking abilities to be able t prove my knowledge/understanding on these tests.

Pharmacology/Pathology: A great but challenging class. The professor was fair, had a good sense of humor and was really looking out for our best interests. But as I mentioned before, this was no walk in the park... so much to memorize in such a short span of time. But I did... though I'll have to go back and brush on some things before clinical I think.

Nursing Skills: Good class. Lab was frustrating at times. There was a lack of supervision, so I might be practicing a skill that would never been seen by an instructor until I was taking my practicum. Oh and I passed both my med and skills practicums, obviously or they wouldn't let me continue in the program.

Nursing History: My strongest class. Good stuff. It'll be fascinating to see how the theory fits into real world practice.

Nursing Essentials: Didn't get on with this class at all really. Very vague topics and material but very specific questions on exams. Example: You see a patient crying after learning she has a fatal disease, you ...? a) give her time alone b) sit by her side silently holding her hand c) tell her that everything will be alright. Vague right? Depends on the context your relationship with the person, etc... But they want a cookie cutter answer and apparently I read into the questions. *sigh* By the time the final came around I was a bit better at spotting what they wanted but still.. not useful.

Health & Wellness

So, my back surgery was a huge success. I had only one bad muscle spasm after and that resolved within days. Other than that its like night and day. I am back to my old self. I've even gone back to the gym. I've missed working out so much. I'm currently doing some PT to try and get this huge knot in my back to release and let my hips stay where they ought to. Its not a big deal and it doesn't typically impact me on a daily basis.

Diet. Yeah... so the last post about venturing into raw again. That lasted a bit, but I just can't keep up with my protein needs. That raw journey was brought on by a really nasty bout of overeating due to the stress of finals. Food is my coping mechanism when I can't exercise (and sometimes when I can). This is pretty common with most folks... but my brain takes it to the next level sometimes, where I'll eat to the point where I'm "Thanksgiving-full" and then start to feel ill and I'll keep eating till I am... driven by guilt or some other unhealthy thought process. I'm aware of how negative this behavior is and typically, it doesn't happen but once it does it takes me months to recover from that compulsive need to harm myself with food. Old habits die hard.

This is all the more reason to have a good system in place. I took my vacation after finals before the term started on May 17th to do just that. I went to a mostly raw diet and juiced for a few days. I tried to get my body craving healthful natural foods and less processed sugars. And it worked, when I want something sweet now, I'm often happier with an apple than something like an Oreo. But all this will require maintenance and patience.

Employment & Finance

Working on getting a per diem, 1 shift on the weekend CNA/Nursing Assistant job in an ICU/ER/Med-Surg Floor. No luck so far due to a hiring freeze at UMass. But I'll keep trying.

I am now an official Disaster Action Team response volunteer for Red Cross of Central MA. I'm trained to respond to local (and eventually national) disasters to assist to aid, disaster assessment, paperwork, and psychological first aid. At my chapter, we average 3 calls a week for house fires. Then of course events like flooding and ice storms. I'm really privileged to be able to help others in this way and I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

Working as a hospice volunteer locally is in the works. I have some paperwork to do yet, but I should be volunteering an afternoon a week. I think it is really crucial to experience all aspects of life fully and this includes dying. It is an important part of my work and I feel strongly that everyone should have the all the resources and support they need to have every opportunity for a meaningful death.

Finally, I was elected as the community outreach chair for the MA Student Nurse Association. This position will allows me to develop and organize community outreach programs wit the student nurse all around MA. I'm really hoping to do some big stuff with this. If anyone has any ideas about community work/volunteering opportunities for groups, let me know!

Personal Practice

Jackpot! I found a Zen sitting group in Worcester... literally less than 2 miles from my house. They have session every Sunday evening and through out the week. The members are diverse in age and very active. My first sitting was last Sunday but I am greatly looking forward to my future with the group.

Social Life

I've done pretty well for myself in this regard. A few parties, a hike on Mt. Wachusett and amazing trip over break to Northampton. I haven't been able to see everyone I would I love to see, but that comes with the territory. The summer semesters seem a little more open and I may have some more time on the weekends to visit folks.

Bits & Bobs

Nothing I can think of.

Namaste all.

So, stress wreaks havoc on life... I know this. I am living this. However, I have let my foundations become unhinged by my stressors (school, finance, school, fitness, school). Though following through with my raw plan for several weeks, I gained weight, not much but some. This was mostly due to my reaction to stress. I binge and in this case that meant lots of Larabars, nuts and nut butters. Anything remotely decadent. Leave it to me to find a way.

Anyway, I need to get back to a more structured way of eating (and living). It really does give me a sense of order and peace; knowing that I am nourishing my body without having to think about it each meal. So, back to the drawing board to create a weekly meal plan.

This week, I give you a meal plan that includes room for adaptation. It is raw-ish, vegan, and low calorie, a total of 1000 Kcal to be precise. This gives me some degree of room to play... add popcorn, extra fruit, extra snacky thing...

I am a normal human being... well, almost.

Day 2:

I slept fairly well through the night, walking up only a few times, but then falling back asleep quickly. And may I say, this dry mouth thing is nasty to wake up with... won't go into detail, so suffice to say my tongue feels like stiff laundry. Really hoping that disappears today.

I had a pounding headache yesterday, especially when I changed levels.. even slowly. I think it might be caffeine withdrawal. So I'm having coffee as I right.

The Vicodin made me into a shambling brainless zombie, but didn't seem to help that much, so I am only going to take it at night and stick to Flexeril (so I'm more mobile) and IBProfen for the inflammation/pain. All in all, this hurts but it isn't killing me. I feel the most pain when I put pressure on the incision (laying on my back, sitting against a chair), I feel some pain when walking because this cause the incision to move. I have some muscle tightness in low back and hips.

In terms of activity: I did some research for my paper yesterday when I was more with it, but wasn't with it enough to analyze anything. So today I'm going to pick up where I left off. Might even get out 0f the house today...

I can't see the wound as its all wrapped up neatly.. but as soon as I get the chance I'll take a snapshot.

School

Still working on getting the best study technique for each class, but I am more less alright with how I am doing in my program. I seem to do quite well on papers, so I am hoping those high grades will bring up some of the B’s.

Pharmacology/Pathology: Good class, great professor. Tough as Tupperware. I have never studied this hard in my life. But I love the material, as I have said before. I have a paper coming up on a disease of my choice, looks to be fun. Still not sure which one to do…

Nursing Skills: Read, read, read. Did ok on my last exam, but didn’t realize that so much of the material we covered in lab would be on the exam. I had thought, foolishly, that they might be separate entities.

Nursing History: Doing really well in this class and I’m really excited about my nursing issue paper coming up.

Nursing Essentials: Not the biggest fan of this class. The topics seem straightforward enough but then the exam was really subjective and vague. Still working out the best study method for this class.

Health & Wellness

I had back surgery yesterday. L4/L5 microdiscectomy to be precise. The process went smoothly: I was asleep within seconds of the drug entering my IV, then I was awake. When I awoke, it was if I had taken a nap, with no strong pain or nausea. Had a nice chit-chat with nurse while I recovered and then left, after I proved I could walk. I’m going to keep a more detailed log of my recovery process posted, as when I looking online I had trouble finding a clear picture of what that might look like. If you don’t like medical details or they bore you, I’d skip the next part.

Day 1 - Details: Walked around quite a bit yesterday, I’d say a few 20-30 minute stints. Had some muscle stiffness that was handled with Flexeril and slowly as the pain meds from the surgery wore off, some pain (4) from my incision. I took Vicodin 325 and that took the edge off the pain and I was left with a dull ache (2). The biggest issue yesterday was the complete dry mouth from the anti-nausea meds. Drink, drink, drink and I was still dry as a desert. Ice chips alleviated the issue somewhat. The other annoying side effect was urination. As in had trouble. I think this was difficult to accomplish because of the muscle relaxants preventing me from contracting my bladder. Not a 100% sure on that. Just a guess. Overall, I spend most of yesterday sitting at my computer or retrieving things from downstairs. I took a short 1 hour nap after my dose of Vicodin. Then later, I had a friend or two over to sit and talk or watch a movie. When watching the move I was most comfortable on my side in bed. Getting to sleep was not difficult, as I am normally a side sleeper, accustomed to using a pillow between my knees and hugging another to my chest. The most challenging part of all is going from standing to side-lying in bed, while trying not to twist too much. I slept through the night, only waking once in early morning to shift to my other side.

Employment & Finance

Loans came through, but I will have to budget to have the money last me till my next loan dispersement. I am not even going to consider a job until my back is feeling better.

Personal Practice

I found a Buddhist organization that sits on Sunday mornings in Brookline. It is really worth the drive for the peace of mind I have afterwards. I also like the idea of stopping in Somerville to get mocha/hot cocoa at the my favorite café/bookstore. Taking a bit of a time outside of my Worcester life to walk and read.

Social Life

Sadly, I did not get elected during class elections. But onward and upward, right?
I’ve been having some social time, meeting a friend for coffee, going to game night when I can. I’ve also had the pleasure of attending a few parties. Hoping I’ll be well enough to go to my friend’s 40th this weekend.

Bits & Bobs

I’ve been baking and sharing. Best way to bake in my opinion… all the yummy without the guilt of eating a pan of cupcakes all by your self. I get to make another delicious something for the party this weekend. I’m thinking a layered strawberry shortcake… cake.

Namaste all.

School

I finally think as though I am getting a feel for the way of things in this program. (Don’t hold me to that though…) The demands are pretty epic.. hours of reading a day, a lot of information to quickly retain all at once and mastering a variety of skills on a weekly basis. It is intense, and I have to add that this is the first time in my life I feel as though I really am being pushed to my academic limits.

I’ve survived the gauntlet of the first few tests in 2 of my classes. Did stellar in one class and average in the other. Received my first C+. Then went to console myself with a lovely cup of gingerbread hot cocoa. (I love Starbucks).

Pharmacology/Pathology: I still like it, though, I’m sure this will be my most difficult class. I’m aiming for a B+ in the class, ideally. But more importantly, I am aiming to memorize a veritable cornucopia of drugs.

Nursing Skills: I seem to be getting the gist of things in lab and then subjecting my poor friends to such things as getting their blood pressure taken. Such good sports. Did well on my first exam. A bright light.

Nursing History: Sometimes it is difficult to focus in this class… Friday morning with a laidback teacher does not equal attentiveness. Just saying.

Nursing Essentials: Dreading my first exam Thursday. I didn’t realize just how much we’ve covered in 3 weeks. Tons of theory from modes of caring to how health insurance works. Eek.

Health & Wellness

No real news here. I’ve been making an attempt at yoga. Slow going though.

Employment & Finance

Still poor. Jus applied for more loans. Not pretty, but I have few options… and I can’t seem to kick this eating habit of mine.

Personal Practice

Trying to be more deliberate and aware. I’m going to try an experiment this week and cut back on frivolous noise and thinking. Try to not get caught up in my emotions so much.

Social Life

Organized a class get together this past Thursday, which was a success. Despite the snow, 20 some-odd people made it out. We had a few drinks and actually got to know each other’s names. Good times.

Planning on participating in class elections… not sure what position(s) I want though.

Bits & Bobs

Trying to cook from scratch again… healthier and saves money.

Namaste all.