Fufu and Gu

It's a crazy semester already...school lets you off for a wonderfully long summer vacation and instructors expect you to come back warmed up and ready to sprint.  Or is that just me? 

Dan and I continue to overwork our bodies and are hanging on by the skin of our teeth to the training and event schedule we had planned.  So, in addition to studying for two tests in two days, clinical, the crazy IT course where we talk to eachother through the computer (oh, yes, folks, nursing informatics is moving forward), we also ran the Nations Triathlon.  It was the second annual event in our nations capital.  We swam in the Potomac River (where they found male fish with eggs last year...Dan is hoping his pregnancy test comes back negative) for one mile, biked up and down Rock Creek Park for 26 miles and finally wound our way through the streets and monuments of downtown DC to finish with the capital building at our back.  3hrs and 33 minutes after the start, I completed my triathlon and was so happy to have just survived.  Dan tells me that I need to change my thinking...what runs through my head the whole time is a running commentary of how beautiful the scenery is, what a nice day.  That's how it is for the first 20 minutes of each leg, after that, I start saying my rosary, trying to distract myself by writing blogs in my head, singing in my head (spare my poor fellow athletes), and finally hating myself for even thinking I can complete such a long event.  Ugh.

As is tradition for Dan and myself, we unquestionably choose the worst pre-race dinners.  This time it was our favorite Ghanaian meal of fufu and ground nut soup.  Written as I wrote it from West Africa between 2002-2005 "Fufu is kasava root, plantain or yam pounded. It is pound in a round wood bowl with a long branch with a blunted end.  After cooking the root (similar to yam) pound until it reaches the consistency of warm playdo.  Add soup and eat with hands.  DONT CHEW, just swallow."  Sound appetizing?  Many of my friends think I'm sick to still enjoy it, but boy do I love those simple carbs!  Now, as for a pre-race meal, I don't recommend it. But, what can I say? I love that Ghanaian restaurant (it's the same one that catered my wedding this summer and I've heard from friends that it was the best wedding food they've had). 

Jenn's Summer Winter in South Africa

As you have already heard about what I did over the summer, I thought it might be beneficial to hear about what some of my classmates did.  Jenn participated in the MHIRT program and here is what she wrote about her summer abroad.

Another summer has come and gone. I'm back at school now, typing away, trying to remember exactly how the summer vacation managed to pass so quickly - it all seems as if it was yesterday that I was sitting on a beach in South Africa relaxing with my friends. I haven't had much time to reflect on all that happened over the summer or to pinpoint exactly what I learned, but here's a short, perhaps disorganized summary of what I've recklessly sorted out....

By the end of my first year of nursing school, I knew that getting nurse-related work experience would be the most logical way to spend the summer vacation. Although, there seemed to be lots of clinical employment opportunities, I knew that I wanted to do something different and far away. Coming across the Minority Global Health Disparities Research (MHIRT) Program offered a unique alternative.

The (MHIRT) program teams up with foreign universities to provide American students with research opportunities abroad. During the application process and orientation I was attracted to the research work being done in South Africa. Having visited there before, I knew that I would also love to spend more time getting to know the country and cultures better.

As the summer heat approached in the United States, I prepared for the winter weather in South Africa by packing jackets, scarves and boots. The mornings and evenings were fairly cool, though I was endlessly surprised by Durban's tropical climate. The moderate weather allowed my flat mates (two JHUSON classmates) and me to open our windows and door for a nice cross breeze and fresh air. Unfortunately for one flat mate this also meant the squawking of nearby Hadidas (an annoying South African bird) got louder, and she did not appreciate them waking her up early each morning.

Mini-buses, or kombis, took us to the city center and beaches from where we lived. With hosting the 2010 World Cup, the South African government is preparing for the population increase by exchanging mangled old kombis (where the exhaust filters through small crevices in the rusty floor), with new safer spacious ones (that sport paint jobs advertising the drivers' "interests"). With themes such as "Street fighter," "The Wailers," and "Moto Systems" accompanied by blaring music from cheap speakers in the back who could resist such an experience?

At the University of Kwazulu-Natal School of Nursing, my classmate and I worked with our faculty preceptor (a midwife) and her research assistant. Our project sought to empower rural nurses by training them in advanced midwifery skills. Focus of the program was put on access to care, communication, and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS, and increasing clinical skill levels to assure quality care. Our role entailed conducting literature reviews to support the project's research aspect and to facilitate a five-day training workshop.

While working on the project we were able to visit a rural nursing school in Zululand. There we sat in with a class of nursing students and exchanged experiences. We also toured a maternity hospital that participated in our training project. Later, we had the opportunity to visit the Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa. This center collaborates with UNAIDS in HIV prevention research. All of these experiences helped me gain an awful lot of perspective. There were many moments I felt frustrated or humbled by the reality of the situation there. However, for the most part these experiences were also empowering and hopeful. Many South African are working to help one another despite their history or struggles, and they are moving forward.  

Most days after work, my MHIRT flat mate and I would to try to do something new every day. This meant trying a new restaurant or coffee shop, shopping at a new store, or visiting a different beach or neighborhood. This prerogative helped us to explore the rich and beautiful culture around us. We tried foods made from maize and curries. We attended plays, film festivals, and music concerts. We shopped at open air markets and browsed through the handcrafted arts and crafts. And of course, I never cease to be amazed at all the times strangers engaged us in conversation or invited us to join them, extending their friendship and then sending us on our way with nothing more than a funny story and a smile.

Birth Companions

It's 2am and I'm driving home from a failed attempt at labor.  I am a birth companion. 

JHUSON has a groundbreaking program called Birth companions which provides labor support to high risk low income women.  Women in and around the Baltimore area can call into the program and request our services. For those of you who don't know what "labor support" is or are unfamiliar with the word "doula" or the JHU verson "birth companion,' it's a person trained in offering laboring moms physical comfort measures, reassurance and most importantly (as studies show, *see The Doula Book) are a constant presence during labor.  A lot of the time that means the birth companion arrives at the hospital around the time the mom does, she stays with mom and partner throughout the labor offering hot/cold packs, fluids, helping with position changes, offering reassurance and answering questions.  The birth companion often has more experience in the labor room than either mom or partner so her advice, reassurance and presence are a comfort during what can be an anxiety and stress filled time. 

To get into the program the JHUSON student applies to the community perspectives on child bearing class as an elective, attends a 16 hour workshop split into two days and ultimately attends one birth for credit for the class.  Thereafter, for the program, it is our (me and the other 20-30 birth companions) responsibility to provide support to moms who continuously call into the resource line with due dates as cloase as next week to January '09. 

Through the summer I was fortunate enough to sign up for a number of births.  This means that I make a prenatal visit and meet mom, discuss her birth plan and comfort measures and ultimately attend the birth.  I witnessed 8 miracles born! What an extraordinary experience to have; literally watching and helping a family be born.

As a birth companion, it can be stressful.  With birth, there is no timeline.  Babies come when they are ready and they have no care for your schedule.  Plus, they take their time!  Especially for first time moms whos average labor is >24hrs.  The program has been a wonderful resource to numerous Baltimore area moms, and eye opener to me and all in all a wonderful experience to help families through such an intimate and life altering event.

Wedding Week

Wedding week, in my case, was all about damage control.  My year and a half of planning was pretty thorough, but there seems to always be those unforseen/unanticipated changes; the aloof bridesmaid the month before the wedding, the absent mate that changed my well planned room assignments, the caterer who called on Thursday before the Saturday wedding to remind me to pick up the food warmers (a task I formerly knew to be under the responsibility of 'caterer').  There didn't seem to be enough time to do all those last minute chores. 

I worked 12 hour days both Sunday and Monday.  My maid of honor and Dans best man and other good friends all arrived in DC on Monday night, all within 4 hrs at 3 different airports; I made only one pickup that day. Tuesday I had a 3 hr NCLEX review at the hospital and left early to pick up my parents and sister and head up to Baltimore for dinner and a tour ( my twin hadn't seen the city nor my place of schooling).  By the time we got home, my MOH (maid of honor) and friend had collected my other sister and her significant other from the other airport and my whole family was in one place for the first time in what seemed like years.  Wednesday found us around town verifying flower orders, setting up hair appointments and making up a calendar and phone number handout for parents and the wedding party (I'd gotten so many phone calls...What's the deal for Friday?, Where do you need us? What's so and so's #?).  Wednesday was also our night out; boys played golf all day then headed to Baltimore for an Orioles game and barhopping while I met my girls at the Melting Pot and had a great night of fondue and later, drinks at the sketchy bar down the street. 

Thursday my girls worked hard  to bake the wedding favors (chocolate chip cookes) and everyone else had the day off. My family headed downtown to ride up the Washington Monument, most everyone got to go on the monuments by moonlight tour and Dan and I got to go on a date.  The first thing we did at dinner was...sit...quietly.   We just sat for a few minutes and then...caught up with eachother.  It seemed like it had been forever since I last saw Dan and I felt like I had lost the man I was about to marry.  It had been two weeks of craziness; the first week both of us working hard to get caught up and actually ahead for the time we'd be gone and the last week because of family and friends were in town...we barely saw eachother these days because we were both trying to wrap things up, spend time with everyone who flew in and running errands to pick stuff up for the wedding.

Friday we headed to the reception site to set up tables and chairs and the girls and I went for our pedicures and manicures.  We all had lunch at the wonderful Korean grill resaurant and then headed to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  I had planned enough time for a quick nap, but alas, things run over and we only had half hour of down time between the two; just enough time to shower and dress.

And finally, wedding day!  I slept alone in an empty apartment the night before the wedding and called up my girlfriend for an early morning walk.  I met my family and friends at their guesthouse and had time to just sit and relax.  I started hair and makeup around 11, the photographer arrived and we were all dressed and ready for a pre-wedding photo shoot by 2.  At two-thirty we headed to the church...I wasn't nervous or scared...just relieved.  I was so happy to finally be marrying this man, having everyone that means so much to me around and looking forward to a relaxing honeymoon and not having to plan a wedding anymore.  The wedding was beautiful; flowers phenomenal, emotional in all the right places, funny where it was supposed to be and really just...well, perfect!

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/aldobrown/sets/72157605766599616/

Sitting in my last day of NCLEX review at the hospital, I think these 8 weeks have been quite an experience.  On the cardiac care unit at this particular hospital, the ratio is generally 2 or three patients per nurse.  I was very lucky to work with a number of different great nurses on the unit as my preceptors and learned as many tidbits of medicine that I could.  I can't pinpoint the single most important one, but here is a list of the things I learned. 

1.  Relationships matter-when pharmacy likes you, you get your meds; when you work well with your coworkers, you get help, and overall teamwork is necessary. 

2.  Clinical skills- all those skills I learned in school and practiced on mannequins I've now done on the unit; suctioning, packing wounds, inserting catheters, IVs, NG tubes, hanging and giving meds, and assessments (all under the careful watch of my preceptors, of course).

3.  Documentation- if it's not documented, it's not done...we've heard it so many times in school, yet it's so important.  Sometimes it's not a big deal, like when you have a stable patient and it's his/her temperature...but other times it's critical...did that patient get his/her last insulin injection?...Important. 

All in all, my summer externship program was a great learning experience.  For those students coming in, I highly encourage you to do it on your break, not necessarily for money (it's a little...not a lot), but to practice those skills, learn differnt ways of organizing and get more patient time. 

Wednesday, June 04, 2008 9:09

Culture

Culture is what Dan calls it.  While my friends spend their weeknights studying, Dan and I take the old guys out for baseball, go to dance lessons or enjoy a date night.  While my classmates wisely use their Saturday evening before finals to understand cardiac heart failure, I'm out watching De LaHoya tune up on Forbes.  Some days I think of our outings as silly and excessive, but when we go out, I feel glad to live a balanced life.

It's hard to find that balance, though.  As a typical type A who attends JHUSON, I'd love to have time to do 110% of the studying; to get A's in all the classes...but I have a life outside school.  I have to have a life outside of school.  So I make sacrifices; I study on the train, I squeeze in workouts between classes, I eat on the run and I have to be satisfied with the grades I get. Dan, too, makes sacrifices, he wakes up at 5:30 to drop me at the metro, sleeps with a pillow one night a week when I have to stay up in Baltimore for clinical and supports me totally dispite my crazy schedule.

The CNA/Nurse Extern Process

One day during my spring break, I headed up to the Maryland board of nursing to obtain my CNA (clinical nurse assistant) license.  I went equipped with my transcript, two passport photos, a money order and the CNA application.  Feeling like I was going into a third world country where you get what you need only when the person on the other side of the window is having a good day, I humbly offered my papers and hoped to be successful.

A few weeks after my classmates (due to using my time planning a wedding instead!), I got off 7 applications to 7 different units in 7 different hospitals for any of the open summer externship programs.  Within one day, I got a call back from one hospital in DC and interviewed the next week.  Most of the externships include 8-9 weeks working full-time on a specific unit with about 4 hours of that being classtime going over differnt topics or reviewing for the major test (NCLEX) we all do before becoming registered nurses after completing nursing school.  I, unfortunately, did not get that first job and after a few weeks of no calls, I started to worry that I may have to look elsewhere to find a summer job.  Then, at last, my number one choice hospital called and as always, things worked out. 

So now, after 3 weeks of being out of school (during which there was more wedding planning...of course) I am now sitting in orientation with 15 other nursing students looking forward to a final year of school; but first, the summer externship program.  We are sitting rhough lecture after lecture on hospital policy, nursing benefits, what we'll be doing during our shifts, a tour of the hospital and eventually, at the end of the week, we'll practice some skills we already learned in school. 

My fellow externs are from all over, Howard County, Salisbury, community colleges and 3 of us from Hopkins.  We're going all over the hospital; CCU, ER, OR, and most to mother/baby (seeing as this hospital is one of the main baby factories in MD).  My manager is wonderfully open and flexible with my crazy schedule and will be working me and one other in 3 twelve hour shifts and making up the last 4 hours one day a week in class with the other externs.  It will be an interesting summer and I really look forward to being on a unit, having a little (just a little) more autonomy and using and hopefully cementing the skills I've learned in school into practice. 

My week

My weeks are crazy.  When school is in, it's tough to find a spare second to do much of anything.  With a lot of planning, a lot of effort and quite a lot of time management, things work in my life.  I wouldn't say that I am a typical student.  Most of my friends at JHU are single, mid to later 20s somethings, living alone in Baltimore.  They attend classes just like me then either go to work (many have community outreach workstudy positions that help Baltimore City in some way), or go home to study/cook/chat on the phone/socialize/whatever.  Sometimes I envy them for their life of living in the town where they school, for not having to commute nearly 4 hours a day, or not having a house to run, a relationship to maintain, a mortgage.  But then I look at my fiance and am happy that I have him and that we have such a blessed life. 

Monday through Wednesday I am at school and physically in class from 8am to 12:30.  Now, four and a half hours of sitting in a class may not seem that hard to you, but believe you me, when D.Aschenbrenner (the lady who actually WROTE the pharmacology book) is smiling at you the way that she does and going through drugs like there's no tomorrow, it's tough work to keep up.  Or, trying to follow zanny L.Taylor as she literally plays out fluid passing through nephrons and demonstrating exactly where UTIs hit.  As I've said before, these instructors are the best of the best and they expect the best of the best from the JHU student.  Noone gets by here just by coasting.

Thursday and Friday we will be in the wards.  Half of my class has just switched from OB and are now entering the unknown psychiatric wards across Baltimore. We know not what to expect; the only advice given us is, "grow thick skins."  Thanks, that's helpful!  I was lucky to get one of the only night shifts, from 1-9pm and look forward to my "sleeping in" mornings (yes, I consider 7am sleeping in!).  I'll be getting home around 11 on these nights and then it will be up on the 11:30 train with those few short hours before sleep and travel used to work out, pack lunch, run errands and study.

Saturday and Sundays are my all day cram days.  I generally take a little time to get the house in order, shop for groceries and plan the weekly meals before really sitting down to go through all the notes for that week.  I have the habit of writing out notecards for all of my classes.  It's a lot of work, but it seems to be the only way I've seen to get the information into my head. 

Usually Dan doesn't mind me working so much because he's doing the same himself.  In real estate they always say "while the rest of the world works 9-5, we work 5-9," fitting time in with clients when they themselves are off.  Not to say D. doesn't work during the day, he's spending that whole time finding houses, scouting them out for his clients, trying to match that perfect house with the perfect clients and then aligning everything so the offer comes in with a good price that makes everyone happy.  No easy feat!  And, of course, he holds houses open on Sundays so I get my mandatory 3 hours of hard working quiet study time in on those afternoons.  Then finally, if D. doesn't have any more appointments, we enjoy a quiet dinner together and a little bit of well deserved quality time together playing cribbage or just vegging out in front of the TV. 

Spring Break

What does one do on a full week off from school?  Well, if you're me, you plan a wedding. 

Spring break marks the break between the first seven weeks and the second seven weeks of the term.  This term I took 4 required courses and am taking two electives.  My required classes are Pharmacology, Pathophysiology and both Psychiatry and Nursing the Childbearing Family.  The last two are broken up so I took OB first and now am starting psyc next. 

OB was wonderful; it was a whirlwind of woman, fetal and neonate health information. We covered all the development of the fetus, the growing and changing of the mothers body and the normal and problematic states of the newborn.  On top of this class, we also had clinical. 

Clinical was a blast.  I had a wonderful time on both the labor and delivery and postpartum wards.  The first day we were running from place to place on the L&D ward and it pretty much continued through my first 3 weeks. Then we transitioned to postpartum and it was an interesting shift from caring of laboring mother to caring of hopefully a well mother and neonate.  And my first day on the postpartum ward I had the incredible opportunity to care for a very good friend of mine.  She had had a beautiful baby girl in the morning and was just transferred up to my floor when I came on... what a gift to be there for their first day as a new family, it really was such a privilege. 

Pharmacology and Pathophysiology is kickin' buns hard.  Both classes are so much information over such a short time; so many drugs and so much physiology that goes behind it.  My instructors continue to be top notch and help from friends and the support of my fiance lets me get in as much studying as I can while I continue to do relatively well in class and clinical. 

Then, of course, there's real life outside of school.  I am still commuting and still trying to live my life even though school overwhelms me at times.  On Feb. 17th Dan and I ran our second marathon in Austin.  We'd been training for 5 months, going out in rain or shine during the winter months to run our long runs on Saturdays starting in our town just outside the DC border, heading NW to Bethesda and down a the wonderful Capital Crescent Trail to Georgetown in DC and back up through Rock Creek Park.  Twenty three miles total and we did it twice before actually running the marathon!  The marathon was so much fun and I’ve sworn off marathoning for the rest of my life (or at least until next year when I forget how much it hurts).  Austin is a very hip town and Dan and I enjoyed a much needed break from work and school to get in sync again. 

And finally, the wedding; I put off planning anything for when I have a little bit of time.  Well, with school, marathon and generally trying to run a house and stay on speaking terms with my fiancé (oh, we also just purchased our first home...!) sometimes important stuff has to be sacrificed.  Wedding planning is pushed into the nooks and crannies of my daily life; phone calls to set up appointments with DJs here, emailing with the photographer there, a quick hello at the florist and that’s about as much as I can handle in a day.  With one week off, I crammed it in.  The florist, the photographer, DJ, caterer, invitations, websites and dress shopping…all of it in one week taking a little time to study here and there.  Now that school is back in, it will be another 7 weeks before I’ll have any time to dedicate to planning and hey, that’s okay with me, everything always works out in the end and at the end of it, I have Belize to look forward to!

Babies!

Babies, and babies, and more babies!  Oh my gosh, how fun!  This is the first week of the second semester.  Second semester at JHU means we have two rotations of clinicals, each lasting 7 weeks.  I opted to do OB my first rotation and psych my second...Whew-hoo, babies! 

Yesterday was our first day at the hospital.  First off, I commute.  This term, I commute three days, 1.5 hrs one way, 2 hours back...it's fine, I love it, it gives me much needed time to read/study/sleep/catch up on House M.D.  Two days we are in the hospitals; lucky for me, this time I got a great location.  I'm at a hospital that is just 4 miles from my house in Takoma Park, a quick half hour bike ride (if I so choose to freeze off my fingers and toes) or 12 minutes driving.  Awesome!  Not only that...it is a baby factory.  I am at one of the top hospitals which help moms give birth to the highest number of babies in the state...and I have a wonderful clinical instructor. 

So, yesterday we got the orientation stuff; fill this out, sign that, here's where supplies are, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.  Today was baby day.  First off, I helped with a cesarean...mom had an abnormal situation (placenta gravida) which made it necessary to do a section.  Then I helped mom #2 push through a vaginal birth and mom #3 was another cesarean.  In addition to helping mom, I got to do what those in OB call "eyes and thighs"; the erythromycin for the eyes and Vitamin K for the thighs.  It was my first shot to a human and I think I got through it just fine...I was a little nervous, but hey, that little sucker isn't going to remember it anyway and he's crying already!

I also got to watch a spinal, an epidural, learned to read "the tape" of the fetal heart rate, found a fetal heart rate and put in a foley catheter...all in one eight hour shift.  I think my classmates will be sooooo jealous!

Finals are here

So, in an attempt to keep everyone up to date, I failed.  In this blog, I'll just list what I'm up to...

1.  Marathon training- yes, Dan and I have decided to do another marathon.  We'll be in Austin in February running our buns off.  Training got kicked off when we did the Baltimore Half Marathon in October and we've been adding miles ever since. Today was 20 miles and whew, was I hurting!  Here's a picture of me in an ice bath after the run...ow!

2.  Registering for classes- It is that time, already!  I've decided to take the OB clinical first so I'll be learning how to help catch babies as well as giving them their first shots.  In addition, I've decided to take a couple courses that struck my interest...opposite though they may be...Death and Dying and Birth Companions.  D&D I assume will be about how to help people through the process and make it everything they would want and Birth Companions is just that, learning how to be there and be helpful to a soon-to-be-new mother.

3. Social activities-School is obviously not just for learning, I've made some great friends and in the last few weeks, with the holidays and all, I've tried to get more social.  This can be a bit tricky seeing as I live an hour away from most of them, but my friends seem to be working with me and they come down to hang out when I ask.  Last weekend, Dan and I held our 2nd annual Christmas Party where we had our guests contribute to our Christmas tree by decorating their own ornament and hanging it for us.  Next week, after finals I'll do my first ever attempt at building a gingerbread house.

4.  Wedding Planning-Now, this is a handful.  Dan and I have set our date (late June) and we have a few things going for us.  Christmas break will be the big planning and coordinating time, and probably the last one at that.  Spring market is pretty heavy for a buyers agent in this area and I'll be bogged down with classes until just before the wedding, ahh!

5.  Finals, of course!  It's week 14 and finals are coming!  My last week of class ended on Thursday and I'm working through the weekend to get on top of the piles of notes I have (literally piles- I rewrite my notes on note cards and taking a ruler, I have nearly a foot of note cards!).  So, off I go, enjoying the last week of class before the craziness of wedding planning, holidays and travel. 

My best to you,

Kathy

Your Typical Day

In my last blog I wrote about my classes, but how does that relate to time?  Well, for starters, I'm in class three days a week, one day in clinical and one day off.  Monday I'm in class from 11am to 7:30pm with a one hour lunch break.  Wednesday and Thursday I'm in class from 9 and 8:30 until 5:30 with a 3 hour break on Wednesday and a one hour break on Thursday.  Now, that may seem like a lot- yes, it is, but the classes are mostly so interesting with so much information that by the end of it you wonder where the time went.  Friday is my day off where I run around Takoma Park frantically trying to catch up on the errands I haven't been able to do because I'm in Baltimore all week. 

I commute.  From just outside DC to Baltimore.  It takes exactly one and a half hours, door step to door step, in the morning and typically 2 or 2.5 hours getting home in the evening.  I walk or get a ride to the metro, metro to Union Station, take the Marc (a commuter train that runs from Charm City to DC), and finally a shuttle that drops me one block from the School of Nursing building. Coming home, I spend more time because the shuttles don't always move on time and sometimes my timing is off for the train. 

Do I like to commute?  Well, mostly, yes, I do.  I spend my time reading and catching up on notes, time that most of my peers lack because they have distractions when they read at home.  I, on the other hand, can do nothing else but sit (well, maybe sleep, which I do sometimes), but mostly I read and it gives me a good environment to do that.  Also, Dan got me an ipod so I can zone out and on those occasions when I'm just too burnt out on reading, I download a TV show and can watch that (isn't technology great?).

Anyway, back to the schedule.  Tuesdays are game day.  We head to the clinic and practice all that we've been learning in class.  Mostly just the assessment stuff (read: noninvasive).  We take vital signs, get histories, talk with our patient and observe the nurses.  Right now we're in a rehab center with lots of stroke patients who are working with physical therapy to learn how to walk again.  I've also had the opportunity to go on rounds with the wound care team where I got to see numerous bedsores in a number of different stages of recovery.  It's all very interesting and eye opening.  I love time with my patients though; I've been very fortunate to have very welcoming and open patients willing to help me learn on them and with them. 

I just signed up for classes for next term, it looks like I'll be doing my labor and delivery rotation just in time to catch all those spring babies! 

Kathy

Wednesday, November 07, 2007 4:50

While I should be studying

It's a Monday evening only two weeks post midterms and I should be studying.  I'm now in my first semester as a nursing student at the renowned Johns Hopkins.  It gives me great pride to say that I go here and truthfully, it made the work all worth it; the caliber of instruction, the hand-on learning, the accepting, reassuring and nurturing attitude of everyone as high up as the dean down to any admissions or office personnel is wonderful.  The staff get our pictures and memorize our names in the off chance we stop by to say hi and ask a question!  What more could you ask of a school?

Currently I'm in six classes: Principles and Applications, Foundations of Nursing, Trends and Issues, Issues in Aging, Health Assessment and Community Outreach.

P & A is about learning all the basic skills of nursing, the rationale behind them and how to actually do them (i.e. IV's, injections, vital signs, catheters, etc.)

Foundations is about learning the basics of a nursing thought process, coming up with diagnosis, working on interventions and ways to implement them.

T & I is working through the problems we have in the nursing profession, be it not enough money in health care, how to treat everyone equally, recognizing the shortage of nursing and what that will mean for us young nurses.

Issues in Aging is learning about the elderly population; normal and abnormal developmental changes and how to best communicate with elderly patients.

Health Assessment is learning how to do a complete physical, learning the what's normal and what's not so that when we get a sick patient we can assess their symptoms and figure out what's wrong.

And finally, Community Outreach is learning about the greater Baltimore City outside Johns Hopkins.  Learning what the problems are (drugs...lots of them; Baltimore is the heroin capital of the world), how to address them, how we can help and how to protect ourselves.

 Well, that's all for now!