By the grace of God and me continuing on his footsteps...I felt led to start a small group with my sisters in Christ. Incredibly amazed how this all came to be. I can't even describe my passionate feelings for this group. Knowing me, I love to lead...and what better opportunity to lead then in a God driven small group!
We started with 8 girls and now we are up to 12. We are currently reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren per request by the ladies. We meet on Thursday nights and have dinner together. We have time of fellowship and praise reports of the week. We talk about what we read in the Purpose and then we end with prayer.
I got to say, this group has been so encouraging and uplifting to me and to all of the ladies. I am so grateful with all this opportunity to learn and grow with these ladies. Also, we have so much fun in the process. Prayer is so divine and wonderful. Though I have struggled with prayer before, (me being raised Catholic and all), I have grown so much and I now lead the prayer meeting at the end of the night.
The way I see it, my calling of grace goes way beyond nursing itself. Lately I have become what people call a 'counselor' or a 'guide' in their lives and their decision making. Within this last week, I have had deep conversations with one of my 'guy' friends, co-worker, brother, and two of the ladies at my small group. And I got to say, I absolutely love it. I believe God gave me this energy, this patience, to take so much on and be able to touch so many lives in the process. I am currently managing a local coffee shop, I am a full-time nursing student, I am leading a homeless donation drive, I am leading a small group of 10 girls, and I am also making time for my boyfriend, my family, and people around me that need help or are struggling with life situations.......What an amazing calling of grace......So in addition to nursing, I will be posting my whole calling, my whole direction God is taking me on.
All I can say is....May God keep on leading me His Way, His Direction, His Path....so that I may please Him and glorify His name.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Licensed
Hey blog....I haven't been on in quite awhile.....
I am now licensed Registered Nurse!! Praise Jesus!!
Right now, I am looking for an RN job! I got licensed in July so I have spent the last 2 months filling out applications online and dropping off my resumes at various hospitals, clinics, and urgent care centers....it is exhausting me with all the applying and the negative turnouts. I just got to continue and have hope :)
Basically I have been applying for jobs and working.......
Blogging will continue once I have a job and can get back with patients again!!! :)
To be continued.....
I am now licensed Registered Nurse!! Praise Jesus!!
Right now, I am looking for an RN job! I got licensed in July so I have spent the last 2 months filling out applications online and dropping off my resumes at various hospitals, clinics, and urgent care centers....it is exhausting me with all the applying and the negative turnouts. I just got to continue and have hope :)
Basically I have been applying for jobs and working.......
Blogging will continue once I have a job and can get back with patients again!!! :)
To be continued.....
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Practicum
It's the last term.....
I can't believe it. It's been such a roller-coaster; lots of hw, studying, teacher drama, simulation, clinical, crazy experiences, skills....it never seemed to want to end. But now I see the light at the end of the tunnel.....
This term consists of summing up all the skills and material of the whole program. I'm creating a portfolio of all my work, working on codes in simulation, working on various projects that have to do with leadership in nursing, and completing assignments consisting of over 200 NCLEX (my nursing board exam) questions a week.....seems like a lot.
On top of all this, I will be at clinical for my integrated practicum. Instead of me shadowing a nurse, a nurse will be shadowing me. Kinda scary.....but exciting! I will be on a basic med-surg floor again with a nurse I already had. So grateful for this blessing! I will be putting in about 150 hrs so hello blog posts! :)
Honestly, I may be busy, but I'm so excited! I don't even care about how much work I have to do! I'm just so excited to be done! Graduation day June 11th! God please get me a job!! I want to be in that hospital!
It has been such a crazy, long journey; full of stress, emotions, exhaustion, migraines, eczema breakouts, swollen feet, late nights, work, lack of social life time, and sacrifice........but also full of knowledge, experience, cool things to see, opportunities, hospital!, nurses, classmates, and of course the wonderful patients that allowed me to care for them this term :) THANK YOU AMAZING PEOPLE! Also a shout out to my wonderful boyfriend.....he has been with me through it all :) LOVE YOU!
Last term here I come!!! :)
I can't believe it. It's been such a roller-coaster; lots of hw, studying, teacher drama, simulation, clinical, crazy experiences, skills....it never seemed to want to end. But now I see the light at the end of the tunnel.....
This term consists of summing up all the skills and material of the whole program. I'm creating a portfolio of all my work, working on codes in simulation, working on various projects that have to do with leadership in nursing, and completing assignments consisting of over 200 NCLEX (my nursing board exam) questions a week.....seems like a lot.
On top of all this, I will be at clinical for my integrated practicum. Instead of me shadowing a nurse, a nurse will be shadowing me. Kinda scary.....but exciting! I will be on a basic med-surg floor again with a nurse I already had. So grateful for this blessing! I will be putting in about 150 hrs so hello blog posts! :)
Honestly, I may be busy, but I'm so excited! I don't even care about how much work I have to do! I'm just so excited to be done! Graduation day June 11th! God please get me a job!! I want to be in that hospital!
It has been such a crazy, long journey; full of stress, emotions, exhaustion, migraines, eczema breakouts, swollen feet, late nights, work, lack of social life time, and sacrifice........but also full of knowledge, experience, cool things to see, opportunities, hospital!, nurses, classmates, and of course the wonderful patients that allowed me to care for them this term :) THANK YOU AMAZING PEOPLE! Also a shout out to my wonderful boyfriend.....he has been with me through it all :) LOVE YOU!
Last term here I come!!! :)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Skills and Spanish
Today was an adventure......
I was assigned to a nurse who had me do everything...and I mean EVERYTHING! My patient had a vaginal/uterine prolapse with a rectocele and a cystocele (those words look up yourselves, it's kinda gross) meaning...her organs were falling "down." She had a partial Hysterectomy. This lady spoke spanish and had her husband at bedside to interpret for her.
Sadly, after surgery, this lady had urinary retention. According to Doctor's Orders, she was supposed to be bladder scanned every 2-3 hours to check for urinary retention. If the scan was over 160mls, a straight catheterization procedure had to be done. My nurse did the first one, because the patient had over 275mls still in her bladder even after she attempted to void. She tolerated the procedure well. After another 2hrs, I bladder scanned her again, and sure enough she had over 250mls in her bladder. Then it was my turn. It was my first straight cath procedure...aaaand I was successful! :)
After the third time, the Doctor ordered to have a foley placed. The foley catheter is always more complicated. Of course, my nurse had me do that too! It went well, not as well as I would have liked, but it was successful. I need to get my psychomotor skills down! It was especially difficult because her tissue was swollen due to the surgery. And, on top of that, it was extra painful.
After that, I got to teach her husband about the foley and how to measure urine output because they were going to be going home with some equipment. She had to take the foley home with her. After that I gave a Tdap injection (tetanus), and a Flu shot! I was so so so so happy to be able to perform those skills! Like I was jumping up and down...I'm such a nerd!
After the patient and the husband received some teaching and information about home care, I got to wheel out the patient to be picked up by her husband. During that time, I got to try out my spanish. It was gutsy, considering my 4 years of spanish was about 4 years ago. :p Surprisingly, I did quite well. I couldn't understand most of what she was saying but I got to talk to her about her family, her hospital stay, and she actually complimented me (or so I thought). "Cuantos anos tienes tu?" "tienes hermanos, padres?" "Donde vives?" And I could actually answer those. I thought it was hopeless. God definitely helped me out with that :)
I said my goodbyes, and off they went. Discharging makes sad, though it is a total good thing. I just develop relationships and I get attached which is not always a good thing haha! Overall, today was good, very good. Lots of learning experience! Thank you Lord God for all your incredible blessings. It was such a great day! :)
I was assigned to a nurse who had me do everything...and I mean EVERYTHING! My patient had a vaginal/uterine prolapse with a rectocele and a cystocele (those words look up yourselves, it's kinda gross) meaning...her organs were falling "down." She had a partial Hysterectomy. This lady spoke spanish and had her husband at bedside to interpret for her.
Sadly, after surgery, this lady had urinary retention. According to Doctor's Orders, she was supposed to be bladder scanned every 2-3 hours to check for urinary retention. If the scan was over 160mls, a straight catheterization procedure had to be done. My nurse did the first one, because the patient had over 275mls still in her bladder even after she attempted to void. She tolerated the procedure well. After another 2hrs, I bladder scanned her again, and sure enough she had over 250mls in her bladder. Then it was my turn. It was my first straight cath procedure...aaaand I was successful! :)
After the third time, the Doctor ordered to have a foley placed. The foley catheter is always more complicated. Of course, my nurse had me do that too! It went well, not as well as I would have liked, but it was successful. I need to get my psychomotor skills down! It was especially difficult because her tissue was swollen due to the surgery. And, on top of that, it was extra painful.
After that, I got to teach her husband about the foley and how to measure urine output because they were going to be going home with some equipment. She had to take the foley home with her. After that I gave a Tdap injection (tetanus), and a Flu shot! I was so so so so happy to be able to perform those skills! Like I was jumping up and down...I'm such a nerd!
After the patient and the husband received some teaching and information about home care, I got to wheel out the patient to be picked up by her husband. During that time, I got to try out my spanish. It was gutsy, considering my 4 years of spanish was about 4 years ago. :p Surprisingly, I did quite well. I couldn't understand most of what she was saying but I got to talk to her about her family, her hospital stay, and she actually complimented me (or so I thought). "Cuantos anos tienes tu?" "tienes hermanos, padres?" "Donde vives?" And I could actually answer those. I thought it was hopeless. God definitely helped me out with that :)
I said my goodbyes, and off they went. Discharging makes sad, though it is a total good thing. I just develop relationships and I get attached which is not always a good thing haha! Overall, today was good, very good. Lots of learning experience! Thank you Lord God for all your incredible blessings. It was such a great day! :)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
More Can Come Even After Delivery
It's hard for me to put myself in a patient's position unless I have experienced exactly what they have experienced. It's definitely a learned skill to be able to interpret exactly what that patient needs. Everyone is different and condition will vary with each person. When I think about pregnancy, I think about the similarities; trimesters, morning sickness, 9 months, weight gain, fetal heart tones, fetal movement, nutrition, "water-breaking," dilation, labor, delivery, etc. But, there are so many other things that can happen; fetal distress, miscarriage, preeclampsia (characterized by high blood pressure leading to seizures), late deceleration of fetal heart beats, emergency C-sections, meconium aspirations, episiotomies, placenta abruptio (when placenta detaches from the uterine wall too early), premature contractions, still borns, etc. When you have your first pregnancy appointment, you make plans as to how you would like this pregnancy to go; do I want to do a "natural birth?" prenatal vitamins? Doctor's appointments? finances? hospital stay? C-section? etc. Sometimes it doesn't go exactly as planned......
The reason I wrote this out is because I had a patient today that had some traumatic experiences. This woman gave birth to a beautiful baby girl just after midnight. The baby had normal apgar scores and was breathing and crying. Sadly, the mom had to undergo a 3rd degree laceration. Basically, she tore almost all the way from the vagina to the rectum. OUCH! Upon arrival to the newborn care unit, the baby wasn't feeding well. The baby won't breastfeed and over the rest of the morning-afternoon the baby lost almost 10% of it's body weight. This is dangerous. So in order to help the baby, we had to give the baby supplemental feedings (bottle). This is such a sad sad thing because usually you want the mom to breastfeed the baby for months not just a few hours. She was so sad, so so sad. It was an emotional day.
Later in the day, mom started feeling some more pain in her vaginal area. During an assessment, we noticed that her stitches were coming lose. The Doctor came to assess the area, and concluded that she needed to go into surgery again. Poor mom had to leave the baby and go into surgery. So, we called for the IV team and we got her prepared for surgery. About 4-5 hours later, the family was back together and were able to go home the next morning.
It's so sad to hear these things! Especially when they are such nice and sweet people. One thing I continue to learn is that plans change. Things can change completely without knowing. Whether they are good or bad, they help strengthen our character. I know if this happened to me, I would be totally grateful that I left the hospital with a beautiful baby girl. Through the rain and the storm, there can always be some sunshine. :)
The reason I wrote this out is because I had a patient today that had some traumatic experiences. This woman gave birth to a beautiful baby girl just after midnight. The baby had normal apgar scores and was breathing and crying. Sadly, the mom had to undergo a 3rd degree laceration. Basically, she tore almost all the way from the vagina to the rectum. OUCH! Upon arrival to the newborn care unit, the baby wasn't feeding well. The baby won't breastfeed and over the rest of the morning-afternoon the baby lost almost 10% of it's body weight. This is dangerous. So in order to help the baby, we had to give the baby supplemental feedings (bottle). This is such a sad sad thing because usually you want the mom to breastfeed the baby for months not just a few hours. She was so sad, so so sad. It was an emotional day.
Later in the day, mom started feeling some more pain in her vaginal area. During an assessment, we noticed that her stitches were coming lose. The Doctor came to assess the area, and concluded that she needed to go into surgery again. Poor mom had to leave the baby and go into surgery. So, we called for the IV team and we got her prepared for surgery. About 4-5 hours later, the family was back together and were able to go home the next morning.
It's so sad to hear these things! Especially when they are such nice and sweet people. One thing I continue to learn is that plans change. Things can change completely without knowing. Whether they are good or bad, they help strengthen our character. I know if this happened to me, I would be totally grateful that I left the hospital with a beautiful baby girl. Through the rain and the storm, there can always be some sunshine. :)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Days Like These. . . .
Today was a great day! Full of God's amazing blessings!
12:30PM on the unit....right away I was assigned to a nurse! She was absolutely amazing! I learned so much from her! (blessing #1) I love being with someone who really wants to have a student.
The day began with a test. My nurse asked me if I would like to give two injections; Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) and MMR (measles, mumps, rubella). I have only given like two Flu shots before so I was totally game for this. I do need practice drawing up medications. I do think my psychomotor skills need some work. So she put me on the spot. What needles do you use? How do you inject the medication? Do you have to mix the medication? What teaching do you have to do? Overall, the whole thing went well. I can now say I have given Tdap and MMR :) another thing off my list! (Blessing #2)
At around 3pm, my nurse went to lunch and told me certain things to do for her patients. So, I was left in charge with an RN as my backup only if I needed her. When she left, I had 3 patients with 1 baby; they consider that 4 patients. I felt so amazing then.....I was forced to take control! whoo! (blessing #3)
Then I was put to work; making beds, filling waters, getting linens, cleaning sitz bath, passing meds, baby vitals, discontinuing IVs, patient teaching, measuring I&Os, discharging info, and a whole lot of documentation. I was so glad to take the majority of the patient care (blessing #4) I kept busy! Time just flew by!
During shift change, I was able to learn a lot about Magnesium drips, Pre-eclampsia, neo-puffs, breastfeeding, witch hazel, dermaplast, and illeo-sacral belts. I learned a lot! (Blessing# 5) I had a patient today that had her pubic bone break apart during delivery! OUCH!!!!!! I cringed when I heard that. This sacral belt but pressure on the pelvis to bring the bones together. During the next 6 weeks, she will have to wear the belt so the cartilage can repair. 2mg of Dilaudid should kill that pain ;)
Toward the end of the day, my nurse gave me a great review, and I mean a great evaluation! She even told my instructor about me! AND she wants to work with me again :) (Blessing #6) All in all, I had an amazing day. Today I felt like a nurse. I felt like I knew what I was doing, and my nurse thought so as well. I was so blessed today. I can't thank God enough for these incredible experiences!!!! He is soooooooooooooo Good!!! :) It's days like these that build my confidence. It's days like these that make me feel like I'm a nurse! :)
12:30PM on the unit....right away I was assigned to a nurse! She was absolutely amazing! I learned so much from her! (blessing #1) I love being with someone who really wants to have a student.
The day began with a test. My nurse asked me if I would like to give two injections; Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) and MMR (measles, mumps, rubella). I have only given like two Flu shots before so I was totally game for this. I do need practice drawing up medications. I do think my psychomotor skills need some work. So she put me on the spot. What needles do you use? How do you inject the medication? Do you have to mix the medication? What teaching do you have to do? Overall, the whole thing went well. I can now say I have given Tdap and MMR :) another thing off my list! (Blessing #2)
At around 3pm, my nurse went to lunch and told me certain things to do for her patients. So, I was left in charge with an RN as my backup only if I needed her. When she left, I had 3 patients with 1 baby; they consider that 4 patients. I felt so amazing then.....I was forced to take control! whoo! (blessing #3)
Then I was put to work; making beds, filling waters, getting linens, cleaning sitz bath, passing meds, baby vitals, discontinuing IVs, patient teaching, measuring I&Os, discharging info, and a whole lot of documentation. I was so glad to take the majority of the patient care (blessing #4) I kept busy! Time just flew by!
During shift change, I was able to learn a lot about Magnesium drips, Pre-eclampsia, neo-puffs, breastfeeding, witch hazel, dermaplast, and illeo-sacral belts. I learned a lot! (Blessing# 5) I had a patient today that had her pubic bone break apart during delivery! OUCH!!!!!! I cringed when I heard that. This sacral belt but pressure on the pelvis to bring the bones together. During the next 6 weeks, she will have to wear the belt so the cartilage can repair. 2mg of Dilaudid should kill that pain ;)
Toward the end of the day, my nurse gave me a great review, and I mean a great evaluation! She even told my instructor about me! AND she wants to work with me again :) (Blessing #6) All in all, I had an amazing day. Today I felt like a nurse. I felt like I knew what I was doing, and my nurse thought so as well. I was so blessed today. I can't thank God enough for these incredible experiences!!!! He is soooooooooooooo Good!!! :) It's days like these that build my confidence. It's days like these that make me feel like I'm a nurse! :)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Insults, Alarms, & Compliments
Today was an interesting day! Let me tell you!
The day began with a nurse assignment. I was very blessed to be paired up with a nurse who went to my school and took the same classes! We talked a lot! She allowed me to work on my own, which was fine because if I was unsure about ANYthing....I would tell her immediately. So we had a trusting relationship right away.
I was assigned to a patient that was around my age who was 20 wks pregnant with a baby boy. She was admitted to the unit with Pyelonephritis, a complication that usually arises from a UTI (urinary tract infection). Apparently, she let the UTI go untreated and the infection spread to her kidneys. She has a complicated family life from what I heard. Upon meeting her, I was able to address her needs and keep her comfortable. Pain management was difficult as she refused any pain meds because she felt 'weird' after taking them. So I check on her frequently and eventually I was able to convince her to take some Tylenol! Yay! She told me when I first met her that she would like to shower, so I told her to call me when she wanted to so I could get her towels, soap, etc. After reminding her a few times, the CNA comes up to me and said, "She's in the shower, and she was complaining that no one was going to give her anything to take a shower." And apparently she wasn't happy at all and my nurse and I had 'insulted' her. Hey, it happens. Not everyone is going to be happy with the care you provide.
All of a sudden, the fire alarm goes off.....and it wasn't a drill. So my instructor and I closed all the doors and just waited til it was cleared up. It could have been serious! But, it wasn't. Everyone safe!......so that caught me off guard.
Then as I'm checking on another patient, my nurse comes to me and says..."Do you know that are patient just snuck out of here?" I was like....really? honestly? "She rolled her IV pole to the first floor and lit a cigarette outside." ohhhhh my goodness! Well if you think about it, I can't stop her. I can tell her that smoking is bad for her, and her baby, and her healing....and against hospital policy, and illegal on this campus.....but words can only do so much.
Then that got me thinking....that poor baby! Anyways....so my other patient was discharged but she stayed in a "boarder room," which is a room where you can stay if your baby is in critical care or needs to stay in the nursery. So she stayed there and we got to talking. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who was a little jaundice and needed extra nutrition through IV fluids. Then this patient came up to my instructor and gave me like the biggest compliment EVER!! I almost cried!
Moving on....I can honestly say that this job is going to be very humbling; both in dealing with people's emotions and dealing with people who ignore your advice to live a healthier lifestyle. Like I said earlier, nurses are here to teach what we know so that these patients can be healthier, live longer, and feel better about themselves. But we only can change and do so much in improving their health.....I'm just glad I have the opportunity to try :)
Until tomorrow....I'm exhausted....lights out!
The day began with a nurse assignment. I was very blessed to be paired up with a nurse who went to my school and took the same classes! We talked a lot! She allowed me to work on my own, which was fine because if I was unsure about ANYthing....I would tell her immediately. So we had a trusting relationship right away.
I was assigned to a patient that was around my age who was 20 wks pregnant with a baby boy. She was admitted to the unit with Pyelonephritis, a complication that usually arises from a UTI (urinary tract infection). Apparently, she let the UTI go untreated and the infection spread to her kidneys. She has a complicated family life from what I heard. Upon meeting her, I was able to address her needs and keep her comfortable. Pain management was difficult as she refused any pain meds because she felt 'weird' after taking them. So I check on her frequently and eventually I was able to convince her to take some Tylenol! Yay! She told me when I first met her that she would like to shower, so I told her to call me when she wanted to so I could get her towels, soap, etc. After reminding her a few times, the CNA comes up to me and said, "She's in the shower, and she was complaining that no one was going to give her anything to take a shower." And apparently she wasn't happy at all and my nurse and I had 'insulted' her. Hey, it happens. Not everyone is going to be happy with the care you provide.
All of a sudden, the fire alarm goes off.....and it wasn't a drill. So my instructor and I closed all the doors and just waited til it was cleared up. It could have been serious! But, it wasn't. Everyone safe!......so that caught me off guard.
Then as I'm checking on another patient, my nurse comes to me and says..."Do you know that are patient just snuck out of here?" I was like....really? honestly? "She rolled her IV pole to the first floor and lit a cigarette outside." ohhhhh my goodness! Well if you think about it, I can't stop her. I can tell her that smoking is bad for her, and her baby, and her healing....and against hospital policy, and illegal on this campus.....but words can only do so much.
Then that got me thinking....that poor baby! Anyways....so my other patient was discharged but she stayed in a "boarder room," which is a room where you can stay if your baby is in critical care or needs to stay in the nursery. So she stayed there and we got to talking. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who was a little jaundice and needed extra nutrition through IV fluids. Then this patient came up to my instructor and gave me like the biggest compliment EVER!! I almost cried!
Moving on....I can honestly say that this job is going to be very humbling; both in dealing with people's emotions and dealing with people who ignore your advice to live a healthier lifestyle. Like I said earlier, nurses are here to teach what we know so that these patients can be healthier, live longer, and feel better about themselves. But we only can change and do so much in improving their health.....I'm just glad I have the opportunity to try :)
Until tomorrow....I'm exhausted....lights out!
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