This weeks clinicals were short. we had to take ATI testing at 8:ooam and then head over to clinicals @ 10:00am. ATI testing is suppose to be a personal evaluation tool/test to give an idea of where we'd test on NCLEX. I did pretty well and will not have to take a practice test to turn in later next week. Yea! one less thing to worry about. At clinical i had the pleasure of sitting in on a full psych evaluation. It was really interesting. It goes step by step of the patients current problems, family hstory, current living situations, current medication, mental status and tons of other things. It was 2 1/2 hours long and i had to pee though the whole thing. I finally had to get up toward the end to go. I figured it would be more embrassing if i peed my pants. I receieved my grade for my concept map. I got a high B. Which is great. This teacher is murder on papers and a B in her class is an A in any other. Its nice to have it over with now i can concetrate on tests and the BIG math test coming up. I'm not looking forward to it. Its a test that we must pass to get though the program. we get 3 chances to pass with a 90% or higher that means we can miss 2 out of 20 questions. Brutal huh? Oh one last thing i had to do manual blood pressure tuesday too. Boy was i out of practice. I have been so spoiled by the eletronic one at the hospital. So it took me a few minutes and me looking like a bumbling idiot in front of my patients, but i did get the hang of it and am not looking foward to it again. I sure i get to though, our next instrusctor LOVES manual blood pressure if for nothing else than to torture us. Its going to be lovely, and you all will get to hear about it! until next time....

so i know that i tell stories about school and clinicals but i need to share my day from today. I had the most wonderful time with my daughter. We had to get up super early for her meet, like 5am. We did have enough time to get breakfast and coffee together. We talked all the way down there about odds and ends, got lost alittle on the way there, which we always find funny, and finally made it to the meet. I can't explain the way i feel when i watch her compete. She so strong, detrmined and graceful during her events and in between times shes cutting up and laughing with her friends. I have finally quit crying after every event but i still pray everytime that God will give her sticky feet and the concentation she needs. I am never more proud though when she is a good friend. There have been times when a team mate has done poorly or gotten hurt and Natalie is the first one there to offer comfort. Atfer the meet we went to dinner with the grandparents and again has so much fun trading stories. when we got home we had drank hot tea together and talked about the day and the week to come. Shes is the funniest kid i know, she clever and witty with her humor. I loved being with Natalie today, Just her and I laughing the day way.

group homes and clinics

i guess i'm a week behind on all thing psych. Monday's lecture always ranges from incrediablely boring (you can tell my the massive doodling in my books) to very thought provoking. Thats how the two lectures rounded out. last monday...yawn, this monday exciting and heated. The topic was the moral and ethical bounderies that involve that nursing field. i know is sounds boring, but being in a class room full of people with varied and voiced opinions, it was fun place to be. I mean, we were discussing patients right to die, when should they be allowed to die, when should their wishes be over ridden, and other simular topics. We the nurses are to be the patient advocates, we need to understand what their rights are within the law. Sadly many times the patient (who in a coma or near death) wishes are overridden by the family dispite what the patient wanted. But this is another story for another day.

My clinical days were again just as eventful. The first week i went to the group home where i hung out with a patient for the day, I went were he did, including any group therapies and teaching session. People who live in the home are usually compliant on their medication and are working toward goals that will help them to become more independent for their stuation. Some goals may include simple hygine, cooking, cleaning or more complex like social interactions or coping skills. While many of the people do very well here, sometimes they degress due to thier disease and have to be hospitalized for varying lenghs of time.
Today i spent the day the the inpatient center. This is where people go went they are having an episode of psychosis. some admit themselves and some are brought by family or police. Patients here have a wide range of mental illnesses. schizophrenia, bi-polar, borderline personalitiy just to name a few. I get the to have one patient whom i spend time with, getting them to talk to me, about anything from hobbies to why they think they are there. I got to sit in on sessions with a case manager, RN, pyscologist, and director of nursing to decide the best course of action for that patient. They also interveiw that patient to see their line of thinking and make goals. It is a very interesting process.
I love the fact that my views of lack of knowledge have changed since interacting with mental ill people. it used to be so taboo and is now a place i look forward to going to make a positive impact somehow. oh, and i finally have a full understanding of what a selective seritonin reuptake inhibitor drug does!!! That was huge for me...it only took 3 semesters!

week 1

As i have said before, I am in psych clinicals for 5 weeks. Tuesday was our first day, and of course we were more than a little scared. We are going to spend one day every week with a client (thats what we call our paitents) who had spent most of their lives with a form of mental psychosis. This includes schizophrenia, Bipolar disorders, Border-line personality disorders or others. Sounds a little scary right? Most of these clients are pretty stable and maintain a medication schedule and live in group homes with others with simliar conditions. We will get to talk with them, go to place with them, like group therapy, and work on assessment of them for our care plans. Unfortantaly I won't get to give any real details of my day due to HIPPA regualtions. But i will do my best to give any information that i can.

After i did my tour through the group home and clincal, i am no longer scared but am very excited. There is a little voice inside my head whispering "you might have found your niche" And thats what scares me. So i guess i will see what the voice has to say in 5 weeks. Either way its going to be great

its the final countdown...

When Monday rolls around I will be less than bright and bushy tailed at 8 am in the classroom. For the first 5 week we will cram 15 chapters of information into our head with hopes of retaining it for the tests but also for our NCLEX boards in the spring. I have been doing something everyday to get ready for the semester. Most days its reading and doing drugs cards, but I been have making cheat sheets for clinicals too. Cheat sheets are little pocket size cards that have any information that you need for the day. Like I have normal lab values, renin-angiotensin system and ph balances on mine. Everybodies are different. I have attempted to make them more fun by creating them with pretty paper. I really am looking forward to the semester. Its exciting and scary to know its the last one. The kids are excited too and Paul can see the future where he no longer has to go over the road. Here's to a new semester, hope its a good one!