Firsts

Today was the first day I earned money in the nursing field! We began our two-day orientation at The Hospital of Central Connecticut. Everyone was very nice and very welcoming, and I now have yet another item with the HCC logo on it (a FABULOUS new canvas tote bag with lots of useful pockets and places to hold your water bottles. And it is a nice high-quality bag, unlike the crappy bag we were required to get from Quinnipiac that ripped during the first semster using it. I now have an HCC travel mug, pajama shorts, baseball hat and fun tote bag). Both today and tomorrow are orientation days, meaning we are in the classroom setting. We reviewed all the hospital policies, protocols and procedures, endured yet another lecture about the importance of HIPAA, discussed the importance of handwashing, and learned all about the many pieces of machinery that should be used when moving/lifting patients. Plus more lecturing on pressure ulcers, hospital gases, and oxygenation equipment. We ended the day with some fun vital sign skill validations. I am officially qualified to take your temperature:)

OH, and we watched a video on how to prevent surgeries being performed on the WRONG SITE. I guess it actually happens which is scary. But now there are like a hundred checks in place to make sure it doesn't. So, if you are ever having surgery, don't get frustrated with them when they confirm for the 86th time that you are having a total knee replacement on your LEFT and not your RIGHT knee. Tedious, yes, but far better than the alternative.
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I can't wait to actually get to the floor, but that won't happen until the 30th. Poor Jane, I am working a 12-hour shift, 7a-7:30p on her birthday. But other than that, my schedule is pretty sweet. I have to work the day-shift (7-3:30) on New Year's Eve, but then I have the 1st and 2nd off. My friend Liz is working the night shift 11p-7a on New Year's Eve. :( I have most weekend days off, plus an additional day off during the week cuz I have a bunch of 12 hours shifts thrown in. But most of all I am excited to actually be receiving a paycheck!!! It has been awhile!

Exceedingly hilarious yet undeniably upsetting

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1695231991

Holiday Cheer

I have been thoroughly enjoying my time off. I haven't done nearly as much cleaning as I should (my study room still looks like it was hit by a tornado), but other, more important things, have been accomplished. My shopping is 70% done which is good for me at this point, our house has been decorated, and I am full of holiday cheer. I am looking forward to spending quality, non-stressed time with friends and family. It is amazing what adequate sleep can do for your outlook on life. And a big congrats to Kathleen and her new baby boy!! I can't wait to meet the little guy!

And the results are in!

I just got the results of my last final exam in! 94 for my Psych exam. Yahoo! Which makes my grades for the semester as follows:

Theory A
Pedi B+
Psych A
MedSurg A-

Not too shabby. And today we went to the mall and managed to actually get some shopping done. Tomorrow we intend on decorating (and cleaning) the house to make it all fun and festive. And watch the Pats game. Yahoo!

Snoopy Dance of Joy!

My Finals are Done!!! Done and more Done! AM soooo relieved and sooooo tired. Just got back from my last final exam which was Psych. The exam was actually done at 10, but it took me over and hour to get home because of in the inch of snow that fell during the last 15 minutes of the exam. The sky was blue when we started and then...complete white out conditions. But I am home safely and plan to make an egg and bagel sandwich and then fall asleep for many many hours. Then tomorrow all my errands and shopping that I have been ignoring will commence. So, what does everyone want for Christmas:)

I know kitties like small spaces....

...but this is ridiculous, people

Last Day of classes! Woot!

Yes, today was the last day of classes for the semester. Yay and more yay! Now it is time to prepare for finals which will be a bear. Four exams in four days. Yuck. But because I am a dork, I have figured out what I need to get on each exam in order to get at least an A- in all the classes which is what I am shooting for. We will see how it goes. We have two exams on Monday (pedi & theory), one exam on Tuesday (medsurg) and then the last exam on Thursday (psych). I don't expect to sleep much until next week. But then I will be free to START my holiday shopping, and then relax until dec 27th which is the orientation for my internship.

On Wednesday I had to get a physical done by the hospital. Although it was not a typical physical that one would get at the doctor's office. They did some normal stuff like pulse and BP, but they also did a lot of vision tests (including that color blind test where you have to read the numbers hidden in the red & green circles.) I found it funny that with all the medical technological advances over the last few decades - they were still using a book from 1974 for the color test.

The scariest part was getting fitted for a TB mask. First they put this giant yellow hood over your head and spray some sort of aerosal into it. You then have to stick out your tongue to see if you can taste the substance (which you should be able to). Then they give you the TB mask and mold it to your face. Then they put the giant yellow hood over you again and spray the stuff to make sure you CAN'T taste it. And you have to move your head up and down and side to side while saying the alphabet to make sure that it is air tight. It was all very strange.

OH - and they do mandatory drug testing...and they are totally serious about it. Before you go, they dump this blue dye into the toilet so they will know if you try to sneak some of the toilet water in as your sample. And then when you are done "collecting your sample" YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO WASH YOUR HANDS until after they have sealed the collection bottles and put labels on them. And you are not supposed to let the samples out of your sight (supposedly to make sure the nurse is not tampering with them and adding anything to them that would make it positive for drugs). Again, very strange.

Regarding the eye picture. No worries - I have not gone off the deep end. This was not my creation. It was posted on cuteoverload.com and I thought it was funny. So no, I have not been spending my free time making weird food art:)

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