Thursday, June 16, 2011

Books, Books and more Books!!!

SO! I just got my package from amazon in the mail.....and I could barely carry it in the house! It includes alllll 12....count em' 12 books that I need for this semester! Actually, I think I still need one that I couldn't find on Amazon! How am I ever going to carry all these around? I should probably just invest in a suitcase with wheels for this semester.  I would look pretty awesome lugging it around!  Thanks for reading! Until next time....

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Welcome Welcome!!!

Calling all family, friends, nurses, students, and medical enthusiasts!  That's right! Jenny O'Brien is going to write a blog to document her adventures and trials that she encounters on her journey to become a nurse!

Those of you who know me, know that writing a blog (keeping a journal, sticking to any form of continual writing) is not my forte.  That being said, I would like to have a way to share my thoughts and experiences during nursing school, with all of you! So, the grammar may not be perfect (I'll try Mom!), and I may not post everyday, but I will no doubt do my best!

In this blog, I will give updates on the difficulties of nursing school, as well as the hopeful joys of interacting with patients and growing as a listener, carer, and friend! In order to protect the rights of any patients I may care for, I will change all names, and alter any pertinent information to stay in accordance with privacy laws.

Right now, it is only June 12th, which means........ I have 71 days until I begin classes in my BSN program!  Until then, I will be enjoying my summer!

As a nursing student-to-be, I have taken a bit of a jump start, and have ordered my IMMENSELY large stack of textbooks needed for the first semester.  Also, I have already gotten my light blue stethoscope and scrubs (pictures to come when I get to wear them!) Although, I don't start classes until late August, my awesome school has set up several picnics and get together to get us acquainted with our classmates and professors.  This past Thursday, I attended a "Welcome Picnic" at my school's main campus.   Going there knowing no one, (even being the outgoing person I am), I can't say that I was not a tad nervous.  I was thrilled to see that my worries were unnecessary! Everyone, teachers and students, were just as excited as I was to be there, and super-friendly.  Several current students attended and answered any questions we had.  They reminded us that "we are all in the same boat, and the first week is an INCREDIBLE learning curve".  We got a tour of some of the facilities (and although I won't be at this specific campus, it is basically the same).  One of my favorite parts of the tour was when we got to see the patient rooms in which we will practice on "real" patients! Now, when I say "real", what I mean is actors.  Before we are thrown into our clinical sites, where we will encounter REAL patients, we are given the opportunity to practice and be tested on actors and actresses that will act exactly as a patient would.  For example, eventually, we will be placed in a OB-GYN clinical site, where we might be given the chance to perform a postpartum evaluation.  We will be able to go in and perform this postpartum evaluation on an actress, who will be pretend like she gave birth the day before.  During this part of the tour, I was so surprised and excited to see this!  I knew that we were going to be able to practice numerous times on mannequins, but it is great to learn that we will be given more realistic experiences before being thrown into the real thing.

Anyways, hopefully you aren't bored by now, but as I come across funny experiences, I will make sure to bring the comedy as best I can!  That's all for now, but I will post again soon!  Thanks for reading!

Next up: Orientation!!!