Whew.......I survived!

First term........done! I believe I pulled all three A's. Still waiting on grades for two of the classes but I would have to done REALLY bad on the last assignment for each to not receive an A!

Feeling quite proud of myself right about now. I managed to; go to school full-time, work part-time, have three boys playing baseball (two of them play for travel teams-translation; practice or games 6 days a week!), sit on the all-volunteer board for the local youth athletic association (more work than I EVER imagined), and get straight A's. My husband is feeling a bit slighted but totally gets it now that he has seen all the time and work I put into school......just keep reminding him it will all be worth it in the end.

Term recap: Three classes. The Role of Nurse-Midwifery class consisted of two large papers, an oral presentation and a weekend workshop.
Pathophysiology consisted of a short paper and five exams.
Health promotion consisted of ALOT of reading!!!! This class had a 3-5 page essay, a forum assignment, a research assignment, a group project and a really large (15-20page) health management plan.
The big thing that is going to take alot of adjustment is moving from the role of carrying out health care provider orders to thinking like a primary care provider.
One thing about all of these courses: the reading is intense. There is soooooooo much of it, for all the classes!
Very glad that term is over and done with.

Looking forward: Three classes again. Reproductive Anatomy and Physiology.....looks like a fun class. I am looking forward to this one. I know it won't be easy but should hold my interest.
Decision Making in Health Assessment.....learning to think like a primary health care provider. Learning to use critical thinking skills and diagnostic reasoning skills. I should learn alot here!
Theories and Concepts in Primary Care......confession time; I'm not to enthusiastic about this class. Never really liked theory much at all. This will be the class I have a hard time being motivated to work on!

So that is school, as of right now, in a nut-shell.

Just ordered my books....almost $400!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got lucky last term and only had to buy one book and managed to get it from a student ahead of me for less than half the original price. Well, my good fortune has run out because she got rid of all the books for these classes. I don't mind buying the books for the repro and health assess classes because I intend to keep those but didn't want to fork out the bucks for the theory books. Oh well, maybe I can sell them to someone next term.

Well, next week I am working three days to try and make some $$ before the next term starts. I plan on cutting down to one day a week until I see how these classes are going to play out. I can usually pick up extra shifts but don't want to get overwhelmed by signing up for too many shifts and then get behind in school or be so stressed I take it out on my family.

Now, I think the kids and I will head to a movie since it's cloudy and overcast. Maybe we can get some time in at the pool this week!

Back to where I started.....

Well, I keep getting low census at work so I called the big house (the large tertiary care center with high-risk L&D, where I started out as a nurse) and they are short staffed on night shifts so I am picking up about one shift a week with them. I have worked two nights so far and am loving being back. There are only three nurses left on night shift from 31/2 years ago when I worked there but the night crew is alot of fun. Most of the gals I used to work with have moved on to dayshift, or gone elsewhere. The night shift is a young crew but very nice and welcoming. I am glad I made the decision to "come home".

Frankly, I love working in the single-room maternity care setting and having the normal laboring patients but there is just something about those high-risk patients that keeps you on your toes and makes you keep your critical thinking skills sharp!

I have four patients tonight al l with different problems and levels of acuity. I have done alot of tear wiping and just plain listening tonight. I forgot how intense emotionally some of this can be. I like to bond with my patients and provide them some emotional support as well as nursing care during this time. I hope to make a difference in their experience and help them be as comforted as possible during such a difficult time.

School only has three weeks left and I still have lots to do. Currently in the middle of two large papers and still have two test to finish in patho. That would be the reason I don't blog much these days...wish I had more time to read others blogs and update more often on mine.
I will do a term recap at the end of this month and update everyone on how the term went and how I did.

Well, time to go put all my gals on NST's (non-stress test) and draw labs.