Fall semester - SENIORITIS

This fall I took:

- Critical Care Nursing and clinicals
- Community Nursing and clinicals
- Informatics
- Leadership/Management and clinicals
- Ethics

Critical Care nursing was a beast of a class with a TON of information covered and much more in depth than previous classes. I had to go back to a bunch of my old pathophysiology stuff to understand some of critical care. Our clinicals were on a medicine floor, which could be considered slightly more acute than the other floors, more like a step down or progressive care unit which this hospital didn't have.

The best part of these clinicals were that we got to go on 4 observation days to the ICU, CCU, ER and Trauma/Neuro ICU. I didn't get to go to CCU, and instead went to the ICU twice. But that was fine with me because I am really not a cardiac nurse!

I was shocked to discover that I REALLY LIKED critical care!! I loved ICU as the first place I went and I love Truama/Neuro ICU even better. I already knew I liked the ER and I liked it again, but critical care nursing in an ICU is so much different from other nursing. I could definitely see myself doing trauma or neuro ICU in the future. It definitely is hard and you truly have to think on your feet and be a great nurse, but there are great rewards.

Skills performed:
- Med administration including oral, IV and IM
- Head to toe assessments
- Charting
- 4 catheters and 2 IV starts in the ER
- Bed baths

Community Nursing was not my favorite class. This class required us to drive to sites all over the city to take parts in different types of community nursing. I went to or followed around: a home health care nurse, a free clinic, a soup kitchen, diabetes educators, in hospital navigators, cancer center nurses, an acupuncture provider, a school nurse and a couple of other ones. My favorite was definitely the free clinic where I had actually volunteered before. They provided a much needed service to their community and it was super interesting to help out there for a day. Could I ever do community nursing? Maybe eventually. When I'm tired of working in a hospital.

Informatics was only a didactic class. It was boring, boring, boring. I understand why technology and computers are important to nurses but this class was a yawn.

Ethics was actually a sort of interesting class. Sadly I didn't have much time to devote to it with community and crit care. But it was at least applicable to being a nurse. I enjoyed some of the writing we got to do on topics of our choice and I researched and wrote about the ethics of fertility treatments.

My leadership/management clinicals were in the Trauma/Neuro ICU and I really enjoyed them, even though I was on nights which was pretty hard to do when I had other stuff to do during the day the rest of the week. I got to see some great things, interesting cases and I came to understand what managers and charge nurses truly do. Which is put out fires, help out the nurses and work to satisfy a variety of employees from housekeepers to doctors.

I really like the trauma and neuro side of ICU. I find the brain fascinating and its interesting to see what happens when there is trauma, strokes, brain tumors, etc. The trauma was just pretty horrible, but interesting all the same. Car, moped and bike accidents, falls from heights, tractor accidents, etc.

All in all it was a tough semester but I think it was worth it. It was pretty awesome to finally see and find some nursing that I really liked and could want to do for a while. In the end I still feel somewhat unprepared to be a nurse, but I know that you come out nursing school with just the basic skills to be a nurse. The rest you learn on orientation and by doing your job hands on.

Now that I'm done I've started the never-ending loop of looking for and applying for jobs, polishing my resume and writing cover letters. Hopefully there are jobs out there and hopefully I get offered one I like.

Now to study for the NCLEX and pass that sucker.

GRADUATION!!

I'M DONE! I'M DONE I'M DONE I'M DONE!!!!

I finished my last final this morning at 8 am!! Then I went out to breakfast with some friends from school.

I took my critical care final last friday and got a B. Critical Care was the one I was stressing about the most because it was a cumulative final and there was soooo much information on it! But I made a 56 page study guide and studied my butt off!

Then Ethics was monday, but that was easy-peasy.

I had my last leadership clinical last week and left at midnight from there. I didn't really even think about the fact that it would be the last time I was leaving the hospital from a clinical. But it is bittersweet. It will be weird not heading to the hospital every week for clinical.

I still don't think it's set in. That I'm actually done.

Pinning is tonight. WOOHOO!

I'll officially have my BSN!

A more updated post is coming on how my last semester went and what's going on now. As well as my NCLEX study plan.