How can it be almost Christmas!!

Well, I just can't beleive how much time has flown by these last few months! I've been working on my own now since August and I really enjoy my job. I love the unit, and especially the crew I work with. They are supportive, funny, hard working, and have your back in a pinch. I am still learning and that's probably why I love it so much, you're always learning and every shift is a new adventure! It's hard to put my experieances down on paper because there has been so many and I don't even know where I would begin.

Most of my patients are in our unit for uncontrolled diabetes, congestive heart failure, pulmonary edema, pneumonia, sepsis, strokes, uncontrolled hypertension, obesity, cancer, car accidents, respiratory failure of all kinds, ect...ect..

While not at work I've been really loving not being in school! I love being with the kids, spending time with friends, and working on all the home projects that I never I time for in school..
Looking forward to decorating for Christmas, and I've thinking about rearranging the living room. Till next time!

A quick update

I haven't really been blogging for a while, mainly I just haven't been at a computer as often as I used to be, but also I've really busy going through residency at the hospital. I started my job in the ICU and so far I still love it! Now that my residency is over I'll mostly be working 3 12hour shifts so we'll have more time together as a family and more time for other things. I was lucky enough to get a daytime position and am thrilled about it.
I'm still very much a baby in the ICU world but I'm really looking forward to the education I will be getting while working. I completed my ACLS certificate and will be doing some more trauma education this fall. ...That's all for now!

I'm an official RN!!!

I still can't believe it!!! I was so scare to look at my results on line this morning, but after lots of prayer I mustered up the courage to look. There it was in small unassuming letters, but there none the less: pass. That's all! No bells or whisles, but still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen! All I can say is God is good! I'm still a little in shock and it's hard to believe that the stress and nightmares of nursing school are behind me.
The good news is I already have a job that I'll start in May. It's a level two neuro, med-surg ICU unit. I can't believe I'm really going to be an ICU nurse! This has been a dream of mine for a while and it seems way too good to be true right now. Anyways, this nursing school chapter is over and a new one begins... I can't wait!

Nclex countdown

So the nclex is in two weeks and one day, and I'm starting to feel a little more positive about things. Probably a big part of tht is just not being sick anymore. You know when you're not feeling well it's easier to feel overwhelmed and down in the dumps. So anyways, still doing about 8-10 hours a day of studying, 100-200 questions and lots of content review. That's it for now. I promised my son a chance at the computer. Goodnight!

NCLEX stress!

I feel like the impending date of April 27th will never be here. I know I shouln't be rushing things and I'm glad I picked that date but it's like the waiting and stress is worse than the actual test. That, and I guess it was stress that brought on a case of very painful shingles. So, I've got incredible nerve pain running from my C7 all the down to my forearm. I can barely lift my arm because it's so weak. But, I am choosing to ignore this and will just keep plugging along. The more I study the more Irealize how much I don't know and this makes me more and more nervous. So far, I'm about halfway through saunders, I'm on my third exam cram test and I plan to order NCSBN review for the last three weeks before the test.
That's about it for now, I wish I was writing about my garden, or fun things that I've been doing but it's been pretty much a non stop study session for a while now....

Settling in

So now that school is over I'm just getting into the routine of studying at home for several hours a day. My plan is to do at least 100 questions a day with rational and so far I've been able to keep up. We also have been doing study groups once or twice a week and that helps to break things up a bit. I'm using several resources such as saunders, kaplan strategies, lippincott, nclex3500. exam cram and nclex for dummies. I'm really trying to be systematic about it all but I can already tell that by April 27th I'm going to be so burned out! At least several of us will all go up together the night before and will share a hotel room to alleviate stress about traffic, also to commiserate about the test afterwards. I can tell these next four weeks will drag on and on. Hopefully I can stay motivated and will be rewarded with a PASS on the website.

Graduation today!!

Today is the pinning and it's hard to believe this day has actually come. I remember when I started and I knew that march 2010 would be the time, and now it's actually here! I have a formal job offer from the unit that I precepted in and I'm so grateful and excited, but still hesitant to celebrate until the nclex has been passed. I still don't know my date yet, I'm not expecting to get my att yet, probably in about 10 days or so. Until then, I'll still be a bundle of nerves. I just want to see the RN after my name on the DOH website.aahhh!