It's over!!!

I'm trying to decide - which is most annoying: lawyer commercials, car dealer commercials or those ridiculous weight loss pill commercials? They are all pain, aren't they?

Anyways, I took the nclex today <sigh> 75 questions. It took me about 40 minutes & I was hoping it would shut off at 75 as most usually say that is a good indicator that you've passed. So needless to say, when I pressed the enter button on question 75 & the screen went blank, I was relieved. Gina ended up with about 85 questions, she is very nervous but I'm sure she did fine. The soonest we can find out is on Wednesday - so I'm trying to keep my mind elsewhere for the next 36 hours or so. We stayed in Orlando last night at the Quality Inn. That name alone is misleading because there wasn't much quality at all. Oh well, it's a place to sleep & it kept us from having to deal with the crazy I-4 traffic. I am soooooo hoping I passed so that I can start living life again. It will be so nice to be able to make plans or go on vacation without having in the back of my mind what I should be studying or reading for nursing class.

Tracy is being super sweet & very supportive. I'm not really sure why there has been a change in him, but I do like it. We'll see if he can maintain it & see what the future holds for us - time will tell. I have to say - I've got really great friends & family. They have all been very supportive & encouraging. I love y'all.....mom, dad, Julie, Maria, Carole, Dawn & everyone else that has been patting me on the back & building up my confidence. You mean the world to me.

I'm exhausted & ready for bed. What has happened to me? I used to be a night owl, now I'm ready for bed by 9 pm & up at 4 am. I got my work schedule today - I have 2 months left of having a preceptor, then I'll be on my own. Seems so far away yet I know it will fly by. I can't stop yawning, time to get to sleep. :)

Trying to relax

Ahhh, the countdown is coming to an end - 24 hrs from now the nclex exam will be over (hopefully). Gina & I are driving down to Orlando later tonight. I cannot wait to be done with this. I received some good news this weekend - both Kelly & Tema passed the exam!!!

It was raining earlier, but now it's stopped - I don't like driving in the rain. I'm going to go do a few more practice questions, pack & get ready to go (all while watching the Nascar race - go Dale Jr!!!) - I'll give an update tomorrow! Wish me luck!!!!!!!!

Keeping busy, busy, busy

I've been keeping busy this week to keep my mind off of the big test on Monday.  I can't believe it's the end of February already!  I have thankfully gotten back to a day schedule by going to sleep very early & waking up very early.  I worked Wednesday night, had an EKG med class on Friday, went to dinner last night with Julie & Shawn (love the Olive Garden!) and then met up with Kelly to see a movie (The Wedding Date - it was ok).  Today I'm meeting up with Gina to go shopping & to check out where the testing center is that we have to go to on Monday as well as find a hotel in the area to stay at tomorrow night. 

We keep hearing the same thing from anyone that has taken the exam: "I think I failed."  They can't even give us any idea as to what to study.  I feel so very unprepared - it's not a good feeling, but then I keep hearing that no matter how much you prepare, you still feel unprepared.  I won't find out the results until Wednesday - it's gonna be a long 2 days next week waiting to find out. 

I worked this past Wednesday night & it was frustrating.  Between having very unstable patients & a preceptor that would ask me to do something & then change her mind when I started doing it was wearing on my nerves.  She gave me one patient that had a heart rate in the high 130's, low 140's & then tells me we need to get this person to the ICU as soon as possible.  The day nurse pretty much did not do her job - she had the unstable patient for an hour & never addressed her serious problems.  Instead she was orienting her to the room & how to use the call bell.  Hello......the woman is practically having a heart attack & the top priority is to show her how the room works???  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  The nurse didn't want to call the doctor, didn't want to give the lady her meds - I sat there thinking this woman could die simply because of a nurse that is not too bright or is more focused on going home than taking care of a patient in serious condition.  I understand wanting to pass off a difficult patient, but not when the patient's life is on the line.  We finally do all we need to do to get her a bed in ICU.  I ask my preceptor "Don't we need to get the heart monitor off the code cart to put on her during the transport?"  Shesaid no.  No????  I thought it was something we always did while transporting someone to the ICU.  She replied "Only if the patient is unstable."  Ummm....heart rate in the 130's, showing signs & symptoms of an impending MI, being transferred to the ICU & she's not considered unstable?"  What does it take to be considered unstable in my preceptor's eyes???  Next the patient care tech & I were transporting her to the ICU when the tech says "Hang on a minute, I have to get this new admit (different patient) into bed."  So we stop outside the door of this new admit so she can run in there really quick & get the patient into bed.  Well, what was supposed to be really quick ended up being not quick.  So I'm standing there in the hallway with our unstable patient who is telling me she feels lousy, that it's like nothing she's ever felt before & my transport partner is taking her time doing not so important stuff.  Another nurse was walking by & yelled at the tech "This woman is going to ICU - that is your priority right now."  The tech got a little pissed off, but come on - the patient is going to ICU for a reason!!!!!!  Needless to say, I was less than happy with how the night was going so far.  Later that night I got a new admit - a woman that was practically in the same boat as the one I had just transferred to ICU only add on top of her heart attack, a really bad infection of unknown origin (WBC 39.6).  And the doctor did not prescribe any antibiotics.  Because this woman was a DNR (do not resuscitate), she ended up on our floor rather than the ICU.  She already had a heart attack sometime within the last 48 hours of arriving to the hospital.  She was doing ok when she got to my floor - suffers from dementia also so she was somewhat confused.  Got her admitted, she's resting quietly, everything is good.  A couple of hours later, her heart rate is in the high 130's - go assess her & she is shaking, breathing is labored, she's disoriented.  She had not gotten any of her meds in the ER (starting to see just how incompetent they are, but that's another story).  My preceptor used her critical thinking skills & decided that since this woman hadn't urinated at all in the 3 hours we had her - that she would insert a foley catheter (without a doctor's order).   It was a good thing she did because this woman was unable to urinate on her own because she has a RAGING urinary tract infection - we're talking thick nasty looking pus-like urine - I've never seen anything like that ever before.  It was gross what was coming out of her bladder.  Again - why was this not addressed in the ER???  Especially with a white blood cell count of 39.3!!!!!!  My preceptor put in a call to the doctor, told him what she had done & that we need an order for a urinalysis.  Meanwhile her heart rate came down, she was doing better. 

I had another patient that had a heart cath done earlier in the day & it showed 99% blockage in one of the main arteries.  The doctor then scheduled the guy for surgery at another hospital for Friday (we don't do major heart surgery at our hospital).  I don't understand why it had to wait until Friday unless the doctor was busy.  99% blockage is not a good thing.  Maybe it's because we aren't a trauma hospital that things are not taken so seriously - I don't know.  Or maybe cause I'm new, anything that raises a red flag I do take very seriously.  It was just a frustrating night. 

Ok, time to go shopping!!!!! 

Up early

I went to sleep at 9 pm last night - one day I'll have a normal sleep schedule. Of course now I'm up early. I plan to study a little & then go back to bed since I'm working tonight.

I had an awful dream last night. I guess the anxiety of the nclex is starting to set in. I dreamt that my classmates & I were taking a test. The instructor made us answer one question first & if we got it wrong, we had to have an ABG drawn (blood draw from an arterial line). Well I was the only one that got it wrong. So while my classmates got to continue with the exam, I had to have blood drawn by someone that had never done it before. Needless to say, it took way more time than necessary & it hurt! After that was done, I was sent back to take the exam. I was scrambling to get it done on time. Most of my classmates were finishing up & I was nowhere close to finishing. So the instructor said I could go into a private room to finish - Goldie Hawn then appears & takes me to the room. Instead of having peace & quiet to finish the test, Goldie just keeps talking & laughing so I never got to finish the exam. Grrrrrrrr! It is so strange how the mind works, isn't it? I hope the rest of the week isn't filled with dreams like that.

My sister-in-law sent me some pictures of my oldest nephew Eric. I can't believe how grown up he is. He's 17 so of course he's growing up, but I still remember him as "baby Eric." He was the first grandchild in the family. It's weird how you don't feel like you've aged at all, but then you look at the children that used to be babies & now they are practically adults - such a reminder of how much time has gone by. I was 18 when he was born & here he is almost 18. Where did the time go?

Yawn

I'm getting sleepy!  I had grad nurse class today - only 3 more days of it...woo hoo!  It just seems like a waste of time.  Everything they are reviewing is stuff we already know or stuff that we really don't need to know.  They did show us one good thing today though - the code cart.  I don't think I'll be using it anytime soon, but it is nice to have it explained & shown how to use the necessary items. 

More & more classmates have passed the nclex - that's a good thing.  Gina is starting to stress, she's getting all nervous & uptight.  I'm the opposite - I feel that I either know it by now or I don't.  And if I don't pass, it's not the end of the world - just a pay cut.  However, I am being optimistic & planning to pass the first time around.  I just want it over with already!!!!!!

Not too much else is really going on.  I work tomorrow night, then have an EKG class on Friday.  That's about it for now.

Daytona 500

I'm picking up good vibrationssssssss - I love this song.  Brings me back to my childhood - the 70's.  Gottaaaaaaaa keep those loving good vibrations a happening with her....gottaaaaaaaaaa keep thoseeeeeeeeee lovinggggggg gooddddddddd - good, good, vibrationsssssss.  How can you not sing along & be in a good mood after hearing this song?  As you can tell by my subject line - it's the Daytona 500 today.  The song is being sung in one of the opening acts at the Speedway.  Now 5 for Fighting is performing - since when did stuff like this happen at Speedways?  I am a new fan to Nascar.  For some reason I got hooked on it last year & have been watching ever since.  Of course I always would know who won the Daytona 500 since it is just 35 miles down the road, but I never sat & watched the races.  I do remember turning on the tv 4 years ago & watching the accident that would kill Dale Earnhardt.  I liked his style of racing - always causing trouble on the track (aka "Dirty Dale") & making it interesting.  You either loved him or you hated him.  Now his son is my favorite driver...go Dale Jr go!!!!!  He is the favorite in today's race because he won it last year. 

It is amazing what they've done to the infield at the track - it is like a theme park now.  Vanessa Williams is singing the Star Spangled Banner now.  Now I'm trying to find "Fanscan" so that I can hear my favorite driver talk to his team on the radio.  I'm starting to sound obsessed with this, aren't I?  What can I say, a large majority of these drivers are good looking.  I can't help myself.  Ok, time to switch subjects.

I went to sleep at 9 pm last night!!!!!!  Talk about a messed up sleep schedule.  I either stay up way too late or go to bed way too early.  Since I went to sleep so early, I have been up since 4:30.  I have been reading "Nclex-RN made ridiculously simple" - the exam is just over a week away so it's crunch time.  I feel like there isn't anything more I can possibly learn, but I do need to be refreshed about the ob & peds material.  I want to pass on the first try!!!!  Then all of my nclex books are going for sale on Ebay.  I cannot wait for the day to be able to come home & not have anything that has to be read or that I have to study for.

I talked with Tracy again yesterday afternoon - he's confused, I'm confused, we're all confused...lol.  I'm too busy to really worry about anything with that right now. 

It's been nice having a few days off from work.  I still can't wait until orientation is over with & I'm able to be on my own, but it's nice having preceptors to help out also.  My toughest struggle right now is in giving report to the charge nurse.  One of them is supercool & helps me to differentiate as far as what information she needs to know.  The other one is/was a nursing supervisor who dealt with case management - so she's constantly asking me about discharge planning & I have no idea what exactly it is that she wants to know or what my role is in the discharge planning process. 

Oooh Matthew McConaughey is at the Daytona 500 - what a cutie!  "Gentlemen.....start your engines!!!!!"  Time for me to go watch the race.

So sleepy

My sleep schedule is so screwed up - guess that's all part of working the night shift.  I worked last night with yet another preceptor - M.B.  I like her a lot, she makes it so easy to ask questions & she really enjoys having an orientee to teach things.  I had 2 patients of my own again - one with a GI bleed & anemia, the other status asthmaticus & pneumonia.  My poor little lady with the GI bleed had a stroke last year & just wasn't with it mentally.  One time I checked on her & she says to me "Are you being nice to her?  She tries so hard to be nice to you."  I said "Who?"  She replied "Your mother-in-law."  Ummmm, I don't have a mother-in-law, I don't even have a husband.  :)  Then she asked me if I had a bed in the hospital & when I said no, she was shocked.  Makes me wonder what exactly was going through her mind & who she thought I was.  My other patient loved to talk & talk & talk & talk.  I really enjoyed them both.  I also helped my preceptor out with her patients.  We had one lady with low blood sugar - we could not get it to remain increased for very long.  First it was 49, so we gave her orange juice, peanut butter & graham crackers & milk.  20 min later it was 59, then back down to 49.  We tried more food & juice - it didn't help.  So we did the D50% glucose - that got her up to 71, then back down to 69.  So we pushed some more....got her to 111, but by morning she was back down to the low 80's & dropping.  So strange considering she's a diabetic & usually requires diabetic medications to keep the blood sugar from getting too high.  Her medications were even held that day & yet she was still having really low blood sugars.  On another spectrum, we had a gentleman whose heart rate remained in the 130's all night long - all he was doing was resting in bed.  And the last thing on the list to do was shave a man's groin area because he was having a heart cath today.  It has to be one of the most awkward parts of nursing that I've run into...especially when it's someone that isn't too much older than I am.  Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right?  I'm off now until Tuesday & planning on going to bed early tonight so I can get back to a normal day schedule.

One of my classmates/co-workers took the nclex on Wednesday.  She got all 265 questions - took her over 5 hours to take the test...ugh.  But she passed!  So it makes it all worth it.  10 more days until it's my turn...eek.

I talked to my fireman/paramedic friend Gary 2 nights ago for over 4 hours on the phone.  It was one of those conversations where I can't believe how the time flew by.  We are definitely on the same wavelength which is refreshing because it's been a long time since I've encountered that.  It's kind of neat how there are certain people in this world that just seem to understand how you think without having to explain it to them.  Am I making sense?  I've only had 2 hours of sleep in the last 27 hours - so I may not be making sense. 

Time to get ready for bed!