had my pinning tonight

Hey, all...while i'm not an emotional person per se....something about the ceremony really made me tear up. We walked in to a crowd of people in the gym, had the introduction of our speaker (the exec director of our state nurses association) who showed up sick and barely able to talk, give our speech. Gave our retiring professor a basket with cool things.....and as we went up to do our candle lighting ceremony....we dropped hand sanitizer(as she failed EVERYONE on our handwashing demo before) into the basket. Our class VP's daughter performed a song she wrote herself...and it was VERY moving...called "hands that heal".....I almost wish that I had a track of it, cause it was really good.
My good friend was our class president...and as she was talking, and tearing up....my other friend and I asked each other if we were standing up for her....I would without a doubt. She got thrust into the position when our president didn't pass 3rd semester.......hence the promotion of the VP.
She did a remarkable job for what she had to work with....and through all the snafus...I wouldn't have traded a moment of the last 2 years for anything...
The joy, the tears, and the anger of last minute changes were all washed away by the smiles and the joy of tonight. I got many pictures of all my friends who are going to be RNs at the same place where I work....can't wait for boards, and to get started!

pinning is today

Wow...I can't believe after 2 yrs of NS, 3 yrs of pre reqs....countless lost hours of sleep, many fast-food lunches at clinicals, having to grab instructors for medications, crying over stress, and lost weekends at barnes and noble studying......
PINNING IS TODAY! Practice is at 9AM(Seriously, we couldn't get it stretched out a little? Like 11?), pinning at 7PM...tons of family are coming in today, staying through the weekend, party on Sat, some came in Wed, spent all day thursday with em....wow. I'm already tired, and I know I'm gonna be a emotional wreck tomorrow.....I'll post back and let you all know how it went....

what the heck do I do now?

Hey, all....just had to post a happy thread today.... I just took my LAST EVER nursing final! Got a 83, so I got a B in the class overall.....and I just realized that I've done nursing almost everyday of my life for the last 2 years.....So, what the heck am I supposed to do now? LOL
It is a sad day too though....one of my good friends missed passing by about 4 points.....1 quiz that she missed near the end for a (not so smart) reason.....I hope that they find points missed during her final review...but I'm not holding out hope. The way things are going, I may be the only male graduating this year.....How weird does that make me look?
On to the NCLEX!!!!

In the dead of night......

The visitors are gone. You lay sleeping through the night. The beeps of the machines are echoing down the hall, the dinging of call lights wakes you up. "I need a blanket, I want a drink, my pain is high, my a/c is loud, can't you do anything about those people next door?" and so on. I hate to break it to you, but I am here to keep you well.
I will let you vent, but we need to understand each other.
I'm here because I believe there is no higher calling than serving your fellow man. Health is the one thing that everyone must deal with. The touch of a warm cloth in a fever, a quick clean when you lie in your own stool, even a massage when you have some back spasms.
I demand respect. I am not here to be your servant...i'm here to help you become as functional as you can at the moment. I am not here to find 15 chairs for all the family you have here, or get you 3 pepsis when your glucose is over 500. I will not agree with your non-compliance with care. You can choose to do so, however, do NOT yell at me when you can't understand why you aren't doing better.
I vent, I yell, I cry at times.....but I wouldn't trade the moments I've seen for the world.
I like to think that my grandfather had the kind of care that I give everyday. I hope that patients remember me when they leave the hospital...and I know that I won't see many of them again. And I'm ok with that.
so what motivates you to do what you do?

Goodbye frustration....

So, i was going to rant about the crazy patients I had last night....
But, after taking care of a few old folks, and sleeping, and driving in the wonderful sunshine...and eating dinner outside with a beer and the sunday paper....
My frustration has somehow gone away.....but it did lead to a reflective mood. stay tuned for some kind of post over why I feel healthcare is a calling...not a job.

The curtain is rising.............

Well....for my fellow friends, I just realized that a LOT has happened over the last few weeks...So, in no particular order comes the following:
Lorenzo's List of Lasts:
1. Had my LAST theory test! (ok, so I wound up with a 78%, but hey, let me revel in that glory for a minute) We spent our last day taking that test, and filling out NCLEX applications. It was kinda nice to say "I now have been taught everything that the school wants to teach me!"
2. Went through my Capstone days....ugh. 36 hrs of working with a staff nurse on a tele floor. First, I'm not a days person. I like having clients asleep for the 2nd half of my shift. I also don't like waking up at 3:30am just to get ready. And my new name for tele? Med-surg for hearts. It was not boring per se, but I didn't feel like I could do a whole lot besides assess and pass meds.....also, during my 2nd day 2nd semester students showed up for most of the day so I only had 2 real patients that were all ours....I did learn about how to deal with patients, and how to try to be the "nurse". Did also pick up some info about heart strips.
3. Took my HESI exit exam....well, i did the best I could..... AND I PASSED!!!! I scored a 922, and passing is a 850. The exam is supposed to weigh questions based on the basic skills of being a RN vs harder questions...like NCLEX. it was 160 questions, took me 2 hours, and most of my friends passed. We got together at the bar for "lunch"....although more drinks were flowing than tears. Some people didn't pass, but they have another chance friday. So need some good wishes towards those friends.
4. Got a job offer from the hospital where I work at now. And it's my shift, and my floor! So, I look forward to changing my job role from tech to RN....and know that I quite honestly couldn't have a better group of people to work with. I believe that I will be trained effectively, and am comfortable with the patients we generally get. Plus, as a confidence booster, I was having break with a nurse the other night and she goes "I wouldn't mind training you, you understand how we are, and you pick things up really fast. However, that other girl(the one I go to school with) gets too stressed, too easy. You gotta be flexible up here." So, I feel better about it. The thing that stinks is that I have to train on days 2-4 weeks....so I'll be dead for a while.

And, for my friend Dawn, pinning is May 16th!!! Can't wait to see what's in the slideshow! Keep the faith!

It's (un)offical!

I will be offered a job TOMORROW!!!!! I am planning to work on my home floor that I work on as a tech now....figured that I would get the best training being with people that I understand, staff I can trust, knowing who to watch out for, and knowing roughly the procedures/protcols for the general cases we get.....I feel relieved, knowing that I am finally on the way with the first job!!!
Now all I need to do is get through the capstone this week, pass exit on Friday and get ready to graduate!!!!