December 2009: “God bless us, every one”

“God bless us, every one”

~Tiny Tim

Charles Dickon’s A Christmas Carol

 Well another semester has come to a close and after celebrating with the traditional after-finals-celebrate-with-sushi-lunch with my mom, I am really getting excited for Christmas.
Let me tell you how the rest of the semester went. I finished up a fabulous medical-surgical clinical rotation at Sky Ridge Medical Center. I learned a lot, got good practice in IV starting, worked with a great staff, and just really had an overall great rotation there.

For Thanksgiving I went out of town to Texas. My Uncle has a ranch with horses and guns and land and a beautiful home. It was the first time my dad’s entire side of the family has been able to get together in over a decade. We had between 20 and 30 people all together spending quality time  and reuniting. Then, my immediate family traveled over to the Dallas area to visit my mom’s entire side of the family. We spent two days reuniting, playing games, eating lots of good Chamorro (my heritage) food, and having a great time just being with each other. I come from a big family on both sides, so it can be a bit overwhelming, but always a good time! Of course, there was the dreaded exam and paper I had to work on over my break which I mentioned in my last blog, and I am proud to announce that I was able to finish that paper and got an A on the exam. *sigh of relief*

Unfortunately, I have struggled with being quite ill pretty much the entire second half of this semester. I was diagnosed with bronchitis shortly after Halloween and progressively got worse and worse. It was difficult keeping up with clinicals, school, family, and even Thanksgiving, but I’m here to tell you it’s possible. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, and real life doesn’t get put on hold. You just have to push through and continue to do the best you can no matter the circumstances. After being miserably sick over Thanksgiving, I went back to the doctor for the 3rd time in a month and my bronchitis had turned into pneumonia. After being pretty ill for 6 weeks, I was finally able to get on medication and am feeling much better just in time for Christmas break! (I admit, it would have been nice to have been feeling better while trying to juggle school, but I’m thankful I am finally doing better after such a long time).

I, along with several other classmates, was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, a nursing sorority/society of leadership, which was a great honour. We had a very nice banquet at the Arvada center where we were given honor cords to wear for graduation. I found out the flower symbol for this sorority is the purple orchid which just so happens to be my favourite flower, so I am pretty excited about that!! Okay okay..I know..it’s not important, but sometimes it’s the little things in life, right?

I’ve also recently taken up the position of being the young adults worship leader for my church Red Rocks. We have a young adults (age 20-30) meeting twice a month, and I am soooo excited to get back involved in music after nearly a year. It’s one of my big passions in life and this is such a fun and great opportunity for me. (I know…as if I need to commit myself to anything else right now..) So, I got a band together of great, passionate, talented musicians and am so excited to see what comes of this.

Can I also mention how absolutely freeeeeezing it has been in Colorado lately??! My goodness! I’m pretty sure the low overnight was -17F! Wow. I was practically to work today before my car even started to feel warm. Even my rearview mirror inside my car had ice on it! I wasn’t aware that I had moved to Alaska. This weekend is supposed to warm up to 40 degrees, and while that is still not very warm, it’s better than the negative temperatures we have been living in for the past few days.

Oh Christmas! How I love thee!
Things I plan on doing over the break:
#1: Rest.
#2: Bake Christmas goodies with my cousin and sis-in-law, attend at least one ugly Christmas sweater party (I better head to Goodwill because I do NOT have an ugly Christmas sweater , Denver zoo lights, Blossom of Lights at the Denver Botanic Gardens, go skiing, go ice skating, get a facial and pedicure with my best friend, go Christmas caroling at local nursing homes with my band and a group of friends, see A Christmas Carol at the Buell Theatre, and much much more!!
I’ve already gone to the Parade of Lights in downtown Denver which is one of my most favourite traditions and ways to kick off the Christmas season as well as built a mini-gingerbread house village. It’s adorable!
And…I might just find myself in a warmer place like Vegas in January before heading back to school.

Let me tell you what the upcoming (and LAST) semester of schol looks like for me. When I return, half of the class will do what is called Senior Practicum and half will do Community Health. At mid-semester, we will switch. Senior Practicum is what I am starting out with. What happens is you only attend class 3 times in those 8 weeks. Sounds fabulous, right? Well, I have something like well over 100 hours of clinical to do, instead. So, I’ll get paired up with one nurse preceptor at a hospital that I’ve bid for and work that nurse’s schedule with her. I may be working nights, weekends, and anything in between. I am hoping to get placed at the hospital, here in Denver, that I want to work at after graduation. I’ve talked about how difficult the job situation is in previous blogs, so getting an extra foot in the door by working there for school would be an awesome help for networking and finding a job. Cross your fingers for me!!

Well…back to work. I’ll be filling out my application today to go on the Mexico Alternative Spring Break trip to Nueva Rosita again this year. I’m hoping to return as a leader. It’s an awesome experience I hope to be a part of again.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!
See you when I return from my glorious 6 weeks off

November 2009

“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” ~ Charles Dickens

The holidays are upon us, and I’m not going to pretend that school is kind of preventing my excitement at the moment. Next week is Thanksgiving, and I’m excited to be going to Texas again to see a lot of family I don’t get to see but once a year, but not excited that I’ll be studying for 2 exams and writing at least one 5 page paper, if not two. Sense my irritation?

Clinicals have been going well. We had to make up our snow day by working an extra long shift, but it really wasn’t too big of a deal. I had the opportunity to work one day in the ER and one day in the ICU. So far in nursing school, I haven’t had any opportunities to start any IV’s, believe it or not, because of the floors that we work on for clinicals. If you think about it, you get IV’s placed before you hit the med/surg unit because you’ve either gotten it before surgery or if you came through the ER, you got it placed there. But, while in the ER, I took every opportunity I could with the hope of not making the patients my pincushions. I successfully placed 6 of the 7 IV’s I did on the first poke!! I was very happy about this. To be honest, I was slightly worried that I would graduate nursing school without having practiced this skill, which is one that all my family and friends complain about being stuck multiple times. I still can’t convince any of them to let me practice on them. Haha.

I’m not an ER nurse. I really enjoy my time in the ER; it’s very different – in and out – like a drive-thru of healthcare. I’m much more of a relational person, and part of the reason I really love nursing and the bedside care of it is because I love developing relationships with my patients and their families. Working a day in the ICU – I could see myself possibly doing that in the pediatric setting. I liked that the nurses have only two patients at a time (whereas on the med/surg floor I’ve seen them take on as many as six or seven), and you can really tend to your patient’s every need when you aren’t spreading your time amongst so many. Of course, it is absolutely necessary to only have two or so patients at a time in the ICU because the care they require is much more intense. One of the patients I had in the ICU was on a mechanical ventilator when I walked in that morning, and by the time I left, he had been extubated (the ventilator was removed), and he was beginning to talk and wake up more often. He still had a ways to go to being discharged from the hospital, but it was encouraging to see the progressive healing that had taken place.

I went with another nurse in the ICU to a “mock core” which is where the hospital calls a “code blue” which indicates that someone’s heart or breathing has stopped and they need resuscitation. This “mock” one was performed on a dummy so that the staff can practice what to do when a real person flat lines. Well, not five minutes after we got back from that, her patient actually did code and his wife came out screaming as his heart monitor was displaying a flat line. They were able to revive him by placing an external pacemaker, but it was a very scary situation.

I feel like I am learning a lot this year in clinicals about the kind of nurse I want to be. I saw a similar situation this week in two different places with two different responses by two different nurses. One patient in the ICU who tried to commit suicide. The nurse said that she is not a psych nurse and is not responsible for tending to that part of the patient’s care. She said she was there to do the “medical” care and would stick to the point of what needed to be done. Did I make it sound like she was lacking some compassion? – because that’s the point I was intending to make. The second situation was in the ER with a patient who also tried to commit suicide and ended up completely mutilating his arm in the process. The nurses and plastic surgeons who were basically putting his arm back together spoke gently and lovingly to him, made sure he was comfortable and in as little pain as possible, and did not judge him but, rather, instead explained that he must have been in an absolutely horrible place in life to come to this point where he felt his only way out was to die. They said they didn’t know his situation, but understood that he was human who clearly needed love and compassion.

Sometimes I think when you see situations like people attempting suicide or overdosing on drugs, you can become numb to it or so discouraged that the only coping mechanism for yourself is to just not tend to that part of the patient’s care. Where is the holistic care they teach us about? A person is not just a diagnosis or an injury. A person is a human with basic needs, with desires, with discouragement, with hopes, with families, with friends, with a life outside of this hospital room that they can’t wait to get back to. A patient is a whole person who needs tender, loving care. I hope to never become hardened to situations such as these that I see nurses becoming hardened to. People will do things to themselves that I will never understand, but while they are in my care, they deserve the same amount of love and attention as the next person regardless of their situation. I’m not here to judge. I’m here to care.

I feel like I’m hanging on this semester by the skin of my teeth. Some junior nursing students were asking me the other day if it ever gets easier. I can’t say that it is easier. I think you just learn to adapt to the crazy and constantly busy schedule that nursing school gives you. But, it probably actually gets a little harder because with graduation just around the corner…senioritis really kicks in. The main symptoms of senioritis consist of anticipation, excitement, some apathy, and definite procrastination. You start feeling like free labor around the hospital and can’t wait until you start getting paid to do all of this work. Of course, have no fear – we are all super Type A personalities where crossing things off of a to-do list releases just as many endorphins as a piece of chocolate, so we will still put great effort into what we do, but getting the motivation to do so has to come from a deeper place than a brand new nursing student.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! It’s such a special time of year. Enjoy it as much as possible.

Heather and friend sledding in Colorado

November 2009

“It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing.”
– Mother Theresa

Again I find myself starting this blog with this phrase…how time has flown! It’s already the end of October and as I start really looking at plans for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas break, I realize how much time I do not have.  It’s scary.

The job situation continues escalating our anxiety levels as we work in the simulation lab with Regis grads from just last May! Many of the nursing students who graduated in the class above us have not found jobs yet. A constant thought on the mind….what can I do to make myself more marketable? Who do I need to get connections with? What networking opportunities can I seek out? Etc etc. Colorado is just not where the nursing jobs are at right now. I’m not giving up. I’m going to do my best to find a job here, but that might not be where I am meant to start out. I do have peace that the plan for my life is laid out ahead of me, and I truly don’t need to worry about it. It will fall into place even if that’s in a place I would have never chosen for myself or in my wildest dreams. All things work together for good…

As I started my clinical rotation for Adult II at Sky Ridge, I had a few thoughts I would like to share.

Thought #1:

There is something seriously wrong with this profession when it is the “norm” that nurses  do not expect to eat OR use the restroom.  You think I’m kidding? Little might you know about what is happening outside of your room at the hospital. Nurses are amazing! A lunch break consists of drinking some water from a water bottle they filled up at home and maybe, just maybe, grabbing a little packet of crackers out of the nutrition room on the floor and probably eating those on the way to chart your last assessment. When they are rushing from one room to the next to ensure that their patients are getting everything they need, they forget they even have to go to the bathroom and don’t feel they have the time if they do!

Now, I ask you, how safe is this? I mean, seriously?! How can a human function at their highest capacity when they have no fuel? Nurses are selfless, but something has got to change in this scenario.  So, please, next time you feel your nurse is not meeting your every demand or maybe forgot something minor, remember to thank him/her for what they have done. We know you are not feeling well. We want you to get better and out of that place every bit as much as you do, but they are truly doing their best…even forgetting about their OWN basic life needs in order to meet yours.

Thought #2:

I was struck by the gratitude of my patient last week when I did things that were so minor to me, but meant to much to him. Let me give you some specifics. (By the way, I in no way mean to brag about myself in this; I’m strictly making a point based on personal experience. I also do preface this that by being a nursing student with only ONE patient on my first day, that patient is able to receive all of my TLC and extra special attention). Carrying on, first thing in the morning when I go in to meet my patient, I want to ensure that his room is picked up. Granted, housekeeping is not my job, but my job may include rushing into the room in an event of an emergency and needing access to the patient without tripping over socks, extra wires/cords, tissues all over the place, etc. So, I tidy things up as I have my first conversation with him. He was amazed at what I was doing and I believe he said, “Wow, you sure are a firecracker, aren’t you?” haha.  We had a great relationship right off the bat. He was able to see that I cared about him, wanted him to have a peaceful room without clutter, and did this for him (even if the back motives were to ensure safety for the healthcare team). Later in the morning, I noticed him picking at his lips. I asked him if his lips were dry and whether he had brought some chap-stick. He had lost it, and because we weren’t allowing him to eat or drink anything until after his procedure later that day, his mouth and lips were becoming very dry. Well, we have chap-stick in the supply room on the floor, so I took two minutes to go down the hall and bring some back. He was incredibly grateful. Really, it was no trouble at all. I was happy to do that rather than cleaning up bloody lips later. It’s the small things in life, isn’t it? A clean room. Some chap-stick. I hope I never forget to make sure my patients’ basic needs are met. It establishes good rapport, but it demonstrates that I really do care about them and their well-being. I understand that being in the hospital is no one’s idea of a vacation and can be quite miserable when you’re feeling so poorly, so I want to always take it upon myself to ensure that their stay with me is the best that it can be.

My first Adult II exam is on Tuesday. Besides taking some time for a social life and dressing like Barbie for my friend’s Halloween party, studying is what is on the agenda for the weekend. Ah. Such is the life of a nursing student…

Oh, and by the way, Colorado just got our first major snow storm! Class and clinicals got canceled, and some schools were closed for 3 days! Thinking it’s gonna be an interesting winter around here.

October 2009

“Listen!  the wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!”
~Humbert Wolfe

I’ve just returned from a fabulous girls’ getaway trip to Boston over our fall break from school, and as I sit down to write this next blog, I’m in the company of my lovely cousin who has always been more like a sister to me, and her sleeping, 3 and a half month old son making those adorable coo’ing sounds babies make when they sleep. There’s so much beauty about babies. It makes one slow down and stop and think about life. It’s such a blessing having the type of relationship where I can come over after a day at school, chat, watch a little TV, bust out my computer, work on homework and just be in each other’s company with no expectations, just a peaceful time of togetherness.

“When the bold branches
Bid farewell to rainbow leaves -
Welcome wool sweaters.”
~B. Cybrill

Salem, Massachusetts

There’s something about the cool, gray weather of fall that gets me giddy inside and ready for the holidays. Putting on fuzzy socks and cozy sweaters. Snuggling under a blanket by the fire place sipping hot cocoa with my best friend. Summertime is the time to go go go, but the cold weather forces me to slow down. It’s a nice change; a nice opportunity to relax, and I absolutely LOVE to bake during this time of the year. I made four loaves of pumpkin bread yesterday in my “fall” mood! Yummy! I need to go buy a pumpkin to carve and make roasted seeds too!

The trip to Boston was absolutely fantastic! We had so much fun just being dorky girls together, taking silly pictures, and tearing up the town seeing every important site and then some! I love that I am part of a family that can do that – that we even have the means to take such trips makes me feel so blessed.

Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.
~William Cullen Bryant

Coming back to school is always a bit of a shock. I’m not sure why. I guess it’s a sort of defense mechanism to forget while I’m on a break just how consuming school can be. We started our Med/Surg II class and will start clinicals next week. Already we have a group project due on Monday and a quiz online due on Friday. FYI- it’s Wednesday! One of my friends said that her life is over now that Med/Surg II started! Haha…maybe that’s dramatic, but it is kind of true. This class is going to take up a lot more time than some of our other classes and the social life really does take a backseat.

The prospect of finding a job this next year is a thought always hanging in the air. The situation in Colorado seems bleak, so I’ve decided to expand my horizons. Texas seems to be calling to me. There are plenty of Children’s Hospitals down there (which is an option of a place I’d love to work), and I have a lot of family in Texas. Word travels fast and my aunts who live in Texas and went to Boston with were all jumping to tell me that I am welcome to stay with them, that they’d love to introduce me to some handsome firemen they know, that they’ll look for any connections of any friends who are nurses, etc, etc. It seems much more hopeful and positive than the circumstances in Denver, but I’m keeping all of those doors wide open, and looking for the Lord to provide the perfect opportunity be it in Denver or Texas.

This is such a rarity. I’m sitting here with a completely blank mind. I can’t think of anything interesting to say. I’m going to take this as a good thing – my mind is at ease. I know I have a million tasks to accomplish in a very short amount of time, but for now, I am going to just enjoy this moment here with my family, with a sweet baby boy who is going to grow up too fast. So, I think it’s time to put down the homework and enjoy these precious moments while they last.

Thy fishes breathe but where thy waters roll;
Thy birds fly but within thy airy sea;
My soul breathes only in thy infinite soul;
I breathe, I think, I love, I live but Thee.
Oh, breathe, oh, sink – oh love, live into me.
~George MacDonald

October 2009

“A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses”
~Chinese Proverb

Where to begin…where to begin…

I finished my psych rotation at a nursing home this past week. I mentioned the reasons why we switched out of the locked down facility in my last blog. It was not ideal, but there is always something to be gained from spending time with people who have lived a lot of life. I talked with an adorable lady in her 90’s who had been diagnosed with dementia. She was a fascinating lady, and I’m pretty sure I heard the only 3 stories she remembers from her life at least 15 times. But, we learned how to listen to each repeated story with as much interest and enthusiasm as the first time she told it. We played BINGO a few times together, and even though she forgot that we had just one twice before, her enthusiasm of winning this particular time, was, for her, as if it was the first time she’d won. Her wrinkled, age-spotted, and arthritis-filled hands once curled women’s hair and trimmed men’s in the beauty shop she owned for 50 years; and neighbours would drive down the street and stop in front of her house to look at her 100 rose bushes. She still adores her beloved husband whom she married when she was still in high school but passed away from causes she can’t recall at this point. She loves telling you of her trips to Hawaii, but her husband would never allow her to wear an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny bikini. She loves to repeat the phrase, “I’ve had a wonderful life. I don’t have a thing to complain about.” What joy is shared in that kind of optimism!

I also had the opportunity to follow a clinical nurse specialist at Lutheran hospital who does psychiatric consults on admitted patients. The doctors or nurses have a concern and they call him to come and see what should be done – whether that be put them on meds, change their dose for a current mental illness, put them on a mental health hold, or admit them to West Pines to get therapy and stabilized again. It was absolutely a great day! I have such a heart for people that hearing some of their stories – molested by family as a child…in a current abusive relationship…tried to commit suicide…etc – is always extremely hard for me to handle after I leave the situation and conversation. I asked Mike how he does that day in and day out, and how he doesn’t allow it to affect him, and it’s all about compartmentalizing. I hope to always feel with my patients, and I never want to become the hardened, bitter nurse. But somewhere along the line, I’ll learn how to balance this act and not find myself crying as often over these wounded people I encounter. My heart is absolutely ravaged over them.

I had my first shadowing opportunity in the ER a couple weeks ago, as well, and it was a very interesting experience. I saw a man come in who about jumped out of the bed after they shocked his heart in to a normal rhythm. It had decided to engage in what we call “V tach” – which is a ridiculously fast heart rate that is incompatible with life if allowed to stay that way. A woman fell down some stairs at work and came in with her foot twisted 80% of the way around backwards; they had to pop it back the right way – but only after lots and lots of pain meds. I saw a woman whose CSF was not properly draining from her body, so they had to drill a hole in her head and put a shunt in. I followed a code blue (the code that someone’s heart has just stopped), watched a great team of health professionals work meds and CPR on this man, until his devastated family allowed them to stop and let him pass. I went to the roof and got to sit in the Flight for Life helicopter and talk to a few of the nurses who fly in it.

School is keeping me busy as ever. There seems to always be a test or a paper or some sort of project to work on, but it IS manageable. That is something I really hope to impress on those who follow behind me. In fact, we are starting a mentorship program at school where the senior nursing students are available to answer calls, texts, and emails from panicked juniors who are at the beginning of the Eisenhower tunnel and don’t think the light at the end exists. We have been there. We have felt those moments of intense anxiety. We have lashed out at those closest to us. And, we assure you, you will make it through. I hope to really be able to help out a junior nursing student and use my experience to benefit them. Gosh, I’m still talking to nursing students who already graduated to calm me in my moments of panic! It’s not over for me yet!

Today we had a health career fair at school. It was a bit discouraging, to be honest with you. I think the economy is looking up, at this point, but it’s a cut throat, dog-eat-dog world out there for us to find a job this upcoming year. “But there’s a huge nursing shortage!” you say. Yes, you are right, BUT the hospitals can’t afford to hire on more nurses. It’s a vicious cycle, really, that I could go on and on about. I’m not sure what my future holds, or whether I’ll even be staying in Colorado, but with the right connections, I’m hoping to land my dream job! Hey, you have to stay positive!

It’s almost fall break. I leave next Thursday for Boston with my mom, my sister-in-law, and my aunts for a fun girls getaway! I can’t wait! Then, back to school to start my med-surg (aka Adult II) class and rotation. I will be working at Sky Ridge Medical Center, which, from what I hear, is like a 5 star hotel. It was my first choice, and I’m very excited to start.

Went with a bunch of friends to the Rockies game where they had fan appreciation fireworks!! So fun!

September 2009

Did I seriously just have my midterm review for my Mental Health clinical? Wow time flies so fast it’s frightening. You press snooze on your alarm clock once and before you know it, a week is gone!

It has taken me probably all the way up until now to really get back into the swing of things, but ready or not, the car has shifted into high gear and we’re rolling! Such is life that assignments, exams, papers, etc, all seem to pile on within moments of each other. I’m not sure my perfection at procrastination is wholly to blame, either. Those darn conflicting syllabi and clinical schedules getcha every time. So, as I write this blog, I am also writing a nursing care plan, a 10-minute therapeutic conversation and analysis of one of my mental health patients, a 15-page paper on separation anxiety disorder in children, AND studying for my first Mental Health exam. (and of course I have to check my Facebook every now and again too!) The art of multi-tasking has taken on the challenge of painting a masterpiece.

This rotation in a locked down pysch ward was daunting to say the absolute least! I came home the first day, threw on my tennis shoes, blasted my iPod in my ears, and went running. It was intense. It was too much to handle. It got better.

Mental Health is not exactly my cup of tea, but that is not to say I haven’t gotten some profound insights out of it. Until you are talking with people with these types of disorders, it’s hard to understand who and why they are. Just like high blood pressure and cancer, mental illness is another chronic disease, but, unfortunately, society doesn’t see it that way. Society sees these people as outcasts, as parasites, as almost non-human. The purpose of the facilities like the one I am working in is to stabilize the patients, to get them consistently taking medications that decrease symptoms of their disease, and therefore, benefit not only themselves, but also people around them whether strangers or worn-out caretakers.

I did have to take a moment to step away from the milieu room one day as I looked around the room at the scene I was in the middle of. It was like something out of a movie. I’ll just let you use your imagination on this one.

I had the opportunity to watch electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and I guess you could call that modern day shock therapy. It was fascinating. Leads are placed to read the heart and the brain, IV meds are given to paralyze all of the patient’s muscles except one leg, and a seizure is induced which can be seen in the one leg. It is not as invasive or violent as one might imagine, and the patient is not aware of the seizure, but it still creeps me out and 4 days later I still can’t express exactly how I feel about it. It does seem to be a miracle procedure for many patients who don’t respond to medications, but I wonder…

Nursing is all about flexibility. We found out without much notice that in the middle of this particular clinical rotation, we would have to switch over to a whole different facility – a nursing home to be exact. What?! The facility I have been in is switching computer systems and doesn’t feel that they can handle having students at the same time. We were all very disappointed, but we have no choice but to make the best of it. Rather than doing typical patient care in the nursing homes, we will seek out those patients that have mental health disorders such as Alzheimer’s, depression, and dementia and work with them in similar ways we have been working with the other patients. I’m even going to go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting!

Another thing I must tell you: I am so blessed that I am able to keep my job with Kaiser part time through this semester. You can imagine that all my travels this summer drained my bank account, and not only do I need the money, but I am able to still get experience working at the clinic. I love the team I work with; they are so good to me.

Better get back to that paper and studying for that exam….

This is me after my first suture removal. Those magnifying goggles were awesome and I couldn’t help but get a picture!

Fall is on its way! You can see the little patches of yellow happening in the mountains already! This was the entrance to the campsite I went to over Labor Day. It was so nice to just get away for a weekend with great friends.

And they even let me use the chainsaw to get our firewood!! I promise that it really is possible to maintain even a small social life outside of school…or at least have breaks now and again. I can’t stress how important that is to recharge and keep yourself balanced.

September 2009

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.”
John Lubbock

“In summer, the song sings itself.”
William Carlos Williams

Wow! What an incredible summer I had! I don’t even know where to begin. So much happened, but I’ll keep it brief. Hold on to your hats because here we go…

My summer consisted of:

• 15 days spent in Italy, Switzerland, and France with one other girl friend.
• A whirlwind road trip to Houston, Texas with my best friend Christen for Independence Day.
• A week long trip to Tulum, Mexico with my mom’s family of 40 people!
• Two of my best friends got married.
• A long weekend in Vegas for one of those weddings.
• My brother got engaged to a wonderful girl.
• My cousin who is like a sister to me had her first child.
• I finally was able to really get back into dancing – salsa and country swing.
• Working at Kaiser Permanente alongside the nursing staff.
• My first camping trip ever!

….and so many great memories wrapped around and between all of these events.

Back to school now, and while it is tough to give up such a fabulous summer, this is the home stretch! Can I get a “woohoo!!”? I never thought this year would come when I would go to my last, first day of school.

Currently I am taking Mental Health which also has a clinical schedule attached to it. Also, we are taking a Leadership in Nursing course because as baccalaureate prepared nurses, we will be put into leadership positions before we know it. The other class I am taking is an Emergency course where I will have the opportunity to practice simulations of emergency situations on our wonderful Sim Men as well as shadow in the emergency department for a couple of Saturdays. I can’t wait! My friends outside of nursing school think I’m crazy for getting excited over seeing traumas and dealing with potentially “gross” injuries, but it gets my adrenaline rushing.

Our schedule changes every 8 weeks, as usual, and after fall break, (when I get back from a girls’ weekend getaway trip to Boston!!!) I will start my Adult II class for the remainder of the semester.

I’m excited. I’m nervous. I’m anxious. I’m anticipating. I’m not sure I’m all there yet, but ready or not, here we go!

Enjoy a few pictures of my summertime adventures…
Ciao!

“There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good.” ~ Edwin Denby

“He is blessed in love alone, who loves for years and loves but one.”~ Sir A. Hunt

“There is nothing half so sweet in life as love’s young dream.”~Thomas Moore

“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.” ~Author Unknown

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” ~Mark Twain

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” ~ St. Augustine

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” ~ Benjamin Disraeli“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” ~ Susan Sontag"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one." ~ C.S. Lewis

April 2009

“When you’re a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours.”
~Author Unknown

Sadly, this will be my last blog of this school year. Our final day of school is April 28, and I am astonished at how quickly that day is approaching. The seniors are so anxious to graduate and find jobs, and we juniors are anxious to become senior nursing students. The first day of Foundations in Nursing seems so far away: the class where we learned all the basics from how to put on a pair of sterile gloves to catheterizing to giving injections. Things that I was so nervous to do for the first time are now starting to feel not so scary.

So little time left yet so much to do. Isn’t that the way it always is? Yesterday, the whole team who went to Mexico had the opportunity to present our trip to the community. I believe it was a great success. It was so fun to be able to continue sharing our stories, experiences, and pictures with those who weren’t able to be there with us. That trip will stay with me forever. I hope I am giving the chance to go again next year!

This is what happens when parents come to visit you on campus. Pictures of everything!

Here I am with my fellow classmates presenting on Mexico.

I finished my clinical rotation last week. My final two days were spent outside of the hospital setting and in two very interesting places. One place was at the Medical Day Treatment Program hosted by Children’s Hospital where middle school and high school students who have chronic illnesses are able to go to school at Children’s itself. They are affiliated with Aurora Public Schools, so they hire teachers from that system. The kids who go there are struggling, for one reason or another, to go to school and manage their illness at the same time. So, by going to the MDT, they are able to have multiple nurses, a nurse practitioner, contact with their physicians, get treatments/medications, get psychological counseling, support from other kids going through similar struggles, and schooling all at the same time. Currently, they have around 20 kids in the program. I never knew something like that existed, and it was a fun time to assist them for a day.

The second place I went to finish my clinical hours was called Easter Seals Discovery Club. This is hosted at a few different places around town, and I was in Boulder at a church. This is also for kids with a chronic disease such as cerebral palsy, autism, Down’s Syndrome, etc where their parents can drop them off for a day in order to have a break to do errands or whatever they need to do. It goes on every Saturday, and volunteers, such as us Regis students, go and do crafts, play games, and take care of these kids for the day. The kids are so special and it makes you so grateful to be healthy. The parents of these children are so strong. God bless them. My buddy for the day was a sweet girl with cerebral palsy. She was nonverbal, which served to be a bit of a challenge, but she had such spunk. She was sixteen and had her own power wheelchair and loved to just go up and down the hallways and all around the sidewalk outside. She always made sure I was walking beside her, though, and when I went to take my lunch break and had a friend watch her, there is nothing like that laughter and smile she had on her face when she saw me walk back in to the room to join her again. It melted my heart that after only a few hours, she was genuinely excited that I came back to see her.

I’ll take a little time to update you on my summer plans as well, since I won’t be on here again until next year. In the middle of May I will be leaving for Europe where I will travel to Switzerland and Italy for 2 weeks. When I get home, one of my best friends will be getting married here in Colorado, and I’ll also start my summer job at Kaiser Permanente for the 4th summer. I work in the Pediatrics department there in an outpatient clinic and look forward to working alongside the nurses again. I love that job. I have a family reunion in July that just so happens to be in Cancun, Mexico! That will be for a week. In August, my other best friend is getting married in Vegas and her family is paying for all of us in her bridal party to join them. What fun! Lots of traveling, but if you don’t know that by now, it runs thick in my blood. I can’t stay still for very long before my hands find themselves searching the internet for flights to somewhere else.

There are so many things for me to look forward to this year…..

Meet my lovely parents! They are the reason I am able to go to as wonderful a school as Regis, and I am eternally grateful.

My friend Jessi and I hanging out. It’s so important to maintain friendships outside of nursing school and keep yourself balanced. It doesn’t seem possible at first, but it does get easier, I promise!

My Uncle and new Aunt were married two weeks ago. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend due to my clinical schedule, but I will see them this summer in Mexico! And I wish them all the love and happiness in the world.

April 2009

This clinical rotation has been absolutely glorious!!

I am loving Pediatrics so much. It feels so good to have found my niche and to know that what my heart has always told me I want to do is, in fact, truly what I want to do. I adore my patients, and I look forward to going to work. Getting up at 4:30 in the morning is a little tough to overcome, but the 12 hour shift flies by and before I know it, this rotation is coming to a close. I am sad to leave it behind. I love that hospital and would love to be able to do my senior practicum there next year and work there after I graduate. High hopes? Perhaps. But, I’ve always been told to go for my dreams. The doors are open, and if I really want something – go after it with all my heart.

I was placed on a floor/unit that I was not originally very excited about. Things between Regis and Childrens Hospital got a little mixed up and I ended up on a floor I didn’t think I would be interested in. But, I believe there is a plan and purpose for everything, and I ended up LOVING it! What an awesome experience! I got to see so much more than I expected, learn a lot, and hear a lot of heart-wrenching stories of how the children ended up on that floor. It definitely can take an emotional toll on you, and we have talked a few times about how to deal with that. It is important to have a release. It is good to establish a bond and rapport with your patient and their family, but it is so necessary to be able to take care of yourself emotionally with that.

It has been great having only two days of school. I go on Mondays and Tuesdays and then I have Wednesday/Thursdays/Fridays off before going to clinicals on Saturdays and Sundays. Not everyone has clinicals on weekends. It’s just the way it ended up for some of us. I don’t mind it as much as I thought I might.

For those of you who live in Colorado…what is with the weather lately??!! It has been crazy. One day Regis actually closed the campus due to the inclement weather. Now that’s a shocker! That’s the first time that has happened since I’ve been there. I look out my window today because suddenly I hear thunder pounding and tapping on the windows. Apparently it was thunder snow which was like hail. Ten minutes later the ground is covered and you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face because it’s a blizzard, white out. Crazy stuff. I think I’ll stay in the comfort of my own home today and avoid driving in this mess.

Only four more weeks of school left. I can hardly believe it. It has absolutely flown by. I know I keep saying that, but it is only because it just keeps amazing me. This has been a fabulous year. It’s been so wonderful to really enjoy what I am doing and to get the confirmation that, yes, this is what I am meant to do.

Out celebrating my birthday with a few friends this week. We went to a great Italian restaurant in Downtown Denver.

If nurses only could have this many arms and legs! This is actually a poster they had at the nursing school in Mexico showing all the different things nurses do.

March 2009

Where do I begin this blog?

I am home from the trip to Mexico. I’m sure you have been hearing the news about all of the violence that has been happening at the borders, and some of you may have worried about us driving there. I can honestly say that I never once felt unsafe. Regis did an EXCELLENT job at preparing for the trip and ensuring our safety. We did not go near the parts that are being exhibited on the news.

The trip…how do I describe it? Indescribable. Awesome. Life changing. I wish there were stronger words.

We are working on the community center which is the building in the background of this picture. Lots of work and lots of heat, but we had a blast!

We lived in a little community of around 60 families in a rural area. They did not speak one word of English. We helped build a community center for them, played with the children all day/every day, ate mounds and mounds of wonderful food including frijoles, homemade tortillas, chile rellenos, and much much more! They welcomed us with completely open arms giving us beds in their homes, food from their tables, love from the bottom of their hearts, and immediately made us feel as a part of their family. We called them “Mama” and “Papa” and in English referred to them as “my mom and my dad” and “my brothers and my sisters.” I found a new sense of community in Rancho Nuevo. The people live such simple lives, and they are satisfied. They gave so much of themselves to us. I think they touched me in a much deeper and more profound way than they’ll ever know. I went on this trip to serve them, and came home as one who was served.

Here I am in my kitchen in Mexico trying to roll out and make tortillas. They make it look so easy, but it is much harder than you think! They sure tasted good.

This is me with two of my buddies, Damien and Aldo. I loved playing and bonding with the children. We taught them some English (colours, numbers, days of the week, and anything else they asked), and they helped us with our Spanish. I miss them dearly.

Here I am with another child we played with during the week. All the little girls got their nails painted on our last night there before Mass and the fiesta.

We had the opportunity to go into the nearby city, Nueva Rosita, a few times and tour the general/public hospital as well as a private hospital. The difference was remarkable. The public hospital was crowded, loud, and just had a dirty feel to it. The best way to compare it to anything is if you have ever traveled to Mexico – it felt and looked like a Mexican airport. The private hospital was much more like what we are used to here in the States. Everywhere we went, we were treated like VIP’s. We were invited by the Mayor to visit some government offices and we met the director of a university who also wanted us to stop by. The welcoming hearts were not solely concentrated in our little ejido.

Another place we toured was the Escuela de Enfermeria (nursing school), and wow! This place was intense. I’ll just share a few of the rules with you: The girls can not wear makeup and must have their hair pulled up and back in a bun. They can only wear what is part of their uniform. No jewelry. The class starts promptly at a specific time and the door shuts. If you are late, you do not go to school that day. If any part of your uniform appears dirty, you are sent home. They have 24 hour cameras in each classroom to check the behaviour of the students. If your cell phone rings, you are kicked out of school. If you talk out of turn, you are sent home. If you break any 2 or 3 of these rules at all, you run a big risk of being kicked out of nursing school completely. Wow. I’m not sure any of us would make it. They start off with around 160 students and after 6 semesters, they only graduate around 60. They are quite serious.

These are two nurses who work in the public hospital. The stripes on their caps indicate rank. To us, it seems they are dressed very traditionally and a bit old-fashioned

This is the operating room simulation room at the nursing school. Most everything in this room is not actually real. It is all made of paper, foil, etc. We are so fortunate at Regis to have the incredible facilities we do.

Another thing we were able to do for the community was put on a health fair for the kids and one for the adults. Apparently, we had the best turn out they had ever had before and we were able to educate and serve most of the community. Each day, the nursing students and physical therapy (PT) students were able to make various house calls depending on the need, as well.

We are getting things set up for the adult health and information fair. This included information on smoking and alcohol, dental care, blood pressure, blood glucose, height, weight, waste circumference, lungs/spirometry, etc.

We had a fabulous week. We drove the 22 hour drive home and arrived safely on Sunday morning. Classes started up again bright and early on Monday morning. There’s no dipping your toes in here. Jump right back in to life full steam ahead! It’s been a little difficult, I have to be honest. There wasn’t any time to process the events from the Mexico trip before we were expected to be in the nursing school scheme of things again. It messes with your mind a little, and, fortunately, I have my friends who went on the trip to support me and I, them. We all agree that a little debriefing time would have been nice.

I’m doing Pediatrics now as my main clinical. We just found out we don’t have to write up nursing care plans on these patients! If you are in nursing school, you will understand how there almost needs to be a party over this kind of news! This is not to say we don’t have mounds of other paperwork, but one less thing is always nice.

I went in for orientation at The Children’s Hospital the other day, and it is absolutely stunning! We are at their new campus at the old Fitzsimmon’s area, and I was shocked by how beautiful their facilities were. It was like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory turned into a hospital. So colourful. Everything was child-centered. Each room has it’s own flat screen TV with an X-box. They have little red wagons with its own IV pole attached to the back so that you can wheel your child around if need be. I can’t wait to start work next week!

Just a few short weeks and I’ll be able to call myself a senior nursing student. I can hardly believe it. The time absolutely flies.

There are so many pictures I wish I could share, but I’ve just included a few.

Dancing at the fiesta with two of my buddies. The women cooked all day for us. We had plenty of food, fun, music, and dancing to conclude our time there.