First Semester of Nursing School

My first semester in the nursing program was....absolutely EVIL!!

Looking back, I can hardly believe I survived. But I'm still so grateful and happy I got into the program. I worked my butt off to get into this program (so I can go work my butt off some more)! Luckily, I have some truly amazing people in my program...another relief! I'm happy I will be forced to spend every week with these people for the next 2.5 years. I have the best new nursing family.

I had my last 3 finals yesterday...and it feels SO good to finally be done! I never would have imagined I would be working that hard in school! 

I AM SO TIRED!

At least my grades are looking okay, so far. I know I've passed the 72% minimum requirement on everything, so I won't get kicked out yet.  I think I may have managed mostly As and a few Bs! I was so terrified I would be getting my first C ever...haha I know it sounds pathetic, but that's what got me into this program in the first place, so I would really like to at least keep those standards up

This is basically the sum of my semester:

an unnecessary amount of notecards 

weird tactics to keep me going through the NON-STOP studying 

study guides...

more study guides...

Pretty much endless study guides. I really had to get creative because there literally are not enough hours in the day (even if I didn't sleep) to do all the readings, assignments and studying that was given to me. So I really had to buckle down and figure out the most productive way I study. 

Turns out, in order to remember all this info, i must draw it out. Pictures, charts, and written notes. I can't just look through thousands of slides and expect it to stick (like some of the few, and extremely lucky, study geniuses in my cohort)

 I also had to change study locations all the time! I get too distracted in environments I am familiar with. Haha and it sucks because I'm usually sprawled out all over the place...oh well, taking time to switch up locations was always a good distraction for a break ;)

 I would study at my brother's rock climbing gym...and I would be itching to climb! Good thing I couldn't give in to that because I couldn't afford to pay for the membership after quitting work for my 17 unit load :/

Alone at random restaurants with WiFi 

 I would always try to use the iPad my mom gave me because it's SO much easier to lug around and seems so much easier to use for quick reference. But in the end every time I would always end up needing a real computer

One of my favorite place to study...in class! Haha, we have all our nursing lecture classes on Mondays. This semester is was from 8am-4pm with an hour break at lunch! That's a long time to listen to my professors (mostly) read of the slides. I really wasn't that impressed with our lecture professors this semester. We had one good one who did more than just read slides to use and explained things better. The other two kinda sucked, but one was extremely fair on her tests and assignments, so I can't really complain. 

The only place I think I learned something of any real quality was in clinical (mine was Friday 7am-5pm) and we would have to go in the day before for pre-clincial where we do research through the patient charts and build a care plan for the patient we chose for that week.

One of the most unexpected assignments I had...draw out the auscultation sites for the heart and lungs on the front and back of a T-shirt (that's where to listen, in a certain order, and what to listen for).

And then I had to do a presentation on the cranial nerves...haha it's days like these that I missed my Anatomy & Physiology class. 

On top of my nursing classes....I took two extra. I guess I've decided on having a second major in Spanish. If I take at least one Spanish class per semester, I should be able to graduate in both. Haha but can you tell where it goes on my lists of priorities? Thankfully, our Spanish program at school is really tiny and all the professors love nursing students! :D

Lots of days with crazy hair and almost always sweats... 

My favorite part of the semester was the clinical days. It was always an extremely long day. Half of the day was spent at the nursing home (apparently that's the easiest place to get started) and then the rest of the day we would come back to the lab to practice skills and assessments.

I got really lucky with finding a nice little group to study with and think like I do. Haha it's funny how all 40 of us really have become a family

I don't even remember how it started, but our cohort motto has become a quote from a YouTube video... "Ain't nobody got time for that!" And it's true! We don't!!!!

I found a shirt made from the video quote...it just gets funnier and funnier every time

If you think I'm weird, take a look ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaAd8OuwwPk

This was the clinical group I shared 3 days of the week with. And I had so much fun with them! My professor was really amazing. She was perfect for our first semester for warming up to the nursing field and program in general. Next semester we change groups and I will really miss getting to work with them!

I know it seems silly and stupid, but this is my life for the next 6 semesters (including summer).  I do get breaks every now and then. This 5 weeks we get for winter break will be amazing...and I'm going to do as much relaxing as possible! I wont get another break longer than 7 days until next winter!