DONE!
Classes are over. Exams are over. Final marks are a Pass in Nursing Practice (pass/fail course), 86% in pharmacology, 92% in pathophysiology and 90% in Nursing theory. I now have 7 weeks (or 280 hours) of consolidation to do. Then I can write the provincial exam in September. I also have to write a Jurisprudence exam sometime between the end of consolidation and the exam in September.
It's been a long haul to this point. School full-time, two part-time jobs and being a single parent has been a challenge. It feels surreal that I am almost finished. The next 7 weeks will be interesting, because my consolidation will be full time but there won't be the number of assignments or the sheer volume of new information being thrown at me. The only problem with that is there will not be a lot of income during this time. I have some money saved up and I hope its enough. I'll pick up as many PSW shifts as I can, but I do not really want to do the next 49 days straight with no days off. I will if I have to. I'm just so tired now. I only had 4 days off last summer.
I dropped off another 'hug' at the Home where I work today. They have a program, where families of palliative clients are given a 'hug' from the home. It is a variation on a prayer shawl. This is the second one I've finished. I have been trying to work on something craft related 15 minutes a day, so I've been crocheting these shawls. It gives me a way to wind down a bit at the end of the day.
I am looking forward to consolidation. It will be a regular schedule (mornings or evening shifts) and I hope to get time in at the YMCA every day I have a shift, so I will get in better shape. I am on a new diabetic drug and for the first time in many,many, many years, I am actually losing weight!
My class is suffering separation anxiety. We all kind of hung around after the last exam - we went to a restaurant at lunchtime and some of us when back to the college to finish things up and also to haunt the D2L website for our exam mark. That is one of the biggest pluses of a small community college and a small class. Our marks are usually up within hours of a test/exam or at least on the next day at the latest. Our class is small - we started with 32 and are now down to 18. It feels so surreal and strange tonight to not be studying or working on an assignment or going to be early because I am going to have to be up at 0430 to get to clinical in the morning.
I am going to take the summer off of course work - I'll just study for provincials and in the fall I plan on taking either the second course in my Palliative care certification or start my Gerontology certification. The NP at the local Nursing Station is trying to convince me to go on and do the bridging (another 3 years full-time, up to 7 part-time) and get my BSCN and go for RN. I don't know yet if I want to. The pay is much better, but in long term care where I want to work, the RNs often don't get a lot of time with the clients - they're more management and I like working with the people. I am not going to decide on this until Christmas at the very earliest.
It's been a long haul to this point. School full-time, two part-time jobs and being a single parent has been a challenge. It feels surreal that I am almost finished. The next 7 weeks will be interesting, because my consolidation will be full time but there won't be the number of assignments or the sheer volume of new information being thrown at me. The only problem with that is there will not be a lot of income during this time. I have some money saved up and I hope its enough. I'll pick up as many PSW shifts as I can, but I do not really want to do the next 49 days straight with no days off. I will if I have to. I'm just so tired now. I only had 4 days off last summer.
I dropped off another 'hug' at the Home where I work today. They have a program, where families of palliative clients are given a 'hug' from the home. It is a variation on a prayer shawl. This is the second one I've finished. I have been trying to work on something craft related 15 minutes a day, so I've been crocheting these shawls. It gives me a way to wind down a bit at the end of the day.
I am looking forward to consolidation. It will be a regular schedule (mornings or evening shifts) and I hope to get time in at the YMCA every day I have a shift, so I will get in better shape. I am on a new diabetic drug and for the first time in many,many, many years, I am actually losing weight!
My class is suffering separation anxiety. We all kind of hung around after the last exam - we went to a restaurant at lunchtime and some of us when back to the college to finish things up and also to haunt the D2L website for our exam mark. That is one of the biggest pluses of a small community college and a small class. Our marks are usually up within hours of a test/exam or at least on the next day at the latest. Our class is small - we started with 32 and are now down to 18. It feels so surreal and strange tonight to not be studying or working on an assignment or going to be early because I am going to have to be up at 0430 to get to clinical in the morning.
I am going to take the summer off of course work - I'll just study for provincials and in the fall I plan on taking either the second course in my Palliative care certification or start my Gerontology certification. The NP at the local Nursing Station is trying to convince me to go on and do the bridging (another 3 years full-time, up to 7 part-time) and get my BSCN and go for RN. I don't know yet if I want to. The pay is much better, but in long term care where I want to work, the RNs often don't get a lot of time with the clients - they're more management and I like working with the people. I am not going to decide on this until Christmas at the very earliest.