chills and spills
School - There's been a lot of school drama that I haven't written about here. It seems the department of education (and to some degree the corporation that is buying and going to run my school) are changing the degree requirements for graduation and licensure. Instead of having students graduate with a masters they'll graduate with a masters AND a bachelors of science.
This means that those of us (including me) that didn't have enough credits entering the program for a bachelors would have to take more classes and make up the credits. I only had an associates degree from nursing school, so this could potentially mean an extra year and a-half of school (more debt, more loans, more not working, etc.) The other scenario is that, as students so near to the end of the existing program already, may class may be grandfathered in.
Communication from administration to students has been almost non-existent, and there's already a lot of tension. They haven't even given us an idea of when we can expect more information about our fate. I'm not convinced that the school will actually advocate for us at this point. Our student rep is going to force the issue in the next meeting in two weeks. And yes, there's been talk about lawyers and potentially pursuing a lawsuit. Ugh.
Clinic - After slogging through the weather to the Bronx yesterday I got to the hospital only to find out that I managed to get a massive blood stain on the back of my pants. I had to ask a stranger if it was visible with my lab jacket on. (It was.) I had to ask the head nurse for help. She didn't have any scrub pants. I ended up wearing a comically long surgical gown all day and getting lots of curious looks. Gotta love the kindness of strangers!
Patient 1 wanted me to only focus on helping her quit smoking, but came in having an asthma attack, a case of really bad oral thrush, dangerously high blood pressure, and blood in her stool - so we negotiated a little. Her breathing was eased and she felt better by the time we were done.
Patient 2 is also a patient in the chronic pain clinic. She's in a wheelchair and lives on the third floor with no elevator. Every time she has an appointment it's a major operation. She was in so much pain she couldn't fill out her history, and cried and screamed the whole time I was lifting her leg to remove her sock. I tried to get her to talk as much as possible and that seemed to help take her mind off the pain a bit. She felt a lot better after treatment, slower pulse, not sweating, and more calm - but her urine catheter bag exploded all over the floor and it took about half an hour to get a new one. (Again wonderful head nurse came to the rescue :)
Patient 3 wasn't in too much acute stress (muscle cramping and some back pain), but feeling generally anxious and talking non-stop. I tried a different treatment with her and it put her in a quiet, still place. She was doing better afterward and had increased range of motion.
I finished about a third of my charts, so I'll do the rest early next week.
After splashing through many puddles, two trains, and a bus I came home and blissfully crashed for 10 hours. Yay!
Today - more rest. Tomorrow - Practice Management class. (Jeez, class on a Sunday :O)
This means that those of us (including me) that didn't have enough credits entering the program for a bachelors would have to take more classes and make up the credits. I only had an associates degree from nursing school, so this could potentially mean an extra year and a-half of school (more debt, more loans, more not working, etc.) The other scenario is that, as students so near to the end of the existing program already, may class may be grandfathered in.
Communication from administration to students has been almost non-existent, and there's already a lot of tension. They haven't even given us an idea of when we can expect more information about our fate. I'm not convinced that the school will actually advocate for us at this point. Our student rep is going to force the issue in the next meeting in two weeks. And yes, there's been talk about lawyers and potentially pursuing a lawsuit. Ugh.
Clinic - After slogging through the weather to the Bronx yesterday I got to the hospital only to find out that I managed to get a massive blood stain on the back of my pants. I had to ask a stranger if it was visible with my lab jacket on. (It was.) I had to ask the head nurse for help. She didn't have any scrub pants. I ended up wearing a comically long surgical gown all day and getting lots of curious looks. Gotta love the kindness of strangers!
Patient 1 wanted me to only focus on helping her quit smoking, but came in having an asthma attack, a case of really bad oral thrush, dangerously high blood pressure, and blood in her stool - so we negotiated a little. Her breathing was eased and she felt better by the time we were done.
Patient 2 is also a patient in the chronic pain clinic. She's in a wheelchair and lives on the third floor with no elevator. Every time she has an appointment it's a major operation. She was in so much pain she couldn't fill out her history, and cried and screamed the whole time I was lifting her leg to remove her sock. I tried to get her to talk as much as possible and that seemed to help take her mind off the pain a bit. She felt a lot better after treatment, slower pulse, not sweating, and more calm - but her urine catheter bag exploded all over the floor and it took about half an hour to get a new one. (Again wonderful head nurse came to the rescue :)
Patient 3 wasn't in too much acute stress (muscle cramping and some back pain), but feeling generally anxious and talking non-stop. I tried a different treatment with her and it put her in a quiet, still place. She was doing better afterward and had increased range of motion.
I finished about a third of my charts, so I'll do the rest early next week.
After splashing through many puddles, two trains, and a bus I came home and blissfully crashed for 10 hours. Yay!
Today - more rest. Tomorrow - Practice Management class. (Jeez, class on a Sunday :O)