Sorry for the delay guys. I didn't realize it had been so long since a post, but now I'm up to speed and will be posting regularly again. I guess be happy you're not a paid subscriber :o)
The end of last quarter was brutal and I had to put all my focus on school to ensure there would still be school the next term. I remember thinking halfway through the quarter, what's all this hype about med/surg being so hellish... and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Everything seemed to snowball and all my courses were very heavy at the end. We had group projects due, papers to write, ATI tests to pass and course finals to take. I know I've said it before, that I was going to be a nursing school dropout, but this was the first time I really felt it in the pit of my stomach.
Here's some highlights of what I've been doing while on hiatus...
Grand Rounds Group Project
We had two days of clinical this year and were placed on a transplant unit which means lots of tubes and meds and some really sick patients. For our final project we had to pick a patient on the floor and talk about our nursing care and plan for continuum of care in a 30 minute presentation. We choose Ms. M who was at day 76 in the hospital so there was a lot of nursing care to talk about. She was back and forth from the transplant unit to the ICU and three members of my clinical group had the privilege of taking care of her. We truly tackled this project as a group, not the divide and concur way. We were pulling 12-14 hour days working on the project. One day I got to school at 6:40 am and was there until 9:00 pm. It all paid off in the end though. We were one of the best groups to present, were flooded with compliments from students and faculty after our presentation and got a phenomenal grade. I couldn't have asked for another group of ladies to work with. Everyone dived right in and gave 100% til the end.
ATI Testing
ATI is a standardized test that we take for each class to better prepare us for taking the NCLEX, our nursing boards. Last quarter we had one, this quarter we had two. The tests are mandatory, you get two chances to take it and they and figured into your grade as an all or nothing 5%. The psych one was passed with flying colors, the med/surg not so much. I just missed the passing score by one or two questions which was super frustrating and meant I had to retake it after the class final. Now considering that 90 questions come out of our ATI book that is over 1200 pages for this topic, it is hardly a test you can study for. You take a few practice tests, cross your fingers and hope for the best.
This quarter there were quite a few that did not pass the first time, which was comforting. Not that I relish in others failures but there is power in numbers. I spent the entire weekend sitting on the couch studying for my final and practicing for this retake. I put psych on the back burner and sacrificed the A so I could ensure a B in med/surg. The roommates would go out for lunch and come back and I'd still be on the couch. They'd go out for the night and come back and I'd still be on the couch. They'd go to sleep and wake up and I'd still be on the couch. I literally only moved to go to the bathroom and eat. The boys did force me to take a mental break so they could practice making a sock bun with my hair, but other than that it was a strictly business weekend.
Monday August 27th was the big day. I took the final and got a B which was a huge accomplishment in my eyes. One down, one to go. I took the test and was fairly confident on some, but still not sure on a lot and hoped for the best. While the correct answer is unknown to the student, our teacher can see our progress on the computer she's logged onto which added extra anxiety to the situation. Every time she made a noise or clicked on something I felt like she knew I just clicked the wrong answer. I could feel the nerves trembling through my body when I answered the last question and the computer prompted me to click to see my results. I had to sit there for a minute and take a few breaths before I clicked my fate. Level 2: PASS! I can breath. I actually passed with a few questions to spare.
I waited outside with some of the other retakers for everyone to finish. Some passed, some didn't. Some needed to pass for the class, some didn't. We headed over to a nearby classmates apartment for a beer before we joined the rest of our cohort at the bar. When we walked in, everyone had already thrown back a few and there was a roar of cheers that our group had passed. A bit much, but much appreciated and a great way to end the quarter!
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