QUARTER 2 /1ST CLINICAL ROTATION/ MY RANT and all the HYPE!

UPDATE: As you can see, this is the first chance that I have had to write. Quarter 2 started off with a bang…I would say the first 4 to 5 weeks was pretty busy but after that its been just craziness. I forgot to mention this in previous posts but our particular graduating class is the "Guinea Pig" class for the quarters to come. They changed the curriculum around and added in different classes etc..they are also incorporating a lot of the ATI stuff a lot more intensely which has most of us very frustrated. Not because of ATI but because the lack of organization involved. …and let me tell you, you WILL get frustrated with the lack of organization however, just do the best you can and stay focused on your goals and dreams and try to let it get to you.
 RANT BEGINS: I think, and this is my opinion of course, and anyone reading that takes offense well, thats why its called an opinion and thats why its on MY blog. (OK SMILE!)……Now I shall carry on….. I think that since their NCLEX pass rates are in the 80% range, they are scrambling to bump those scores up. Which I don't blame them, however, instead of cramming more of the same thing down our necks, it would be wise to start taking a hard look at what isn't working about their program and find ways to improve it. It is a very un-innovative approach to teaching and handling the situation. I personal think they would benefit from touring other programs that have high pass rates and checking out how they design their programs. For me the problem isn't doing the ATI stuff, its finding the time to actually absorb the information presented. The only was to truly learn is to work with the material and develop a relationship with it and understand it. This creates new neural pathways in our brains and we remember it much better then brute memorization. Nursing isn't about learning something long enough to test on it, its about knowing and growing with the material and retaining it! I have other opinions about how to make the program better, but I'll saw that for now. All in all I am not impressed with the fact that they are not following an evidence-based approach to learning. RANT OVER

CLINICAL LOTTERY!! Now lets talk about the lottery!!! The clinical lottery! Well this is the way we choose our clinical sites. I'm not sure how other schools do it but basically our names go in a hat and the professors draw our names out. As our names are called we go up to the board and write our name under the clinical site of our choice. For those that get last call outs … well…. good luck. LOL. JK, most all of us got the site we wanted, and usually there is someone willing to trade, however, there were still a few people that didn't get their 1st or 2nd choice so pray your name gets called out first.

NURSING HOME AND REHAB CLINICAL ELDERLY CARE: I have to say that in the beginning clinicals was kinda frustrating. Our first clinical is elderly care. Which isn't my cutp of tea, but I think its the best place to start. Not only does it prepare you for gross things and sad things but it allows you to learn at a slower pace. You aren't sure what to do really or where to go, mainly because it's all new (unless you are a CNA or you've working in a hospital setting before)….but for us that are new to the  "human medical world "…things can be a bit intimidating and confusing. You aren't sure what to do… OH AND BTW the way you learn your head-to-toe assessment in lab is how you would learn in a PERFECT world. Well let me tell you…. this isn't a  perfect world. I don't want to go to far into this because I will have more clinical posts but my advice to you is this: Go into clincials with an open mind, its not gonna be like a tv show or anything; this is real world!

So find someone that you like to work with, try to work as a team. HELP EACH OTHER THIS IS NOT A CONTEST!!! I cannot stress that enough. I have found that so many of the students in my class seem to be stuck up and unwilling to help one another and in my opinion is really sad…WHY? I'll tell you why, because these people want to be NURSES and my definition of a nurse is someone who is caring, honest, kind…someone who is willing to be a team and someone who is will to go the extra mile to care for people! SO PLEASE… help one another, don't be selfish. We are all trying to get through the program together. We had to compete to get in the program so all of the "Trophy Winning" should be left at the door when you walk into you first day of orientation!!

I'm gonna leave it at this for now….It's super late and I have lab tomorrow…I have more to share but we will get to that soon. I should be able to post another update in a week or so… thanks for reading. I hope that this will help you with your journey and becoming the nurse that ANYONE or ANY hospital would be proud of and happy to have! Sorry for spelling errors…its late and I was typing fast..lol

Signing off, STUDENT NURSE Mini B