Assessments and IPRs and APA papers, OH MY!

[LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN]

So halfway through first semester. Good grades so far. Lots of reading, quizzes, power points, skills videos, lab time, and we just did our last clinical on the medsurg unit. Talk about being thrown to the wolves! I did my first ever foley DC on a REAL person, the day after I did it on SIM-WOMAN. I squatted down, looked at the bag and the hard plastic drainage thingy and tried to figure out how I could make that look like the bag in our lab. Squeezed my eyes shut, opened them. No dice. It was totally foreign to me still. I had no idea how to drain the hard plastic thingy. My instructor bent down and lifted the hard plastic thingy and it drained into the bag. OK I could figure this out. I have no idea how I got through it, it seemed like it took an hour but it was only a couple minutes. Now that I've done it, I will remember how to do it next time.

Did the Interpersonal Process Recording assignment. Had no idea how every sentence you speak can be labeled as therapeutic communication or a therapeutic communication block. I now overanalyze every word out of my friends and family's mouths...... "BLOCK." "Good opening statement." "Closed ended question... that's a BLOCK." They are doing this a lot. Have to do a head to toe assessment on a classmate next week and videotape it. The grading rubric on that looks like a black ops strategy plan. I'm dreaming about messing up and bursting out in maniacal laughter in the middle of taping and everyone will say "She finally snapped. I knew she would eventually." We also have a nutrition assessment due soon. Hard to get started on that while the federal government locked down the USDA website, since we need that for our assignment. I was slightly bummed when the government reopened. Thought we might get a reprieve on that assignment, but no. Thanks, Obama.

Then there is the elderly assessment project on an elderly person in my community, the assessment due on someone in my community with a chronic disease, and all the miscellaneous tests and quizzes, and then...... FINALS. That will mark the end of my first semester as a nursing student. My brain is fried, but I have learned so much..... most importantly, that a PBJ sandwich cannot survive in the bottom of my clinical bag.

[ixchel]

Sounds like you've gotten some great hands-on and a lot of interactive education. I'm midway through my 3rd semester now. I have psych and maternity. Already done with med surg and peds. I have yet to stick a live person. I've started and dc'ed a foley (on a man). I've had very minimal experience handling an IV pump. To be honest, I haven't had a heck of a lot of hands on for much if anything. I've been put through the ringer on book learning though. It's a BSN program, so I suppose I was expecting that. My last semester will be community, a senior seminar (re: this is the class that makes us have the best NCLEX pass rate in the state), leadership and a 7-week internship. I enroll in my last semester on Tuesday. It's amazing to me that the end is basically here.

[LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN]

Sounds like you've gotten some great hands-on and a lot of interactive education. I'm midway through my 3rd semester now. I have psych and maternity. Already done with med surg and peds. I have yet to stick a live person. I've started and dc'ed a foley (on a man). I've had very minimal experience handling an IV pump. To be honest, I haven't had a heck of a lot of hands on for much if anything. I've been put through the ringer on book learning though. It's a BSN program, so I suppose I was expecting that. My last semester will be community, a senior seminar (re: this is the class that makes us have the best NCLEX pass rate in the state), leadership and a 7-week internship. I enroll in my last semester on Tuesday. It's amazing to me that the end is basically here.

That's awesome! You have come so far! Seems to me the end will be never be in sight, I am in an ADN program, not sure I could survive a BSN program! But I will go ahead with my BSN after my ADN, I can finish it online.