bluemushroom

No, you cannot have my phone number. No, really, you can't. I've already told you that's inappropriate. And what the heck makes you think I'm attracted to you in any way? I promise you I'm not. Oh, you're getting discharged in a couple of days? Good for you. No, it doesn't mean anything to me. Stop reading my full name on my name tag in that creepy voice like you're memorizing it so you can look me up in the phone book and stalk me later (yay for not being listed!). Sir, I assure you that your flirting gets you nowhere. I do believe you watch too many "films" that involve "nurses" and you've really got the wrong idea about us. Look, dude, I've been here since 5:55 this morning. The last time I peed was 5:20 and the last time I ate was 5:30. It's now 1:25. I'm a fat girl and this white uniform makes me look a little bit like the Stay Puft marshmallow. There is nothing sexy about any of that. Yes, I'm leaving now. My day is done. No, you absolutely cannot have my phone number! I've told you before that it's inappropriate. I don't care if you think it's ok because you're not my patient anymore. Ugh! Wow. That was long. It was my last day as a student and he was really annoying.

Party like a nurse... Hmm... Eating chocolate cake out of a bedpan (Poop!) Drinking beer or apple juice out of urine specimen cups. Drinking sangria out of test tubes (Blood!). Jello shots out of med cups. Party games would include seeing who could go the longest without peeing, or who could chug a gallon of Golytely the fastest (Nobody wins with this one. It can't end well for anyone involved. Must be extemely crazy to attempt.)

It doesn't mean that people think they're "too cool for school" or attention seekers just because they don't want to go to pinning. They're not going for the exact reasons they've stated. Some people don't feel that pinning is anything special. Completing school is a big enough accomplishment for some people. Just because pinning holds special, sentimental meaning to some of you, it doesn't mean that others have an I'm-too-cool-for-this attitude because they feel differently. Their reasons for not going are just as valid as your reasons for going. I'm going to the pinning ceremony, but that's only because it's something I want to experience as my end to nursing school. That's all. I'll never wear the pin again. The pin has no special meaning for me. The pin is not what I've worked for. I'm not going to graduation. It's the entire college and I don't even know those people. At least at pinning it'll be the people I've gotten to know and spent the past 2 years with.

I think lots of us have gotten the "Why don't you become a doctor?" thing from people. They don't understand that it's something totally different, and they have no idea of what nurses really do. Please don't do what one person suggested and consider med school just because your dad may be willing to support you through it if that's not what you want to do (no offense meant to the person who suggested that). A parent's advice on what they want their child to do should not matter in their career choice. You are the one who has to get up and do that job every day, not your dad or anyone else. Do what makes you happy. (Sorry. Didn't mean to give advice. I know you said you just wanted to vent. :) )

I took my final 2 days ago, and pinning is in a week. Congratulations to everyone!

Aw, gee. Thanks! :) I'm sure that if we agree on those things, we'd get along great as classmates. I've always found it odd that the ones who stick up for themselves have been called "aggressive" or much worse things. It's good that you don't take anyone's crap. Keep on being "aggressive"! The funny thing is, everyone at school sees me as the quiet, shy, and "sweet" girl, so they're all shocked when I say the things I say.

There are so many irritating people in class. 1. The guy who has 1,528,362,983 questions to ask about everything. Of course you should ask questions if you don't understand something, but when you spend 25 minutes asking questions and prolonging the lecture, it's just annoying. E-mail the questions to the instructor or ask after the lecture is over. The rest of us just want to get out on time. 2. The LPNs (some, not all) who think they know it all and are so much better than everyone else. There's a little group of them who sit together and yell out the answers before anyone else gets the chance to answer. Just shut up. And quit making rude comments and giggling if someone gets an answer wrong. 3. The girl who lets nursing consume her entire life. Sure, we all joke that we have no life while in school, but in reality we make time for ourselves. Whenever you ask her how she's doing or how her weekend/break/whatever was, she always says how the semester's making her so stressed or that she didn't have any fun because all she did was study. She really brings everyone down by always complaining when we're all saying what a great time we had during our time off. I'm all for putting in the effort and working hard, but it can't be good for you to be that into it. 4. The girl who gives me weird looks when I tell it like it is. Please stop looking at me like I just threw a kitten against the wall just because I say what's on my mind. If something going on just isn't right, I'm gonna say it. If an instructor's behavior towards me is rude and inappropriate, I'm gonna say it. I see those looks you give me. Stop expecting me to be Susie Sunshine all the time. 5. The students who don't want to speak up for themselves or go against an instructor because "they can fail me". Hey, kids, they can't fail you because they don't like you. It's pretty darn hard to fail someone if their grades are all passing. And it looks pretty suspicious to give a student usat at the end of clincals when you've never discussed or documented any problems with the student in clincals. If you all continue to let things slide, their behavior will continue and nothing will ever improve.

I'm sorry, Moogie. I honestly did not mean to be offensive, and I didn't mean to imply that your feelings are invalid. Calling your opinion "ridiculous" was a bit mean. I should have simply said that I don't agree with it. I didn't say the instructor was silly for being upset that the student wanted to practice on others and not let them practice on her. I actually said that I understand your feelings on that situation. I'm not willing to practice anything on someone if I don't want it done to me. What I said was that I wouldn't care if an instructor thought I was being silly (not that the instructor was silly) for not wanting someone to practice injections on me just because she thinks I should be ok with it because I have piercings.

I can't believe that some people are saying you can't have empathy if you don't experience things such as bed baths, assessments, and, even worse, IVs, catheters, enemas, etc. Some are even saying that students should have to have these things practiced on themselves. Others have gone so far as to say that people who refuse to have these things done to themselves won't be good nurses and should find another career. That is completely wrong, and I think it's just squirrel poop nutty! Nobody should feel forced to let someone cross their personal boundaries just because they feel like they have to prove their desire to be a good nurse. Everyone's sense of modesty is different. Some people may have issues with their body and don't want other students touching them or seeing them. No one should ever have to feel uncomfortable. Also, the student-patient relationship is a lot different than the student-student relationship. Everything done to a patient is professional, but students socialize with each other and see each other everyday. Things can get pretty awkward when you've practiced certain skills on each other. I wonder how far all of these people who advocate forcing students to have invasive, embarassing, and private procedures practiced on themeselves are willing to go before they would draw the line if they were told they had to let someone do these things to them. My guess is, not very far at all. I can understand you being annoyed that the student was willing to give injections to other students but not willing to let someone do it to her. If I don't want to have things done to me, I'll also refuse to do those things to another student. That's why we have mannequins. However, being irked because you felt that she should be ok with someone practicing an injection on her just because she has loads of tats and piercings is ridiculous. I've had tons of piercings and (sorry if this is TMI) some are in hidden places that would be considered quite painful, but there's no way I'm going to let another student practice an injection or IV on me. I really don't care how silly an instructor thinks it is that I refuse. There's a big difference between getting a piercing that I want versus letting students practice invasive skills on me due to feeling obligated out of fear of what the instructor and other students are going to think of me for refusing.

The thermometers never worked on the VS machines. What is it about the thermometer? I remember all of us waiting for the only one that worked. It would usually be something like this: "Well, she has it now. It's my turn after she's done. He asked for it before you did, so it's his turn after me, but you can have it after he's done with it."

You'll have to check your school's dress code. We can wear whatever we want to class, but at clinicals we can only wear one pair of studs in our lobes. I don't have pierced lobes, but I have other piercings. My nose piercing closed after a few hours at the hospital because I had trouble getting the retainer in . I wear retainers in my industrials and tragus piercings, and I keep my septum retainer flipped up. I did get a few strange looks from my instructor, but she never said a word, so I guess retainers are ok.

The part about the Foley is too funny! :roll:roll

Don't be mad about not passing the BP part of your check-off. It's ok. It takes some people more than one try to pass a check-off. You'll pass, and you won't be thrown out of nursing school. :icon_hug: Good luck on your next try! I did my vital signs check-off on Tuesday, and I was so nervous. When I practiced at home, I didn't have a problem with doing any of it, but I got really nervous when I had to do the check-off. I was shaking so much that I couldn't feel a radial pulse, and I lost count when I finally did feel it. I also messed up doing BP. My instructor told me it was ok and to try again. I calmed down a little, tried again, and I passed.

I'm glad you had a good first week, Mi Vida Loca. My first week was good, too. The first day was the 17th. In my first week, we had a couple of lectures each day in basics, and we met our clinical instructors and our Pharmacology instructor. This past Tuesday was our first clinical day at school in the lab. We learned how to do sterile dressing changes. I was OK with it, but it's gonna take a little more practice before I can do it well enough for my first check off next week. We don't start clinicals at the hospital until the seventh week. It was overwhelming at first, but things have gotten better now and I'm really starting to like it. I just can't believe how quickly the weeks are going by! I know it isn't a lot to only have completed two weeks, but those two weeks went by so fast.

I've got a Prestige. I was able to hear well with it when I listened to my own heart, but I guess I'll really know how good it is next week when we do vital signs. When I was buying supplies, the lady working at the shop told me that a Prestige would be fine and that I didn't need to buy a Littman. A nurse who was there shopping also told me a Prestige would be fine and that I should let someone else buy me a nice, expensive Littman as a graduation gift, not for basics. If it doesn't work for me, I'll just have to buy a better one. I just finished my second week of classes. There was a lot of information in the first week, and we were there more hours than we'd usually be, but it settled down into a regular schedule this past week. My first test is Monday, then I have a check off on sterile dressing changes on Tuesday.