JessiG

I am a student and am attempting to write my final care plan for this semester. However, I am not sure what/how to write the alert and oriented statement. My patient is in her 90's and has dementia (unspecified), but seems to have more short-term memory loss than dementia related problems. She forgets who you are after an hour or so, asked my name about 5 times in 4 hours (and had to read my badge to understand my name), asked me when I was graduating about 4 times in 20 minutes...Yet, she knew who her normal CNA was (not sure of name but responded to and talked to her as if she was used to her care) and she spoke of her children who are still alive and one that passed away. Then she would have periods where she thought she was being punished when she had done nothing wrong, she would regress back to times of slavery (client is an African American female and lived through this time period) or complain that her meals were not the same size as the other residents... I am not sure how to write the A&O statement as the client seemed alert when speaking with her and she knew where she was, who she was, and most of what was going on around her, just not all of it...she was confused. Also, how does alert and oriented work if they forget the information in 10-20 minutes? At the time they know what is going on. Any advice?

I am a female, currently in my BSN program and going through clinicals. I also have been diagnosed w/ADD (no H in mine though) and also would love to work in a drug/alcohol treatment program later on. I have watched many people close to me battle these issues, some come out on top and some sadly don't come out at all...but my story is besides the point, just know that it is a very difficult field and takes a very special person to work with those battling addiction and the fact that you want to do it is awesome! Anyways, welcome to the world of working with predominately females Like I said, I am female and love women, nothing against them, but some can be very "catty" and tend to gossip and feed off each other. When one doesn't like someone, they may talk and then it can get passed on to another and before you know it, a group of women don't like you because one had a negative encounter and talked it up until the rest of their group felt the same way...and when you believe something, you tend to see more of it. Whether it is there or not. So that works both ways, with them seeing your negative behavior and with you seeing their dislike in your actions. I do not know your exact situation so I can not tell if you have actually ruffled some feathers or if you walked into a den full of felines, but either way, keep your head down, kill em with kindness, and move on. I have also been in situations where I felt I was viewed negatively or treated unfairly and if you let it get to you it will eventually overcome you. I just try my hardest to focus on the job at hand, the goal in my future, and to pat myself on the back for being the bigger person and not falling victim to (or joining in on) the gossip and name calling that others choice to make the focus of their life.

It is time management, and money.... I have always been active and I try to eat healthy but I find myself failing for a few reasons: 1) I still work, so on days when I have work and am cramming for a test I have to give up my run/workout or I will see it in my grades 2) I eat when I am stressed (Exams are like every week, Hello?!?) and I eat when I am bored (constant munching in class or while studying) I really need to work on my motivation and just say no. Or eat veggies/fruit rather than granola bars, cereal, etc. 3) When you are barely getting by it is hard to put the money into healthy foods and sometimes grabbing a quick bite somewhere is cheaper than buying all the supplies to pack a lunch daily or cook dinner. Just have to figure out some cheap, healthy alternatives I know a lot of people struggle with this. Don't let anyone tell you it is "easy" it isn't. What helps me with the exercise is setting goals to keep me motivated (for me it's trail running). I run my first half marathon tomorrow morning and a second next Sunday. Then I will sign up for my next race, I always have one to look forward too. My best friend (who lives an hour away and is in a Speech therapist program) is my partner and we aim to get meet in the middle once a week and run together to train. It really helps with my motivation. Though I have gone from running 6-7 days/week to 4-5 days/week. I just face it that sometimes I have lots of exams and studying and that week I may only run twice. But it's better than nothing. As for the eating, that is my problem. I need to find a motivator that sticks. Everyday I fluctuate between "I will stay motivated, I will eat healthy, and I will not mindlessly snack while studying" and "But it makes me happy, why not?" then "Ugh I am so disgusted with myself!" So that is not healthy....anyone have any tips on staying motivated/on track with food? BTW I also have the "UP" band by jawbone and now 2 other girls in my clinical group have it as well. Look it up, it is a great way to keep track and stay motivated when it comes to exercise and watching your sleep habits. Best of luck to everyone in their journey!

Any info/hints on how to find/search for scholarships? I am in my second BS degress (first Psych, second nursing) and am about $35,000 in debt with loans and still need some more funding. I don't want to go the private loan route. You end up paying back double to triple what you borrowed. Scholarships would be amazing! but I always get bogged down by the sheer number of them and then I get let down after I search and search and I can't apply for any of them because they are for ethnic minorities, or single mothers, or students in Arkansas, or well.... you get it.