Squidney

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well! I am currently doing my community rotation in nursing school and to be quite honest I feel lost. To the community/ public health nurses out there and to those who have enjoyed and even fell in love with this rotation, I would really appreciate your tips/ insight! What exactly is it that I need to know about the community? I don't know how to put this in better words but like how do I get to know the community? Who do I talk to? I mean I can't spend 8-12 hrs per clinical day to go to every single house and ask all of them the same questions (Or is that actually what I have to do?). How do I 'get to know' the community efficiently? Who do I need to see? What kind of questions do I ask to the people? Where do I go to meet these people? As a nurse/ nursing student, what kind of questions do I need to ask myself that would help me understand the status of this community health-wise? Like how many clinics are in the area, mainly what age group visits the clinic, are there health plans for the public- are these the kinds of questions I should ask? Bottom line is, I don't know who to meet, what questions to ask and I don't know where to go or how to start planning for this. I have never been an outside kind of person so to be honest this is really hard for me. Asking a bunch of questions to a lot of people (heck even knowing which people to ask is hard) has never been a strong point of mine- English is also not my first language so I worry a lot when I speak. I am ready to do all of that- walk a lot, spend time with the people from the community, ask them questions because I really do want to learn. I know I would stutter and be nervous but I am prepared and willing to learn. So please, if there's anyone out there willing to help or has any kind of experience/ tips to share, please do so. I would really appreciate every single thing! Thank you very much!

Hi! The reason I brought my marks up was because I was able to speak with a student advisor and was told that good marks MIGHT (a big one) give me a fighting chance. I guess it wouldn't be that big of a help:( Thanks for being honest! I appreciate that lol

Do you think it would help my case to show them my marks? I have straight As in all of my courses except for this course. Or would they think it's irrelevant how I did on my other courses?

Hi Horseshoe! I understand why my instructors aren't budging. They won't give another chance because it'll be unfair to the other students. To be honest though, I wish my instructors shared your sentiment about sitting down with students and working with them instead of failing them. It's probably the upset and selfish part of me talking It's really hard for me to accept what happened since I was doing so well in this course until I hit a brick wall in the form of skills check-off. I can joke about it now, but when I am alone, I just want to cry and sometimes, I get the feeling that I don't want to continue with this journey. But then I remember how much I wanted this and how much I still want it.

Hi! Thank you for sharing your story! Knowing that you went on to become a nurse (your partner as well), it is very inspiring for me and encourages me to continue marching! So thank you very much! Btw, I cried my heart out earlier the moment my bum hit the chair in front of them. They were so nice and understanding about it. I spoke with my instructors today and was told that filing for an appeal would do nothing for me. They said it in the nicest way that they can. I was told I have no grounds to file for an appeal and giving me a second chance would be very unfair for everyone who didn't pass. I was also told I could still file for an appeal if it would make me feel better and move forward, but they honestly doubt it would go anywhere. Do you think I should still try or just let it go now?

No worries! I didn't think you were advocating for cheating I seriously do not want to give up. The way I think right now is that, at the very least, if my appeal gets denied, I can say to myself that I have tried everything I could and it would be easier for me to accept failure. I don't think I'll be able to move forward thinking about the "what ifs". Thank you so much for posting and sharing your story! It helps to keep my fire alive:)

How I wish they could just sit down with us and practice the skills with us and we never have to fail:(. But then again, I also understand that they're just looking out for the real patients that we have to take care of so they don't want to send us to clinicals if they feel like we are not proficient with certain skills.

Thank you very much for posting! Being a special snowflake or even bothering people aren't in the list of things I like doing and I really don't want my instructors to feel that way too. I honestly believe that I have very good and very capable instructors, and the last thing I want is for them to feel as if I am undermining them or that I don't trust their judgement. I am scared, though, that when we meet to discuss this, I might not be able to keep my emotions in check and might say things that might be taken the wrong way so I have decided to make a cheat sheet for when I meet with my instructors and the people handling academic appeals. I really want to present myself in the most proper way that I can. It's very nice to hear from the people who have left comments (including you:)) letting me know that my original post has the right tone and message. Thanks again!

Hi! Thank you very much for this! I am currently writing a "cheat sheet" that I plan on bringing when I meet with the people handling affairs like academic appeals and I found the material very helpful! Thank you, Davey! For reading the post and letting me know that I am, at least, on the right track with my tone:) Hello! Yes, I will proceed with sending them an email prior to filing an appeal. It gets pretty busy for the instructors around this time since all the nursing students take their final exams at around the same time so I understand why they told me to meet at the end of the week. But, I guess because of my situation, I'm going to have to ask them for a quicker response, only this once. I don't want to add to their stress and I hope they don't see it that way. Thank you very much for reading and posting!

@Whoever's reading this- current nurses/students, please leave a comment! Anything would be helpful! Thank you!

Since there's no way to re-check the vital signs part of the check-off, I was thinking of asking them for a chance to perform another vital signs check-off on the spot just to show that I am confident with my skill. If I still fail on that, then I would gladly accept my failure. I understand that I am still a student and my instructors are honestly very good at what they do so I really don't want to offend them.

Hello! Thank you for replying! Yes, they take the pulse on the other hand and we use dual-headed stethoscope for BP. What do you think of filing the appeal before meeting with my instructors, though? Would my instructors think I'm a know-it-all or something like that?

Hello everyone! Before I start, I would like to say that I would appreciate any comment or thought that will be posted. I am sincerely asking for an honest advice- whether it is something I would or wouldn't want to hear. I'll give you a little bit of background. I am a first year student in a 4 yr BSN program. I am currently just in my first semester and clinical starts in the 2nd term. Here's why I am here: For us to be able to go to clinical, we must achieve a total of 70% in our program AND must pass our skills check-off which includes taking accurate vital signs (which is worth 25% of our final mark). I had been doing well in all of my classes this term, mostly As and a few Bs for my lowest marks. Unfortunately, for one of our class, we have to pass our skills check-off for us to pass the class and I didn't pass that. What happened was, we were given 2 chances to try- I failed the first one because I had trouble counting the pulse rate of my partner and was not able to properly perform BP due to a very stupid error on my part- I used the diaphragm to listen, while having the bell turned on the whole time. I kept doing it until I was out of time and was not able to figure out what was happening until then. I knew when I went out of that room that I had failed my first time and it was confirmed by my instructor when she discussed it with me how I missed BP and pulse rate. What I did after that was I practiced taking BP and pulse rate A LOT until I felt like I got it and still continued to practice even after that since I knew that those areas were my weak points. So, time for the 2nd try. Part of me was scared when I went into the testing room, but part of me was also confident that I'll get my vital signs right this time. I was lucky to have a partner that had a clear radial pulse for taking her pulse rate and I heard the thuds clearly when I took her BP. Again, being naturally pessimistic, part of me was very scared that I might've made an error again, but I was mostly, confidently feeling like I got it right. That was until I was contacted by my instructor, telling me I did not pass, meaning that I automatically will fail the class. They wouldn't discuss any feedback regarding the testing on the same day which was on Friday. I was told to meet with them to discuss the feedback on Friday next week. Our final exam for that course would happen before that Friday, and again, I am ineligible to write this exam due to failing my check-off. I mentioned earlier that I felt confident that I passed my 2nd try when I got out of that room. I am thinking of filing an appeal to maybe get the outcome reviewed again. We were videotaped for all of our skills check-off, btw. I am very worried though that if it is in fact the vital signs on which I screwed up, it would be very hard to prove them where I am coming from since they can't review how fast my partner's pulse was during that time. They can't review BP either, since a steth is used to check that and the video can't show when exactly the systolic and diastolic thuds were heard. In short, it would be really hard for me to get them to see why I was confident with my findings. In my school, students should be allowed to continue on (including taking an exam) the class while the appeal is being reviewed. I am thinking of filing an academic appeal before the final exam happens and seeing if it's possible for me to take the final exam. My dilemma is that, I have yet to discuss with my instructors why I have failed my 2nd check-off and so if I file an appeal, I wouldn't know exactly what I want to be specifically reviewed. But if I wait until friday next week to see them before I file for an appeal, I would miss the final exam and I am not sure if I'll be allowed to still take it if I were to win my appeal. So, should I file an appeal before meeting with my instructors?Or should I wait, even if it means missing my final exam? I know that this post is too long, but I really wanted to give as much info as I can. Please, any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Hi! Thank you for replying! I really appreciate your tips, but unfortunately, I am still hearing different noises. Sometimes I would hear light, irregular taps before I actually hear the clear thumps that I am familiar with. In this case, do I record the first light, irregular tap or the first clear, regular thump? Sometimes I hear swooshing, too. What could that be? All these happened and still happen to me with different 'patients' so I figured I am the one with the problem haha. Also, for counting the radial pulse, I experienced a few instances where the pulse stopped for about 5 seconds then came back a lot fainter and a little bit irregular. Like, if I take the pulse for 30 secs, I'd feel the pulse, regular and quite strong, for the first 15-20 secs then I will lose it for the next 5-7 seconds, then it'd come back really faint and the pulse now is irregular. What is happening? Am I doing anything wrong? I would really appreciate tips on this as well! Thank you!d for about 5 seconds then came back a lot fainter and a little bit irregular. Like, if I take the pulse for 30 secs, I'd feel the pulse, regular and quite strong, for the first 15-20 secs then I will lose it for the next 5-7 seconds, then it'd come back really faint and the pulse now is irregular. What is happening? Am I doing anything wrong? I would really appreciate tips on this as well! Thank you!

Hi everyone! I was wondering if any of our nurses or nursing students here can help me with manual BP? Here's my main problem: I feel like I can never get the systolic reading properly. Sometimes, it seems that I am a hearing the first sound when the needle is still at 160 when I know fully well that the person is A-Okay and there's no reason that I should be hearing the first sound at 160. Sometimes, I hear faint and quick tapping before I hear what I believe is the systolic sound. Sometimes, I hear swooshing. Basically, I am just hearing a bunch of noises that I am having trouble recognizing which is the real systolic sound. Any tips? Diastole, I can do. It's just the systole that's giving me a hard time. Any tip or response will be greatly appreciated!

I will definitely do more practice questions! Thanks, Ruby!

This is how I actually do it when just doing practice questions haha! I just thought it'd be better to post each step when I was asking for help so it's easier for other posters to point exactly where I went wrong! But thank you for posting this as I feel like other students reading this would benefit from you tip! Thank you!

I guess it was still right haha. Thanks for commenting!

Thank you so much! I was seriously losing it over this problem since last night! Also you mentioned that the way I was doing it is more complicated, do you have tips so I stop making it harder for myself? Thanks again!

Hi everyone! I have been having trouble converting lbs to kg. This is the question I am trying to solve: 232lbs = ? Kg If I search it on google, the answer given is 105.233 Kg, I somehow keep getting 105.454. This is how I did it: 2.2 lbs=1 kg 232lbs x (1kg/2.2lbs) 232kg / 2.2 (232*10) / (2.2*10) I do this to balance the decimal. 2320 / 22 I do the long division and I keep getting 105.454 What am I doing wrong? Please help!

Hello! Thank you! That 'Role of Nurses in Immunization Services' have awesome articles. I especially liked the one with Patriot Nurse vs Canadian Nurse. Very informative! I'd like to be knowledgeable enough about vaccines so I can help educate people who are still on the fence regarding vaccination, but as of now, I know jacksquat! The information from the articles are such joy to read and very interesting to me. Infectious Disease Nursing is very close to what I was searching for! I didn't even know that there's an actual nursing field that deals with infectious diseases. Thank you for this and I'll definitely do more research about it!

Hi! Thanks for replying! I had a hunch that I'd probably need to achieve a higher degree of study and quite a bit of nursing experience if I wanted to have both (nursing + other interests). Call me ignorant, but it had never occurred to me that Public Health Nursing would be something to consider! I guess, I didn't do enough research! Thanks again!

Hi! I actually have before, but right now, I know to myself that I'd like to be a nurse more than I'd like to be anything else. I started to think that maybe there's a way for me to satisfy my interests and still be a nurse :) Any idea? Haha! Also thanks for replying!

Good day, everyone! I am about to start my nursing program this September, but this topic doesn't concern nursing school or at least, I don't think it does. I recently discovered that I have a huge interest in vaccines and how they work. Also, how diseases work and how our bodies work to fight them. I am very sure that I want to be a nurse, but I wonder if there's a nursing specialty that deals with those topics. For nursing school, which courses or subjects would they teach us about those topics- if there's any. I am already excited about nursing school, but the thought of having discussions about the said topics is making me even more excited! Thank you so much for your time! PS. Please, feel free to correct me on any spelling and grammatical errors. I would not take offense and would be very glad to learn from you as English is not my first language. Thanks again!