7 posts tagged “school”

Yay!

7 comments

So finaaaaaaaally! My long delayed birthday package for Ian finally got to him. After 2 weeks. Hahaha! It's so easy to make my boyfriend happy. Candies and chocolates are enough to get him giddy.. Just like a little kid. I'm just glad he got it and liked everything. Although it was still not enough to make up for the absence, but oh well.. We'll work on that next time. Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE! Enjoooooy everything. Don't get those Havaianas dirty, or else. (Hindi ka na cool.)

On to good news, I'm almost done with my second to the last semester in school. We had our performance exams last Monday, where we had to learn how to do 5 skills -- phlebotomy (drawing blood), starting an IV, inserting a Foley catheter (a tube down the genitals if the pt can't pee), tracheostomy care (cleaning an opening of the trachea through the neck), and nasopharyngeal suctioning (suctioning out mucus/secretions from the nose to the lungs. Uh, yeah. UNCOMFORTABLE).. But we pick one from a hat and only do that for the exam. I picked the easiest one, phlebotomy. The fake arm was malfunctioning during the test. No "blood" was coming out. But other than that, it went fine.

We finished all the lectures by Monday afternoon, and so we didn't have to come in today. It's just one more clinical day tomorrow. Which really isn't much. It's the last day, we won't be doing anything. Aside from presenting our certain skin diseases we want to report on and a few patient case studies. After that? Just a final next week!! And then we're on vacation.

Whoo, and then just ONE more semester before I finally graduate. This semester just flew by. Eeee, it's gonna be so quick next sem! Albeit hard. Four whole days in school or the hospital. Paperworks. Stress, but whoo it's the last sem!!! Everybody's been talking about what to do after school. It's just drawing near.

My grandparents are flying in from Manila for my pinning ceremony. I hope *someone* else does to. Hint hint! :)

Okay, 2 papers down. 3 more to go. Crunchtime crunchtime! I've been on the computer working since 9am, only getting out of the chair to pee or eat. I was already about to doze off at about 12pm, and I probably would if eating lunch and sleeping could be done simultaneously. I cannot afford sleep right now. Not even for an hour. :( My right arm was tingling in pain earlier from too much typing. I swear, I have carpal tunnel in the making.

And I really miss Ian who's gone for a veryveryvery (haha!) long 3-day vacation. :(

Oh, he just texted. Yay!

Hah, I can't believe! The last time I updated this was from my clinical day at the Nursery. Which was so long ago, it hurts. I wanna go back there! This is gonna be one massive picture post of nothing in particular really. Hahaha, I've a midterm tomorrow but heeeey.. It's best to relax before the big Dooms Day.

So what have we been doing in school lately?

IVs!

Fake Blood

Foley

We've been inserting IVs on fake patient hands. I know that in the Philippines, everyone got to stick another person and run IVs in, give IM medications to, even enemas. Hahaha! But the school's pretty much a stickler with these things, with all these HIV and Hepatitis B scares.

So we've got to stick to these fake patient hands with veins. And those veins actually have "blood" running through them. Kind of like the real thing really, minus the patient flinching in pain when you can't get that IV in. Oh when you puncture those "veins", blood does spurt out. Hahaha!

Those IV bags with the red fluid in the second picture holds the fake blood running through that hand model's veins. It's pretty amusing how the nursing lab technician actually makes it red in an attempt to make it look like blood.
Hahaha!

Midterms!

Priorities.

That first picture's of my OB notes and handouts. That's everything I had to study for tomorrow's midterms. I hope I get a kick-ass grade. I really need to prioritize my time better with all these readings, studying, and papers to write and revise. And that's why I included that 2nd picture of my Nursing Care Plan with my instructor's comments. Hahaha! Rewriting does eat time, but I've learned to think of it as something really necessary for learning. I've really come to love my clinical instructor after half of this semester (TEACHER'S PET!). I think it's because I kind of see myself in her. She can look pretty stern but she isn't really what she looks like. She pays attention even to the littlest things. And she's really all for learning, which is the most important part. We don't just learn stuff to pass the test. It's true that life's a game, but nursing is not a joke.

We're finally done with Maternal-Child Nursing. And quite frankly, I wish we could've done a 12-week rotation here instead of a 6-week one. I reallyreallyreally enjoyed this rotation.

Postpartum is a whole lot of work. Although these patients are basically ambulatory and "normal" (meaning not really sick), there's a lot of things to do and look out for as well. Anytime within their "normal" recovering state, they can easily get a complication. A whole lot of teaching in this rotation, and the sad part is these mothers, especially those who just had their first babies, don't get enough time to be taught properly, reinforced, followed through, etc. because of the move for shorter hospital stays. Next to the nursery, this is really my favoriiite out of all the areas in OB nursing (prenatal, labor & delivery itself, and after the birth). All these new moms eager to learn something new about their baby. Even 35-year old moms who had 5 kids already were so eager to listen from someone like me, whose never had a baby. Hahaha! The best part is, you also get to carry the newborn when the mother has lunch or something.

Nursery nursery nursery. I can't reiterate myself more I absolutely loved it here. But I figured it can become too routinary, since all the "sick" babies go to the NICU. Speaking of the NICU, we got to look around and ohmy. I don't know if I can ever work in that area. It's too heartbreaking. :(

Labor & delivery was not as eventful coz I didn't get to see that much awaited normal vaginal delivery. How heartbreaking, I had to settle for a Youtube clip (which my boyfriend actually looked for HAHAHAHA!) I got to see a C-section though which was 'eventful' in itself, but I would've loved that normal delivery. I've seen a C-section already, and it was actually of mom "giving birth" to Gabe, which Dad videotaped. Hahaha! Antepartum is a TOTAL BORE. I don't ever wanna go back there. Nothing was going on. Not for me.

Classmates

Kababayan!

All these are pictures with Filipino classmates. If you actually peep into our classroom, you'd see that everyone's grouped into ethnic groups. All Filipinos in one corner, African-Americans in another, the Koreans together, the Indians, the Russians... Hahaha! But hey, everyone actually gets along just fine. Nothing beats going to the world's community college. Hahaha!

I actually miss all the other Filipinos from the other 'batches.' We don't really get to see them much anymore. :(

Sanga Girls :)

Deal or No Deal?

LOWER LOWER!

We be dancin'

Social life has been dead lately because of stupid school. I do get to see friends once in a while when an exam has just ended or when I'm tired of studying already. The first picture is my current favorite because hey, now we can say... Taga-New York talaga tayo. HAHAHA!! And for once, everyone's in the picture. What an improvement.

That Deal or No Deal picture was just totally... shameful. Even with kids and parents looking at us at the Toys R Us lobby, who cares? Hahaha! It actually slipped my mind that the American Deal or No Deal show doesn't have all these poses Kris Aquino does in Deal or No Deal in Manila. Hahaha! Those fake suitcases are actually cute. Dressing up as a Deal or No Deal girl for Halloween is actually possible with that. Haha!

The last picture's from last night. This time the skirts were planned. Unlike before, when we unknowingly met up and everyone was wearing the same color.

Siraulo.

Baba

Lastly, my boyfriend likes taking unflattering pictures (moon face!) when we're talking. What he doesn't know is I do take pictures of him in secret too. Especially when he doesn't have his shirt on. HAHAHAHAHA JOKE LANG.

We watched The Lake House together some time last week. It was a total fluke. Boo, I was so disappointed. I've been wanting to watch it for the longest time and it wasn't what I expected. Oh well, we'll find another movie to watch soon. ;) It better be good next time. Haha!

So there, I'd have to skim through my notes all over again just to make sure I'm ready for tomorrow. :)

Today's shift: 09/28/06 0900-1300
# of babies in the nursery: Around 20.
# of nurses in the nursery: 2. Then became 1 later on. Can you even imagine?
# of babies crying by 9am: 5. SIMULTANEOUSLY! Wahaha! All of whom had wet diapers. Again.
# of diapers changed: 10-15. Could be more, I don't know.
# of babies personally brought to the moms' rooms: 3
# of babies left in the nursery after rolling them out: 8
# of births that morning: 2 baby giiiirls. :D
# of babies manhandled for an assessment: 3. This one baby girl was sleeping the ENTIRE time. Adorable.
# of babies fed and burped: 3. One baby boy burped SO LOUD, my fellow student nurse thought it was me. WAHAHA!
# of babies changed from soiled clothes and blankies: 5.
# of times I secretly smelled those babies: COUNTLESS. Wahaha, omigoodness. They smelled sooo good!
# of babies I picked up and carried: COUNTLESS. Again. HAHAHA! The nurse was Filipina, and was totally okay with us picking them up.

Today in one word: PRICELESS.

I loooooooooooove it. I wanna go back to the nurseryyyy!

But then here's a more depressing countdown list:
# of papers due next Thursday: 2. One careplan. One newborn assessment tool.
# of days to do one paper (minimum): 2-3.
# of days until the 1st exam: 12.
# of chapters I still have to read: Possibly 10. But could be more. Demmet.

I hate how they alwaysALWAYS have something due after a holiday (this coming Monday and next Monday is Yom Kippur and Columbus Day respectively).

I swear, I've been meaning to update since last Thursday. Butbutbut I am SO swamped with readings I am not even kidding. Plus, those assessment tools/care plan papers really just take up so much time to make. By the time I'll have time to write about last Thursday, it will all be irrelevant. So, I'll try my best to immortalize that first OB clinical day real quick (because, what's new? I've readings to doooo.)

I got 2 patients last Thursday. One Spanish-speaking patient. And one first-time mom. The day went by so quick. It was actually the first time my clinical instructor asked me to go have lunch. As opposed to previous rotations when I'd be waiting for lunch. Wahahaha! There was a whole lot of teaching especially for the first-timer. I was surprised I actually knew a lot about infant care -- like how to change a diaper, how to burp the baby, etc. Haha, many thanks to that babysitting stint with Kyle from a year back. Teaching was so much harder with the Spanish patient. :( I had to make do with my broken Spanish phrases. The very little I knew. It was good that it was her 4th baby so she pretty much knew her way around. What else? I got to carry around babiiiies (whom I had to resist kissing and sniffing, because demmet they were so cute!), change diapers (srsly not as gross as the oldies' diapers. HAHA!), and feed babies among others. I got to do a CBC blood draw, even if we haven't really done the procedure in lab. The instructor practically guided me through right there. Bwahaha! During post-conference that day, I think I may have gotten on my instructor's good side when she commended me for an "excellent performance for the first day" THANK GOD! She wasn't so intimidating anymore.

I'm loooooooving every minutesecondnanosecond of this clinical rotation. I swear. It doesn't even seem to be like 'work' to me as Med-Surg or Psych was. I love iit. I think I may have found where I wanna be working. This Thursday, it's gonna be the nuuuuursery. EEEE! More babies to play with! Hahaha!

But then there's just too much reading. It'll probably lessen by two weeks or so. But that's too long. I need a new desk as well.

Desk

This is how my desk looks like when I'm doing an assessment tool. Wahaha! That's the maternity book. Please excuse the graphic. Yes, it's a baby's head peaking out of the mom's thing. I didn't quite notice it was opened there when I took the photo. And then there's the Med-Surg book that actually looks like an encyclopedia. =)) Mostly for references. (The Fundaments of Nursing book which I sometimes use isn't there, because hello? Where else will it fit?) Then the care plan book. And then the patient's charts. I'm so glad the hospital I go to does electronic charting, so there's really no need to write down stuff. Just printprintprint!

So yes, an assessment tool every week. That's at least 15 pages of stuff right there. If there isn't a tool due, then there is a careplan due. Or a teaching plan due. Or some kind of essay. Too much written papers in this cooooourse.

Oh and then Thursday couldn't have been any better, when I received a call from a cargo service saying I had a package from the Philippines. Little did I know that sneakysneaky Ian actually sent me....

Ny

This shirt among others. It says "I love Manila more than NY" I lovelovelove it! And then a pair of long coveted white Chucks and that Havaianas with the Philippine flag. Of course there was a letter that no doubt made me cry. Hahaha! I loooooove it!

Sneaky boyfriend conniving with my sister to send birthday gifts. They all fit perfectly and halaveet. I really do. Thanks, sweetiiiie! (Alam ko, pang Christmas at anniversary na to. WAHAHAHA!)

I could really make use of some fried chicken sushi rolls and taro milk teas right now. :( Too much stuff to do, so little tiiiime. Better stop LJ-ing.

Sabi ni Ian, nananahimik daw ako masyado at di naguupdate sa LJ o kaya Vox. Kaya hala sige, 15 minutes lang to habang kumakain pa ng lunch.

Feel ko mag Tagalog.

Buhay paaaa ko. Kahit sobrang daming kailangang gawin! In fairness naman, masaya at hindi boring ang inaaral namin. Pero hindi talaga ako nagbibiro pag sinabi kong NAPAKADAMING kailangang basahin. Strikta pa etong si clinical instructor kaya dagdag pa ang pinapagawa. Pero nasabi ko na bang masaya talaga? In fairness. Yung lab namin na may pagkaboring dati sa Fundamentals at Med-Surg, ay sobrang hands-on. Kahapon, naglaro kami ng Guess What Position The Fetus Is In? (inimbento ko lang yan HAHAHA!) habang nagpapractice ng Leopold's maneuvers. Ang saya saya, kahit mali yung hula ko. Madaya, parehong matigas yung ulo at pwet nung fetus model. :)) May isa kaming lab professor na midwife, at ang galing nya magturo. Paulit ulit nyang sinasabi lahat. Ang bilis bilis magsalita, hindi nabubulol. Kahapon sa klase nya, ako yung babaeng nanganak. Baby girl daw. Wahaha!

Yung clinical naman, mukha talagang masaya. Nagorientation palang kami last week, kaya wala pang pasyente. Pero nakapagattend kami ng conference nung hapon na yun tungkol sa Sudden Cardiac Deaths on Peds patients. May special mention ang mga Pilipino tungkol sa "bangungot." Alam na alam mong noypi yung mga nagbungisngisan sa kwarto. Masarap din nga pala yung libreng pagkain nung conference. Kahit kakakain lang namin ng lunch, syempre ngatal parin kami nang ngatal. Masarap talaga pag libre. Naikot na rin namin yung mga unit na pupuntahan namin. Isang araw sa antepartal clinic o kaya women's health clinic. Dun nagpupunta yung mga babaeng buntis para sa prenatal visits o kaya mga ultrasounds, etc. Isang araw sa labor & delivery. Ang gaganda na pala ng mga kwarto sa mga labor units. Parang bahay na nga actually. Yung mga cabinet pagbukas mo ay puro pala mga medical equipment yung laman. In fairness, na impress ako. Sana makakita kami ng nanganganak! Isang araw lang din kasi yun. Isang araw din kami sa nursery. High tech na pala ngayon ang mga bata. May mga tags na na parang sa mga damit sa shopping store. Oo nga naman, baka manakaw kasi. :)) Walang laman yung nursery nung nagpunta kami don. Lahat nasa mga nanay nila. Eksayted na ko dito! Magpapadede (sa bote shempre) daw kami at magpapaligo ng babies. EEEEEE! Tapos dalawang araw naman kami sa Postpartum unit. Dun yung mga kakapanganak lang. Dito din ako naassign magpunta ngayong linggo. Puro pagtuturo siguro ang gagawin namin dito. Kung pano mag-breastfeed, pano paliguan si baby, etc etc. Ang daming handouts na ipinauwi samin para aralin. Sana lang maniwala yung pasyente ko pag tinuturuan ko sya. Feeling nya siguro mas marunong pa sya kesa sa akin. Ano nga naman ba ang alam ko sa pagbubuntis? Wahahaha!!!

Yan, limang linggo lang kami sa Maternity. Yung susunod na 6 weeks ay sa Peds naman. Eksayting! Pero syempre linggo linggo may PAPER. Huhu. 14 papers in 12 weeks. Kumusta naman yon? Ewan, siguro okay lang. Grabe, isang semester nalang pagkatapos nito at graduation na. Hindi ko parin ata maimagine ang sarili ko nagtatrabaho ah. First choice ko magpunta sa Maternity pagkatapos ng graduation, susunod ang Peds. Waaah, sana lang noh sana lang. :)

Ayun, success naman yung birthday party nung Sabado. Hindi ko pa nga nauupload ang pictures sa Multiply dahil ang daming ginagawa at kailangang gawin. :( Pero ang saya talaga. Napaos akong kakakanta at kakatawa kasama ng mga lokang SG. Sumakit ang tyan sa sobrang dami nang kinain. Lumaki ang eyebags dahil nag "sleepover" sila dito... Pero sa totoo lang, parang hindi kami natulog. Wahaha! Nalungkot ako nung nagsi-uwian na sila. Dahil pinromise ko (at ni Krystel) na pagkatapos non, mag-aaral na talaga kami. Tapos na ang maliligayang araw. Ayun, pag-uwi nila gawa agad ng bwiset na paper. Hahaha!

Tapos na yung 15 minutes ko. Aral na ko ulit!

I've been meaning to update this blog since forever. So here's my lame attempt, in bullets (coz I'm cool like that):

• I just had the best summer yet! I think I might have had too many pictures with people this summer alone.  (100++ pictures = 1 event) All of which I can't wait to print to forever immortalize Summer 2006. It's about time I updated my corkboard. It's been fun and I'm so sad it's over. The cold weather's here once again, and I HAAAATE it.
  
• We had a kind of "goodbye summer" BBQ party at a friend's house sometime last week. And wow, what a crazy fun night! Hahaha, it really did clear my mind for a while (see previous post). There was booze, which the boys paid for, YAY! I can't even remember when I last had a drink! I think it was sometime 3rd year highschool. That's right, we're officially cool. It was such a spontaneous night, and a memorable goodbye summer party. I think there was too much drama when we were all saying our goodbyes, expecting to see each other 3 weeks later for my party. But I guess we were wrong, we all went out the next day biglaan and saw each other at the mall days after. Haha, to that girl who moved all the way to New Jersey: BUMALIK KA NA! You're so welcome to sleep over, mamili ka lang kung saan.
• All I've been hearing from people lately: "Ano mag-21 ka na?!" Bwahahaha, there are varied guesses of my age. Someone even thought I was only 16. And then there were the mischievous comments alluding to being able to buy alcohol legally. Kayo talaga, tsktsk. So there, I'm turning 21 and I don't have nothing big planned. Except maybe for finally being able to relish the fact that I can have booze legally. Haha, but yeah if maybe you would like to come visit me on my birthday (that would be reallyreally nice. And really, I hope makaramdam yung pinariringgan ko.) I've a small get-together here at home on my day itself. Pwedeng agahan nyo narin, kasi marami pa kong lulutuin sa umaga e.
  
• I stood in front of my brother the other day, and.. He's now officially taller than me. How did that happen? Just months ago, we were almost the same height. Sometimes life can be so unfair. Oh, and he's only turning 14 tomorrow. He's old. Or rather, he's growing up. He started highschool today in an aviation highschool. He likes it so far, he wants to get into aircraft engineering. Watch me talk nonstop about my brother, I'm such a stage ate!!!
• My sister's also finally in college. She's a Nursing geek in the making. Today, she started brushing up on Anatomy. Of course, it didn't take her long. A few minutes later, she gave up and asked me if I wanted to watch Bituing Walang Ningning. Wahahaha, we're so jologs!
• My mom's cellphone ringtone = Buttons by The Pussycat Dolls. HAHAHAHA! Can it get any better than that?
• My dad is still my dad. Haha, he's been ecstatic lately having been able to watch a Yankee baseball game and the US Open tournaments for a day.
• I've been terribly hooked with Myspace. Friendster = Manila. Myspace = US. I don't know what's with Myspace, but yeah it is addicting. I even got Ian to finally jump in the bandwagon. Hahaha! I'm so convincing talaga!
• Ian is still Ian most of the time. He still finds delight in teasing me nonstop. I swear, it's a bad move to start teasing him. Coz once he gets back at me, he really does it well. He does the spirit fingers most of the time when he taunts me, IT'S SO GAAAAAY! Hahahaha!
• And as for me, I'm waiting to start school on the 11th. I'm swamped with readings all because I put it off the whoooole summer. So right now all I've been hearing is pregnancies, vaginas, fetal developments, and all that maternity stuff. It's kind of like sex ed all over again. Hahaha! I'd have to say, I'm loving it though. The maternity stuff okay, not the sex ed. I'm excited about clinicals, even if they say I got the terror instructor. Whatever, I'll get out of it alive. I hope.