A Week in the Life

A Week in the Life of a Nursing Student:

Monday: Get up early, study butt off for exam. Drive to school. Walk many miles (or so it seems) from the parking lot to the school. Find a quiet place in the library (good luck with that) and study butt off some more. Suddenly remember that an assignment is due. Oh sh__! Quickly finish the assignment, which by the way, is about a completely different topic than the exam. Go take exam. Walk many miles again and drive home to do more studying for tomorrow's exam. Kids arrive home from school. Try to get them to do their homework, feed them a snack and drive them to religious ed. Meanwhile, husband comes home and the "dinner conversation" is held. "What do you want to eat?" "I don't know. I don't feel like cooking, do you?" etc. etc. (same old conversation every night). Dinner is made and husband eats while kids are picked up. Husband leaves for 2nd job and kids and I eat eat at 7:30ish. Try to get kids to bed. Attempt to study more. Get distracted by internet. Drop into bed.

Tuesday: Repeat most of Monday, except after class drive to McDonalds. Eat while driving to work (School-age child care teacher).

Wednesday: Go to hospital for clinical. Pick a patient. Go through patient's chart and learn anything and everything you can. Write up drug cards for the 20+medications the patient takes. Take kid to gymnastics. Attempt to write up a pathophysiology report on one of the patient's diagnoses while being the supportive parent watching gymnastics.

Thursday and Friday:
Arrive at the hospital and start at 6:45 am. Quick look at patient's chart, labs, progress notes (all on Epic, by the way). Grab a machine and go to the patient. Talk to patient, take vital signs and then do quick assessments of the patient's body systems. Administer medications. Get patient ready for physical therapy. If lucky, cap an IV, and take out a catheter. Write and write and write (assessments, care plan, lab diagnostics, etc. etc.) Thursday work after clinical. Friday crash until the kids come home. Perhaps watch an episode of Lost (I'm now on season 4).

Saturday & Sunday: Arrive at 2nd job (Certified Nursing Assistant) before 7:00 am. Find out what part of the building I will be in and who I will work with today. Get report from night nurse. Care for patients (use your imagination, if necessary). This week I had to de-louse someone and deal with a wacked out patient that was in alcohol withdrawal. Don't worry--her fingernails didn't break the skin. Had a special moment with a dying patient. Come home and learn about all of the fun stuff husband and kids did while I was gone. Crash early.

Notice that it doesn't say anything about cleaning the house. That is what it looks like too--like a tornado hit.

So if I don't answer your e-mails or interact on Facebook or blogs--you know why. I really should be doing a lot less of those things (as hard as that may be). If my blog stays up longer than a week, you will know why.