Going to College with Kids

As always guys, if you have any suggestions for videos/blogs or comments you want to add as well as questions, feel free to comment below!

My first week!

~THE Future Nurse Chelsey

Remembering To Live...

I started watching Scrubs for the first time the other day. I don’t usually watch medical shows like that, just on the basis that most portray doctors and nurses in a bad light. This one certainly does on occasion, but I stumbled upon one of the best episodes I’ve seen in a long time for a TV show. In the first season is an episode titled “My Old Lady.” If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you jump on youtube, Netflix, or find somewhere to rent it. It follows the three main doctors as they make their own life discoveries on death in their own unique way. I won’t go through all three, but I do want to hit on J.D.’s experience.

                For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show, J.D. is the central character you follow in the series. He’s an intern at a teaching hospital and quickly finds that being a doctor is not what he thought it would be. In this specific episode, J.D. finds himself with a 74 year old woman whose family immediately starts to berate him for his age and seems to be very domineering in the woman’s care. The old lady tells him he needs to be assertive and tell them to leave, which he manages to and finds he really likes her company. He finds out that her kidneys are bad enough that to keep her alive, she’d have to go on dialysis. When he goes to tell her, he finds that she’s left a note informing him that she went to the park.

                Arriving at the park, J.D. is welcomed by a large party for the old lady’s 5 year old granddaughter. She convinces J.D. to let her stay until the candles are blown out. When they get back, J.D. informs her of her situation, at which point she tells him she doesn’t want dialysis. She’s simply just ready to die. He’s completely taken aback by her answer and insists there’s something he can do. He looks at it legally, ethically, and eventually finds himself in her room reading off a list of things he believes everyone should do before they die. Making it to the end of the list without a single thing left for this woman to do, he begins grasping for anything to make her change her mind. Then this transpires:

Woman: Listen, Dr Dorian, there is not one thing I regret as I lay here right now. I'm ready. I really am.

J.D.: You have had an amazing life. Good.

Woman: Now we agree. Aren't there other patients you need to be seeing?

J.D.: Me? No, I've been off for two hours.

Woman: So with your precious free time, you've been talking to an old lady. What about your list? How many have you done? For that matter, how many times have you sat on the grass and done nothing? You need to start taking some time for yourself. Promise me you'll do that.

J.D.: I will.

Woman: Good. Now, get outta here. Go on.

J.D.: I just wanna check out a few things before I get going.

Woman: Are you OK?

J.D.: I'm scared.

I believe that this is the heart of nursing right here. You hear so much about the nurses that take care of their patients, the ones that meet their every need. We counsel them, educate them, and even hold their hand when they’re scared, but it isn't always like that. As a nurse, I believe that as much as we will teach and comfort our patients, our patients can teach and comfort us. In that brief moment, J.D. let down his guard and admitted being scared of this woman’s death, and death in general. It’s not an easy concept for anyone to come to terms with for anyone. It’s one thing to read about it, but it’s a whole other ball game to come face to face with it, even in a woman who is fully ready to say goodbye.

                I personally have not faced death. I’ve lost relatives and friends, which has been hard to deal with, but I’ve never met it face to face. The best thing we can do is evaluate our own lives. We should consider ourselves lucky. It’s not every profession that gets a reminder to get out and live!

What are your thoughts on death? Have you faced it yet? What was your experience like and what knowledge did you gain from it?

~THE Future Nurse Chelsey

Surviving Anatomy and Physiology

I've already done a post on Anatomy and Physiology, but I wanted to show you guys my notes and books to give you a more visual look at what I did to get through.

If you have a topic you want me to address, let me know in the comments below! I'll do my best to get any topic up in a timely manner!

~THE Future Nurse Chelsey

Orientation and Supplies!

I made it through Orientation last week and caught my experience on video! In my car even! I have to say, I don't think I'll ever get used to talking to myself in public places...

Part 2! Which goes through the rest of my supplies!

Hope you enjoyed! Good luck to those going into nursing school this semester, those who have been in nursing school and those trying to get in and going through prereq's!

~THE Future Nurse Chelsey

Great Advice!

I discovered a wonderful youtube resource! A woman, who is older and has a family, has a channel walking through people through her nursing journey. She has some AMAZING advice! There are 3 videos with her going through what you can do to prepare before starting nursing school as well as what to expect when you get there. She also is nearly done with a 4 part series on how to prepare for clinicals and what to expect there. Her videos are very thorough and she always seems to think of EVERYTHING! Check her out if you're nearly there, and I'll do some updates later on and let you know how her advice has worked for me, since everyone learns differently.

 http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5_t5CWfXFZ38IKqav1RFzw

Make sure you take notes! She gives you a lot of really useful information!

~THE Future Nurse Chelsey

My first Vlog in a Blog!

Just going through some of my supplies and books. I am sorry about the background noise from the kids, but really, anyone following my blog will likely have kids and understand, right?

~THE Future Nurse Chelsey

End of the year update, and new year ahead!

So, I just realized that I never really went into how the year ended. I did manage to get the lowest score on the test and still get an incentive. I got a 63% on the HAPS, which gave me an automatic B+ in the class, which is good, since I would've flunked it with the professor I had. She was good, but very tough. Overall I did really well and ended with a 3.8 gpa for the semester.

Now it's just a waiting game. I worked as a tutor over the summer and now have a little time off before nursing school starts. My orientation is August 15th and I start on the 19th. I will hopefully have a video up for you guys either today or tomorrow going over the books and supplies I have so far, as well as introducing you to my wonderful children! :) There will also be a follow up video detailing the rest of my books and supplies as well as orientation. 

I'm super excited guys and I can't wait to finally start this long journey. I really hope someone finds this helpful in some way or another. 

Keep on going guys! We're almost through the calm before the storm! Let's be ready!

~THE Future Nurse Chelsey