Happy Veteran's Day!

I finally completed my paper. For some reason, I kept having "brain farts" and couldn't muster up what I wanted to say. But, somehow I finished it! What a relief. I have to get back to my truckloads of reading now. Hope everyone had a nice Veteran's day! :)

Sometimes I surprise myself.

How is this possible? I'm getting "A's" in nursing school? It's surprising the hell out of me. Still sad at the same time, though. I'm seeing my classmates struggle while I am secretly beaming with joy over here. I know it's going to get more difficult, and that's ok. I'll keep doing what I'm doing and hope for the best.
I'm tired. All of this studying and stress has caught up to me, and I need to relax. Luckily I only have a paper to write this week, and we just have our final exams left to take in early December. The semester seems to be flying by! I have to say though, I don't completely hate the work. Mostly, the competition. My classmates are constantly freaking out about their grades and all of that stuff, while I just sort of sit back and take everything in. I mean, I get stressed and all....but I am not half as bad as the rest of these people. I feel like I should come to classes on test day with handouts of Xanax. Oh well, they'll be alright I suppose.
Onward and upward, almost another semester closer to walking across that stage.

P is for Procrastinate

Ok, so it's Sunday morning. I have an assload of studying to do and no motivation to do it. Coffee is not helping this morning......I still want to curl up on the couch and do a whole lot of nothing. At least I look like I'm doing something productive. I wonder if my husband can tell that I am blogging and not typing notes. Hmm......

Well, anyway. I have yet another exam next week. Pharmacology. It's not so bad I suppose. I just don't feel like doing it. Do you ever get like that? You have an exam coming up and you know you should be studying for it....yet....you do everything in your power to avoid the work. During the first week in the nursing program, there was this sort of nursing test taking workshop thingy that we all had to go to. I determined what type of student I am on that very day. Drumroll please......I am THE SQUISHER. Yeah, that's right. I wait til the last minute and squish everything together until I feel like I could explode. It's a sickness, almost. But I get good grades, so what the hell...........??

I suppose I should get off of this blog and do a little reading. I hope all you fellow SN's are getting your work done today. And if not......have some coffee for me and enjoy your day of non-productiveness.

There's Certainly No Shortage of Idiots....

Did you hear that, folks? Your country NEEDS you! So go become a registered nurse, and quick!

Yeah.....right.

I am so incredibly sick of this sort of thing. Johnson & Johnson is running this huge campaign that makes nursing look like some kind of glorious, big bucks job.

I'm sure you've heard of it. The "nursing shortage." It's here, and it ain't leavin'! We need more nurses. We need more nursing schools. We need to import foreign nurses.

Does this all sound familiar? Well it's all lies, dammit. There is no true nursing shortage. There is, however a shortage of RN's willing to work under the horrid conditions that bedside nursing brings. Dangerous patient loads, mandatory overtime, and not enough support from management. We don't need more newbies on the floor, we need better work environments. We need to get the hundreds of thousands of RN's with inactive licenses back into the field that they left. How about better pay, more respect, and ONE (not 3) pathway to achieve RN licensure. Yep, I am only a student and I can already see where the major problems lie in this profession. Yet, I still press on.

It's taken me a damn long time to get into nursing school. It's my passion, and that's why I didn't give up a long time ago. The competition is fierce. The students are catty. And the professors....well....they'll eat you for breakfast. But I love every stinkin' minute of it. I love the fact that out of 600 applicants, I was one that they saw potential in. I love that I am interested in what I'm learning now. I am going to kick ass as a nurse.....yeah....I can just tell. There's some sort of fire inside me that fuels my passion for this profession. I don't know why........and I don't care.

That's why it bugs me to see students picking this major out of their ass. "Hmm...I want to make a decent wage and work 3 shifts per week. Yeah, sign me up for nursing." If you are reading this and you're one of those people who is going into the field for money, prestige, 3 shifts-a-week, etc......stop yourself now. Just STOP it. You won't get far. The coursework is too difficult and time consuming for the average student. People's lives are at stake. Hell, your sanity is at stake.

But, if you want to make a difference in people's lives, enjoy interaction with all walks of life, can deal with the politics of nursing, and don't mind bodily excretions, then by all means.......come along with me on this crazy adventure called nursing school.