A Day in the Life.....of a Nursing Student

One of my friends is doing a "Day in the Life" series on her blog where she has her friends guest post on the every day goings on in their lives...and since I've neglected this blog for the most part on the count of being so freakin busy....I thought I'd take a peak into a day in the life of me...as a nursing student... so here ya go!



Coffee. I don't know how I'd make it through 99% of my days without it. On most days....I get exhausted just thinking about all the things I have to accomplish for the day....and to be quite honest....9 times out of 10 I don't even know how I make it through. This reason alone is probably the #1 reason I have learned to fly by the seat of my pants instead of trying to actually plan my days...and flying by the seat of my pants is also why I've become quite the scatterbrain...but who knows...maybe I'll tackle that giant too one day....until then...I take things as they come....and drink lots of coffee....

This day especially applies to all the above statements....coffee....must have coffee....

Since my days usually lump together I must start out with last night/yesterday's major study session that lasted until very early morning hours....to actually get into telling you the large chunk of my day today. Microbio test#2 is in t-minus 4 hours and counting.....and I, my dears, have spent the last 24 hours studying my little heart out....which is why I'm sitting here writing this blog....because I seriously don't think I could shove one more ounce of information into my overloaded brain! I took the day off from work yesterday so I could have the whole entire day to do nothing but focus on this test...and I sure am glad I did....after finally crashing at 3am...I feel like I can come out of this test with a B....fingers crossed!

After a few hour power nap I woke up at 7 to make it to my 7:30 kettlebell workout class I take with my friend Jamie and got my booty kicked!!! I love working out...and while sometimes it exhausts me to even think about going....after I do....I'm never disappointed! Working out accomplishes something coffee never could...it gets my blood flowing.....and on days like today....I need all the blood flow I can get....to my brain!
 After rushing home....a quick shower and some coffee...I get the chance to study some...and procrastinate some...watch a little of my fav morning show (KLGandHoda on the 4th hour of the Today Show)  and study some more....have a little lunch....and study some more on my way to take my test.

After much frantic test taking...its all over...the stress...the buildup...the maddness that I put David and other loved ones through because of my stress....its over...just like that.

{ Ha! I wish!}

That's the thing about nursing school....its not like you can just forget everything after the test is over....because guess what....you'll get another "test" in a few years when you're on the floor and you want to be a rock star nurse and "suggest" to the doctor which antibiotic you think would be best for the patients nasty fungal infection. I want to try hard now to learn all I can....so that later on in my career I can actually use it and all this studying won't all be for nothing....but hey...that's just me. It's why I strive to do my best on every test I take...it's why I don't want to be an average nursing student....because I want to be a rock star nurse....so 24hour study sessions....bring em on!

I'll get off my soap box now and get on with my day....after test time...it's not over...its back home to start the next section of lecture notes....taught by another professor who (I'm sorry as much as I hate to admit it...is not from America and I can't understand ANYTHING he says) has already started on the next topic...Immunology!! There's no rest for the weary in the day in the life of a nursing student...it's time to get ahead...before I get behind again....and before I have to head off to work....8hours at the hospital is like a whole entire different day....I make it home by midnight...just enough time to crash before I rinse and repeat....bring on the coffee!

Never the same.....

There are few instances where one experiences a true tragedy in life.....however in my job....it's all around me....what seems like all the time....and sometimes....my mind just won't let me escape it.Somedays it seems that for every joy a person feels, someone else at that exact moment is experiencing an equal and opposite emotion....tragedy. I can honestly say, I've never had to experience true tragedy in my life....and if I'm lucky...maybe I never will. But to see death all around me...to see loved ones hurt so bad..to see pain from loss....how difficult it must be to make a loved ones last decision.....and on the other side of the same coin it must be as equally hard to let them go.

In March I will have worked as an nursing assistant for one whole year....and I can honestly say.... I will forever be changed..... the patients and the nurses who have taught me so much more than I could have ever imagined, and by the everyday happenings of a Medical Cardiology unit.....all of it.....an experience I never would have even imagined for myself a year ago....
There are moments during this year that I will remember for the rest of my life....and there are moments I will be trying to forget for the rest of my life.....but I know the stories of tragedy will always tug at my heart strings as I try and remember the stories of triumph and strength. There is one thing I know for sure....I will hold my loved ones a little closer to my heart....and cherish every single moment...no matter how big or small......it only takes an instant for our lives to change.....and after they do....we're never the same......

Microbes Microbes Everywhere....

....except for on my cell phone.....

With a few weeks of lab already under my belt....I have alot to share!!!! The biggest news being...that my cell phone is "germ" (read microbe) free! And of course I have proof! But I'm getting ahead of myself... let me catch you up....our first lab activity was to swab any surface we wanted....spread it on an agar plate...and let it incubate for a week....I swabbed my cell phone (my lab partners swabbed the trash can lid, the bottom of a shoe, and a house key)....this is what we grew.....

That's the plate from my cell phone...completely clean folks! Which doesn't surprise me too much...considering I wipe down my phone at least a couple of times a week with Clorox wipes or PDI wipes at work. But still glad to know sanitizing practices work!

...not much can be said for the good ole germy garbage can lid.....
 See those circles...yea that's a fungus....there are smaller circles too...probably some sort of bacteria.... trash = gross








Some people swabbed the toilet handle from the bathroom...you don't even want to see that one....WASH YOUR HANDS PEOPLE!!!!

I'm already in love with this lab....it's more of an observation lab with some hands on activities....which is AWESOME! Especially after chemistry where you spent the whole entire lab mixing crap and doing a whole bunch of stuff that you didn't even know what the heck you were doing...only to end up at the end of the day learning absolutely nothing! This lab is completely different.... not only are most of the slides and agar plates already prepared...but all you have to do is your "pre lab" work and get your learn on! So refreshing! Not to mention all of the labs really bring home the important points of the lecture....and all of which are relative to nursing (and pharmacology). I think it's safe to say...this will be the first science class where I had a lab and I actually learned something!


We have our first test coming up next week...so it's time to hit the books....this being my only class....I really have no excuse to make anything but an A!