Week Two of Nursing School

The first two weeks are over now for nursing school and I still have pinch myself to test if it's real. (Did I really quit my job to go back to school for the next four years? *pinch*) But in addition to that I've learned so much already and I don't think I was prepared for some of the things I've noticed so far. First of all, some people are really sick in the hospital. Like, REALLY sick. I watched a video in the class and the nurse in the video was changing bags containing urine and...

Wait, if you can't handle gross, you should stop reading now...

Easily grossed out people gone yet? Okay, good.

Well, the urine in the bags was not yellow or clear. It was red. In some cases, it looked more like blood or something even thicker than blood. It was seriously disturbing. I thought to myself, if my urine looked like THAT, I'd know I was done for right then and there. Of course, the good thing is that some people do live through that. I would say that if they do live through that, it's pretty darn amazing. It makes me marvel at how fragile humans are, but also how capable they are of living through some truly gruesome trials. Go, humans!

Secondly, I found out that not enough medical care staff wash their hands. I watched a video called Dirty Doctors by CBC Marketplace and I was shocked to watch their hidden camera showing just how serious the problem is with health care workers not washing hands between patients and procedures. Doctors in particular are guilty of this. It's making hospital stays three times longer (and sometimes deadly) because vulnerable patients catch illnesses that they didn't have before they entered the hospital! The staff basically walk around like bees polinating patients with germs! So if you ever stay at the hospital, make sure the staff wash their hands before they work on you. Put a big bottle of hand sanitizer on your table and make everyone use it before they touch you or your things. Make sure you wash your hands before you enter and leave too if you're visiting. Otherwise, you'll be spreading potentially life-threatening illnesses too.

Other than that, this week has been better than the last. Last week I was overwhelmed, this week I'm in shock over the amount of homework, but I was able to plow through it all on time (minus some hours of sleep) so I know that I can do it. I had to skim-read one of the chapters one late night though, so I'll need to go over that one again once I have some free time.

Sigh, week two down, next up week three. It's still exhausting, but I feel different feelings this week. The whole "I can't handle this" has changed to "This is tiring", which is technically a good sign. I just have to find the right rhythm now for balancing school work and taking time to process all the changes. I also need to find time for taking breaks, exercising, and all the other good things in life like friends and family. Little by little, it all falls into place. But it surely isn't without good effort. :)