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. :)

The First Days Of Nursing School

Only two days have passed since nursing school started, but I'm already relieved to have a day off! What a rush it has been!

Something about the excitement of going back to school after years of work and all of the information being thrown at me was incredibly exhausting. I wanted to absorb and process absolutely everything and to be prepared, but I felt that I was fast slipping under the lists of readings, assignments, and expectations. New teachers, new students, new environment, new tasks... oh boy!

Oh! And boys! They are so young! They still talk about high school! High school was a long time ago for me... but they don't seem to realize that yet. Ramble, ramble, ramble, in high school I did this, ramble, ramble... oh dear.

So I sit myself in the library, hidden away in some quiet room, scrambling to organize myself. So... much... reading... quizzes... assignments... ugh!

But today was a day off, so I slept in until 8:30am (which is late since I have to wake at 5:45am for school), and it felt so good! :) Well rested, I did my stretches, had PIE for breakfast (thanks, sis!), and settled in for some catching up on emails and blogging. Once that's done, I'll pull out the school books and start organizing again. I spent a good number of hours organizing at school yesterday so two courses are done, but I have two more courses to organize today. By organizing, I mean writing all the due dates for different readings, quizzes, and assignments in my planner, and starting on the initial assignments. Once I'm done with that, I'll have to actually do all of the assignments due for next week, and do all of the required readings.

I hate to admit it, but when they told me nursing school was hard, I didn't really believe them. I thought, magically, that I would be better equipped to deal with these stresses having come from a good university background. Unfortunately, I'm out of practice.

Let it be said though that I am still very excited to have started nursing school. I am really, really thrilled to be in this new role as a nursing student. A poor lady was lost in the school yesterday and I helped her locate the security guard so she could find what she was looking for. She told me that I was very nice to stop and help her. I thought to myself, "You're in the nursing building. How badly off could you be? It's full of students that want to spend their whole lives helping people just like you..."

Middle Of The Road Musings

It's Day 1 of finishing my job and preparing for going to nursing school. I feel sort of melancholy. It's a big change that I'm preparing for and I wonder, even now, if I'm making the right choice. When I declare, "I'm going to be a nurse!" to my mother she says, "Shh, don't say that yet. Wait until you're finished school first." I think she still expects me to pipe up, "I'm going to be an artist!" It was, after all, what happened many years ago when I left my university years behind and went to art school.

Why flounder from one career to another flapping noisily like a fish out of water? But I can't seem to catch my breath. Before the ink even dries on another degree or diploma, it seems I've decided I want to do something else.

And so the journey continues to find a career I can call home. Where I can set up shop, lay out my skills, and say, "My isn't it a nice day? I'd like to stay here forever doing this!" Will it ever happen?

So I gather up my art supplies, set them aside, and make room for the tower of books behind which I shall hide for the next 4 years. They say time will fly and that I'll be glad of my decision in the end, and I certainly hope they'll be right. Perhaps some pencil crayons, a pencil, and some fabric shall be my comfort. I can make fantastical new creations in the deep of night when the books are closed and my exams are studied for. I am quite certain art will never leave me.

But the ghost of many lost nights haunts me with its tempting framed portrait. "You did this," it says. "You have the skills. Why do you forsake them now?" I hurl insults at it, gobs of paint, and maybe a mini brass brad or two.

The Cat's Out Of The Bag - Off To Nursing School We Go!

Yep, that's right! The choice has been made, and it's off to nursing school for me! Yippee!

I always hear about how hard it is to get into nursing school, so I was ready for a letter of rejection for my application. Lo and behold, I got in!!! It's amazing!

But I took a long time to think it over. A career change is a big thing, and FOUR MORE YEARS OF SCHOOL is, well, it's quite daunting. Plus, I rather like my new job as an animator and I like the group I'm working in. It's really too bad that I have to leave.

I told my workplace on Friday, about a month in advance. They were really nice and said I could come back if I ever changed my mind. They were hoping to renew my contract because they said my team really liked me and they were happy with my quality of work. (That's very nice of them to say, huh?) I will miss them very much when I'm gone.

But I've made many new friends there, and I hope they'll stick around because I like them. Meanwhile, I have to start registering for classes and buying school supplies. I even have to buy a nurse's uniform! My school colours for that are evergreen with a pale, dusty green trim. I could opt for the reverse colour combination, but I think the darker green will be more practical. For some reason, I feel giddy to think that I have to wear a nurse's uniform soon. It seems awfully fun!

So it seems I have finally reached the crossroads. I had been avoiding it for so long. Coincidentally, I kept meeting random people on the bus and skytrains that just happened to be nurses - go figure. My co-workers encouraged me to pursue the nursing path too as they felt it would be a "real job". It's funny, isn't being an animator a real job too?

So I'm pretty nervous stepping back into the shoes of a student so I can grow into the shoes of a nurse. Will I like it? Will I hate it? I don't really know yet. My friend who is also going into nursing this year knows exactly what she wants, and she's so sure of her chosen path. It makes me feel abnormal to be so hesitant, but I know that I want to to try becoming a nurse and that I would make a good one. I fear that I will suck at it, but I know that I'll be okay.

My main worries are that I'll become calloused from dealing with death and suffering daily, and that I won't care as much as I do now about all the little things in life. With certainty, I'll grow a tougher skin and grow up a lot. One thing that I hope for is to learn skills to be able to save lives and help people. I think it would be meaningful to make a difference in people's lives everyday.

Anyhow, I thought I would update you on what's happening since I haven't said a peep for a while about this. Are any big changes going on in your life? Let me know!

Take care,
Marie

Spring Musings On Life and Work

Spring is here in full bloom and the days are getting milder and sunnier. It's quite nice, and I find it hard not to feel a bit lighter when I walk around outside on my way to work.

The newspapers, however, are full of doom and gloom. There are articles on anxiety management for kids, someone trying to sell their child, and how to make the most of severance pay when you lose your job. A recent call to update a friend on my trip lead to an update from her on how she was laid off from work. It wasn't all bad though, the shock of losing her job made her re-evaluate her life and career, and she planned to make a switch and go back to school to become a nurse. I was really happy for her, despite the job loss. It's so important to have a job that gives your life meaning, and there's always a need for good nurses. I think she'll make a fabulous nurse.

Her situation made me think of my life and whether my life and work was meaningful too.

I have one friend that works as an elementary school teacher and she is always so excited and happy about her job and her students. It was always her dream to be a teacher, and she seems to garner so much joy from having achieved that goal! Another friend of mine would normally hate her job, but she makes good money so she doesn't mind as much. I guess we're all motivated by different things, and when we get that motivation, we don't care as much how much it costs to get it. But when that motivation is gone...? Uh oh.

How about you? How do you feel about your job and your life situation? Are you happy?

Thinking about Life

I've been reading Think Like a Billionaire by Donald Trump lately and I've learned a few things. First of all, billionaires work hard, but their work is not all that different from any other typical managerial/foreman position. Meetings, phone calls, decision making, reading letters, talking to people and family... it's kind of amazing how much they're making to do something many of us do every day for so much less. Second, billionaires can be quite full of themselves and they make a lot of money by promoting themselves and their business every chance that they get. I can't help but wonder how much money and extra advertising Trump is getting through talking non-stop about how great all his buildings, restaurants, and employees are. The entire book is basically a massive advertisement for everything Trump. That's pretty cool. He just got a LOT of people to actually pay for something that is meant to sell more to the purchasers. And every time someone talks about his book, they're promoting both his book and his stuff. I love it! That's fantastic and amazing business thinking. Maybe I should write a book about Mytutorlist.com :P

What did get me thinking, though, was Trumps view that billionaires don't take vacations. Trump thinks that if you don't love your job so much that you never want to take a vacation from it, then you're in the wrong position. What do you think of that?