Ugh, maybe a little a better

Well, I made it through yesterday. I managed to wash a couple of loads of laundry, but still haven't put them away. I have to use my energy wisely. I feel fine when I'm sitting around, resting, but I can't rest through clinicals. I did get a full nights sleep and then some. It was good not to be waking up every few hours itching like I was the night before.

I'm obviously not working this weekend. When I called in, they weren't very happy about it. Why is it that when we're sick, it's our fault that there's not enough staff? I happen to know that I was scheduled as extra. I know it's frustrating that for them that I can't be there, but they had more than 24 hours notice.

I don't know what else to say right now. I'm still kinda groggy from the lortab. I'm trying to wean myself slowly off the pain meds to see if the antibiotics are working. I'll update you later. I have lots of reading to do for school on Monday.

Still no diagnosis

You know, I really hate not knowing for sure what is wrong with me. I had my appointment this morning with my doctor. Of course, she couldn't tell me anything more than they told me in the ER. What she decided to do was to treat me like I have diverticulitis. So, for the next 14 days, I am taking Cipro and Flagyl. I had to nearly knock her out to get her to give me more pain medicine. The ER doc only gave me 15 pills. She wasn't going to give me anything. My friend, Holly, asked her what I was supposed to do the rest of the weekend. She then asked me how often I was taking my pain meds. I told her I was taking it every 4 hours like the doc said I could. The pain starts coming back in 3, so I'm doing good to last. I proceeded to tell her I wasn't there for the pain meds. She's been treating me for at least two years and I think this is the first time she's ever given me anything for pain beyond Naproxen or something like that. I understand the concept, but I have my pain under control right now, and I don't want to have to have it get back where it was to be treated again. So, she finally caved in and wrote me a script for 20. That's all I know about my pain. I'll let you know how the antibiotics work.

On a lighter note, for those of you Grey's Anatomy fans out there, how did you like last nights episode? I was on so much pain medicine, but I thought it was great. The whole Derek and Addision scene in the hotel, Izzie and the muffins (that's gotta be a classic there!), Cristina and Preston with mom walking in (too funny!!), Meredith telling Derek and vet guy that she wants to date both of them. I love it. I'm so totally addicted it's not even funny. My world stops at 8:00 on Thursday nights. Even when I'm writhing in pain, my world stops. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you. I'm going to rest now and study later. I was supposed to work this weekend, but I can't very well work while I'm taking Vicoden around the clock. I'm sure I'll be blogging a lot this weekend.

Home from the ER

Well, I spent over 4 hours in the ER with my friend Jen and her 4 year old son, Ryan. We got there about 11:45 and they got me straight back into a room. My blood pressure was extremely high for me (135/89) and I was hurting like I haven't hurt in long time. I got to pee in a cup and change into a beautiful hospital gown. I was then stuck with a needle and had 5 or 6 tubes of blood drawn as well as an IV inserted. Thankfully, the ER believes in "killing two birds with one stone". I only had to be stuck once because I know where most of my good veins are. Unfortunately, it was in the bend of my arm. My nurse left shortly after inserting my IV and within about 15 minutes, the doctor came in. He asked me the same questions that everyone else had asked me today. I really felt like I should have had a sign on my chest with all the answers. I know that it's best coming from the source, but it does get tiring after awhile. He did a brief abdominal exam and told me that they would do blood tests and a CT scan. I had already explained to EVERYONE that I had an ultrasound that was negative. My nurse came back in right before 1 with a bag of NS (normal saline) and Dilaudid and Zofran. They pushed the Zofran first and then the Dilaudid. I was much happier and in much less pain afterwards. It didn't take very long (and I do have a witness to how much pain I was in!!).

About 1:30 or 2:00 they came and got me for the CT scan. It was a relatively quick and painless procedure. The hardest part about it was getting off the bed and into the wheelchair and vice versa. I was quite lightheaded from the meds. The transporter from x-ray didn't seem like a very happy guy. Since my IV was in the bend of my arm, every time I bent my arm, it would occlude the IV and the machine would beep. He was VERY irritated by this. Then when we got to the CT room and I got on the stretcher, my IV wouldn't stop beeping. The battery went low and he was even more irritated. The CT was over within a few minutes and we got back to my room. I got back on my bed and he couldn't get the part that pulls out for the legs to pull out. I seriously thought he was going to scream in my room! He finally got it adjusted, and my IV plugged in. He put my BP cuff back on, but it was too tight and all lop-sided. When the machine went off, the cuff almost popped right off my arm. Instead of having it pop off, I pulled it off and called my nurse. When she got there, I told her that he tried to get the cuff back on, but that he didn't seem like he was having a very good day. Her response was, "You know those people who never seem to have a good day?" That's all she said. I knew what she meant. I guess we all know people like that. I felt bad for him. I was in pain, and I felt bad for him.

While I was having my scan done, Jen took Ryan to get something to eat and they came back around 2:15. Ryan was REALLY good while we were there. He watched intently while my IV was inserted and was very curious about the BP machine. It was really sweet. He was/is very concerned. By then, my pain was starting to come back. It never totally went away. My breathing had gone back to normal after the pain meds and I was much more calm. By 2:30, I was noticing that I was holding my breath (and Jen was asking me about my pain). About that time, my nurse came in, so I asked her when I could have some more medicine. She said she would check with the doctor about the results of my tests and see if I could have some more medicine. She came back about half an hour later with more Dilaudid. She also said that all my tests came back "normal". Before they gave me my medicine, I went to the bathroom. Jen walked with me and when I came back, they had moved me out to a stretcher in the hall due to more cases coming in via ambulance. It was not much fun. I had this student nurse that was helping out with me. She started out ok, but as the day wore on, she got more and more annoying ~ I think that's the word. (More on that in a few).

While I was in the bathroom, Jen told the nurse I wanted to talk to the doctor. He came to talk to me not long after that. I was just concerned about what was going on. Here I am, my pain hardly being controlled with Dilaudid and all my tests are coming back normal. Something is not right. He said that the only other test he would have order would be a sonogram, but since I had already had one, and it was negative, there was no need to order another one. He did say he would call my doctor and see what she wanted to do. So, we waited some more.

A little bit later, the student nurse came down to take out my IV. We mentioned that the doctor was calling my doctor and she abruptly stopped what she was doing and yelled down the hall to my nurse (whose name she couldn't remember) about me. So, since my room is technically in the hallway, does HIPPA still apply to me? The student wasn't the only one to do this (she did it twice), my nurse did to. I don't know how many people were in the hall. I was lying down on the stretcher kinda out of it from the meds, but it was a bit disheartening.

My ER doc finally got ahold of my GP and they were in agreement on sending me home. That's fine, I just want to know what's wrong with me. I have an appointment with my GP at 11:00 tomorrow. By 4:00 we were signing out of the ER. I got my script for some stronger meds than what I have at home and some well wishes. I won't bore you with anything else. If you've read all of this, you've got to be almost asleep. If nothing else, the pain meds from the ER helped me get the pain somewhat under control. Now, I have to attempt to keep it there. This whole experience really opened my eyes to how I want to treat my patients. I want to send a special thank you out to Jen and Ryan for suffering through the ER visit with me, to Holly for bringing me medicine last night, and to all my other friends and family for your supportive calls and well wishes today and over the past few days. I will do my best to keep you updated. Now, I'm going to try to sleep. Good night.

The good news is

it's not an ovarian cyst, a kidney stone, or a urinary tract obstruction. The bad news is, we don't know what it is. I hurt so bad right now, I'm literally in tears. I feel like such a wimp. Though I know this is my body's way of asking for help. One of my sweet friends is on her way over to take me to the ER or sit with me or figure out some plan since I can't think straight. Why now? I had to miss class today. Hopefully it's the only day I'll miss. I just want the pain to go away.

Clinicals . . .

Ok, so clinicals this week started ok. I went to the hospital on Monday and picked up my patient information and came home and started my paperwork. Things fell into place nicely Monday night. I got up and got to the hospital on Tuesday morning and found out that my patient had been in dialysis until after 10:30 the night before. He was tired and irritable. He was also NPO for a surgery that I didn't know about that day. Great ~ yet another drop in the bucket. I have to try to get everything done because we don't know when they'll come and get him for surgery. Blood sugar was high ~ gave the insulin. Explained what I would be doing for him during the day and what our goals were. He kindly told me he wanted to rest. I obliged him for a little while. He called not long after that needing to go to the bathroom. Perfect time to get cleaned up, right? Wrong! Well, I took the opportunity to change his sheets and straighten his side of the room up, but that's all he wanted to do. I was getting frustrated. I kept thinking to myself that he was going to be going to surgery for very bad diabetic necrotic ulcers with the possibility of amputation and you don't want to take this last opportunity to get cleaned up before you hurt so bad that you can't move? I didn't say that to him, of course, but I was thinking it. This man was a very kind, sweet man, but he was very depressed. And who could blame him? So, I approached the nurse I was working with for advice, and she went and talked to him. When she came back out of the room, she told me that he was ready to get cleaned up and for me to do his assessment. WHAT!?!?!? She said that she had told him that we really needed to get him cleaned up to get the bacteria off his skin for surgery and that we weren't sure when they would come and get him ~ basically they could call at any time, since he was an add-on surgery. So, I went back in the room. He was smiling and happy and ready to do whatever I needed him to do. I did his assessment, and we got him cleaned up. I was even able to get his face shaved. He was REALLY happy about that. It wasn't the best shave in the world, but it was better than nothing. We talked about his diabetes and about his family and his shunt and his dialysis. He was very open and honest with me. He told me how he was just ready for this surgery to be over so that he knew what was going to happen with his foot. You see, he had already lost his left lower leg due to diabetes. Now he is at risk for losing at least his right foot. My heart was breaking for him. When I did the dressing change on his toes, I was surprised they didn't fall off right then and there. They were so black and necrotic. He complained about very little. By the time I finished the dressing change, it was time to go home. I said my good byes and gave him my best. Told him I would see him tomorrow.

That gets us to today. (I know I totally skipped over last night, but really nothing happened at home, so there's nothing to tell.) I get to the hospital plenty early ready to go check on my patient. I start to head into his room, but something isn't right. He wasn't wearing diapers. He wasn't incontinent of stool yesterday. What happened overnight? The day nurse wasn't on yet, so I started talking to the night nurse. I asked her about him. She said, "I don't know, when I got on he wasn't here. I think I heard he went to The Unit." Oh, man . . . That means his surgery didn't go well. Sure enough, he was in ICU. I don't know what happened. I don't have access to any records once the patient leaves the floor we are on. I hope he'll be ok. It will never cease to amaze me how quickly we can bond with our patients.

I ended up taking his neighbor. He was in with diverticulitis with a perforated bowel. He had had surgery Friday and was hoping to go home. Very independent man. Didn't mind me listening to his hypoactive bowel sounds. Very distended belly, but everything was starting to function again. He didn't need or want anything from me, other than the doctor to write his discharge orders!

My instructor is wonderful. She is very application oriented and if we don't finish all of our paperwork ~ it's ok. It's not the end of the world if our patient goes home, or is transferred to another unit. Just take a deep breath and start another set of paperwork. It's all practice. This will happen in real life nursing anyway. Except we won't be able to take the paperwork home. Next week we pick up two patients. That will be interesting. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes. I must close now and get ready to go see my doctor. Until later ~ cj

And the results of my test . . .

I passed. Of course, YOU all knew I would. I on the other hand, seriously doubted myself as I was sitting in front of this 100 question test. The psych questions just kept coming at me and wouldn't stop. I felt like I was being bombarded and I couldn't get away. To make matters worse, I'm having this strange, nagging pain that won't seem to go away. I can normally concentrate very well during tests. Read the question, answer the question and go on. But not today. Today, I had to read several questions 4 or 5 times before I even got what the question was asking. Maybe it was the content, but I'm thinking it was my nagging pain. I finally convinced myself (with the help of several friends and family members) to call my doctor ~ and of course she wants me to come in. I have an appointment scheduled for later in the week. We'll see if I can make it through clinicals this week. Why does something have to always come up? Why, I ask? This is getting annoying. Last semester I had to deal with a breakup (much needed, of course) with a boyfriend that wouldn't go away. And now this. Do we all not have enough to deal with. It seems like everyone in my class has something other than school to deal with. It's rather frustrating. Life should stop when you are in nursing school. The world should revolve around school and school alone. No one should get sick, kids shouldn't need anything, parents shouldn't die, and on and on I could go. But the fact of the matter is, life does go on. And we have to deal with it. I passed my test. That's all I can ask for. I didn't do as well as I would've hoped, but at least I passed. I must leave you now for my clinical paperwork is calling my name. I hope you like the new layout I've chosen. I had fun playing with my website this weekend when I finally hit the overload stage! Until later ~ cj

Happy 100th post!

That's right, I have now posted 100 times! My first post was on September 24, 2005. Just over a year later, I have posted 100 times. I can't believe it. Some days have been better than others, but I have made it through. Thank you to all my loyal readers. I know this blog is here for me, but for some of you, this is the only news you get from me. Life is go, go, go, and sometimes we don't take time to stop and talk to those that mean the most to us. So, here's to 100 posts! And here's to many, many more! Thanks for reading!

Overload is here

I have spent all weekend trying to solidify this information in my head. I've done practice questions at the end of the chapters. I've done countless NCLEX practice questions and I've read and reread the lecture notes. If I'm not ready for this test, then I don't know what else to do. My brain is officially in overload. And it's not like I only have to take a test tomorrow. We have our test from 8:30 to 11:00, then we have lecture from 12:00 to 2:30. That has got to be the worst punishment in the world for us and the professor lecturing to us. The only good thing about the day, is that as long as everyone is there, we will have a test review, and will know a general idea of our grades. However, if one person is absent, we won't have our test review until they take the test. So, I'm going to get some dinner and rest my brain. I know everything that I'm going to know. I'm going to pass this test. I'm going to pass this test. I'm going to . . . . Until tomorrow. I'll let you know how I do. cj

Change of Shift

Change of Shift is up over at kt living. This is a fun compliation of stories from nurses across the country. A different blogger hosts it every time. Take time to check it out ~ if you like. cj

It's official . . .

I know how to insert foley catheters. Yep, that's right. . . I passed. I got my normal pre-scenario anxiety. I don't know why that happens. I have so much confidence in the hospital and when I am practicing, but when it comes to actually doing the procedure in front of the professor and the dummy I turn to mush. I have to practice my deep breathing to get it under control. Yeah, I can put on a good act for a little while, but if I'm not careful, the anxiety will get the best of me. I survived today. My instructor was very patient with me. My dummy was, too! What's scary, is that now I can actually insert foleys in real people.

Well, I must get to my studying. I have a major exam on Monday. Have a great weekend. I may touch base again soon! Until then, cj

What to do?

Ok, so maybe my complaints about all that computer work yesterday were a bit over the top. Sorry about that. Today, I get to do what any other self-respecting nursing student would do in my place ~ relax a little, and study a lot. There's nothing quite like a "free" day before an exam to have to prepare for said exam. It's a gift. I've really been stressed about this exam. It covers a lot of information. We are being tested over the entire GI system, simple diabetes, psychiatric theories, psychiatric assessments, general psychiatric introduction stuff, and neuro assessment. While this may sound like it flows (kind of) to you, you have to keep in mind that we had a guest speaker for over half of the psych stuff. We didn't get to have our "normal" instructor lecture to us. So I really feel like I'm at a disadvantage because I don't know how she teaches or how she's going to attempt to write her questions. Please keep in mind she has over 1/3 of the test (41 questions to be exact ~ 41 of 100). If I don't get her questions right, I'll fail. Of course it would be my fault and not hers ~ at least in the school's eyes. Now granted, our guest speaker was wonderful, but he hadn't read our texts. I did get a lot from his lectures for practical purposes, so maybe it did do me some good. But practical purposes, and testing purposes are two different things here. That being said, I must get to my review sheets. I must take full advantage of all my "free time". Have a great day. I'll post tomorrow and let you know how my catheter insertion goes! Until then ~ cj

I've been TAGGED!!!

Ok, so this a new one for me, but according to Kim at Emergiblog, I'm supposed to take a break from studying!! Woo hoo!! It was break time anyways!!

So what am I supposed to do? I'm supposed to name my 7 current favorite songs. I'm not sure about that. But, I'll give it a shot.

1. Daniel Powter: Bad Day ~ this just so describes me so many days!
2. Dido: Thank You ~ this describes how I feel about a very dear friend almost everytime we are together!
3. James Blunt: You're Beautiful ~ how many people do you pass every day and really notice? This song makes me think about that!
4. Martina McBride: This One's For The Girls ~ as a single female, it helps to have
encouragement from songs, this is one of my encouragement songs!
5. Rascall Flatts: Life Is A Highway ~ how true is that? Especially in nursing school!!
6. Sheryl Crow: Every Day Is A Winding Road ~ speaks for itself!
And last but not least . . .
7. The "Friends" Theme Song: I'll Be There For You ~ I know it's a little dated, but I have so
many people I depend and who depend on me right now. It helps us to have something fun to relate to!

So, there's my list. And, now, I'm supposed to "TAG" seven of my favorite bloggers. Let's see, I'm new to this, so forgive me if I don't link anyone just right. I'll spare Kim since she tagged me (but she is one of my favorites!) About A Nurse, Code Blog, Disappearing John RN, Chocolate and Raspberries, Head Nurse, Intelinurse2b, and last but not least . . . Marisapan at Nursing Student Hell

I'm sorry if I offended anyone by tagging you. This really is my first time doing this! Thank you for being among my favorite bloggers! I add more everyday!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

I'll spare you the song, but it truly has been a beautiful day. I slept with my windows open last night. It dropped down into the mid-50's last night. Fall is on its way. They say it will get back up into the 90's later in the week, but another front is on its way through. Tonight should be nice, too. I have enjoyed my day. Yes, it was a clinical day, but we (students) weren't allowed into the hospital this week due to a survey or something that they wanted to make a good impression and didn't want students and others messing things up. At least that's the impression we all get. I'm sure they think it's for another reason all together. But, who knows. We had computer orientation for a solid two hours. It was ok. We got through it, and now we are "allowed" to use the computers. WOW!!! Then, since we didn't get to deal with patients the rest of today or tomorrow, we were given "busy work". We had several quizzes to do that are supposed to help us with our test on Monday, and two "virtual" patients that we had to fill out most of our normal paperwork for. I spent quite awhile in the lab and then even longer at home filling out my paperwork, but the lovely thing about it was that I was at home, with my windows and patio door open.

So, the short of it is that I don't have any clinical work to do for tomorrow because I've done it all already. I get to spend the day focusing on my exam and refreshing my memory (one last time) on how to insert a catheter on a dummy!! Oh yeah, I have to do that on Thursday at 11:00! Then the rest of the weekend is nothing but focused studying for my exam. You'll know how well I do by how much I talk about it. I'm concerned about it, but I don't have as much anxiety as I did last semester. The first exam of the semester is always the learning curve. We have new instructors and have to learn their style of writing ~ even though it's supposed to be consistent with the NCLEX. They are human. That's the hardest thing to remember when you're taking one of these exams. Until you've taken one, it's hard to explain. I'm just ready to have it finished.

I'll close for now. I'm in a talkive mood, so I could bore you to death. Thanks as always for checking in on me! I'll update you soon! Until then ~ cj

Raindrops keep falling on my head!

This morning I woke up to the most glorious sound. It was thunder! After a long, hot, dry summer, another thunderstorm had managed to make its way through North Texas. It was a good strong soaker ~ and the weather people keep saying it will rain on and off all day. We sure do it.

On a school note, I spent all morning yesterday practicing putting foley catheters in dummies so that I can pass my scenario on Thursday. My classmates and I worked long and hard, but it paid off. We all did pretty well. We'll know for sure on Thursday if we pass or not, but I think we will all pass. After we left the lab, a few of went to lunch and then on to a study session. We have our first major exam coming up the Monday after scenario, so we really need to get focused on what we are doing. I have a few people that I study very well with. We are all on the same page, but all bring something a little different to study group. We found a nice little place here in town that offers WiFi and that is pretty comfy. Next weekend will be a little more critical as far as reviewing goes, but I think we got a good start. I've got to go now, and get some more resources together for another study session this afternoon.

I hope that wherever you are, you are having a great day! Thank you for your care and concern ~ and comments! I love comments! Until next time, cj

Welcome New Additions!

Well, after much procastinating, and not too much work (I just had to find the right spot in the template) I have published some of the nursing and student nursing blogs that I visit on a routine basis. These have become a staple in my life. It helps to read that others are going through the same stuff in school as well as at the hospital. But even more than that, it helps to pull together the reality of people all over the U.S. (and world) that are doing the same thing that I aspire to do. We are real people. We live real lives. We don't just work in the hospital, or the doctor's office. Thank you to all of you for helping bring this realization back to me. Also, if you have a problem with your page being linked, or would like me to link your page, just send me a message! Thanks for reading. Until next time, cj

First day of clinicals

Well, I survived my first day of clinicals of my 2nd semester. Today was a fairly laid back day. We "buddied" with a nurse and followed her around for the first part of the day to see how the "normal" routine goes. This transition is tough for me. Remember, I am doing my clinicals at the same hospital I work at as a tech on the same floor I work on. It's going to be interesting for me to put my student nurse hat on and take my tech hat off. I had to catch myself several times today. Overall, I did fairly well.

One particular patient had a hip replaced within the last few days. This patient is VERY confused and won't keep any clothes or blankets on. When PT came in to try to get this patient up, you could hear screams all the way to the central station. The nurse and I ran (and I do mean RAN) to the room to make sure the patient hadn't fallen out of bed. The night nurse was very diligent and tried to keep this patient "busy". While this patient wasn't on telemetry, the pads put on the chest. It was meant as a distraction. And overall, it worked well. We had to keep coming up with ideas. I felt so bad because communication wasn't an option. There was no orientation to person, time, or place. In cases like this, you just do the best you can with what you are given and check on the patient EVERY time you walk by the room.

The patient I chose for my day tomorrow went to surgery right before we left for the day. She came in with gallstones late last night and is having a laproscopic cholesectomy as I type. I look forward to seeing her tomorrow to see how much better she is feeling.

I think all will go well. I must get started on the paperwork for tomorrow. Maybe I can get some sleep tonight. I have anxiety, even if I know the people where I am going because it's the first day of something new. We had a lovely rain storm last night and had a good inch or so of rain. We need all we can get. It also brought a cool front with it. Wow! Cooler temps and rain. What more could a north Texas girl ask for? I hope you all have a great day. Me? I'm off to do school work. Until next time, cj

Another weekend gone

Well, I have spent another weekend working my job as a nurse tech. I get to see so much that helps enforce my decision to become a nurse. I worked with great nurses this weekend. They are all willing to bring me in on valuable learning experiences. Today was good because we were a little bit slower than normal, so I was able to spend more time with the nurses than normal. I took care of the normal "tech" duties (vitals, passing meal trays, and bed/baths) but after that, I got to assist with dressing changes and other wound care issues. We had several issues on the floor that one of the nurses and I were trying to figure out. We racked our brains together to try to decide the best route on how to prevent any further skin breakdown on this patient. This nurse has been a nurse for over 15 years, but didn't mind me saying what I thought. That made me feel like I mattered! In fact, she had mentioned that she was going to put more ABD pads on this area and then looked at me and said that it wouldn't be a good idea. I replied that I was thinking about that too, but that if the skin was already compromised, then more pads wouldn't help the skin, but rather hurt. She told me that I was going to make a great nurse if I was already thinking like that! Wow! What a compliment! I'm no where near ready to be on my own, but to have a "veteren" nurse tell a 2nd semester nursing student that she'll be a great nurse is a wonderful feeling.

Not much else happened here. Derby and I are just winding down for our Sunday night. He's munching on his carrots, and I just had my dinner. I've got to get ready for lecture tomorrow morning, a meeting a lunch, and more lecture tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be a busy day. Monday's always are. They are also very tiring. My brain gets just about all it can take of listening and absorbing information. I will be in touch soon. Until then, cj

Two weeks down and counting . . .

Well, here I am, on another Friday night, blogging about school. Not much happened of substance this week. We didn't have lecture on Monday because of Labor Day. Tuesday was orientation at the hospital (which only lasted two hours due to the fact that our computer class was cancelled). Wednesday we had our psychiatric clinical orientation. We went over when everything was going to be due and stuff like that. It was kind of frustrating as the same questions were asked over and over, but we survived and all is well. Thursday (as always) is lab day. We learned how to put in NG tubes. We didn't do much practicing as we will have our scenario on catheters first. But we will have plenty of time to practice both.

On a personal note, I got to spend time with my friend, Jen last night. We did some shopping and went to dinner. It was nice to get away from the frustrations and chaos of school. Today I have been doing household chores. Laundry, dishes and the like. I have to work all weekend so it was kind of important that I got this done today. The last load of laundry is in the dryer. I love having clean clothes and sheets and all the like.

I've also been doing some searcing on the internet and have found some neat blogs from fellow nursing students and nurses. I have bookmarked them and will add them to my blog sometime in the near future. That requires reformatting my blog, and I have to remember how to do that! I'll share those as time goes on. I really like knowing that I'm not alone in this journey. And just reading the stories from others in the field is an encouragement!

I hope you have a great weekend. I'm enjoying the rest of my day off. Working and going to school is tough, but I take advantage of the time off that I have. I have to balance study time and free time, otherwise I'd go insane! I'll be blogging again soon. Until then, cj