Summer Vacation!

Finished first semester of nursing school yesterday! Finished at the top of my class. I'm still surprised I made it this far.

My best friend failed out of school at the exam we had on Monday. As she told me afterward, "You are just good for taking test!" Which is probably true. My social skills are nowhere near my test-taking skills, and if we were graded on our clinicals she may have very well scored higher than me. Stuff like body language, that they actually try to teach us in school, I go to clinical and do the exact opposite without even realizing it. I am way less sociable than most people and sometimes appear to have very little sympathy or whatever. She is always telling me I have no sympathy.

My wife is entering her final quarter at nursing school. She has seen a lot of people fail out and repeated one quarter herself because she got sick and missed clinical hours that were not able to be made up. The amount of course work, clinical hours, and homework is brutal. She hasn't had a social life in 2 years. Good luck and keep up the good work.

kiti wrote:Finished first semester of nursing school yesterday! Finished at the top of my class. I'm still surprised I made it this far.

My best friend failed out of school at the exam we had on Monday. As she told me afterward, "You are just good for taking test!" Which is probably true. My social skills are nowhere near my test-taking skills, and if we were graded on our clinicals she may have very well scored higher than me. Stuff like body language, that they actually try to teach us in school, I go to clinical and do the exact opposite without even realizing it. I am way less sociable than most people and sometimes appear to have very little sympathy or whatever. She is always telling me I have no sympathy.

The only clues here are in your posts, Miss Kiti. But based on that I wonder if "direct" and "sociable" are being confused. Nothing wrong with medical people being direct, at least with me.

My gripe is in two kinds of interactions with medical people.

The first treats me like an idiot an spends a lot of time reading through some file card they have memorized and keep in their head ... something that is supposed to make me feel better in "layman's terms." Great, except for anyone who stayed awake in high school biology it comes across as condescending. "Sociable" it may be ... but when I ask what the medications I am being given are don't insult me by replying "something to make you feel more comfortable."

The second is the mechanic, treating the diagnostic equipment and not the patient. That person is related to the first in that he or she is checking off boxes from their boards ... they really don't want my input ... they are indirect and evasive even when it's clear I know what's going on. These people are dangerous, because they can skip right past something significant as a result of them being focused on their specialty and their tools. Would it be too much to expect "it's really not in my field of experience as a proctologist, but I couldn't help but notice that you have an arrow stuck in one ear and out the other, do you think might want to have that looked at, I can refer you ..." To one I actually noted ... forgive me if I am repeating ... "you may be Mr. Scott and know all the ins and outs of the engineering deck, but I am Captain Kirk and I run this ship."

People need to hear stuff like:
- Your back might feel better if you sat up straight instead of slouching on the couch every night consuming tubes of Pringles, or a half gallon of ice cream ... or whatever you are evidently devouring daily.
- You smoked two packs a day for thirty years and you think you got cancer because you are unlucky?
- "Sorry, this is going to hurt" ... the biggest lie in medicine "you may feel a little pinch."

So again by your posts I sincerely wonder if you have an unkind bone in your body. Being direct is not a bad thing in the long run, maybe just learn how to do it better.

I don't want a nurse who sympathizes, I want one who understands. I don't need one who's able to have a conversation with other nurses, I want one who says, "you're right, having the blood pressure cuff over the IV catheter probably does hurt, and there are other locations for the cuff. Let's move it and see what happens." That, to me, is far more important than listening to the nurse chatting up another nurse while I'm saying (loudly), "HELLO!!! A LITTLE HELP HERE?!?!"

I don't need commentary on my lifestyle ("why are you doing judo/bicycling/having sex at your age?"). I don't need somebody coming in and pretending to know me because they've read my chart. I want people who know what they are doing and why. Bedside manner sucks when you're soaked in sweat or pus or blood or whatever.

So, as far as I'm concerned, keep up the good academics - I'd rather have somebody who knows what they're doing than somebody lying to me, talking down to me, or trying to be my "buddy".

(gotta love nurses when their good - and I've been fortunate to have experienced some good ones. But, gotta knock the ones who just have no brains. Example, my nose is gushing blood and blood clots (this was the '90's) - not a normal nose bleed, but something where I thought, hm, should I drive myself or actually call an ambulance. I drove myself - inside of the car was a total mess and I was still finding blood stains for years after. Anyway, I get to the ER looking like a slasher film extra and get pulled right inside. Big globs of clot are working their way out my nose followed by a faucet of blood. Nurse grabe my nose, holds my head back. I start fighting, coughing and gagging because the craps now going down my throat instead of out my nose. Nurse insists that the proper procedure for a nose bleed is to pinch the nose closed and hold the head back. I continue coughing, splattering globs of blood and clots all over the little cubicle, knocking his hand away so I can hang my head and catch a breath. Finally, a more senior nurse comes in, sees what's going on and tells the nurse the bleed is obviously extreme, isn't located in the part of my nose sticking out of my face, and that it'd be much better to allow me to breathe. Emergency surgery later, plus a few pints of blood and a mess of clotting factor, and I got to drive myself home. So, Kiti, be the nurse who says, "airway first." and not the one who insisted I was just being a pain and pinching and holding the head back is the only way to treat a bloody nose. Sorry for the gross out factor, folks, but it was an amazing experience)

Stacey wrote:
(gotta love nurses when their good - and I've been fortunate to have experienced some good ones. But, gotta knock the ones who just have no brains. Example, my nose is gushing blood and blood clots (this was the '90's) - not a normal nose bleed, but something where I thought, hm, should I drive myself or actually call an ambulance. I drove myself - inside of the car was a total mess and I was still finding blood stains for years after. Anyway, I get to the ER looking like a slasher film extra and get pulled right inside. Big globs of clot are working their way out my nose followed by a faucet of blood. Nurse grabe my nose, holds my head back. I start fighting, coughing and gagging because the craps now going down my throat instead of out my nose. Nurse insists that the proper procedure for a nose bleed is to pinch the nose closed and hold the head back. I continue coughing, splattering globs of blood and clots all over the little cubicle, knocking his hand away so I can hang my head and catch a breath. Finally, a more senior nurse comes in, sees what's going on and tells the nurse the bleed is obviously extreme, isn't located in the part of my nose sticking out of my face, and that it'd be much better to allow me to breathe. Emergency surgery later, plus a few pints of blood and a mess of clotting factor, and I got to drive myself home. So, Kiti, be the nurse who says, "airway first." and not the one who insisted I was just being a pain and pinching and holding the head back is the only way to treat a bloody nose. Sorry for the gross out factor, folks, but it was an amazing experience)

This isn't half as much fun as it could be if you had posted pics to go with that story !

kiti wrote:Finished first semester of nursing school yesterday! Finished at the top of my class. I'm still surprised I made it this far.

My best friend failed out of school at the exam we had on Monday. As she told me afterward, "You are just good for taking test!" Which is probably true. My social skills are nowhere near my test-taking skills, and if we were graded on our clinicals she may have very well scored higher than me. Stuff like body language, that they actually try to teach us in school, I go to clinical and do the exact opposite without even realizing it. I am way less sociable than most people and sometimes appear to have very little sympathy or whatever. She is always telling me I have no sympathy.

Always remember Miss Kiti that a caring profession is not only about technology and theory though those subjects are indeed vital, its a vocation and to be a true carer at any level one must always relate to the patient.
It is rather odd that when I was at medical university many, though not all, of those in my year who gained top academic marks where more inclined to fail there practice placements?

I was only ever average at best with the academic requirements of my course but always in the top when it came to working face to face with the patients. I loved my work and found no greater reward than helping another human being who honoured me by requesting my services.

Find the right balance and those who pass under your care will never forget you. Become a highly qualified mechanic and the patients will soon avoid you. I am certain you will manage the former.

Mike

Cichorei Kano wrote:

This isn't half as much fun as it could be if you had posted pics to go with that story !

I never knew you could pass a fist sized clot out your nose..... Might not have real pictures, but can give you a few mental ones

Stacey wrote:

Cichorei Kano wrote:

This isn't half as much fun as it could be if you had posted pics to go with that story !

I never knew you could pass a fist sized clot out your nose..... Might not have real pictures, but can give you a few mental ones

How do you think we perform 3rd term abortions ?!

Well done, and good luck for the rest of your training.

There are positions for all kinds of nurses and all kinds of people in nursing. When you graduate you'll have to get a couple of years experience at the bedside, unless you go straight to a higher degree. But after that you'll have the opportunity to go into all kinds of areas that will utilize your strengths, that is if you feel that bedside nursing is not for you.

Are you doing a BSN? Where?

BillC wrote:

kiti wrote:Finished first semester of nursing school yesterday! Finished at the top of my class. I'm still surprised I made it this far.

My best friend failed out of school at the exam we had on Monday. As she told me afterward, "You are just good for taking test!" Which is probably true. My social skills are nowhere near my test-taking skills, and if we were graded on our clinicals she may have very well scored higher than me. Stuff like body language, that they actually try to teach us in school, I go to clinical and do the exact opposite without even realizing it. I am way less sociable than most people and sometimes appear to have very little sympathy or whatever. She is always telling me I have no sympathy.

People need to hear stuff like:
- Your back might feel better if you sat up straight instead of slouching on the couch every night consuming tubes of Pringles, or a half gallon of ice cream ... or whatever you are evidently devouring daily.
- You smoked two packs a day for thirty years and you think you got cancer because you are unlucky?
- "Sorry, this is going to hurt" ... the biggest lie in medicine "you may feel a little pinch."

So again by your posts I sincerely wonder if you have an unkind bone in your body. Being direct is not a bad thing in the long run, maybe just learn how to do it better.

lol. Sry Bill, I don't think people would need to be told with your 3 examples.lol

Tho, I would love to hear your examples of what a social worker should say.lol

Kitty, you are fine. No need for the other stuff yet. Your gift of gab will come with experience. Don't push it. That said, I worry similar.lol

Heisenberg wrote:My wife is entering her final quarter at nursing school. She has seen a lot of people fail out and repeated one quarter herself because she got sick and missed clinical hours that were not able to be made up. The amount of course work, clinical hours, and homework is brutal. She hasn't had a social life in 2 years. Good luck and keep up the good work.

We had one student in our class this semester get kicked out for being sick 3 times. We are allowed to miss one short and one long clinical day for illness. She missed these two absences near the beginning of the semester for being sick. Then, about a month before the semester was over, she was sick but still went to her long clinical day because she didn't want to get kicked out of school. Sure enough, the teacher sent her home and she was kicked out of school. Back to the 2-year waiting list for her.

We also had a student with shingles on the side of her neck. She covered it up with a band-aid and didn't tell anyone, because she was not about to get kicked out of school over that! She is already on her second chance (she failed by 3 points in her first semester two years ago, and spent the last two years on the waiting list to get back in). We only get two chances, after that we have to look for a different school. Most people, if they are sick, will just suck it up, put on a smile, and pretend! No one wants to get kicked out of school.

I'm more interested in Staceys Judo/Bicycling/having sex at her age..........

whats it like riding a bicycle at your age ??

Hanon wrote:

kiti wrote:Finished first semester of nursing school yesterday! Finished at the top of my class. I'm still surprised I made it this far.

My best friend failed out of school at the exam we had on Monday. As she told me afterward, "You are just good for taking test!" Which is probably true. My social skills are nowhere near my test-taking skills, and if we were graded on our clinicals she may have very well scored higher than me. Stuff like body language, that they actually try to teach us in school, I go to clinical and do the exact opposite without even realizing it. I am way less sociable than most people and sometimes appear to have very little sympathy or whatever. She is always telling me I have no sympathy.

Always remember Miss Kiti that a caring profession is not only about technology and theory though those subjects are indeed vital, its a vocation and to be a true carer at any level one must always relate to the patient.
It is rather odd that when I was at medical university many, though not all, of those in my year who gained top academic marks where more inclined to fail there practice placements?

I was only ever average at best with the academic requirements of my course but always in the top when it came to working face to face with the patients. I loved my work and found no greater reward than helping another human being who honoured me by requesting my services.

Find the right balance and those who pass under your care will never forget you. Become a highly qualified mechanic and the patients will soon avoid you. I am certain you will manage the former.

Mike

Thanks Mike!

What I actually did, was walk into the patient's room, with his family members also present, with my arms crossed. As soon as I realized it, I uncrossed them. We were expressly taught not to do this, because it is unfriendly body language or something like that. I am ok at interacting with people. The family seemed to like me anyway.

When I trained in the UK 25 years ago we were actually encouraged to keep our arms crossed, to walk with them "kept tidy". It meant we were less likely to touch things and so spread infection, or knock things over.

In my experience patients appreciate nurses who are friendly and professional, not fake. So be yourself once you graduate from the program! It's a hard enough job as it is without having to worry about how you hold your arms!