Third Test Results

While we have not been told what are scores are, I can tell you that all eight of us passed! The test was far more difficult that any of us had expected. While the scores may not be great, they are good enough to pass. Let's just hope that I don't get placed in the MICU/PICU!

Week Three of CCNC

This week was all about Pediatrics. Not my favorite topic. Don't get me wrong, I love kids. I am just not a fan of sick kids and often times the parents of the sick kid. I get that it is a stressful situation, but the nursing staff is there to help, trust us. We had guest lecturers for most of the classes as the CCNC faculty are not Pediatric RNs. Our guest lecturers were super smart and knew what they were talking about.

Thursday and Friday were spent getting our Pediatric Advanced Life Support certifications. The practical instructors for my group were Pediatric Immunologists. While we as students were struggling to at first to care for the respiratory emergencies, our instructors were very impressed with how we handled the cardiac emergencies. They told us that they were trying to make the scenarios more difficult as they appeared to easy for us. While we might struggle a little with kids, we know are cardiac emergencies.

This weekend will be spent studying of course. Well, maybe not as much studying on Monday. It is all about the BBQ on Monday!

Second Test Results

After a nerve-wrecking 24 hours of not knowing the our test results, we finally got them back at the end of class today. And once again, I passed! I am blessed with a great study group and a good friend from college that helped me study almost all weekend. The really scary part is I actually understood the pharmacology. Not just to the point that I could regurgitate it on the test, but could explain the different meds to my study group. Who would have thought?

Two down, four to go...

Week Two of CCNC

Week two has come to an end. This week was all about the heart. We spent four full days on lecture and did not even skim the surface of the many disease processes that many of our patients suffer from. Once again I have to admit that my time at the APU School of Nursing has definitely been a great help. None of the information has been new. Everything that we are covering I have at least been exposed to at APU. While we are going much deeper into many of the topics, I am thankful that I am not seeing this for the first time like some of my fellow students.

We spent Friday at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences located on the National Naval Medical Center campus. While there we spent most of the day in the simulation lab. The dummy was so hi-tech that it could breathe off CO2 while taking in room air or whatever was running. The gentleman that created and runs the Sim Lab is the author of the book that other programs use to create and run their own Labs with. It was crazy fun. None of us really knew what we were doing, but we had some good laughs while we tried to figure it out.

First Test Results

All eight of us passed the first test. It was so much more difficult than anything I took at the APU School of Nursing. Only five more to go...

Week One of CCNC

The Critical Care Nursing Course is in full swing. This week's lecture focused on the Pulmonary system and the Physiology of Stress. Most of what we covered I had learned during nursing school at APU but as I had not been exposed to a lot of it so far in the clinical setting I was relearning a lot. Classes are Monday through Friday from about 0730 until 1600.

There are 8 students in the class and we all seem to be getting along very well. I have been blessed with a study group of three fellow Lieutenants. This Saturday we met at my house at 1500 and were shocked to realize that it was suddenly 2130. Wee reviewed almost all of the material and feel comfortable with most of it. We are all a little nervous as we don't really know what the test is going to look like. Once we see a test I am hoping that we will be more comfortable with how to study for the rest of the course.

This next week will be focused on the heart. The lecture topics that I am worried about are relating to the many vasoactive drugs. Let's just say that pharmacology was not a strong point for me during nursing school. I will try to keep you all updated with how the course goes!

Happy Mother's Day!

One Last Weekend of Freedom

As this is my final weekend of freedom for the next 14 weeks I spent some of it outside enjoying the beauty of the area I now call home. Rock Creek Park is located at the north tip of DC. It is a beautiful and peaceful part of a busy world known as DC. The flowers are starting to bloom and the ground is covered with green grass. So gorgeous!

I reported to Student Company this week to start the Critical Care Course. Holy Heck! I thought my life was stressful and full of difficult school work while at APU. The APU School of Nursing will have been a cake walk compared to what has been laid out in front of me by the faculty and previous students. So if there are fewer updates on the blog, email, or phone calls know that I have not forgotten those praying for me, I will be spending the next 14 weeks studying. I will try to put up some updates so you can be praying for my current events.

CONGRATS AMY ON YOUR MASTER'S DEGREE!!!