First Clinicals

Since last I received my Genetics grade, A+ wahoo (the one and only A+ for me this semester). I spent my birthday with Brad (bbf ever), Tia, and Bryan. We went out for dinner at Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse, yummy, and I was overly gifted by all ( thanks!). PC Moldova Bryan, Brad, and I made it up to see Niagara Falls. We went on a very busy vacation weekend and walked along the whinning 12 year old kids complaining about what a waste of time their vacation was. One kid even asked, "where are the falls?" as he was standing smack-dab in the middle of them on the Canadian side. The sun beat dad tried to hold all his rage in as he pointed the kid in the right direction, gotta love those kids.

Let's see... Harry Potter was released midnight of my birthday so Brad and I headed up to Barnes and Noble for the release party. We weren't there to actually buy the book (kara got the book for me) just there for the experience. I can't wait to take my own kids to things like this one day and get all dressed up like our favorite characters. We left just after the first person came out with their copy and the whole crowd cheered. Once the book arrived at my house I finished in a little over 24 hours. If anyone wants to talk about it let me know.

I have finished my first clinical at a long term care facility. For three days I was elbow deep in bed baths, "depends", and bibs. My patient was very nice and helped me to learn the quickest most efficient way to clean her. The day I left she told me next time she would take her sweet pill for me and I told her I would take my pain in the neck pill so we could reverse roles. I know it sounds mean but you just have to learn the kind of interaction your patient responds to. If I was all sweet, caring, and careful she was very distant and abrupt. When another person came in and was sarcastic and joked with her she was like putty in their hands so I learned to be this way with her too.

My favorite time at long term care was lunch time. I fed a patient that was both blind and deaf. I had been signing into his hand for two days and he wasn't very responsive until the third day right before lunch. I grabbed his hand and said, "HI, it's krista" and he said "i know you're my nurse can I have juice?" it made me so happy that he actually talked/signed back to me!!!

Now I am in an acute care facility working with patients who have had joint surgery. Most of the patients are able to bathe themselves and are usually on the floor for 2-3 days. Our main focus last week was charting assessments and helping with physical therapy. It is so amazing to see a total hip or knee replacement patient get out of surgery at 4pm one day and get out of bed and walk the next the morning at 9am. They say the longer you stay in bed the longer it takes to recover. This week we start giving meds and injections! I am a little scared about the shot thing. I hate getting shots and now I am going to be the one giving shots! I will let you know how that goes....

Grades are in...almost

Summer session is kind of divided into a 7 week lecture/lab session and a 5 week lecture/clincial session. I think I am just about average when it comes to grades. There was a small chance I would have an A- in patho but there is a clinical paper that kicked my butt. We were given a patient and all his symptoms and we were to write a clinical paper describing the pathopysiology behind each symptom. For any future students out there don't just write "increased temperature is probably d/t an infection, this is an inflammatory response" Every time you write that some symptom is a CNS reaction, inflammatory response, stress response, PNS reaction describe in detail what that reaction or response is or you just might end up with a 61 like me. No biggie though, I hear the lowest grade was a 32, OUCH! Which of course drops me to a B, Boo!

Assessment...grades are really earned through the final demo and write ups. The test grades for our class were mid B averages. Note: If you have to walk away from the bed to throw away the thermometer cover, LOWER the patients bed or it's a minus 2 points, if you don't raise the bed to your level it's another minus 2 points. It's all about the little things and flow of the presentation. Make sure you are comfortable with each system and practice, practice, practice. Brad was my demo guy. I ended up with the respiratory system, thank god! He is so ticklish I would have surely failed if I pulled the abdominal system. I can't even look at his stomach without him curling up and melting into laughter like a 4 year old. Ended up with a B+, could have done better, must do better next semester.

Nursing Science- the class that makes every BSN program a BSN program. There are 5 or so papers where you write your opinion on nursing perception in the media, history, among different races/gender/countries. The test was about mid semester and in my opinion had some impossible questions such as "Reasoning is to reason the nurse should...."- what does that even mean? oops, got and 82 and the avera ge was 84ish Each paper has a rubric but when given the grade for the assignment it is presented with the point that were taken off according to the rubric so a 90, 95, 92, 89, and 84 really dont make since when all the comments say GOOD JOB, NICELY DONE. Four more points on that 84 paper and I would have had an A...double BOO!

Genetics- Love the class, love the assignments, love the topic. Currently writing my last assignment (procrastinating through blog updating) on Cystic Fibrosis- 10 page max. It is difficult to stay under 10 pages there is just so much information out there to write about. Will know the final grade in a few weeks, hopefully it's an A+

Next up is my first clinical experience! Mostly bedbaths, enemas, and catheters OH MY! That starts in 1.5 weeks. will update soon. Congrats to all those finishing up PC Moldova!!! Welcome Home

Almost one month in

Well, school started almost one month ago and I haven't updated this yet.  I can guarantee there will not be many posts but if anyone has any questions about my time here or the admissions process you can send me an email.

The first day included about 2 hours of "orientation" followed by about 6 hours of lecture.  This really is an accelerated program, we had our first tests on the 5th and 7th day of school.  The three weeks are pretty packed with a few papers and a few tests taking up the schedule.  It's not like regular undergrad where you take a test and go home afterward.  There is always about 50 minutes for the test followed by 2 hours of lecture in preparation for the following test that is sure to occur within the next week and a half.

The best thing to do is just take it day by day and keep up on the reading.  For patho/pharm it is key to learn the previous material because you are likely to build upon each element/system that is taught.  If you don't pay attention the first time you will be lost the second time it is mentioned.  I am still trying to figure out exactly what angiotensin is ☺ 

No clinicals just yet.  We do have lab 4 hours a week where we learn different assessments on different systems of the body.  Fun thing is we get to practice on each other.  There are no rules such as guys with guys and girls with girls. So girls, you must remember not to wear a thong on lab day.  When you lab partner is a guy and you have to bend over so he can assess the curvature of your spine…its going to be a little embarrassing, trust me.

I now know how to properly assess the muscular, neuro, ears, eye, heart, and respiratory systems, I can write nursing diagnosis, and use my nifty PDA  (the school gives you one ) to look up drugs.  I also know what congestive heart failure feels like because I am updating my blog when I actually have a genetics and cardiac assessment papers I need to write, a patho/pharm test, nursing science test, and thorax/respiratory test I must study for.

One month and counting

Nursing School starts in one month!!! I am getting so excited and looking forward to a little break.  Since I returned from the Peace Corps I have been working 50 hours a week as a nanny and taking 12 hours of classes (anatomy and physiology I &II, microbiology, and nutrition).  Sure the school work is going to be a little more intense but I won't have to work 50 hours outside of school.

I have been a little frustrated with the whole financial aid aspect of getting a second degree.  It turns out there really are not many options for federal loans this time around.   For some reason the University of Rochester is not offering the Perkins loans or Federal Nursing Loan this year.  The Perkins loan (around $6k) can be forgiven if you work in certain hospitals that are ciritcally short of nursing staff.  The nursing loan ($4k) has about a 4% interest rate.  So that is $10k more in private loans I will be having to take out.

I am happy to report that I was awarded a Fuld Scholarship that is paying for a pretty good chunk of my tuition.  In return I have to do a small research project and present my findings at a seminar next spring.  It seems that most students in the program are offered a substantial academic scholarhship or the Fuld scholarship covering 30%-40% percent of tuition.  Keep in mind I said tuition not Total Cost of Education (fees, insurance, rent, books, parking, food, utilities).

I guess all I can hope for is that I get one of two scholarships I applied for that require work commitments covering $16k to total cost of eudcation or that the future hospital or state I work in has a loan forgiveness program for nurses.

For anyone that might read this as they apply next year here is my time line from applying to financial aid:

• Application Deadline October 15th- turned in about 2 weeks before the deadline
• Was called to schedule a phone interview for October 24th- for the ABPNN the interview was very relaxed not a lot of questions just a get to know you interview
• November 9th- Acceptance letter received, must reply and include $400 tuition depost by December 15th
• January- Sent in all medical and included forms (NOTE: YOU MUST HAVE 2 TB TESTS! 1 within a year of the second.  The second one must be within 3 months of the start of school. Do not send in your medical forms or complete your last TB test until early march)
• March-Sent in agreement to pay for tution (even though I didn't have my financial aid package yet)
• April- Enrolled (all paper work and shots, test, immunizations must be completed)
• April 20th- Financial Aid Package received (over $30k in alternative loans, around $10k in federal loans, plus fuld scholarship)
• May 15th-plan to drive to Rochester from Oklahoma
• May 22nd- school starts!!!

Awww Moldova

Yes my time to leave has come and gone.   I left Moldova about two weeks ago to return to the states for nursing school. I haven't posted for awhile because I knew that I was going to leave for awhile and really that is all that I was thinking about. I don't want anyone to think I have not enjoyed my two years abroad but it has definitely been a roller coaster of emotions.  Anyone that knows me well can agree that my emotions sometimes over take me and its hard to know if I am having a good time or a bad time.  I can say that joining Peace Corps was probably one of the best things I have ever done for myself.  True I did help some Moldovan teachers and students along the way but I think I am the one that was truly blessed by this experience. I really don't want to go into details.  I get so emotional trying to describe my feelings.  I'm already a waterfall!

In some ways I am kind of like a Moldovan or Uzbek person. Before Peace Corps I had never been outside of the states like the majority of my well-traveled PCV friends, I don't have family that live or travel abroad, and my vision of the outside world came from magazines and the Internet.  Peace Corps gave me the chance to see the world, or at least the most random parts of the world I would have never visited.  Was it a good decision?  Yes it was, I would recommend anyone that is even thinking about joining the PC to give it try.  There were times when I though it was a crazy decision and I really wanted to bail out but I'm glad I was able to stick it through. Would I do it again?  Yes I would make the decision again but I think I am going to give myself a break from the world-wide volunteer thing for awhile and make some money.  Maybe I will do PC again after i have raised a family and retired, or maybe Doctors Without Borders.  Who knows I have a lot of years ahead to make that decision.

What do I miss most about Moldova? Of course my Nightpie, having long talks with Markiza's Aunt V, my counterpart Lorina, every single one of my kids, and Tocana (piece of pork or chicken) with mamliga (corn meal mush), smantana (sour cream), and brinza (freakish stinky cheese), and my local Cahul pizza delivery man.

What do I do now?  Well because I am so emotional I cry sometimes when I wish I could have all of the above mentioned people or things but for the most part I am really busy with school and work.  I started my pre-req classes for nursing school.  I am taking a full load of classes before I head off to the University of Rochester for a 13 month Nursing program in May.  I also found a job as a nanny.  I take care of the most adorable 14 month old twins (boy and girl) every day 8-6 and i am loving every minute of it.

Markiza wants everyone to know she loves being an American Kitty.  She was the prefect kitten on our 25 hour trip home, she didn't mess in her kennel at all and was so quiet I never heard a cry.  She and Robbie (my golden retriever) are getting along fine.  They only argue about who gets to sleep on top of me.  Markiza usually wins because she has razor sharp claws and she is about 75 pounds lighter.  If you need to get a hold of us all our new contact information is to the right.

La revedere, la mult ani

Life

I think I have hit that point where volunteer life stops becoming "volunteer" life and becomes just regular life.  I guess that is why I don't post very often. 

Since October not a lot has happened.  Halloween passed and I didn't dress up.  Got a yearly dose of strep throat and whined for jello for a week.  Brad and I attended the marine ball in style <a href=" http://www.braddakake.com">(check out his blog for photos</a>).  Thanksgiving came and went with a traditional dinner with all the fixings and I ate three pieces of pumpkin pie. After dinner there was a talent show where most made us laugh but Brad made us cry with "I'll be home for Christmas".  And now I wait for winter vacation :)

This will be my third winter outside of the states.  The morning breeze is already too cold to stand, fortunately it's not cold enough yet for my nose hairs to start freezing.  The good thing is I leave my gas soba on all the time so the inside temperature of my house is in the upper 80's. I still miss home every now and again, but I think for the most part I am used to being away.

Culturally I think I am about as adjusted as I ever will be.  Some things still drive me nuts like waiting for 20 minutes to use the internet only to be cut in front of by an impatient, rude person.  When I ask the owner why that person was allowed to go first he only replies with "I dont understand Romanian."  To which I reply back with, "It's disappointing you don't know the official language of your country." 

I still get frustrated when the most simple tasks turn out to be the most difficult task to accomplish that day (paying my bills, lugging home groceries in a back pack, getting the "good" cereal, making hot water for a shower, ordering something other than "my usual" at a restaurant etc)  I think it would take me a life time to forget how simple some things can be in america or that customer service and lines actually exist in other places.

Markiza is still the most loving cat.  She has gone a little crazy lately and thinks something lives in the light fixtures but over all she is a great kitty and looking forward to coming back to America with me.
So that about wraps it up.  That's whats happening with me in Moldova

Hope everyone at home is finally digging there way out of the snow.

Happy Birthday Scoala Doinici

The days of mandatory choir singing are over!  Friday, October 20 was the 10th year celebration for our school.  There were many skits, dances, and stories told all revolving around  10ani!  It's amazing how many songs exist about a schools 10th birthday all you need to do is change the city and school name.

 

All the teachers lined up in our black skirts, white blouses, and meticulously places blue scarfs and sang our hearts out for four songs.  I happened to forget most the words in the most difficult song "Cerul Tau Moldova"  (Our heaven Moldova)  I would admit the majority of the time I had no idea what I was singing the words were coming but the grammar used in songs confuses me.

 

After the concert of course came the masa.  Moldovans love putting 100's of little tiny plates filled with food all over the table.  I would say at an ordinary masa about 40% of the food is eaten and 100% of the wine or champagne is consumed.  At the request of Brad we left after the thrid or fourth course.  Poor thing I made him sit through all that Romanian dancing and singing and he didn't understand a word of it and he hardly complained.  I heard that the masa went from 2:30-7:30 and three more courses were delievered before calling it a night.

 

I will post pictures of how ridiculous i looked when i go into the office.