I don't have a lot of it, I realized today. I used to think of myself as a pretty patient person, but as I was pondering life this morning, I realized that I don't.
For instance, I know that the PNCB (the credentialing board for my nurse practitioner exam) has approved me to take the test, but I'm just waiting for an email/letter to give me the stinking number so that I can sign up and actually take the test.
Or, the lack of information being given to me with my possible job in the endo clinic by the higher "powers that be." For real- please just tell me if you have approved or not approved a new position! Apparently, it can take up to 6 weeks to get an answer from the position control committee. I LOVE RED TAPE.
I think that being a nurse has a lot to do with this- in the hospital, things happen quickly. You need some blood drawn and tests run, okay, I'll do it right now and you'll get results in an hour or so. You need an x-ray, let's go down and do it right now. Results in a couple of hours, max.
So, this wait-around, wait for answers garbage is driving me crazy and showing me how little patience I have sometimes.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Pinning!!
Caution- this is a long blog with lots of pictures! :)
This weekend my family and I traveled to Nashville, TN for nursing school pinning (aka, graduation!). Vanderbilt traditionally only has one graduation ceremony per year, so I will officially walk and be hooded next May. But until then, the nursing school had a pinning ceremony to celebrate completion of the MSN program.
So, we left on Thursday afternoon, drove 1/2 of the way and stayed in Little Rock, AR (not AK, I was kindly reminded by those on Facebook!) We arrived Friday afternoon in Nashville and went to the Carnton House, which served as a make-shift hospital during the Battle of Franklin. There are blood-stained hardwood floors through out the house from the doctors performing surgeries - pretty gross and couldn't take pictures unfortunately. But, there were some pretty pictures of the outside of the house:
After we were finished touring, we took a brief look at the Grand Ole Opry, then we met up with friends at Cock of the Walk, a famous-for-fried-catfish place. They also had a huge rocking chair with lines of people wanting to take pictures in it, so we figured, what the heck? We'll take one too.
After dinner, we picked up Lane from the airport!! YAY!
Saturday I had class in the morning, then had a bridal brunch with some of my good friends from school, which was really fun.
Saturday afternoon was filled with a trip to the Parthenon (no, we didn't go to Greece, Nashville has it's own, made up of playground pebbles. Nice.)
We then wanted to go see the Belle Meade Plantation. On the way there, we heard a loud pop. We pulled over and heard one of the tires hissing air. Fabulous. So, Mike and Papi changed the tire to the spare and we thankfully found a friendly Nashvillian who drove us to the nearest Goodyear (we weren't in Franklin, so we couldn't go to Moody's Tire!!). Ended up being replaced and we were fine by the end of the day. Good thing boys know how to change tires because we girls had no clue. Nor did we want to get on the dirty ground and figure out how. :)
This is what we wanted to have close to us, but were in the wrong part of town-sorry Moodys! (Background info- my roommate's family from college whom I have been staying with during my time in Nashville owns a Goodyear tire store in Franklin where I've been staying).
This is what we wanted to have close to us, but were in the wrong part of town-sorry Moodys! (Background info- my roommate's family from college whom I have been staying with during my time in Nashville owns a Goodyear tire store in Franklin where I've been staying).
Belle Meade Plantation was beautiful- they were setting up for an outdoor wedding that evening. I didn't get a picture of the house because my camera battery died, but here are some beautiful hydrangeas they had growing outside:
Saturday night featured a FABULOUS party at one of my classmate's homes. She is originally from Louisiana and had her sisters and mom come in earlier that week to fix authentic Cajun food and it was AMAZING. The party was so fun- so good to hang out with my friends and for my family to meet my Nashville world. Sorry, no pics from that night...
Sunday we went to the Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson. Very controversial man...had no idea. His home was beautiful, though...
After the Hermitage, it was off to pinning!
Receiving my pin from the Dean
He is so glad to have his wife back!
The fam
Lane!
My school friends, minus a few
After pinning, we had dinner and dropped Lane off at the airport. We decided to drive around quaint little Franklin and loved seeing all the cute houses - I told Mike that I want one when I grow up. As we started to head out of town, we saw two hot air balloons very close to us and decided to chase them to see where they landed. Random thing to do, right?
So, we actually watched them land in a field, watched how they got all the hot air out, smelled the propane they used and watch them package the whole thing up to take home. Very cool.
Ironically, one of the hot air balloons was a Vanderbilt balloon!
We left at 7:00am this morning and got in at 6:00pm this evening. A very long car ride, but a great weekend! I was so thankful that my family could come and see Pinning as well as see my Nashville world. I am thankful that this chapter of my life is over- it was such a crazy and stressful year, but a year where I learned a ton and was reminded of how thankful I am for my patient husband and caring family and friends. YAY for being DONE!!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Look what my husband made...
YAY! He made me a very sleek and trendy living room desk!
I have been told not to decorate it yet so that the clear coat can settle, so I will go shopping in the mean time to find stuff to put on it! :)
You can go to his blog: systemsjourney.blogspot.com to see what his next big project is going to be....
I have been told not to decorate it yet so that the clear coat can settle, so I will go shopping in the mean time to find stuff to put on it! :)
You can go to his blog: systemsjourney.blogspot.com to see what his next big project is going to be....
I am finished!!!!
I turned in my last paper to Vanderbilt on Sunday and completed my clinical hours last Thursday, making me FINISHED with graduate school!!
So, day two into being done with grad school- I am loving sleeping in, drinking coffee, going shopping, catching up on life in general (never mind having to deal with a crazy Amazon seller who wants to argue and debate that he did not LIE to me, which he did- Mike is now taking care of everything!).
Anyway, I first want to apologize for being out of the loop for approximately the past 13 months! My sweet friends and family have been patient with me for not being able to come to events due to school, work or clinicals (or being stuck in 2 hour traffic between home and Grapevine....minor details), and just being slightly absent in general from life. But that should change!
This past year was one of the hardest ones I have ever had. Not necessarily due to the difficulty of the school work, but trying to figure out how a) how to get back into the swing of school life, b) how to balance working full time, doing school work, being a good wife to Mike, and having a some-what normal social life, and c) FINDING PRECEPTORS. My goodness, that has been one of the hardest and most frustrating parts of school. There are not a lot of nurse practitioners who are willing to precept (precept= student-teaching), and when I did find one, they had already agreed to precept another student. Or they decided to move out of state a month before I was to start working with them, causing me to have to furiously find someone else and pray the contract would go through! Thankfully, everything worked out in the end and God provided me with a great last-minute preceptor who gave me the freedom I needed to build my confidence in my abilities.
I am so very thankful for my husband who was and is a constant source of encouragement- I can't tell you how many nights last fall I cried, wondering if I had made the right decision, if I could do it, if this was the right thing for me, etc. He was always consistent in encouraging me and pushing me to keep going. He always has a more positive outlook than I typically do and is good about reminding me that things will work out, when I don't think they will. (And they always do!).
I am thankful for my Nashville friends. I always looked forward to coming to Nashville to hang out with them- we've had some interesting experiences (surrogate exams, practicing our physical exam check-offs on each other, The Frothy Monkey, CMA awards, crazy Vanderbilt system, SATCO queso, etc). I am going to miss not seeing them every month!!
I'm also thankful for my Nashville hosts, Melanie (sweet roommate from college) and Julia (fun co-worker from back in the ER days at Children's), who very graciously let me stay with them during my weeks in class! Mel had a cute little baby during the school year and it was exciting to see Miss Kaylee grow!
Although I wasn't sure if this was the right path for me in the beginning, I am glad that I plodded through and completed the program and am excited about what the Lord has in store for me regarding jobs, etc. While being in clinicals, I have felt confirmation that this is the path the Lord wanted me to go down and I am thankful that He provided the strength to complete it!
Mike, my parents and I will be traveling to Nashville next week and Elena will fly into Nashville to meet us for my Pinning Ceremony (the nursing school equivalent to graduation). Since Vanderbilt only has one graduation ceremony a year, in May, we will most likely go back next May so that I can get hooded and officially walk. But, this upcoming pinning weekend is going to be a BLAST and I am so excited to show my family my "Nashville life!"
YAY for being DONE!
So, day two into being done with grad school- I am loving sleeping in, drinking coffee, going shopping, catching up on life in general (never mind having to deal with a crazy Amazon seller who wants to argue and debate that he did not LIE to me, which he did- Mike is now taking care of everything!).
Anyway, I first want to apologize for being out of the loop for approximately the past 13 months! My sweet friends and family have been patient with me for not being able to come to events due to school, work or clinicals (or being stuck in 2 hour traffic between home and Grapevine....minor details), and just being slightly absent in general from life. But that should change!
This past year was one of the hardest ones I have ever had. Not necessarily due to the difficulty of the school work, but trying to figure out how a) how to get back into the swing of school life, b) how to balance working full time, doing school work, being a good wife to Mike, and having a some-what normal social life, and c) FINDING PRECEPTORS. My goodness, that has been one of the hardest and most frustrating parts of school. There are not a lot of nurse practitioners who are willing to precept (precept= student-teaching), and when I did find one, they had already agreed to precept another student. Or they decided to move out of state a month before I was to start working with them, causing me to have to furiously find someone else and pray the contract would go through! Thankfully, everything worked out in the end and God provided me with a great last-minute preceptor who gave me the freedom I needed to build my confidence in my abilities.
I am so very thankful for my husband who was and is a constant source of encouragement- I can't tell you how many nights last fall I cried, wondering if I had made the right decision, if I could do it, if this was the right thing for me, etc. He was always consistent in encouraging me and pushing me to keep going. He always has a more positive outlook than I typically do and is good about reminding me that things will work out, when I don't think they will. (And they always do!).
I am thankful for my Nashville friends. I always looked forward to coming to Nashville to hang out with them- we've had some interesting experiences (surrogate exams, practicing our physical exam check-offs on each other, The Frothy Monkey, CMA awards, crazy Vanderbilt system, SATCO queso, etc). I am going to miss not seeing them every month!!
I'm also thankful for my Nashville hosts, Melanie (sweet roommate from college) and Julia (fun co-worker from back in the ER days at Children's), who very graciously let me stay with them during my weeks in class! Mel had a cute little baby during the school year and it was exciting to see Miss Kaylee grow!
Although I wasn't sure if this was the right path for me in the beginning, I am glad that I plodded through and completed the program and am excited about what the Lord has in store for me regarding jobs, etc. While being in clinicals, I have felt confirmation that this is the path the Lord wanted me to go down and I am thankful that He provided the strength to complete it!
Mike, my parents and I will be traveling to Nashville next week and Elena will fly into Nashville to meet us for my Pinning Ceremony (the nursing school equivalent to graduation). Since Vanderbilt only has one graduation ceremony a year, in May, we will most likely go back next May so that I can get hooded and officially walk. But, this upcoming pinning weekend is going to be a BLAST and I am so excited to show my family my "Nashville life!"
YAY for being DONE!
Friday, July 10, 2009
role confusion
I've been wearing lots of hats lately....nurse practitioner student, nurse, charge nurse. I have to think twice before I introduce myself to various patients because I forget where I am and which role I'm playing sometimes. :)
Same thing happens when I'm at work being "just a nurse" and not a nurse practitioner student in regards to how I sign my name- have to remember to stop at the "RN" and not put "RN, VUSN PNP student."
Hopefully the role confusion will come to an end soon and I'll only have to remember one place and one title to sign!
Only 4 more clinical days left...unbelievable.
Same thing happens when I'm at work being "just a nurse" and not a nurse practitioner student in regards to how I sign my name- have to remember to stop at the "RN" and not put "RN, VUSN PNP student."
Hopefully the role confusion will come to an end soon and I'll only have to remember one place and one title to sign!
Only 4 more clinical days left...unbelievable.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
old people
Mike and I are officially an old couple. We check our blood pressures each night and Mike records them into an Excel spreadsheet.
Pathetic.
For the record, it's legit. I mean, my PB was 140/100 at work yesterday (after 3 cups of coffee and a diet DP). I'm officially off caffeine for the moment.
I'm also very tired.
All the rest of my BPs have been much better.... I truly believe it was the huge amount of caffeine I had yesterday, which is why I'm keeping a record of them to make sure.
Pathetic.
For the record, it's legit. I mean, my PB was 140/100 at work yesterday (after 3 cups of coffee and a diet DP). I'm officially off caffeine for the moment.
I'm also very tired.
All the rest of my BPs have been much better.... I truly believe it was the huge amount of caffeine I had yesterday, which is why I'm keeping a record of them to make sure.
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