Happy Veteran's Day

I'd like to thank our veteran's for all that they do to secure our freedom and keep us safe.  I also wanted to share the Red Skelton piece on the Pledge of Allegiance.  He explains it so well.

Nursing Is Not For Wimps!

I've known for many years that I wanted to become a nurse, twenty years, to be exact.  When everyone else in my family was afraid to learn what was needed to care for Nickie, there I was.  I had many fears but I knew I had to overcome them to give my baby girl a chance to survive.  In a few short weeks I became an expert on her care.  Over the years I let my insecurities and the ups and downs of everyday life keep me from getting back on the road to nursing school.  I must give thanks to God, my family and friends who reminded me daily that I could do it. 

Today I know without a doubt that nursing is my calling in life.  I know I make a difference to my patients.  I know that it won't be peaches and cream and I will have far more frustrations in this profession than not.  I also know that one moment can erase all those frustrations.  One hug from a patient, one smile, one gentle hand squeeze.  When you can turn the light bulb on for a patient through education, those are the moments that make up for all the back breaking, every muscle aching, days. 

I'm going through my training for my new job in dialysis and there is so much to learn!  It is a little overwhelming, but we have some awesome patients that encourage me, that look forward to my being there and if I can bring a little laughter with the care and kindness and education then we all have a better day!  I hear dialysis is a tough specialty (I believe it!) and burn out occurs quickly (I can see that too!).  I hope I will be able to see that in myself and get out before it affects the care I provide my patients.  God willing it will be a place for me to hang my hat for a long while.  If it turns out that is not the case, then I will take with me some wonderful experiences to the next job.

Exciting weeks since last post!

     Praise God!  I passed the NCLEX-RN (state boards) with flying colors!  I'm now officially a registered nurse!  I have never been so scared of a test in all my life!  The computer cut off on the minimum number of questions which can mean either I failed it royally or I passed it really well!  It was the 3rd most agonizing 24 hours of my life.  The 1st and 2nd both being times Nickie was so very sick in an ICU that we didn't know if she would survive. I had 2 interviews within the five days after passing the state boards and again I praise God for two job offers!

     Bob and I spent hours going over the pros and cons of both offers and I'm happy to announce I accepted a job in dialysis.  I begin soon with five weeks of dialysis training in Roanoke.   I'm excited about today and the future!

Long summer, many trials

So much has happened since graduation.  Some wonderful, some very frightening. In May Nickie went to the prom with her boyfriend Ryan!  It was awesome!  The entire junior and senior class gave them a huge welcome to the prom! 

Ryan and Nickie dancing!

Ryan, Linda (Nickie's nurse) and Nickie!

Nickie gave us a big scare when she aspirated a feeding and had to go the ER via ambulance to the local hospital.  She was admitted to the ICU and long story short, they didn't listen to me or her nurse when we said that she needed to be on humidified air while ventilated.  This caused extensive damage to her lungs and honestly there was a time there that we almost lost her.  I wish I had requested a move to a more qualified hospital but I didn't and on the 4th day the Dr. suggested we move her to another better equipped ICU.  She went to MCV and by the grace of God she is now fully recuperated.  The staff at MCV was awesome!  It was difficult having her so far from home but she was in the best hands there.  I'm thankful she pulled through this and grateful for God's grace.  With all the weeks of hospitalization and continued recovery at home testing for state boards was placed on the back burner. 
I'm happy to say I was finally able to do that yesterday and again by God's grace I can now say I'm officially a registered nurse!  A job that was on the table at graduation may still be in sight.... more on that soon.

Vote for The Silver Star Families of America in the Pepsi Refresh Project!

whirlwind of excitement.

Pinning ceremony was the 11th and it was a fantastic night! We left the next morning for the Outer Banks and had a glorious mini-vacation to celebrate graduation.   Now my search continues for a J O B!  I'm so thankful to God for getting me through school and for my family, friends and all the experiences that have made me who I am today.  That includes all the bad things from my past, for without them I wouldn't be where I am today.  Those bad experiences which include people that pretended to be friends to my face, were placed in my life for a reason.  It wasn't fun at the time, I did indeed learn valuable lessons.  Fortunately I have not lost my trust in mankind and did find some of the best friends in nursing school, friends that I know will last a lifetime!

RN Class of 2010

Today I am an RN graduate.  It is official!  Pinning ceremony is Tuesday and I will post pictures.  I can hardly believe the journey to become an RN is over.  It is by the grace of God that I have been able to do this and it is in His honor that I will dedicate my work.  I want to thank also my wonderful instructors, Jackie Daniel and Lisa Bennett as well as my class for the encouragement and support that you all provided to me.  I must also thank my family for putting up with all the craziness that is nursing school and for not kicking me out when the stresses were so high.  Now the next stage begins.... finding a  JOB.

9 weeks

Even as I type that I'm in complete shock, 9 weeks till graduation.  These last 2/12 years have truly flown by.  There is so much to do to prepare.  So much work still to do.  So many tests, exams and NCLEX.  I've been applying everywhere and my head is spinning trying to figure out where to go and sort through what offers there are.  It's happening so very quickly.  Tick, tock, tick, tock.  For right now, its spring break and I am going to try to relax and enjoy.  Until next time!

"Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking, ticking, away.."

Just as the lyrics above state, time is ticking away. I truly can't believe how quickly another year has flown by. My family and I have been blessed with so many things this year and we are now looking forward to a Thanksgiving with all of my husband's side of the family...close and extended. We expect to fill our house with 20-30some odd family members and some friends. I haven't figured out the logistics of that many people in the house but one thing is for sure no matter how cold it may be outside it will be toasty warm with body heat inside. At first when my husband suggested hosting for that many people I panicked, I thought there is no way I can feed that many people nor do we have the room. I've solved the feeding part by asking everyone to bring a dish and a few beverages of their choice. The seating part we still have to work out but God willing the weather will be nice and we can enjoy the outdoors as well.

School has been a jumble of stress, joy, eventful experiences and so much more. My grades have been holding up well and our clinical experiences have been very interesting. We have been all over the place seeing all aspects of nursing from hospitals, clinics, schools and health departments. There are countless opportunities for an RN. Even though graduation isn't until May 2010, I've been offered positions at several clinical sights as well as 3 of the home health agencies that I've used for Nickie over the years. I have received several letters of recommendation from professors, nurses and my supervisor at my externship at the local hospital. I never knew I would love being a student nor the nursing field as much as I do.

Age old question...

Why is there so much HATE in our world? Today's shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC was apparently stopped just in time, they found explosives in the shooters car. You can read about it here. I pray for the family of Stephen T. Johns I hope they will be able to recover from this tragedy. I also pray that the haters of our world find peace not hate. We don't all have to agree on anything really except that life is a precious gift and no matter how much we disagree with anyone we have to learn to stop the HATE and learn to live our lives the best way we can.