Life as a nursing student

Well folks, the end is finally near!!!!  I just printed off my resume on some spiffy ivory parchment paper and ready to submit it for my class assignment and to get it ready to apply for jobs.  Who would have thought that after all these years, the end would come!!!  I surely didn't but glad it is!!! =)

I have seen so many interesting things and have done so many interesting things!!  I assisted a RN yesterday at clinical as she was placing a long IV (called PICC Line or Mid Line) into an ICU patient's arm.  Very cool!!!  It's a more direct and safe way to administer antibiotics.  The PICC goes from your arm all the way to your heart (subclavian vein) but this one was a mid line so it just went up towards his shoulder.  You have to take special training to do that and that is something on my "to do" list once I'm out in the job world!!

So, as I am heading towards my last 8 weeks of classes.  Yes, I did say 8 weeks!!! I'm getting very nervous.  My stomach is in knots but I'm so excited to see what comes.  I finish up my current class on Tuesday, have 2 weeks off for Christmas then start up my last 8 weeks after the New Year.  I will have a few clinical days here and there to get caught up on due to my placement fiasco.  But after that (first week in January), I just have 1 class to complete and have my big exit exam, also called HESI exam.  It's a mock NCLEX (state boards) exam that I have to pass with a 900 to graduate. I take that on January 19th.  Then classes end February 28th. Holy cow!!!!  I'm feeling nauseated and stir crazy just thinking about it!!! =)

Then there is talk that graduation will be February 27th or 28th or March 6th or 7th.  This will be the biggest graduation ever for Chamberlain so they have to find a new place to hold it.  We will be the first BSN class to graduate from the Columbus Campus.  We will also have the Associate Nurses and the on-line program graduating on the same day!  Should be very exciting!!!

And in my so called down time, I am going to start looking for jobs.  I hope to submit a few resumes here and there starting this weekend or early next week.  I have a wonderful resume thanks to the help of Doug, his boss, and my boss!!!  It looks great!  All that I need left is paper that has a picture of me in it =)  Or my cute Wesley Bear!!!  Just kidding!  Simmer down Doug, I can see your heart beating faster as you read this.  =)  As I stated before, I went with Ivory but hot pink was pretty tempting!  Maybe I can spritz it with some yummy perfume *lol*  So, we'll see what comes of it.  I hope to land a job that suits me well.  Preferable with tiny babies or screaming moms =)  I will probably have to settle with a floor job until I get my feet wet b/c most of the spots in labor and delivery require a few years experience.  Apparently, I need to know what to do since I'll have credentials!!!

So, I just wanted to give you all a heads up.  Things have been crazy busy!!!

Hope you all have Happy Holidays!!!

Love,
Nurse Ash